Anglesey Island

19th Nov

Before we left Bethesda rugby club in the morning, we re-organised the rear storage area, pumped up the trailer tyres and Andy put the drone up for 5 minutes. 

We set off for a Motor caravan club CL site at Ty Newydd green on the isle of Anglesey just past RAF Valley, run by Nia and Gareth. It was a small site, just a bit of space at the front of their cottages but for £10 per night it had water and waste, a toilet and a shower for £1 in the honesty box!  

Here, we are leaving Bethesda and crossing the Britannia bridge across the Menai strait.

In the evening we went to watch the Scotland v Argentina rugby match in the Holland hotel at the end of the road and then back home to watch England v New Zealand before bed. There was a small road going past the site but no noise to speak of.

20th Nov

The rain came again in the morning but we got on our bikes anyway and set off towards Arfordirol Penrhos Park over the Stanley causeway. We stopped at a Spar on the way to withdraw some cash to pay for the camp site as they preferred cash payments. That done we crossed the causeway to the picnic area where we found a pet graveyard in the woods! The coastal park was beautiful and we said that we would like to return in the summer to make better use of it. On the way back we stopped for Mochas and cake in the old toll booth, now 'The coffee cups'  café. Expensive at £16 but a lovely little place.

Beautiful sunshine now! A nice ride back to van and Snowdon was visible in the distance at last. Andy washed the bikes with the hose by the toilet and packed them into the trailer. A quick shower then Andy watched the world cup on his phone as leisure battery was low. After the match he decided to get into bed and watched all 6 episodes of James Corden Mammals. Fantastic program, can't wait for a 2nd series!

21st 

Everything is out of power, laptops, phones, drone, cameras and the leisure battery is low. It's cold! 😒 The diesel heater is on but we can only run it when running the engine so the battery is being charged by the alternator. We got back on the road and hoped that the leisure battery would get enough charge on the journey. We headed for Holyhead to find somewhere to park but there were no campsites open so we parked in the sailing club car park for the day and continued to search for a site. We were looking for a campsite with EHU so that we could charge everything up. 

We locked up and walked into town and found a café called Picnics’ where we had a jacket potato each. Then we tried two pubs to watch England v Iran in the world cup but they didn’t allow dogs so we went back to van and watched it on catch up. We decided to stay in the car park over night and take a chance on being asked to move. There were two other vans parked along side of us so we felt ok about staying. The leisure battery was low again so we had another early night, wrapping up to keep warm in bed. Not the best couple of days of our nearly two years of van life but we are optimistic and we know that these problems will be sorted out and things will get better soon.  

22nd 

After a really peaceful but cold night we left the sailing club with the leisure battery still low but once engine was running it was charging at least. We stopped at Tesco's for fuel and then Aldi for food as Tesco had a multi story car park which we couldn’t get in! 

We had found Pwll preban, a CL site on ‘Search for sites’ but there was no answer when we phoned but we drove there anyway and parked at the top pitch, taking a chance that it was open and we wouldn't be asked to leave. We got the chairs out for the first time since we left Hertford and made camp! It was a roasting hot, (15 degrees) day and blazing sun so we were hoping that the solar would charge the leisure battery.

We didn’t hook up or use the facilities as we still hadn’t been able to contact the owner, however she phoned soon after and said that we were welcome and that she would pop up to see us later. We hooked up, filled the tank, and got on the bikes with D in his trailer and went to Traeth born wen beach  and walked along to the cottages at the edge of the bay where the sun was just going down. The boatman’s cottage was stunning and had its own steps to the water. 

Back on the bikes and home for dinner while we watched football world cup then bed.  

23rd 

The lovely sunny day turned into a very windy and rainy night and once again the van was rocking, but not in a good way! We got dressed and took the  dog for a walk around the lanes and then back on the bikes to Traeth Llydan beach which was the nearest we could get to RAF Valley airfield. The RAF had been flying Texan T1’s constantly since we have been on Anglesey, and we discovered that these were training flights for student RAF pilots. Also, the Juno and Jupiter HT1 training helicopters were very busy.

We had to dismantle the bikes to make them light enough to lift over the stiles as we trekked through the fields but when we got to the beach it was worth it. Very windy but spectacular. 

We had a paddle (with our wellies on) and then headed back home to the van for a beer and write up the diary for the blog. A very windy night! We thought about turning the van into the wind to help with the constant rocking, but we suffered it for the night after all although it was slightly worrying.

24th

We woke up and the wind was still strong  so we turned the van into the wind after all. D wasn’t very enthusiastic about walkies, but we managed a quick trot over the fields before heading back for breakfast. 

Andy went to have a shower and reported that it was the best shower so far but possibly not hot enough for Sue who enjoys her shower almost scalding hot! Then Andy carried on with the web site work for a couple of hours before Sue insisted that we get on the bikes and head for the beach as it had stopped raining! We ended up near Silver bay caravan park where the beach was just as beautiful and windy as the other two that we had visited. D paddled across a stream of fresh water which was running into the sea and Andy rode his bike on the sand.

We explored for a while and then back to the van to warm up. It was still really windy and it had changed direction so it was rocking the van but not as bad as before.  We would have loved to have got the drone up but it was just a bit too windy.

25th

In the morning we started packing stuff away and emptied grey and black waste, got rid of rubbish and got ready to rock n roll. We are heading for Penmon point, the nearest land to Puffin island. The roads (roads?) were like lanes and it was a very tight squeeze but we made it down to the car park. Phew! 

We had a walk along the pebble beach and took lots of photos and videos of the light house, Puffin island and the Snowdonia national park range of mountains then into the 'Pilot house' café for some Mochas and pizza next to a very large log burner. The café was decorated with VW camper van themes.

Back in the van to struggle up the hill out of the car park and off to collect our post which Andy’s Mum had kindly forwarded on to the post office in Menai, just before the Menai bridge. 

We drove into the town past the bridges and found a free car park which was just big enough to take our van! Andy walked from there to the post office and post collected we continued across the Pont Britannia bridge over the Menai strait and off the island, down to the Bethesda rugby club again for a cheap, safe night and a well deserved drinkies in the club bar whilst watching England v USA world cup.  

Next, Swallow falls and Betws-y-coed.