Lodge Life :: June 2022

Hi there everyone 😀

You are probably getting a bit bored of posts from North Wales ... but before I move on to our Kent trip, which was very different, I thought I'd let you know how we are getting on with our new holiday lodge.

We managed to get two long weekends in June. One early on, with mum, just after we’d got back from Kent, and a totally impromptu and unplanned one right at the end of the month … giving us just two days between getting back home and heading off to the Wye Valley for our annual catch up with old work colleagues.

We wanted mum to be our first visitor and we were so pleased that she liked it as much as we do. We also got to road test the sofa bed which worked an absolute treat.

While there with mum we managed two days out … the first being to Bangor Pier, where we very nearly got blown away …

It was beautiful though and somewhere we will definitely visit again. There is parking for just £1 pretty much right next to the pier and we were lucky enough to find a space …


You have to pay a nominal fee to walk along the pier but it was well worth it …

It was a really bright day but you are very exposed on the pier and the views in either direction are pretty amazing ... 

There are plenty of pops of colour from the old Victorian buildings, housing little shops ...

... the more modern benches, made from recycled materials ...

... and the Pavilion Café at the end ...

We walked to the bottom and had a quick drink in the cafe. We all wished we hadn’t just had breakfast as the food all looked great, especially the cake … maybe next time.

Our second day out was a bit more energetic … we even took a picnic.

We were aiming to do the Morfa Nefyn - Porthdinllaen circular walk. It’s only about 2.5 miles, but quite up and down and the plan was for Martin to take the short cut half way, while mum and I did the full circle.

Martin and I have done this walk before and we opted to do it the opposite way round this time, hoping for an easier finish. We parked at the National Trust car park at Morfa Nefyn and headed up and over the golf course.

It was a beautiful day and the views in all directions were fabulous …

When we got to the path down to the Ty Coch Inn Martin headed down and mum and I carried on upwards … we did have a rest on a bench at the top of the hill and waved like mad to Martin, but he was more interested in getting in the pub for a pint than looking upwards …

The walk carries on through the golf course to the lookout point at the end of the peninsular,…

... where they is a very steep path down to the lifeboat station …

... and the most perfect small and secluded beach, which would have been perfect for a paddle …

The path then hugs the side of the cliff, with plenty of rocky steps up and down ...

... with more fabulous views back towards the lifeboat station ...

... and out to sea before ending at the pub, where we met Martin for very welcome refreshment ...

The walk then carries on along the beach to Porthdinllaen, where there are some very steep steps back up to the car park, where we found a good spot to break out the picnic with a great view back across the bay to the pub showing just how far we’d walked ...

Whilst we only had a couple days out and about exploring we did manage to sneak in a visit to Cadwalladers for ice cream, with plans to re-visit to try out some of their sundaes, which just looked amazing ...

...and a fish and chip supper by the sea ...

I think we may also have caught a view of the super moon from the lodge decking, though I am no expert on these things 😂

Our second visit was totally unplanned but we both felt we needed a bit of R&R and this time we managed to use the lodge as we had both hoped that we would.

We had no jobs to do, no visitors to entertain and no real plans at all. We left home at about 2.30pm on the Wednesday afternoon and were all settled in by about 6.30pm.

We did nip out to the local Asda on the Thursday, but other than that we pretty much spent the whole day watching the gardeners working on the landscaping and planting of the new pond, which is just out front of our lodge ...

The weather was weird on the Thursday and seemed to alternate between heavy rain and warm sunshine … so much so that at teatime, when all the workers had left for the day, we decided to try our the pool for the first time. It was a real treat … only us in there and lovely and warm.

We watched more planting on Friday and went nowhere at all ...

Friday night we watched a local programme on the TV where they were visiting the family home of Clough Williams-Ellis, creator of the Italianate village Portmeirion. A quick Google search showed it was only about half an hour away so we decided we would have a trip out on Saturday.

I'm so glad we’d seen it on the TV as I’m not sure we’d have found it otherwise … it is pretty well off the beaten track.

It was certainly in a beautiful spot ...

Having no real idea what to expect we parked up and followed the mown path towards enticing signs of turquoise blue, the estate colour ...

We spent a very pleasant hour or so there but I think I'll save it for another post as I've rambled on long enough for today.

We didn't go anywhere on the Sunday either ... just watched two of the park staff dressing a new lodge to take photographs. I couldn't resist going over for a sneaky peak though and wow, it was stunning. I don't think we'll be moving just yet though.

It was so nice to have some real chill out time, neither of us was really ready to come home and we just can't wait till we can get back again. I think 'lodge life' may just suit us both down to the ground 😀

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