Saturday August 24th 2013 - Another break at Manorafon

A sunny morning at 7.30am saw me setting off to Manorafon Farm for the bank holiday weekend and my second break there this year. The journey was easy and trouble-free and I arrived a few minutes ahead of schedule, though I didn't pull straight into the site. Having only swallowed half a mug of coffee before leaving home I was ready for something to eat so I drove down to the beach, parked up, and went into one of the promenade cafes for some breakfast. This was followed by a dog walk along the beach before I finally drove round to the site and booked in. 

Having booked for a non-ehu pitch (all the ehu pitches were fully allocated when I made my booking) I was given the choice of the first pitch on the right near the gate or a pitch in the centre section of the site - the centre ones were on a slight slope so I opted for the one near the gate, which was nice and level, and with the dogs still in the van and out of my way I proceeded to set up camp. Having no power supply I'd decided to sleep in the van so I could use the overhead light for reading, and use the tent as a drive-away awning just for washing, dressing, making a brew and relaxing, so the bed was already made up and I didn't have a lot to do. With everything sorted I pegged Sophie and Sugar out on their line, made a brew, then spent some time relaxing in the sunshine; the area of grass between the tent, the hedge and the gate wasn't really big enough for anyone else to put a tent there, unless it was a very small tent, so it was almost like having my own little garden.

After a good chill out session, and not wanting to waste any of the sunshine, I decided to drive the four miles to Asda in the next town for some supplies then take a look round the nearby river estuary. I'd only noticed the place briefly on my previous stay at Manorafon and being in a line of constantly flowing traffic en route to somewhere else I'd been unable to stop at the time - boats and water mean photos to me so I was sure it would be worth exploring.

The shopping trip round Asda was just as boring as any shopping trip is, enlivened only by the aggravation of not being able to find a darned thing as I was in an unfamiliar store, and once I'd negotiated the one-way system round the very busy car park and finally got back onto the road I headed the further half mile to the river. A modern bridge carried the main road over the river itself and just at the far side was a large area of spare land set aside for parking so I pulled in there, clipped the leads on the dogs, and set off to see what I could take photos of.  The river split into two just under the bridge and the tide was out, leaving a sandbank in the middle where a mixture of fishing and leisure boats were beached. There was a dock area on the left and a raised bridge which, when lowered, would connect it to the road and the nearby town.

With a handful of shots taken I made my way back to the van and drove back to Manorafon. The late afternoon and evening were spent relaxing with my latest book then as the last of the daylight disappeared I took the dogs for their final walk of the day. It was much earlier than the time I would normally go to bed but with no way of watching tv there was nothing else to do so I settled Sophie and Sugar in the back of the van, zipped up the mesh door of the tent and climbed into my own bed to read a few more chapters of my book until I was ready for sleep. 

Having had an extremely busy few weeks this short break was intended to be more relaxing than usual so I had no definite plans for the following day, but if the weather was as good as it had been I would certainly be out and about somewhere with the camera, though it would be to one place only rather than two or three; where I went would be decided the following morning.