TUESDAY 17 APRIL 2015 Week 34
From Porthmadog, we headed to Harlech, which was amazing. Although I’d been there before, I had only ever visited the castle and had no idea there were beautiful soft sand dunes and long beaches here. The caravan park we stayed at, Min Y Don, was just a short walk to the dunes, which reminded me so much of Black Rock Sands in Porthmadog, and the Castle dominated the views inland. I looked upon Harlech with a new love for the place, and I would like to visit again.
The Caravan Park was 5 stars with a magnificent steel dragon statue governing the entrance to the park. Very impressive. I even sold some Beyond Books to the other campers! To make the stay even more wonderful, my two lovely nieces came to stay for a night with my brother as it was Easter holidays.
We walked all the way up the hills to the Castle and walked up and down 400 steps whilst Del sat on a bench by a very strange horse statue carrying a medieval monk with no legs! That’s how I felt after walking around the castle. The views were stunning, but my poor legs hurt a lot the next day! We then went to the beach for a bit of sunbathing, jumping off sand dunes and burying the girls in the sand. Great fun – then back to the van for a slap-up barbecue. Perfect day.
We moved on to Borth. Oh, deary me! What a stark contrast. I booked a Park Resorts because I thought with a swimming pool and entertainment complex, it would be great, because the big campsites were finally opening up for a new season after the winter months of hardcore camping sites… Well, where do I begin? The place was so awful, I had to put more pictures up of our fabulous time in Harlech. (Right) My Brother leaping off a sand dune! (Below) Del burying my nieces in the sand! 😆 Good Fun!
The pitches were so tiny that all the grass was churned up, the toilet and shower block looked like something from the 70s, and no lights in the toilets, making it impossible for me to use. Then we decided to go for the “sensible swim” session in the site's pool so I could have a shower after, but the session was more like a zoo full of screaming kids being thrown around the pool by their parents! And it wasn’t just us disgruntled that the “sensible swim” session had been totally ignored and unenforced by a bunch of bored, apathetic lifeguards.
One kid was flung into the air and landed on some poor bloke’s shoulder, who left clutching his shoulder in pain! I even asked two kids what was wrong with them. As they seemed to want to splash around in front of the adult swimmers in the deep end, as soon as one attempted to swim sensibly past! What a debacle! At least I got a shower!
The Static caravan area was just as bad as the touring, with enormous industrial bins just left in front of caravans all over the
place, but what amazed me was that the £9.50 Sun Campers didn’t care! I’d be
complaining or at least moving the smelly trash can away from my front door.
Urgh! The entertainment complex was certainly entertaining.
We ate in the bar area. I ordered a Cajun chicken with Teriyaki noodles and vegetables. I considered this to be a healthy option. What was presented to me at the table was a dried up blob of chicken dipped in what can only be described as a Nando’s chilli sauce and plonked on top of re-heated spaghetti with warmish soggy vegetables (and I’m being generous with the term vegetables - I found one piece of mini sweetcorn and a scrap of soggy mixed peppers!) Not the best meal I’ve ever had!
Borth was a tired concrete seaside village. Enough said
on that, I’m depressing myself talking about the place. Safe to say we won’t be
going back there, and that's why there are no photos! I thought I'd spread out
the blog about Borth with extra Harlech Piccy’s instead! We moved on to New Quay, close to Aberystwyth, and I
knew this would be lovely as I’ve stayed in this area before. Although I
couldn’t get on Quay West Park, where I normally stay, we did find Pencnwc, which
had a lovely pool and clubhouse.
I even won two games of bingo, and I normally never win at anything! New
Quay is a picturesque fishing village famous for its writer and Poet, Dylan
Thomas, and everywhere you go Dylan apparently drank at that pub or this pub…
even in Aberaeron, where the little
fishing port is famous for its quaint coloured cottages, Dylan drank in every
pub there too… I’m surprised the guy ever managed to put pen to paper!
We had a day trip out to Aberystwyth, and although the
Victorian-style seaside front was looking a bit like a tired version of Llandudno, we did find a cracking
little tapas restaurant tucked away at the back of a great Spanish
delicatessen. It was packed, and having to share tables with other guests seemed
to just add to the rustic charm for me.
And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy
My Link Tree QR Code: All social media in one place.
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