Kias, Klingons, Clouds and Cottages

Day Thirteen – Nantmor Wales

Today was a great day despite everything it promised to begin with...

I didn't have a particularly good night, again largely due to a motel bed. Thank goodness there is only the odd one or two of those left in the trip. To add to that when we got up it was raining quite heavily and the promise of 4-5 hours in the car on top made the whole thing look pretty grim in prospect.

Unlike getting into Bath, getting out was a simple enough process and didn't involve any traffic, wrong turns or other distractions. The weather was also being helpful, with only the odd shower interspersed with longish periods of grey skies and even some sunshine. Jenni was amused by the fact I was near pissing myself laughing at a motor dealership called "Allen Kia" (where you assemble your own car armed only with a small bent piece of metal according to me).

About an hour on the road and we reached our first milestone of the day's driving – the Severn Bridge and the gateway to Wales – quite the bargain at GBP5.50 if it got me away from motorways, mad drivers and f*cking roundabouts. What sort of nutter sticks THREE triple-lane roundabouts together and then puts traffic lights on it??? Apparently almost every traffic "engineer" in England.

Once we were over the bridge and in Wales things immediately looked a lot more serene. Suddenly all the signs were bi-lingual, the traffic was ten times better and the scenery was improving by the mile. I was in no way daunted by the prospect of about 3-4 hours of Welsh A-roads, quite the opposite in fact. Of all the car-time on the trip this bit and York – Edinburgh are the bits I most want to see.

We took a slight wrong turn in Pandy meaning we saw it twice, once in each direction. Given it was about the only place Jenni could actually pronounce it wasn't such an issue. For pretty much the rest of the time I was never sure if Jenni was attempting Welsh or Klingon. To be fair there may not be much difference from Klingon and swearing in Welsh. The killer was a place called "Blwch" which came out something like "blech". Not sure I could pronounce that one myself either but I was admitting to that at the time.

Mile by mile things we getting more and more "Welsh" to my mind. The hills were turning into bigger hills and finally peaks. The weather was having alternating between brief periods of stinging rain, lowering clouds that stuck to the hilltops and bright sunshine. The trip was quickly turning into a cross between the Putty Road and Lord of the Rings. I was having an absolute ball, zipping up grim valleys, around hills, and down through dark, tree-lined roads alonside rivers belting with recent rain. Jenni and Anna were trying to look inevery direction at once. Dave Nelson, if you're reading this you would LOVE Wales. It's driving heaven.

We made a brief stop to buy food for the cottage about 10 minutes from Nantmor (which is about 10 minutes from Porthmadog on the coast of North Wales). While we were in the shop someone came in and announced themselves with an "Ay-ya!" just like Stacey from Gavin and Stacey. Jenni was killing herself laughing and I was laughing at her.

Not long after we turned off for Nantmor. Blink and you'd miss it. If there is such a thing as a Welsh one-horse town this is it. One VERY narrow road in and out, about 20 houses max and the amenities total a church (one service a week on Sunday arvo in Welsh), a post box, a phone box and a request halt for the Welsh Highland narrow guage railway. We had to stop on the way in to let a steam train pass which was a nice touch.

The cottage is right at the end of a farm track, behind the barn and is absolutely beautiful. Low ceilings, cosy, and really well set up. Ironically there was a bottle of Blaxland Estate red on the table to welcome us. Not quite sure where that is exactly but apparently its in NSW.

Once unpacked we went for a walk. In almost every direction you can see great big hills of granite, some of them topping 600 metres. Everything else is green grass, trees, streams, stone walls and more. Jenni has already started looking at the for sale signs. We walked down to the river and then up one of the walking tracks a short distance. Everything is covered in moss and so green its amazing. There may well be more water in a square foot of Wales than in the entire of Winmalee. Walking back we had to stop for another steam train and managed some great photos. We've got a couple of train trips coming this week and it got me quite excited (anorak alert!).

Walking back into the cottage we met the owner. She was taking her black and white cattle dog called Charlie for a walk. What a coincidence! We told her about my dog as a kid and I got some doggy affection out of my system. The owner seems quite pleasant and pointed out the only small patch of grass guaranteed NOT to have sheep-poop on it – a fenced off area with a football goal in it ;-)

Dinner was a home-made pasta which was a great change from restauraunts, takeaways and sandwiches. We're all looking forward to a proper diet for a change. We're also looking forward to separate bedrooms, no traffic noise and no crowds.

I've been waiting to get back to Wales ever since I visited as a kid. I was worried that my memories were somewhat "rose coloured" if you know what I mean. That proved to be completely untrue. Wales is every bit as wild, green and beautiful as I remember it. If there is anywhere else on the planet I could live, this is it. The next 7 days are going to go in a flash and I'm going to be very sorry when we leave.

Cheers,

Millsy