Thursday 17th August

I have been very lucky with the weather over the last few months when it come to setting/breaking camp. Unfortunately today I got soaked; this picture was taken by the person who had the inside jobs to do!

Friday 18th August

The drive south through the middle of wales the previous day was beautiful. The road was fairly windy and steep in places but generally pretty quiet (very quiet in front, not so much behind!)  Our new campsite is run by a lovely couple called Trevor and Jane, they were both very helpful telling us of all the local attractions, and what an important Roman town Caerleon is, more of which later.

Our pitch is on top of a hill with views over the Celtic Manor golf course, and on our first morning we were treated to a lovely sunrise.

We had chosen this site as it was situated very close to Chepstow where Jane’s friend Sharon lives. Sharon had organised a weekend of drink, drugs and rock and roll with Jane, Diana and Marisa (Jane’s sister).  Well, I think it might have been a little more sedate than that – the drink was Prosecco, the drugs paracetamol and the rock and roll was Craig Charles playing some soul music. This meant I had a weekend on my own to go wild…………….

Saturday 19th August

So I did, first off I went to David Lloyds in Cardiff for a swim, then back to the caravan to read the papers, then off for a walk around Celtic Manor followed by a bit of geocaching. I certainly know how to live!!!!

Monday 21st August

The weather forecast today was rain (unusually!) so we decided to visit The Big Pit near Pontypool. What a great day out! I would throughly recommend it. What an experience to go down a mine to see how coal extraction was done through the years.  I am glad I was a shop keeper, I would have hated that way of life! Mind you I thought Jane looked pretty cool with her hard hat on!

We were taken down the mine by a shy and retiring ex-miner named Peter. He and his colleagues made the visit the great day out that it was. His knowledge, combined with a terrific sense of humour, made our day truly memorable .

We had only chosen this place as somewhere to go on a wet day and it turned out to be one of the best of our trip to Wales. And to cap it all the sun came out and we had a lovely trip back through the valleys.

We stopped off at Usk on the way back to the van. Usk is a lovely little town and was full of flowers, very reminiscent of some of the villages we had travelled through in France.

Tuesday 22nd August

Today  Jane and I met up with Becky who I used to work with at the Food Barn. She and Lee and her two girls, Keira and Lyla had relocated to Risca which is close to where we were staying. Lee’s daughter Isla was down for a visit so we all decided that we would climb the 2nd highest mountain in Wales (well I’m sure thats what Becky said!) The picture above was taken at the summit  and we had all made it without oxygen, although at times it would have been helpful.

Even though we had climbed to the top there was someone who wanted to go higher!

Lee tells me when there aren’t any clouds you can see for miles, but he can’t remember  the last time there weren’t any clouds!

The steep drive to and from the car park proved a little challenging especially when you come up against someone who is not confident in reversing.

Lyla managed to pick up a thorn in her hand whilst we were up the mountain, but nurse Becky had some special placebo plasters, and when she had placed 7 on Lyla’s hands the pain was safely abated.

We both thought that the girls were so well behaved and we had a great day out. Thank you Keira,  Lyla and Isla….. oh and Becky and Lee!

That evening we had a couple of visitors at the caravan, Pixie was keen to get a sip of Jane’s wine, however she had to settle for a bowl of water!

Sharon had brought a couple of boxes of treats around, I didn’t get much of a look in there!

Sharon was amazed at how much caravans had come on since she was a kid, apparently her dad had to tow theirs with a horse!

Wednesday 23rd August

A visit to St Fagans National Museum of History, another great day out.  Over the years they have relocated buildings here which were in danger of either falling down or being demolished .

Jane thought I looked at home here!

She even recognised some of the stock I brought home ……

At last another evening with some sunshine!