Colwyn Bay - The last days...

 

Saturday

Saturday wasn't the most exciting day.  It started off alright, but turned into a miserably wet day.  I had promised to go to a geocaching picnic in the park just around the corner and did so, but should've stayed home. I was the only who was going to attend anyway and after a bit of a search I saw two women who looked like they could be geocachers.  Not that they identified themselves clearly, not even a GPS in hand!  Anyway, as it was they were the ones I'd been looking for.  Without proper introductions we took off to look for the nearest geocache together, found it, scribbled our names in the logbook and walked back to our meeting place.  From there we said our goodbyes and I hurried back home where I ate my picnic lunch!

My shoes were soaked and beyond drying in a hurry, so, when it cleared up later in the day Sal and I went to Llandudno where I bought an extra pair of walking shoes, having found my favourite brand: Sketchers.

Sunday

Sunday proved to be a lot better and Chris and Sal invited a Polish girl, Monika, to join us for a bit of sightseeing.  Monika has been in the country for a year now, worked mostly and had not seen much of Wales, or rather, had not seen anything at all.

Chris showed her Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch station (as you do) and on the way back we had a brief stop at the Gazelle Hotel at Menai Bridge for a cool drink.

Then it was onward to Aber Falls for a walk and a search for a few caches.  By then we had introduced Monika to the game and she liked to actively take part.

The track to Aber Falls

Old charcoal burning facility

Murals at the information centre

Smaller falls along the way

Aber Falls in the distance

Sal at some ancient ruins

 

Aber Falls closer

Down at the bottom

Aber Falls

Chris and Dylan

Picnic area

An old water wheel

Just a nice building

Views from a bridge

Monika and Sal

Along the way we also found 2 caches of the 3 that we'd been looking for:

#2 Aber Falls - The Rock

 

 #3 Aber falls - Exhibition

 

The zip line in North Wales, Zip World, is also worth a visit, so that's next on the list.  Not something that you'd see me do in a hurry.  The height and speed are not to my liking.  It was worth watching though and we settled down with a cool ice cream to watch the 'zippers' go by...

The quarry lake at Bethesda (the zip line runs across)

People 'zipping' along

The zip line starts in the top right-hand corner

The last visit on our list was Llyn Geirionydd, a large lake, also in Sowdonia national park.  But, before we went there we stopped off at a restaurant where we'd been before: Tu-Hwnt-I'r Bont, where we enjoyed a cuppa with the traditional scones with jam and cream.

Then it was on to the lake where we went for another walk, or rather, call it a climb (!) in search of a few more caches.  We found two, one of which was found by Monika to her great delight.

It was a loooong way up (and down!)

 

 Woggle Walk - Llyn Geirionydd

 

Woggle Walk - Junction 

 

 

And then it was time to go home.  Just as well, the legs were getting a bit tired... ;-)

As you can tell from the pictures we're not in the convertible, because it's gone back to the dealer for repairs.  Today we are driving a SUV, which was the reason why Chris could invite Monika as well, because Dylan had his own space in the (open) boot.

Driving past the lake...

...on the way home

Monday

 

On Monday the weather was nice too, but I felt more like logging my caches and reading then going out again.  Unlike everyone here who 'lives' outside when the sun is out I can take it a bit more laid-back.  We don't get so overly excited about a bit of sun anymore. :-)

I went on the morning and afternoon walks, but my calves started to cramp.  Think I've overdone the climbing a bit the last few days....

Tuesday

 

Tuesday was a big surprise.  We woke up to a cloudless sky and the temperature climbed steadily to an unusual 35 degrees late in the afternoon. 

A cloudless sky in the morning

Washed the bird poop off my hire car. Boy these seagulls are big poopers! :-)

I had not been on the morning walk as I was hurting too much, but went with Chris on a few rides when he had some business to conduct. The weather was perfect for it and we made a trip to Llandudno and later in the afternoon to Llanberis where Chris needed to get some gear at the scuba diving business.

As I had to wait with Dylan we went for a walk into the quarry again and later I decided to go and get one of the nearby caches.

Llanberis

 Slate

geocache found around the corner

The quarry where the divers go

Steam train at Llanberis

 

We went for our usual short walk at Little Orme at the end of the afternoon and later, at home, we had 'raclette' for dinner.  This is a lovely type of cheese fondue.  As it was still very hot I really wanted to lie down after dinner and read until bedtime.  No urge to exert myself. :-)

 Wednesday

We woke up to a thunderstorm and rain on my last day at Colwyn Bay, but nothing like the thunderstorms we experience at home.  A light rumble of thunder and some rain was all.  We didn't go for the early walk though, but went for a beach walk later and looked for some caches at the same time.

Pier Pressure #4 - Colwyn Bay

 

The second cache we went for we didn't find, but we suspect it had disappeared, so I have approached the cache owner.  When I got up from bending over to take a picture I hurt my back and could hardly walk to the car.  Not surprising I will be staying at home the rest of the day and try to get over it before tomorrow when I have to drive 4 hours to London to return the hire car and meet up with my travel buddy for the next fortnight. 

So, next time you may find me in Scotland or at least on the way to...

Till then.