A Long Weekend on Anglesey

We spent the May Bank Holiday at Dafarn Rhos in Moelfre on Anglesey.
Lancs & Cheshire D.A. have organised a THS(Temporary Holiday Site) running from 19th May until 11th June.
We joined the rest of the happy campers on Friday 26th after a long hot day at work we then spent around 3 more hours sitting in traffic on the M56 and the A55.

We filmed the last part of our journey for the good folks at legsdown over on Twitter who will add it to their growing list of campsite arrival videos on their You Tube channel. It’s quite important to follow the prescribed route as published on the campsite’s website as there are 3 possible routes but 2 are not suitable for caravans.

The rally field is spread over  about 6 fields which slope down towards the coast. On arrival we checked in with our Steward Jacquelyn and established that there was 1 EHU left which we duly bagged, unfortunately that meant that we were on a sloping pitch, sloping 2 ways. We chocked up the offside wheel of the caravan but we still could not get high enough to level the van. The Stewards told us that a motorhome on a nearby pitch would be leaving in the morning so if we could manage for the night we could move in the morning. Sounded like a good plan to us. So we got as level as we could and settled down for something to eat and a much needed drink.

After a Bacardi and coke I stood up to get a refill and felt rather unsteady on my feet, thought wooo that has gone straight to my head, then realised the van was on so much of a slope it was nothing to do with the booze at all.

After a very cozy nights sleep (apparently the management had no room at all, as she was at the bottom of the slope) we woke and had a brew and some breakfast while waiting for the motorhome to move off we got the van hitched up again then moved into it’s new pitch with the help of Jacquelyn’s assistant (hubby) Martin.

Now Level we put up the porch awning and furniture and after an update from Trev & Jeanette, who were joining us for a couple of nights we headed off to Benlech to visit a chemist to get a new inhaler for the management.

Trev and Jeanette arrived in glorious sunshine and we soon settled down for a drink in the sunshine.
Anglesey’s unpredictable weather struck and it got very windy during our evening meal. We helped to secure a couple of roll out awnings which had been blown over the top of the vans and unfortunately caused some damage.

On Sunday we headed off for a full cooked breakfast at the chippy in Moelfre which was closed. We decided to head further and found The Old Boat House at Red Wharf Bay which provided us with a delicious full Welsh breakfast.
In Beaumaris we found a craft fair and of course bumped into an old school friend who was camping nearby in their motorhome.

Beaumaris

After Beaumaris we drove over the Menai bridge, the older of the 2 bridges between Anglesey and the mainland. The bridge is single track and quite narrow through the support pillars.

Once on the mainland we decided to head to Caernarfon for the afternoon. A mooch around the castle and the shops and we returned to the carpark where one of the tour boats was announcing the last trip of the day in 10 minuets. We decided to take a trip out on the Menai Straits.

Caernarfon

An evening meal at a pub near the campsite (The Pilot Boat) and back to the site for drinks and games, Charades was NOT My Idea! Neither was the large jugs of Sangria to which some extra’s were added. Turning in at 3am was probably not a good idea either but that’s what happened.
Some very sore heads in the morning but Trev & Jeanette had to leave to attend a family gathering after which we had a lazy day just nipping out to the shop later.

The lazy day gave me a chance to play with some new tech that i had brought along. A Wifi Booster and a Wifi Bridge with NAS capability (NAS = Network Attached Storage) More about those in another post.

On Tuesday our last day we decided to visit a place we had been before but not for many years, Portmerrion.

Portmeirion was created by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis from 1925 to 1976. He wanted to show how a naturally beautiful site could be developed without spoiling it.

Aside from its iconic architecture, scenic surroundings and vast woodland gardens, Portmeirion is home to hip hotels, a huddle of historic cottages, a spa and award winning restuarants. During peak season (Late March to Late October), you can learn more about this unique village with free walking and train tours.
Portmerrion is also the filming location for “The Prisoner” a 1960’s TV series starring Patrick McGoohan which although only ever having filmed 17 episodes still has a cult following even today.

Anyway Portmerrion was quite expensive to enter but if you have never been before I would still recommend it. It’s also the home of Portmerrion Pottery a very popular brand of pottery in our house. It’s just a shame that a dinner plate in the Botanic Garden series costs around £16. Better not break any!

Portmerrion

Although this was a rally site there was more than the usual fresh water and Elsan Point available. There were 3 toilets and 3 showers as well as a limited number of EHU’s. The toilets were housed in the normal portaloo plastic type sheds but when we opened the door we were pleasantly surprised to find a regular porcelain toilet with a normal flush mechanism. The showers were also in the same type of shed. 3 individual sheds housing 3 showers. Showers needed a token costing 50p. The management had a shower the first day and announced it was freezing so I opted to shower in the van.

We had no access to the main campsite and I don’t really blame them when you consider that we were paying less than half the price per night so I can’t comment on the Dafarn Rhos campsite other than to say it’s in a very nice location with easy access to a nice sandy beach.

Sunset on Sunday
Sunset on Tuesday