Llanfendigaid Adventures, Day 3

Day 3 began as usual with dawn on the beach as normal.  Nothing different, but just a joy to be there with fabulous views over to the Llyn Peninsular which looked like a fleet of battleships floating on the horizon.  After breakfast the Rothwell and Pickwell wrinklies set out for a walk around the Rhaeadr Ddu waterfalls and abandoned goldmines from the village of Ganllwyd just north of Dolgellau.  The path wanders up through the forest past several picturesque falls before reaching the main waterfall.  This cascades in two stages and is different each visit depending on the rainfall.  On one memorable occasion in August 26 years ago we had been camping at nearby Brithdir and had had 48 hours of solid rain.  We decided to visit the falls and they were awesome.  Instead of two cascades there was just one mighty fall more reminiscent of Niagara than a Welsh waterfall.  We were unable to get any closer than the bridge over the river.  On this day, however, we walked up beside them and on into the upper forest, before completing a circuit over the open hillside and past the old goldmines. 

In the evening we enjoyed yet again our traditional beach BBQ, although the food was cooked up at the house.  We members of the advance party went down to beach to collect driftwood, of which there was plenty, to get a good fire going.  Later everyone else came down and hot dogs and burgers were enjoyed until the sun began to sink in the west.  This is something all of the middle generation remember with great fondness from their childhood trips here in the 1990s, although some of the current crop of young ones will be too tiny to remember it.  Those holidays in the great rambling house with the deserted rocky beach back in the '90s were straight out of Enid Blyton's Famous Five adventures.