Author: gingertravellerblog

Pembrokeshire day 4 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

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Today we did a coastal road trip and spent most of it fog dodging! We have been quite lucky for most of the day, but it definitely caught up with us this evening making the coastal roads a total joy to drive on.

This morning we started in Tresaith to hunt down the beach waterfall. As is tradition with this trip, we couldn’t find the car park. If anyone decides to visit here, keep an eye out for the A5 sized sign which is just past the bus stop. I promise it’s a car park and not a building site like we originally thought 🤣 head to the beach and climb over the rocks to the right and you’ll find the fabulous falls that cascade on to the beach. There’s also a burger van with a very enthusiastic chap so it’s well worth spending time here.

Our next stop was the Dinas Head coastal walk. Luckily the fog was clearing by this point so we were able to actually see some of the views! We also managed to bag another trig. It’s a fantastic 3 mile walk which I would definitely recommend. And an added bonus.. there’s a pub at the car park overlooking the beach ⛱

Next stop.. Fishguard and time to wrap up as the temperature had definitely dropped. We had a little walk around the harbour before heading to another watering hole for a delicious burger and a real ale for Santa.

Back on the road and to St David’s- the smallest city in the UK. The fog was particularly thick now, but this meant the cathedral looked a lot more dramatic. Luckily there was a group of lads lads lads making a vlog, so we had a cheeky earwig to learn all about the place. Unfortunately we got there after 5pm so santa was unable to have a mooch around the cathedral. But it was still great to see it from the outside.

The last stop was a walk around Carew Castle, which again looked very dramatic against a misty backdrop. Parking here is free! And even after opening hours you are still able to get a very good view of the ruins.

Santa’s Sesh 🎅🏻 Santa enjoyed Jemima’s Pitchfork. A 4.5% ale named after the Welsh heroine Jemima Nicholas. A man of many words.. he described it as very very good 👍 and he’s currently munching on his 4th Welsh Cake of the day 🐷

Pembrokeshire day 3 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

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From glorious sunshine to thick fog and rain. Not the conditions we wanted for today; however it turns out seabirds love this weather! One good thing about Rona is they have now set up a booking system for Skomer rather than turning up at 6am hoping to be one of the lucky few on the island that day.

After a rather choppy boat ride across we arrived at Skomer and got our first glimpse of the puffins. Skomer isn’t all about the puffins however, and we were lucky today to see…

  • Manx Shearwater (these are usually out at night so incredibly lucky to see them)
  • Kittiwake
  • Variety of crows
  • Gannet
  • Oystercatcher
  • Shag
  • Guillemot
  • Razorback
  • Grey seal
  • Variety of plant life

The island is also home to a wide variety of gulls. It was lovely seeing them in their natural habitat, and not feeding on McDonald’s out of the bins outside the Guildhall in Worcester!

Despite the weather we still had a fantastic day. If you want to experience an island that is rich in seabirds, wildlife, plant life and all things nature then you need to jump at the chance of being one of the 250 allowed per day.

https://www.pembrokeshire-islands.co.uk/boat-trips/land-on-skomer/

We finished our soggy day off with a fabulous meal next to Pembroke Castle. Unfortunately they didn’t have any local cask ale, so Santa settled for one of our local beers- Hobgoblin!

Pembrokeshire day 2 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

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This morning was all about coastal Trusting again. The car park however was a nightmare to find and a nightmare to drive in to. I’m convinced I’ve done rather a lot of damage to my car thanks to the million pot holes in the road!

We started with the Lydstep circular which gave us more spectacular views across Pembrokeshire, then headed along the coastal path to Church Door Cove. The steps up and down certainly got the old ticker going! It was a gorgeous cove with more unsual rock formations (for those who went to high school with me.. this certainly would be in Miss Humphries’ wank bank) Make sure you check tide times if you plan on visiting here.

This afternoon was all about Tenby. After lunch in a pub which had its own brewery (obvs) we headed to the beach for a spot of sunbathing and an obligatory ice cream. Unfortunately I am now one crispy ginger because I neglected the factor 30 again.. Tenby is full of charm, colourful houses, and one of the most pissy smelling multistorey car parks. I particularly enjoyed the shop selling Center Parcs rubber rings outside. I’m intrigued to know how they acquired these!

This evening we visited St Govans Chapel which is build into the cliff side. Legend has it that if you count the steps on the way down and up, the number is never the same. Unfortunately mid way, somebody decided to talk to Santa about his football shirt which totally threw the count. This is definitely worth visiting as it’s so unique!

On the way back to our gaff we stopped by Freshwater West again – this time to visit the grave of Dobby. Yes it’s just a pile of rocks for a fictional character.. but just reading the tributes on the rocks shows how much the world of Harry Potter means to people. In the words of Dobby – it’s such a beautiful place, to be with friends.

We finished off our super long day with alcohol beverages on the beach. Such lads lads lads!

Santa’s sesh 🎅🏻 Lunch & beer was at Harbwr in Tenby with its own brewery. Santa enjoyed the Caldey Lollipop – a 4.5% American style IPA. He’s purchased yet another glass to go with his ever growing collection 🍺

Pembrokeshire day 1 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

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Today we were meant to be arriving at the airport 5 hours early to board a plane for attempt number 2 of our Croatian adventure. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be.. so we jumped in the Seat Leon and along the M4 to Wales.

We are staying in Freshwater East; so decided to keep today nice and local and explore the coastline around Barafundle Bay. After firing up the Alltrails we found a 6 mile walk (including the instagramable Lily Pond) and set out for our first adventure. The views were spectacular and luckily so was the weather. A mixture of coastal national park, beaches, woodland and the most enormous lake made it one of our most varied and enjoyable walks.

As its the law to have fish and chips when you’re by the sea, we grabbed a takeaway from Pembroke and took our greasy feast to Freshwater West. Although a fair few chips did end up on the beach.. we still enjoyed the obligatory meal and finished the day off with the beautiful sky.

Staycation day 3

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Today I’ve been a bad ginger and totally forgot to put suncream on…

This morning we went to have a look at some of the stations on the West Somerset Railway line – you can’t beat an old fashioned station! Unfortunately due to Rona, all the stations are locked and you are unable to get a decent look without potentially getting a cheeky fine. As we all know about our ‘fine history’, we decided not to chance it.

As we were heading home today, we chose Glastonbury as our stop. Surprisingly none of us have ever been! It certainly is a quirky place.. there is a constant smell of insence wafting down the street and so many people walk around with bare feet! If boho is your vibe then this is definitely the place for you. Obviously we had to climb Glastonbury Tor and the views were amazing. On a clear day, which for once we were lucky with today, you can see for miles. Unfortunately most of the people I moved out of the way for (to ensure social distancing) on the narrow path up/down didn’t say thank you! Not even a nod of acknowledgement..

I have often driven up/down the M5 and wondered what the big grass mound is and J22. Well know I know its called Brent Knoll and its a little bitch to climb! Thank god for the practice in the lakes. Although it’s not a long walk, it certainly is steep in parts. But so worth it as it offers views for miles! This was where we decided to picnic. Unfortunately half way through my coronation chicken sandwich, and after a discussion about the smell I realised I trodden in dog shit. Why people cannot pick it up is beyond me. It totally ruined my favourite lunch!

No pub for Santa today.. can you actually believe it! Its been a lovely few days in Somerset and was a county we have loved exploring!

Staycation day 2

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Today we totally misread the weather and all headed out in jeans. Massive mistake!

This morning was spent in Dunster, which of course is home to another new trust. Dunster Castle sits on top of a steep hill so offers great views of the Bristol Channel and surrounding area. It operates a one way system, which does involve some queueing to get into the castle, but it is definitely worth it. There is also a lovely river garden walk, where Santa found out that gunnera’s are also known as dinosaur food 🦕 and he has not stopped going on about this all day! From the castle you can head down the hill into Dunster village which is full of cute shops and cafes. Unfortunately most of them were closed… but we managed to find one with lovely views of the castle and we enjoyed an obligatory cream tea!

Dunster Castle

As the weather was super scorchio we decided to head to Dunster Beach. Unfortunately it seems I’ve turned into a bit of a beach snob.. it wasn’t Cornish standard but was still nice to walk along. And parking on the road adds a free cheeky bonus when you’re feeling a bit tight 😉

Due to our attire error, we had to return to horse caravan to change into something a bit more appropriate! The afternoon and evening was spent in a beautiful yet quirky little place called Porlock Wier; and a much nicer (pebble) beach. For those with pooches, this is a dog friendly beach 🐕

Porlock Wier

There are a few options for food so we went with The (bottom) Ship Inn. Santa was loving the beer selection and went with an Exmoor Ale 5.2% The fish and chips was lovely and it had a great selection of puddings – and not bad prices either!

Tomorrow is the last day of mini Staycation and we have to be out of horse caravan by 9am!! Gutted as I do enjoy a lie in.. and still no idea what the plan is for tomorrow!

Staycation Day 1

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As it’s highly unlikely that we will be getting on a plane anytime soon 😭 and because you have definitely missed it 😉 I’ve decided to blog our few days away! What a treat.

    As there was no airport run, I wasn’t dragged anywhere 4 hours early – always a bonus!

    The first half of the day was spent at a brand new Trust! New Trust means new stamp in the passport. Stourhead has plenty of grounds to walk around and is 100% one I’d recommend if you’re in the area. The trees were just starting to turn so it was lovely to see the start of the autumn colours. Momma was in photography heaven.

    For the afternoon we headed over to Watchet for some sea air. Apologies if this is anyone’s favourite place.. but it wasn’t quite as ‘quaint’ as I was expecting. I was especially upset by the viewpoint wall that I was too short to see over! Although it had plenty of watering holes to keep Santa happy, it isn’t somewhere I would rush back to.

    We’ve gone for a quirky Airbnb and are staying in a static caravan in the middle of a horse riding school 🤣 it is however a perfect base for exploring the local area. Tomorrow is another new trust.. bet you can’t wait to find out which one it is!!

    Santa’s Sesh 🎅

    We found a lovely local pub in Williton which served Tribute so he was well happy. The food was delish as well. Just a shame the table behind were absolute animals and spent all evening belching 🤦‍♀️

    P.s… I can’t work out this new website on my phone 🤣

    Stourhead

      Day 8 – Calgary

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      This morning was probably one of the most beautiful of the trip. The sky was bright blue, the air was crisp and the snow was glistening in the sun. We stocked up on a super posh buffet breakfast before our last walk around Lake Louise.

      We stopped at the Olympic Park on our way into Calgary and were lucky enough to see some gold medalists practicing for the ski and snowboard world cup. The local school kids come here as part of their school curriculum; how lucky are they!! Knowing our PE teachers they would make us do it in cycling shorts and a tshirt….

      Calgary itself is very built up, which after a week in the mountains means I wasnt overly fussed on the place. So we treated ourselves to a badly packed Taco Bell and a Starbucks.

      We are currently sat in the airport (Steve you’ll be pleased to know we are 3 hours early) waiting for the flight home. Another adventure over far too quickly. Canada; you have been totally amazing. We have been treated so some wonderful food, wonderful views and shared the trip with a bunch of fabulous people. More memories made and a lot more memory taken up on the phone!

      Day 7 – Lake Louise

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      We started the day with the poshest breakfast on our trip – I was in pastry heaven! So it was only right that I had rather a lot of them, with a cheeky Eggs Benedict on the side.

      This morning we went out with a guide snowshoeing around Lake Louise. He kept saying how young and fit I was (clearly needs his eyes testing, I think he should have changed the i for an a…) and suggested I went ‘off piste’ to properly experience the shoes on deep snow. It was all going fine whilst I was mooching around in the trees. Then I got onto the lake.. it all went downhill from here as the snow was rather a lot deeper than I had anticipated and ended up with a very very cold minky.

      We headed back to the room to get ready for an afternoon at the ski resort and discovered the lovely housekeeper had left us not 2, but 10 Lindt chocolates!! Obviously these lasted 2 minutes. Went down a right treat!

      This afternoon we boarded the shuttle to Lake Louise Ski Resort where I finally got to ski in Canada. Yes it was only for a few hours but was totally worth it. I basically had the mountain to myself! The views (even with relatively poor visability) were amazing and the runs were perfect.

      Momma had a go on the tubing – her face was an absolute picture 😂 although a lot of our group decided to have a go so by the end the run had become that slippery they nearly shot off the end into the car park!

      This evening we had farewell drinks around a log fire. Cant beat a free glass of wine! We had dinner with a couple who’s children went to the same primary, secondary and college as me – such a small world!

      The white stuff is coming down rather heavy tonight so will be interesting to see the surroundings in the morning. Definitely going to stock up on posh breakfast before our final stop in Calgary.

      Day 6 – Lake Louise

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      A relatively short one today due to a day on the bus! This morning we left Jasper behind and travelled to Lake Louise along the beautiful Icefields Parkway again. It really is one of the most scenic drives I have ever done. We had a few photo stops along the way which were made even more spectacular by the bright blue sky behind.

      We arrived in Lake Louise village centre for some lunch and a stock up on snacks. We paid 4 quid for a very small box of shortbread in Jasper; madness! There was some cute little shops here and I accidentally treated myself to some Canadian gin.

      Before heading to the hotel we took a detour to Emerald Lake, located in Yoho National Park in British Columbia. Another province to tick off the list! I think this has got to be one of the prettiest places we have been so far. I did however get a bit cocky trying to get down to the lake and fell straight on my arse. Thank God for decent padding. I feel I need to give a special shout out to the toilets. I have recently got back from India and I can honestly say the ones in Delhi train station smelt 10x nicer. This toilet gave off a stench that I wont ever forget…..

      We’re now at our final hotel for the next 2 nights – the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. The hotel is essentially a mini (but super expensive) village and I’m looking forwards to properly exploring the grounds tomorrow as we start the day with some snowshoeing. We managed to have a little mooch earlier, but underestimated the real feel temperature (a scorching-16) and was therefore not appropriately dressed. Yay for the big thighs to keep me slightly warm.