Well, after 2 weeks of the usual hell in work for the both of us and after 2 weeks of virtually rain free days, we all ground our way to a bank holiday weekend in Llandovery with open pubs! We were off on a three nighter. Yay!!
Lulu gets a check up
Lulu had been booked into the local MOT station for 8.30 on Wednesday for her annual and first with us) medical. Kev took the day off work and rolled up at the garage at the prescribed time. Oops! Lulu won’t fit on the ramp – even after being told how big she was and how heavy she was when we booked her in.
A quick phone call to another local garage that has a 5 tonne lift and she was booked in for 11.30. Phew!
Kev dropped Lulu off with Derwydd Garage, Llandybie at 11.20 and toddled off for a bacon roll and a coffee at the van on the edge of the industrial estate. Suitably refreshed he wandered back to the garage where he paced up and down for 30 minutes like an expectant dad to be!
Then the moment of truth came. As the MOT inspector approached him, Kev’s heart skipped a beat as the inspector said ‘what a lovely van, cracking condition underneath….give me two minutes and I’ll print your certificate!!’
So with a shiny new certificate in hand – Kev’s telling anyone who’ll listen – we packed up Lulu on Thursday evening for a quick escape after work on Friday.
Here we go!
Friday comes around and we battle through yet another frustrating, soul destroying day. We leave work at 5 and are home by 20 past. A very quick cup of tea and a moan about our respective days later and here we go! We have a mammoth drive ahead of us.
Erwlon Caravan and Camping Park
20 minutes and a 14 mile blast up the A40 towards Brecon and we pull onto Erwlon Caravan and Camping Park, Llandovery.
We checked in, completed the Track and Trace paperwork and rocked up onto our prebooked pitch – SP12. The pitch was perfectly level as shown by Kev’s clever little levelling gizmo and we hooked up Lulu. I took Marley for a quick walk after such a long journey and Kev got us set up and put the kettle on.
A cup of tea and a cheeky cherry Bakewell later and I took Marley for pee break number 2. We then spent an hour or two literally doing nothing as all the crap from the last couple of weeks was washed off by the sounds of the river and the birdsong and by the deep pink of the early evening skies.
Wow, it’s a busy little site but in a beautiful setting along a babbling river bank. The site is about half a mile from the historic market town of Llandovery and its many popular watering holes.
I knocked up some meat free fajita pockets while Kev scoured this months Practical Motorhome (looking, not buying!). We ate supper, drank beer and were in bed for 11.30 – exhausted.
A disturbed first night
There was something up with Marley on Friday night / Saturday morning. He would not settle at all and was whining and whinging all night. I got up and took him out at midnight, 02.30, 04,00 and 05.30. For the 05.30 pee, Kev got up and took him out while I crept into Kev’s nice warm bed.
A bright, sunny but cold start
We were all fully awake and dressed (well, Marley was as dressed as he ever is!) by 8.30 and we breakfasted on the usual bacon rolls, pain au chocolat and strong coffee. We left Lulu a bit later for the 20 minute walk into Llandovery town.
First port of call being The Castle Hotel where we managed to secure a front table under a gazebo structure. I went to the bar and ordered drinks. I brought the drinks back to the table and as I approached the table, Kev’s little face was beaming. It had been so long, so very long!
Needless to say, I was very quickly back at the bar – this time returning with menus as well!
We settled on Nachos fully loaded with avocado slices along with a basket of garlic fries – and more beer.
After lunch, we gathered our things and walked 50myards to port of call number two. Following a refurbishment by it’s new owners, The Bluebell Inn opened after the second lockdown – only to be closed again just before Christmas. They have a lovely beer garden and are a very dog friendly pub. The lager was good – well kept, crisp and cold. I must admit wimping out at pint number 4 and having a good old Americano coffee! Suitably refreshed, we made our way back to Erwlon around 4.30.
Kev attempts his ‘Spielberg’ moment
We arrived back at Lulu to find that we hadn’t locked her when we left earlier!
I made a cup of tea and then promptly fell asleep on the side sofa. Must have been my disturbed sleep last night (rather that three quick pints of falling over juice!). Kev let me sleep for a couple of hours and when I woke at about 7, he took Marley out for a wee walk. While he was out, he had a practise with our DJI Pocket 2. He shot about 11 minutes of video which we viewed while I was cooking supper.
It was ok for a first attempt at ‘walking and talking’ to a camera. The video quality of the DJI was outstanding and even Kev’s running commentary was good. He does sound very, very ‘Kaairdiff‘ in the recording! That’s Kev’s accent and something that I only ever heard when he was talking to his dad. It is something though, that he has lost (or hidden) over the past 30 years since he moved away from Cardiff.
We managed some Richmond meat free sausage ‘hot dogs’ for supper and got an earlyish night.
Sunday, Sunday…..so good to me
After a much more settled nights sleep (Marley only needed to go out at 03.30), we all woke up at about 07.30 to a bright, sunny, warm Sunday morning.
With our fully serviced pitch at Erwlon, we had a water tap. So Kev refilled the onboard tank and I attempted my first ever shower in Lulu’s tiny bathroom. I did get molested by the shower curtain a few times, but it wasn’t as bad in there as I was expecting and the water was a lovely temperature.
Lunch in one of Llandovery’s pubs was on the cards for today so we wandered into town at about 12.00. We walked in warm, glorious sunshine. It had been a delightful Sunday so far.
Piles of old rubble!
One of the accounts that we avidly follow on social media is Life Beyond Bricks. From this, we know that Tash is very fond of a pile of rubble (we don’t mean you Jon!). So we set about climbing up to Llandovery Castle and photographing its majesty to tag Jon & Tash in as a taster as to what West Wales has to offer.
Thought to have been originally built around 1116 by a Norman knight, the castle was lost to the Princes of Deheubarth over the next century or two. Between 1159 – 62, the castle was improved and fortified by King Henry 2nd but was recaptured by the Welsh. It fell to the English, was retaken by the Welsh a few times. Henry 4th visited the castle in 1400 and it was besieged again during the Owain Glyndŵr rebellion three years later. The castle was burnt, in yet another rebellion, by Hywel ap Rhys in 1532 and was never rebuilt.
History lesson over…………lunchtime!!
We ended up back at The Castle Hotel. I ordered lunch and we seated ourselves in the sunny beer garden at the rear of the hotel. That didn’t last for long! Two thirds of the way through our homemade fish finger burger and carrot & beetroot burger and the heavens opened.
There were only two or three tables without any cover of any sorts. Who do you think sat at one of these uncovered tables? We were both soaked to the skin! Finishing up our soggy meals we drank our watered down beers and legged it back to Lulu.
Drying off in Lulu
Kettle on, vanilla slices out, movie on, heater on and we hunkered down for a very pleasant afternoon as the rain continued outside, unabated. Absolutely zonked after his walk, Marley slept and snored all through Escape from Pretoria, starring Daniel Radcliffe.
Early evening brought about a parting of the clouds and bright, blue skies. But South Wales had been given a typical bank holiday weather warning for the next couple of days. With this in mind we decided to leave fairly early in the morning for our trek home before the worst of the weather was due to hit.
Like about twelve million other followers, we tuned in to watch the last episode of Line of Duty.
What a complete let down. That is all……………I’ll leave it there!
Wet and windy Monday morning – happy bank holiday!!
We all slept straight through to 08.00 this morning and had done everything necessary and left the site at about 10.05. Kev pulled up outside our front door at 10.28! We had driven through some torrential rain in that short time but the worst of the weather was still to come. 60 MPH gales were due for the afternoon and as I type this at 19.00 we now have sun and bright blue skies!!
Well, that was our trip to Llandovery for the bank holiday. Back to work tomorrow. We’ve booked a sneaky two nighter at a CL near Lampeter very soon so we’ll fill you in on that one when we come back.
Thanks for sticking with us & safe travels guys!
Love,
Mags, Kev & Marley
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