Moose on the Move!

Less than a week after we got back from Denmark, I sursprised Chris for his 30th birthday with a trip to Wales.



We drove most of the way in the dark because the sun is going down earlier here now but with Guy Fakwes night being the following night, we were surprised all the way there by random fireworks being fired off on both sides of the road all over the country side. I guess some people couldn't wait the extra day.

Because of the plentiful darkness we had a little trouble finding the right turn off and we had to stop in a small country pub (again - we always do this when we get lost here). We were a little concerned going into the pub because the Welsh accent is spometimes difficult to understand - also - as we approached the pub accross the dark carpark we became very aware that the whole building smelt strongly of fish...

The locals inside were very helpful and gave us some very complicated directions to basically go back down the road half a mile and turn left and then right.

Finally we made it to our accomodation, a small cottage in a coverted farm house. The owners knew would be arriving late and had lit the small fire inside the cottage so the whole place was beautifully toasty warm when we arrived. It was a great little place, complete with big bathtub, comfortable bed, large TV, DVD player and a welcome basket (bottle of wine, half-loaf of local bread, Welsh butter and honey and a few other bits and pieces). Wonderful!

Saturday we enjoyed a little sleep-in and breakfast of Welsh-cakes and tea. The view from the farm yard outside was beautiful. Our cottage (and the others in the complex) are situated half way up a hill and overlook the valley and river below. In the daylight we could see how swollen the river was from all the recent rain. Across the valley is the town of Lampeter and it was there that we decided to head first.

The weather was quite drizzly so we decided not to stop in Lampeter and instead carried on towards the coast and a town called Aberaeron. It was a nice town and after a quick look around we headed further north, following the coast until we got to Aberystwyth. (If you're having problems with the pronunciation - don't worry - so did we. Infact we had to resort to pronouncing the names in really stupid strong Aussie accents so that when I said the names Chris would know what to look for on the road signs...) The drive was a lovely one, Wales looks like England and yet it is different somehow as well. Even through the drizzle it was pretty.

In Aberystwyth we found a parking spot and headed into town. As we walked I spotted an interesting window display and we went over to have a look. There was an amazing assortment of items in the window - it looked like a second hand shop run by an eccentric with no sense of order. As we walked around the corner we spotted a sign in the other window of the building. Both of us chuckled when we read what it said. Apparently, none of the items in the windows were for sale, merely to keep passers-by interested as they walk past! (so it was run by an eccentric with no sense of order - but a good sense of humour).

We had no idea what we were looking for but we knew the New Zealand vs Wales rugby match was on (being played in Cardiff) so we headed for a pub, thinking the atmosphere would be great. The pub we selected seemed a prime rugby-watching spot - small, cosy and showing the rugby (very important). However, on entering you'd have guessed that the whole town was filled with adament non-drinkers. There was not a soul in the whole place, save for the barmaid, who was sitting on a stool at the end of the bar having a cigarette. (It never ceases to amazes us when bar/cafe staff smoke in their own establishments).

We settled down for an exciting game of rugby (neither of us is too sure about all the rules) only to see the Welsh team get absolutely trounced by the New Zealand team. We started to think maybe it wasn't a bad thing that we were the only two in there.

On leaving the pub we made our way to the seaside, avoiding grumpy, drunk and swearing Welshmen, looking for somewhere to have dinner. We found a spot overlooking the beach and from where we could see various firworks displays at the other end of the bay. It was quite nice.

All the way back to our cottage we were again surrounded by fireworks, it seemed like everyone in Wales was celebrating the imminent arrival of Chris' 30th birthday. We seem to get this everywhere - huh? (Remember the nice little display that the French government put on in Paris for our 1st anniversary?)

The following day we woke late again. Chris counted the grey hairs on his temple and decided that no new ones had appreared over-night. He opened his presents, among which was a hip flask emblazoned with the Welsh feathers. The idea behind the hipflask (not something I would ordinarily buy for Chris) was that he would be able to keep a little nip in his pocket when we hit the slopes at the end of the year in Norway. I had planned to make him a cake while we were here, but we didn't get around to it.

We headed back to Lampeter for a bit of lunch. Being Sunday after Guy Fawkes, almost everything in town was closed and we ended up have a late lunch in a pokey little pub. Several locals stopped in for a drink while we enjoyed our lunch and we had the opportunity to listen to a range of Welsh accents: everything from mildly welsh, through quite amusing to completely incomprehensible.

After lunch we headed back to the cottage, packed up our gear and the left over welsh butter and honey, signed the guestbook and heade home. We took a slightly different route back to the M4 and drove though the Brecon Beacons, a lovely country drive though impressive scenery, especially in the evening light.

That night at home we made and decorated Chris' birthday cake - blue icing because he's a boy (I know I know, what a stereotype), but also because he likes blue. It was yummy but took quite a while for just the two of us to get through.