About Me

My photo
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

Thursday & Friday September 20th & 21st 2018 - Anglesey in the rain

In an almost identical repeat of the circumstances in June which resulted in a much shortened holiday to Anglesey my recently planned 10-day break down in Norfolk was also wrecked, resulting in a change of destination and departure day and a much shorter break. My regular site on Anglesey was the one place I knew I could go to without having to book in advance so Anglesey it was and I left home on a fine but cloudy Thursday morning.

On the spur of the moment I stopped off en route to visit my blogging friend Eileen and during a good natter over a mug of coffee she told me about some roadworks causing delays and disruption a bit further along the A55 - I was glad she had mentioned it as knowing the area reasonably well from previous camping trips I was able to make a detour through Abergele town centre and Old Colwyn and rejoin the A55 at the far side of the roadworks having missed any delays or traffic tailbacks.

Unfortunately, as I'd been leaving Eileen's it had started to rain and that set the tone for the rest of the day and the following day too. By the time I reached the camp site it was raining quite hard and was quite windy - I had no chance of putting up the tent in those conditions so once I'd parked in near enough the same place as last time I connected up the ehu cable and spent the rest of the day living in the van. After a couple of bouts of really heavy rain overnight the following day was very much the same and again it was a day spent in the van, though at 3.30pm the rain finally stopped, the clouds started clearing and the sun came out, so taking advantage of it while I could I took Sophie and Poppie for a walk through the caravan site next door and down to the beach.

By the time I got down to the promenade any remaining clouds had turned from grey to white, the sky was blue and it was turning into a lovely late afternoon with clear views right across to Great Orme at Llandudno on the mainland. A flight of steps went up from the back of the promenade car park so after a short walk along the beach I went to see what was at the top; a footpath ran left and right so I went left first and eventually came out at a large gravel-surfaced car park halfway up the hill at the far end of the promenade. Retracing my steps in the opposite direction the path led me between hedges and bushes and finally back down to the promenade close to where I'd emerged from the caravan site earlier on.



Back at the van I made a brew and a snack meal then settled in to read my book and watch a bit of tv. The rain had held off since earlier but it was still very windy so the bedtime dog walk later on was kept short, though after it turning into a really lovely evening I kept my fingers crossed that it had been a sign of nice weather to come the following day.



10 comments:

  1. When Eileen wrote of you going to Anglesey, I was worried what kind of weather you would experience. It's good to see you were able to enjoy some blue sky and sunshine. Your photographs are beautiful. X

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you :) The weather was very mixed to start with but once it stopped raining even the cloud didn't stop me from going out, and when it did come nice it was glorious, especially on Monday when I went to Llanddwyn island - it was unbelievably clear there and I got some fabulous shots :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. The beach looks fabulous with the tide out, a lovely walk for all three of you after a long drive.

    Trips like ours do seem vulnerable to "outside influences" - I was due to get away in July which got screwed up and I have only just rebooked it (better late than never and all that!), I'm off on Monday :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The beach is lovely, only a short walk from the camp site and with the tide out it's possible to walk for quite a distance along. Sometimes I wish I could transport it from there to outside my house as I never get fed up of it - I'd be there every day if I lived closer :)

      I hope you have a lovely time on your own break and I'll look forward to seeing an update and photos on your own blog :)

      Delete
  4. Sorry you had rain Tigermouse, here it is sunny but very cold.
    Hope you enjoy you days away, it lovely to get away.
    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It wasn't all bad Yvonne, when it did come nice it was glorious. I've been back home since Tuesday afternoon, spent several hours on two evenings sorting out my photos so now in the slow process of updating the blog with many more pics to come :)

      Delete
  5. I have to say those roadworks are worse than ever now Eunice. Pentre Mawr park is alongside the A55 and yesterday we could see the tailback of traffic sometimes at a standstill and getting through Abergele was a complete nightmare as everyone is trying to avoid the A55. The weather has improved though and I'm glad you had three out of five decent days and the beach looks lovely. You'll have to remind me where on Anglesey the campsite is as I've forgotten or I forgot to ask you more than likely.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Obviously I don't know what Abergele is like now but I had no trouble coming through there in either direction, it wasn't busy at all but then again it was a weekday both times. I assume it was busy with it being weekend, and for most places it'll be the last weekend of the season too so I can imagine a lot of people will be having a 'final fling' before everything shuts down. I'm glad I managed to avoid the roadworks anyway :)

    The camp site I go to on Anglesey is at Benllech, just five minutes walk from the village centre and with great views over the bay. It's only a couple of steps above basic and during school holidays gets full of Liverpudlians but in quieter times it's okay, and as far as I can think it's the only one on the island that's so close to shops and other amenities so it suits me nicely.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You would never guess at bad weather from these lovely pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You wouldn't would you? It was surprising how nice it came after all the rain and grey skies - at least I was able to take the dogs for a decent walk to make up for them being cooped up in the van for the best part of two days :)

    ReplyDelete

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.