Wednesday 11th July: After yesterday's wind's the gazebo had bitten
the dust and the only decent thing to do was take it down. The
wind was so strong two of the wooden poles from the windbreak
had snapped. We put up what was left of the windbreak to see us
through the rest of the week and put on our coats (yes, it was
still cold and wet) and headed off to Tescos for a nice hot breakfast.
We went to have a look at Stanley
Embankment and Rosneigr Bay with a view to paddling, but decided
to put it off 'till Thursday, hoping for improved weather.
Stanley: dangerous signs!
Headed off down the Seacroft. Had
tea at the more upmarket Treaddur Bay Hotel. Decided the beer
was crap (and the menu lacked clams of any kind) and headed back
to the Seacroft with much Jelly Fish throwing on the way!
Thursday 12th July: Got up and (after Tescos) headed down to Stanley
Embankment in Y Fali (Valley).
Learn Welsh the easy way: "Teiars,
Batris, Egsosts, Siocs, Brecs..."
Since we had last been another
embankment had been built alongside to carry the new A55 Trunk
road. We didn't know if this would effect the wave so we waited
anxiously until the tide turned. Once through to the inland, playable
side (unlike the seaward side which is lethal) it didn't take
long before the surf wave built up. A nice wave if you're a good
paddler in the right boat. Me and Dave watched Gup!
Some other paddlers turned up so
we left them to it and headed back after a couple of hours. Thought
about going to Rosneigr but remembered it was £1.25 a pint
in the Seacroft so we went down there about 5 o'clock. Walked
to the Sea Shanty for tea but inexcusably it doesn't open on Thursdays
so it was back to the Seacroft for a bit of grub and loads of
Heineken. It had been empty all week so we were surprised when
it got quite packed as the evening progressed. Made friends with
the locals and got very, very drunk. Local news reported youths
running through the campsite at midnight with trousers round ankles.
Oh dear.
Friday 13th July: One more day left to paddle and as it was a nice
one we headed to the South Eastern side of Anglesey on a short
trip across to Puffin Island.
We saw loads of sea birds (puffins
included) and six or seven seals. They came very close to investigate
us and had a sniff around the boats which made for the best seal
experiences yet for us all.
Got some more wood on the way home
and had a bbq and bonfire on our return to camp. We had loads
of beer left so we got on with it early and had a pretty good
go at finishing it off.
Campfires are usually A: Good
or B: Bad...
It's 50:50...
That'll do Bryn!
Saturday 14th July: Typically the weather was decent for the home journey
- we all agreed the week had gone too fast. Had a quick breakfast
at the Sea Shanty and it was off back to Sunny Bournemouth (or
in Dave's case Smoggy London) with thoughts of the Alps 2002 tour
in our minds.
