Thursday 11th November 2021

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.

After checking out of our airbnb and before leaving Caernarfon, we took the opportunity to pay our respects at the Caernarfon Square War Memorial. An inspiring local attendance and proud ex-military presence – we felt privileged and humble to stand amongst them.

We also spent a couple of hours visiting and soaking up the history of Caernarfon Castle – I was convinced that we’d been there before but I obviously had got my Welsh castles mixed up … I had to admit that on this occasion Steve was right!! So really found the walk around the castle walls, the museum exhibits and the film shows interesting. (You were right Corinna – it’s well worth a visit).

Then we set off on the drive to our next airbnb in Tywyn. A stunning drive along winding roads bordered in the most stunning of autumnal nature. And so to our house on the beach, our arrival coinciding with a spectacular sunset.

We arrived first, followed by Tom and Jess, and then Alice and Jon shortly after – SO wonderful to all be together. And the inevitable first night of the holiday party ensued.

Friday 12th November 2021

We all woke up still full of holiday excitement and what else do you do in November at the seaside … you head for those waves!!! Well, Tom did it big style with a proper swim while the rest of us splashed around in the shallows getting frozen feet and whinging. Great fun though.

Quickly headed back to the house for some hut tub time.

And we spent a lot of the afternoon wandering around the pretty town of Tywyn with its interesting craft shops, churches, hillside views and Magic Lantern cinema. Tried out a local coffee shop and the pub in all in one outing.

Saturday 13th November 2021

It’s Saturday, it’s 9 o’clock …. so guess where we are? The parkrun of course … and this time it was in Dolgellau.

And the afternoon carried on in energetic form as we all set off on some coastal path walking. This time we caught the local bus to Aberdovey and walked the 6 mile stretch back to Tywyn. It was ironic having Alice with us on this section because, when we did our two month walk of the South West Coastal Path some 4 years ago, Alice had this image of us strolling along golden sands each day! For those of you who have walked the coast of Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Dorset, you know that this couldn’t be further from the truth. But today the walk involved just that – walking most of it along golden sands. A little tough at times for Tom and Jon who were struggling with sore calf muscles after the morning’s Parkrun!

Back in Tywyn, we called into the local for a swift half before heading home for a hot tub session while Tom and Jess cooked dinner. And it just turned into one of those evenings of fun and games, drinking, eating and laughing lots. The ‘elderly’ amongst us retired at a sensible hour while the girls had their party heads on till 4 in the morning – oh, I remember those days!!

It’s been great so far ….