Sunday May 5th 2013 - Rhosneigr, Church Bay & Cemaes Bay

I woke that morning to glorious sunshine which was far too good to miss, so leaving breakfast for later I set out on the first dog walk of the day down to the beach via the cliffside path from the bottom of the site. It was too early for the beach warden to be around so I was able to take the dogs across the main part of the beach to the water's edge, where I walked along throwing stones and seaweed for them both. Sugar swam out several times to retrieve various bits of seaweed but Sophie as usual chickened out and was quite content just to get her paws wet. Having walked as far as I could before the advancing tide cut off my route, I turned and headed back to the site, this time taking the path through the caravan site next door. Back in the tent, and with breakfast made, I sat down with the map book to plan my day.

My first port of call was to be the big car boot sale over on the Anglesey showground, except when I got there it wasn't very big. Maybe it was because it was very windy, but there were nowhere near as many stalls as usual so it didn't take that long to look round; and yet again there were no mouse ornaments to be had. And why is it that the majority of car boot stalls these days seem to sell nothing but kids clothes and old toys? Does anyone actually buy this stuff??

My next stop was at Rhosneigr; having been there only once before I thought it was worth another look. Things had changed slightly though in the three years since my previous visit; the area of rough ground where I'd parked last time no longer existed, it had been landscaped as part of a modern housing development, and as I couldn't find a space along the road I had look elsewhere. I found a small car park just off the road out of the village, and with just one space available I pulled in and parked up.

Across the road was a boardwalk leading to a lake which I'd seen from the road so I decided to explore there first. Safely away from the road I let the dogs off the lead and followed the boardwalk which became a rough path as I got closer to the lake; there was nothing much there when I got there, just an expanse of water with a small island in the middle and a handful of bungalows in the distance. A notice on a nearby stone wall told me that there were two donkeys in the field up ahead, one of which would chase dogs, so not wanting anything to happen to either of mine I didn't venture much further; with a couple of shots taken I turned and headed back towards the village.

Down on the beach the wind was blowing an absolute hooley, which was great for all the water sports enthusiasts but not for me - I had to delete more than one shot from the camera as the wind had blown my hair across the lens just at the crucial moment! Kite surfers and windsurfers were making the most of the wind and waves though, and the air was full with brightly coloured kites attached to the surf boards skimming along the water. A walk along in one direction then back the other way got me a handful of photos then I made my way back to the van.

By that time my breakfast had long since worn off and I was ready for something to eat; there was only one place to go and that was Pete's Burger Bar over at Penrhos Coastal Park so that's where I headed for, and parked up with a view of the bay I went across to order a cheeseburger and coffee. It was good to see Pete again (even though that's not his proper name) and I was both surprised and pleased to see that he still had the print-out of my blog page from two years ago stuck in the side window of his van. The cheeseburger was just as good as on all previous occasions and with the large coffee it certainly satisfied my hunger. Then it was on to the next place of exploration, Church Bay, with an en route stop at the Stermat store to pick up a few practical bits and pieces.

Church Bay was a little place I'd been to a few years ago and which initially didn't impress me; it was quite a distance from the main road down very narrow lanes, and apart from a car park and a little cafe there was absolutely nothing there. The little bay itself had been nothing to write home about, but in fairness it had been a very dull day at the time so maybe it would look better in the sunshine. When I got to the end of the lane the place was just as I remembered it - there was still nothing there. Pulling into the car park I left the dogs in the van as I knew I wouldn't be long, then walked the twenty yards or so to the top of the slope leading down to the beach. And I have to admit that what I saw this time was much nicer than before; a short stretch of firm clean sand with rocks at each end was backed by a gorse-covered headland, and in the sunshine it looked far more attractive than previously.

My final stop of the day was at Cemaes Bay; I'd been there several times over the last few years but somehow never gone to see what, if anything, was at the far side of the harbour wall, so that was about to be rectified. After taking a couple of shots of the main bay I made my way round there, and I was quite pleasantly surprised. A small rocky bay with a stony beach lay quite separately from the main bay, and steps down the headland on my left ended in a seaweed-covered jetty where a couple of kids and their dad were fishing for crabs. A sailing yacht lay at anchor near the end of the headland and two guys were in the process of winching a speedboat out of the water and onto a trailer.

I couldn't leave Cemaes Bay without going to the harbour itself; this must be the most photogenic little harbour I've seen on my travels so far, and with the late afternoon sunlight and the brightly coloured boats anchored in the calm water the conditions were just right for a spot of photography. To be honest I've previously taken many photos of this little place, some of which are on previous pages of this blog, but I just couldn't resist taking several more.

Those were to be my last shots of the day; time was getting on and I still had quite a distance to drive back to the site so I made my way back to the van, gave the dogs a drink, then set off for 'home'. The rest of the evening was spent reading my book and watching a bit of tv, then when it got late I took the dogs for their final walk and settled down in bed. The weather forecast was for continued good weather, in fact it was supposed to be getting much warmer; I'd had a good day that day and got some good photos, so if that forecast was right then I was looking forward to more of the same the following day - and I'd already decided where I would be going.