North Wales for Beth's Graduation.

Yesterday we drove across to North Wales for our daughter, Beth's graduation.  She has just completed four years at Bangor Uni studying Spanish and Italian.
The pack up and getaway went well, especially as it was the first trip out in the caravan since last September.  We were away from Stallingborough, where we store the van, by 11.30.  The journey went well and we arrived at our site in Llanfairfechan at 5.00 with a couple of stops.  Despite Sally Satnav's protestations we drove over the Woodhead Pass in preference to the M62.  A quick trip into Bangor for shopping and we were back chilling in the hot sun with a beer while our ready meal heated in the oven.  Delighted by a fantastic weather forecast for the next few days, we fell into bed exhausted after a hectic week.

We awoke this morning to cloudless skies and high temperatures.  After a late get up, a lazy breakfast followed and we proceeded to relax on the site in the sun all morning recharging the batteries.

The plan for the afternoon was to walk up to the nearby Aber Falls, but on driving up to the car park, we found it heaving, so we opted for the sea front in Llanfairfechan instead.  We were very pleasantly surprised; a beautiful spot with rocky beach and wonderful old groynes, weathered to a lustrous silver sheen by wind and spray, and views over the Menai Straits to Anglesey and Puffin Island with Penmon light in between and up into the Carneddau mountains behind us.  I had last been up there in February in a blizzard and had seen nothing from their summits; today they were totally clear of cloud.  After an ice cream we wandered along the sea to the attractive and interesting saltmarsh nature reserve.  The afternoon was baking hot and the air was full of the scent of hot earth and saltmarsh mud.  Few birds were in evidence other than gulls, a single curlew, pied wagtails foraging on the marsh and buzzards wheeling on the thermals above the hills.  In one of the creeks, though, cut off from the sea until the next big tide, was a shoal of huge torpedo-shaped grey mullet.

We had read about stone circle - the Druids' Circle, up in the hills and with the help of a local couple, identified its location; the target for tomorrow.

After the walk it was back to the van in time for beer o'clock, tea and Le Tour.

Images below weathered groynes, Llanfairfechan.  To view large click on the thumbnail.

Puffin Island on the horizon.