Coed-Y-Llwyn

 Monday 17/05/21

Bokkie has travelled a bit north to our new campsite and is hiding between the trees again.

We managed another afternoon walk between the rain showers yesterday and met some friendly sheep along the way.

This morning we were up and about quite early, got Bokkie set up for the next site (water in & out, floors & kitchen cleaned & rubbish thrown out) and set off to Porthmadog to do some shopping (we seem to buy little & often due to limited storage - and bonus, we found a lovely outdoor store so bought some weatherproof tops; now we're set for this changeable weather!).  The scenery along the way was fantastic and, although the roads are quite narrow, there isn't that much traffic and driving was a pleasure.

Stunning scenery on our drive.

Porthmadog harbour

Llyn Bach

From there we headed to the new campsite; it pays to get in early as a lot of people are making use of the lifting of restrictions in the UK to get out and about.  We're camped in a lovely spot overlooking a farmyard with bantam chickens, Guinea fowl and turkey so we're lucky we don't sleep late. 😏

The camp guardian

We've had a walk around the area and planned a cycle route down to a nearby lake tomorrow.  We heard that Wales has already had 130% of their normal May rains.  Once again, the Micklems are turning out to be rainmakers; if we come and visit near you, you need to start flood defences or build a big wooden boat...  At least we have our new weatherproof tops!

Gwern-Y-Bwlch

 Sunday 16/05/21

Our introduction to Welsh weather has been rather damp and much of our time has been spent inside Bokkie.  We managed to get in quite a long walk yesterday but had to shelter in a pine forest mid-way; the showers are never very far off.

We get occasional glimpses of sun through the clouds but this is usually followed by another shower.

Still, we're not complaining, it's a lovely place to be stuck.  We have wonderful woodland views from our windows, and had enough sunshine to do a quick braai for lunch.  We have also been watching many of the caravanners packing up and leaving with a new intake taking their places in the afternoon.

Tomorrow we are heading off to Porthmadog to pick up a few things we need and will then move on to our next campsite.

Gwern-Y-Bwlch

 Friday 14/05/21

Our lovely stay at Wood Farm ended on a damp note - it was still raining when we left on Thursday morning and carried on almost all the way to Coventry.  We stopped for lunch near Gloucester and after setting off on the final leg of the journey we were routed cross-country due to an accident on the motorway.  It turned out to be a lovely drive and took us through villages like Spetchley, Snodsbury and Arrow before arriving in Coventry. 

We were treated to a lovely supper with Ettienne and Debbi and celebrated their anniversary this morning.  It was great to spend some time with family again (even if only for a short visit) and, once we had said our goodbyes, we set off to Wales.  No sooner had we turned on to the M6 and there was another accident delaying us again.  The drive around Birmingham was quite tense, the road surface is terrible and the road is very busy with loads of trucks travelling the route.

Even though Bokkie trundles along at a fairly sedate pace, managing to
get decent photos on the move is quite an achievement - courtesy of Toni

Once we got out into the country again we felt more at peace.  When we entered Wales, the 'foreign' street signs made us feel as if we had crossed the channel into a strange land.  The rural scenery and rolling hills make for a lovely setting to spend some time.

Bokkie in her spot

These have to be the steepest pasture I have come across

The campsite we are staying in for the first three days is on a steep site up a valley and Bokkie has a lovely site under the trees.  All we hear are birds in the trees and the distant bleating of sheep, no doubt complaining at how steep the hills are.  We took a walk and we can agree with them, it is very steep but this means you are rewarded with some lovely views.

The campsite tucked into the valley below

This is a road you simply have to follow, isn't it?

Luckily this is a written blog so I don't need to try and pronounce any of the village or campsite names, I wouldn't stand a chance.  The views are abundant but there seems to be a distinct lack of vowels in this part of the world.

We're looking forward to spending the next 12 days exploring in Wales, who knows, we might even brush up on some Welsh!

Wood Farm

 Wednesday 12/05/21

With the best of the weather in the morning and our swim booked for the afternoon we headed off into Charmouth to tackle the coastal path to the east.  It looked quite daunting from a distance, one long uphill - but we were sure the views would make it worth it and we were right.

Lovely wild flowers

It was a lovely walk although we are both feeling a bit worn out after the past few days.  We also went for our afternoon swim again.  We haven't swum for so long that the muscles are very tender, and surprised to have come out of retirement with such a bang!

The sea is gradually eating away at the land, you can see the fence posts where the field
used to end, now the farmer has had to move back 10 meters

Although you can't see it clearly in the photo we could see as far as Portland

Views over Chalmouth

While we were at the pool the heavens opened so it was a dash back to the safety of Bokkie and the downpour is set to continue through to tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are popping up to Coventry for a family visit before heading off to Wales.  We have thoroughly enjoyed the coast of Devon and Dorset and are looking forward to some hills and valleys.  It's great getting an opportunity to get to know the UK a bit better.

Bonus pic.

We have a few of the cutest baby rabbits outside Bokkie's window

Fossil hunting on the Jurassic coast

 Tuesday 11/05/21

One of the best places for an amateur fossil hunter (and we are both abundantly qualified as amateurs) to look for fossil remains in the shoreline between Charmouth and Lyme Regis.  Thus our challenge for the day was set!

First, however, we had the small matter of a swim booking to contend with so, at the appropriate time we headed off to the indoor pool area.  At the last moment we realised we had forgotten to bring our masks so Toni dashed back to Bokkie to get them and we booked in.  There were four other swimmers already doing laps by the time we got in but there was luckily enough space for us all to exercise without any collisions.  The water was the perfect temperature for swimming laps so we had half an hour or so of swimming, which was lovely.  So nice, in fact, that we have booked another session for tomorrow!

I have either spotted something or the rucksack is too heavy.

We knew there was rain forecast this afternoon so we set off down to Charmouth and luckily timed our arrival to coincide with low tide, the best time for fossils.  I  also proved that an amateur with very little idea of what to look for could find something noteworthy (in our book, anyway) and found remnants of ammonites, although I suspect what I found are the imprints of the ancient mollusc shells and not the actual remains themselves. 

The rocks all start to look prehistoric eventually.

The first find, it looks huge but is only about 2 inches long.

The fossil-rich cliffs being eaten away by the sea.

No, we weren't THAT lucky, these are some examples
from the shop on the beach of what can be found.

Our haul for the day, some pretty pebbles and two fossil remains.

This area is rich in fossils with many fantastic discoveries having been made over the years and they are gradually exposed as the sea erodes the cliffs containing the remains.  The sea then washes the stones and fossils up on the beach and, if you are lucky enough, you may spot some.  The rocks in the area are also very interesting and we were hard-pressed not to fill Bokkie's lockers with pretty stones and rocks.

A gorgeous rock Toni found, looks like someone stuck it together.

We made it back to Bokkie just in time to rescue our costumes and towels from the rain.  I suspect our shoulders might be a bit stiff tomorrow, we've not had much swimming recently.

It is now raining very heavily, with some hail thrown in to boot - definitely an indoors afternoon/evening, but it's been another great day!

Lyme Regis

 Monday 10/05/21

After Toni had bravely gone for a hilly run this morning we tried out the campsite showers.  We love Bokkie's shower but occasionally it's really nice to have the extravagance of an abundance of water.  

We had an early lunch and headed off to nearby Lyme Regis, a 5 mile round trip of rather hilly walking.  On the way we stopped off at reception and booked the swimming pool for an hour tomorrow morning, it is heated although we don't know how warm it is but we feel we have to try it - we'll report back!

Wall to wall Buttercups

The walk from the campsite is up quite a steep hill and then cuts through some forest before taking a short-cut across Lyme Regis golf course.  In spite of very windy conditions, the course was busy and it was quite intimidating crossing while watching out for white missiles.  The strength of the wind on the seaward side of the hill gave us some idea of how sheltered the campsite is.  We could see the drop in elevation down to the village and weren't looking forward to walking back up.

Fore!

The promenade

Lyme Regis looks like a lovely seaside village, very quaint and the promenade was busy.  The wind was really howling so after people watching for a while and the obligatory cuppa we tackled the uphill return trip.  Another walker recommended we take a small detour through a forested area to view the Bluebell fields which were well worth it.

Climbing back out of Lyme Regis

Stunning Bluebells everywhere.

A lovely trip, if the weather had been better we could have walked around more of the town but that's the way it goes.  Hopefully the wind eases tomorrow and we will take another trip into Chalmouth for some more fossil hunting.  

Wood Farm

 Sunday 09/05/21

The weather was grey and miserable yesterday so we spent the day indoors, cooking, reading and watching some TV.  Giving our legs a rest was a welcome break.

Grey skies but lovely scenery along the way.

This morning we filled up all of Bokkie's tanks that needed filling and emptied all the others before hitting the road again.  We've only moved about 30 miles West and are in a campsite / holiday camp near Charmouth.  The coastline between Charmouth and Lyme Regis is supposed to be very good for fossil hunting and there are lovely walks along the coast so we are looking forward to getting to know the area for the next few days.

Picturesque Charmouth

Fossil hunters eagerly cracking rocks on the beach

Determined to enjoy a day on the beach

Bokkie in her spot, had a lovely chat with our neighbours on the left

We're in a lovely spot and seem to be quite sheltered from the wind which is a blessing.  We've had a walk to the coast and it looks like there is a lot to explore.

We're looking forward to a great time here - for the next 4 days!