Lodge Life :: March 2023

Hi there everyone 😀

Looking at the snow outside today you wouldn't quite believe this but ... according to my calendar the 1st of March is both the first day of spring and St David’s Day ...

It is also the day that our holiday park opens again for the season so there was only going to be one place we were heading for …

We’d been de-winterised … there were no disasters … and it didn’t take us long to get unpacked, crank up the heating and get settled in.

We spent our first full day doing absolutely nothing … unless you count a good dose of David Baldacci whilst lolling of the sofa.

Day two and we thought we ought to make an effort and venture out. We opted for a drive to Y Felinheli. It was a spot we’d seen on the map … on the coast and in between Caernarfon and Bangor. We had no idea what we would find and though there wasn’t an awful lot there it was a pretty little spot for a wander …

From here we moved on up the coast to another spot we’d wanted to have a look at … The Vaynol Estate. We didn’t really know if it was accessible to the public but followed the long estate walls, passing a very ornate main gateway … which was definitely not a way in for public visitors.

We headed left at the next island into Parc Menai to see if we could get through that way. We soon spotted a National Trust Sign for Glan Faenol ... and followed a bumpy track which took us down to a small car park and picnic area with fabulous views across the Menai Strait to Anglesey …

It was just lovely. There was an information board showing some short walking routes, which didn’t look too far … and we couldn’t resist the lure of a bird hide and viewpoints so decided to have a bit of an impromptu ramble …

It was lovely to see the first daffodils coming into bloom and it seemed like a good opportunity to have a play with my new photo app … though I’m not really sure that I’m that keen on the result … maybe I need more practice…

At the bottom of the picnic area we headed through the pretty kissing gate …

… and down towards the Strait and the bird hide …

We didn’t really see much by the way of bird life but the view over to Plas Newydd on Anglesey was pretty stunning … even on a dull day …

We headed left and followed the footpath through the woods …

… to the next viewpoint …

… which gave another cracking view across the Strait ...

We Carried on along the path, which is actually part of the Wales Coast Path ...

... to the third viewpoint, which was a beauty … traditionally built and blending in perfectly with the woodland in which it sat …

… and gave the best views yet of Plas Newyd yet …

From here the path took us away from the coast and up through the Boathouse Covert …

… and past the National Trust ranger hut before heading back across the field and back to where we’d started ...

It wasn’t a long walk … about 3500 steps … but it was just about enough for us this time. There is a bit of an incline back up through the woods and it could clearly be very muddy, though it hadn’t been too bad for us.

If you fancy having a look you can see the directions for the walk here.

Having had no breakfast or brought out any drinks or snacks it was definitely time for a refreshment stop and it was but a short drive to the garden centre where we availed ourselves of their very fine café for lunch.

Other than a drive to Porthmadog for a short mooch about that was pretty much all the venturing out we did for the six days we were away.

We did take a bit of a detour on the way home though. We’d been wanting to have a look at Lake Vyrnwy for a while. It was about a half an hour drive off our normal route and it was certainly an experience. It was a bit hairy in places, with some very narrow lanes, with few passing places and some pretty steep drops. For us to say that ... it must have been bad ... as we love a bit of narrow lane driving. It’s a shame the weather was a bit grey as, on a bright day, there would definitely be some good photo opportunities.

Eventually we found ourselves at the top of the reservoir … which is vast. We decided to take the road to the right this time and headed for the dam ... where we were hoping to find some good views and maybe even a café. It was a lovely drive and there was plenty to see along the way ...

Once we were at the dam we parked up for a short while to have a look ... and a wander to the cafe, where we bought toasted tea cakes and ate them in the bird hide close by ... which was teeming with birds of all kinds ... it was fascinating and we could have watched them for hours.

The dam was pretty impressive too ...

We were so glad we'd made the detour and will definitely do it again. It would be lovely to stop for a picnic on the way home ... just need a bit warmer weather for that though 😀

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