About Me

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Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Monday August 15th 2016 - Part 1 - Conwy in the sunshine

I woke that morning to brilliant sunshine and a bright blue sky - typical when it was going home day. Now why couldn't it have been like that all weekend?? It was far too good to waste though, so washed and dressed I grabbed the camera, took a couple of photos of the camp site then went for a walk up the lane with the dogs - the sun was shining on the castle so I should be able to get some decent photos up there. 


I'd just taken the last shot when Eileen rang to see if I wanted to meet up for breakfast about 9am. The arrangement had actually been made the previous evening but for a later time; 9am was good for me though so she said they would set off straight away and meet me at the camp site. I'd just got back to the site and was opening the main gate when she and Martyn arrived, complete with Annie of course, and once I'd got Sophie and Poppie in the van we set off for Pantri Bach cafe down by the beach.

 After a walk along the dog friendly part of the beach we went to the take-away hatch at the cafe and ordered breakfast, then sat at one of the tables in the sunshine. The toasted teacake and coffee I had were very nice and it was lovely to sit there chatting but eventually I had to go back to Manorafon, pack the tent away and make tracks for home, not only that I was also on a mission. If I could be off the site no later than 11.30am I reckoned I would just about have time to go back to Conwy and take some nice sunny photos before I hit the road for home. 

 Before I said goodbye to my new friends though we had to take some photos; Martyn took one of Eileen and me with the dogs, and surprisingly they were all looking the same way, then I took a couple of Annie in the back of their car. It was a while later that I realised the car door handle was in the background of the first shot, making it look like Annie had either a tv aerial or a halo on her head; whichever it was I think it really added to the cute factor.


Back at the site I got everything packed away in record time and it was exactly 11.30am when I drove away from my pitch for the last time. It didn't take long to get back to Conwy and this time I managed to get a parking space quite easily, then with three hours on the ticket (I didn't need that long but that was the minimum) I set off to retrace my steps from the day before. I didn't have time to go all the way past the marina to the beach at the other side though so I only went as far as the blue-grey bridge before turning round and heading back towards the quay.


From the quayside I went back across the road bridge and walked halfway along the roadside gardens; the wall on the seaward side had semi-circular viewpoints which jutted out into the water so I used one of these to get several shots looking back towards the castle and the quay - and the sunshine and blue sky certainly made a difference to the views.


From there I started to head back in the direction of the van; even though I had three hours on the ticket I was only allowing myself an hour or so to get the photos I wanted so I didn't want to linger too long, but before I set off for home I had one more thing to do - return to the suspension bridge to see if I could get a nicer shot of it than the one I got the day before.
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10 comments:

  1. Eileen H24 August 2016 at 07:50

    Your photos of Gwrych castle and Conwy are brilliant against the bright blue sky. Seems typical that the best day of sunshine had to be the day you returned home. Just to say again it was lovely to meet you and thank you for the photos of Annie, her little halo makes me smile. I have to say I really like the photo that Martyn took of you and I with the dogs, they couldn't have posed more perfectly :)

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  2. Tigermouse24 August 2016 at 08:18

    I know I've said many times on this blog how much I love the sunshine for my photos and how I'm not happy when it's cloudy but it really does make a difference. I like Conwy a lot and on a sunny day it's a lovely place for photos.

    It was lovely to meet you too, and Martyn of course. I think when I get some more ink in my printer I'll print out a photo of Annie with her halo and put it on my wall - it's too cute just stay on my pc :)

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    1. Eileen H24 August 2016 at 08:30

      I think I'll print it out myself, that photo is definitely a keeper! When you emailed it to me and you said she had an aerial on her head that made me smile but no, it's not an aerial, it's her halo :)

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    2. Tigermouse24 August 2016 at 08:34

      Of course it has to be a halo, Annie is a little angel :)

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  3. nashvillecats224 August 2016 at 10:08

    What ane excellent time you had, wonderful pics and the read makes one feel they're there with you.
    Yvonne.

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  4. Tigermouse24 August 2016 at 14:13

    Thank you Yvonne. It was a lovely weekend and I really enjoyed it :)

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  5. Su-sieee! Mac24 August 2016 at 20:07

    Definitely a difference in feel on a sunny day. Your castle looks even more magical. I like the ones you took at the water. So odd, but neat, to see the ancient castle next to modern boats.

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  6. Tigermouse24 August 2016 at 22:30

    The waterside at Conwy is a lovely place to take photos, especially on a sunny day. The castle there is huge but I've never been in it as they don't allow dogs and I wouldn't leave my two in the van for the length of time it would take me to see round it.

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  7. Christine24 August 2016 at 22:54

    So glad you had some time on your last day to get together with friends and head back for photos. What a glorious day you had! Now to read the other posts to see what happened on the rest of your trip...

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  8. Tigermouse24 August 2016 at 23:02

    Hey stranger, where've you been? Busy with family I expect :) I've been checking every day to see if you'd written any new posts on your own blog.

    The sunshine on my last day was glorious but that's just typical of this country - cloudy when you want it to be nice then nice on the day you come home. I'm off to North Wales again this weekend and hopefully meeting up with some more friends but it's a bank holiday so you can almost guarantee it will rain! :(

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I really appreciate good comments - who doesn't? - but due to a recent tide of spam from anonymous readers all comments will now be moderated, and only those with a direct bearing on this blog will be published. I'm sure my regular blog readers/commenters will understand the need for this - and to anyone whose comment isn't published, you know why.

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