Through the Cotswolds and Walking in Wales

After spending quite a few weeks exploring London, we decided to head for greener pastures for a long weekend.

We hired a small black car and headed out early Friday morning, leaving London (surprisingly) quickly behind us. Not much traffic at all - I guess everyone was still in bed at 6am.

Before too long, we were cruising through the little English villages that everybody loves. Little markets, walking tracks, churches, cafes, rivers and parks aplenty. Not many people out and about in the early morning which was lovely.

We made a stop-off at the Rollright stones and checked out ‘The Kings Men Stone Circle’ - a slightly strange place where big rocks sit in a circle in a field. (#$@%^??) The website says that they date from the late neolithic period which was about 2500 - 2000 BC - used in ceremonies, surrounded in legend etc... Historically very important rocks apparently - if not slightly spooky and eerie.

We spent lunch at a country pub and then visited Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. Yep, this is it: the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Shame lots of other tourists had also chosen that day to learn a little more about the literary man himself, because Stratford-upon-Avon was a buzzing. After checking out Anne Hathaway’s cottage (the home of Shakespeare’s wife) we continued on but made a promise to return to this stunning part of England again soon.

By the afternoon we were feeling the previous late night and the early start (such nanna’s these days) and were happy to arrive in beautiful Wales.

By the way - you don’t actually realize that you have arrived in Wales until you notice a different (unpronounceable) language on the signs. The whole act of ‘driving’ into a new country is such a strange concept to a kiwi kid! No passport stamp either - stink!

Since had arrived at the Welsh coast, we decided to check out the beaches. One of Chris’s workmates had recommended a walk in the hills behind Barmouth, so we left the masses of people down on the beach and headed for the hills. So beautiful and quite up there and hardly any other people! I can only assume that the masses were too busy riding the mini rollercoaster and stuffing themselves with fried fish and candy floss to bother going for a walk to check out the view. What a shame, because the walk was certainly worthwhile, even if we did get lost and ended up following the ancient rock walls back down the hills.

On the way along the coast, we visited Harlech Castle. An impressive castle, perched on a cliff looking out to sea. Building began in 1283. The walls and turrets remain, allowing visitors the chance to climb up the spiral staircase and look out over the ocean.

We continued towards mid-Wales and booked into our B&B. after a quick nap we took off to explore the area surrounding Rhayader. The Elan Valley is an area of lakes, waterfalls, valleys and miles of rock walled farmland. It has a rugged and wild remoteness to it. Once again, we were amazed at the beauty of the place and surprised to see how similar it is to parts of New Zealand, especially the South Island. The Elan Valley has heaps of really impressive bridges (no I’m not being sarcastic - they really are impressive!) and HUGE dams that were designed back in the 1890’s.

After being in a non-stop summer since November last year, Chris was ecstatic to feel the cold weather. I, on the other hand, was wrapped up in shirt, fleece and a windbreaker and still feeling the cold!

The next day we continued on through mid-Wales towards Snowdonia. Superb scenery. The mountains are rugged and extremely popular with climbers and walkers. Tourism is now a main employer but farming and the mining of slate rock is also big here.

We stayed two nights at the YHA in Capel Curig and enjoyed spending the day hiking through the forest to the lake areas behind the cute village of Betws-y-Coed. Since the cloud cover had moved down to 800 metres, we decided not to attempt the climb up Snowdon (highest mountain in England and Wales) on this trip. We will be returning next year though - along with a few friends hopefully!

On our return trip we stopped for a picnic at the canals near the Froncysyllte aqueduct. An unbelievable bridge designed in 1795. Basically a bridge that carries a flow of water over a valley and river allowing boats to cross! Quite unreal to see boats floating along, 121 feet above a raging river. At last the things I learnt in ‘classics’ class in high school are beginning to make sense.

After lunch at the auqeduct, we spent the afternoon at Powis Castle and gardens. So hard to believe that construction began on the castle as early as 1200! Like so many of the historical places in the UK, this was AMAZING. The lady at the ticket office didn’t have to try hard to up-sell us a joint membership to the National Trust!

This trip certainly reinforced our decision to take off and explore the rest of the world. Just wicked! We hope you enjoy looking at the photos - the quality is not as high as the rest of the photos but smaller quality means we can put more on.

---

---