Day 4

After my slightly disturbed night with fever etc, I awake better, but not best.
Breakfast is the full English type with bacon sausage eggs, baked beans, mushrooms and god knows what else.
Back on the road, overcast and looking very English weather. The day only gets better from that point.
We trundle via A and B roads across the Breton Beacons, and large park in south Wales, with great walking I am told.
Morning tea is at Llandovry and we park in a car park being over looked by a ruined castle and a stainless steel knight. Llewellyn. Another quaint town with the main street snaking through the town, cars parked facing both ways, albeit on one side of the street only.
Get the best cup of coffee so far this trip here.
We head in rather an odd direction to get to north Wales, however we are going via Aberystwyth which is on Wales west coast. A great town set in a valley , with narrow streets with cars parked everywhere, as usual. Got to the beach. Grey sand with waves about 3 inches high. Try my first Welsh cake “hot off the griddle”. Rather nice like a crispish pikelets. Get a bacon roll for lunch later and off again, through the rolling hills of north Wales. Billy leads us through some stunning country and as we head into Snowdonia, it gets more stunning with huge scree slopes, the road running along the side of steep hills, with fabulous stone walls. In fact the stones walls are everywhere. Mind you there is so much stone it should be called Stonedonia.
We’re held up by some road works, and sit and sit, whilst a tractor blocks the one open lane. We are controlled by a set of traffic lights, and after he’s out of the road, of course the other end get first go. Mind you the views are worth the sit.
We can see the road on the other side of the valley snaking up the side of the hill. Then we get the green light and are off, along the mountainside, over a saddle and dip down to Llanferis where the train to the top of Snowdon departs. Missed all today’s connections, must book preferable day before however if we can go tomorrow on the first train out we may get a BOGOF, the parking attendant tells us. BOGOF? Buy one get one free, he tells us.
Where you from he asks, eyeing the flag, NZ or Australia. To my NOT NZ, he says of course there are more starts for the other state that everyone forgets, what is it Oh yes Tasmania. No no idiot and whilst we don’t get BOGOF, with do get 24% discount for tomorrow trip.
Back along the mountain road now to Betwys –Y-Coed, yet another cute town with narrow street, shops either side and lovely bridge over the running stream. Walkers everywhere, boots poles and packs. There must be at least 4 outdoor shops in town.
We are in the YHA at Swallow Hotel. All very quiet until we come back from the shops. A busload of teenagers are in for 2 days. Racing all over the place, in and out of doors. I hope they sleep.
No internet connection again.
More tmorrow.