Bank Holiday, and we decided we would visit Hay Literary Festival but make a weekend of it by finding a wild camping spot somewhere in the Cambrian Mountains and having a stroll up a hill at some point.
We'd driven the mountain road that passed through Cwm Irfon and Abergwesyn Common the previous year on the way to Pembrokeshire, and had been promising ourselves a return and an explore at some point. A bit of to-ing and fro-ing and we found ourselves a nice little spot, off the road and beneath a fairly steep, grassy hill. Chocks out to level us up and all set for a pleasant, quiet, if not particularly warm night, sleep aided by a nice bottle of red (ignition key dutifully locked in the glove compartment of course!)
Sunday 30th June
A beautiful day, and after breakfast we headed for the top of the hill. It was a fairly easy climb, although we were both a little out of puff by the time we reached the summit. The views were fantastic and we loitered around on the top, both excited at the thought of, not only this little expedition, but also the summer to come - exploring in The Rosabella, climbing hills, coastal kayaking, and of course the big trip we have planned for the autumn - Perpignan, the ferry from Barcelona to Genoa, the French Riviera and back via the Alps. We drank water on the top and then set off back to the toy camper van that was far below us.
We took slightly different descent routes with K taking a little more time, and care. She spotted T at the bottom of the hill, charging straight past The Rosabella and across the road. He was nowhere to be seen when she did reach the van so she followed the direction she'd seen him heading, across the road, clambering down some steep boulders until she found him, naked as the day he was born, swimming in a little pool formed where the walls of the gorge containing the river narrowed to a grotto. She took advantage of the great photo opportunity with a view to revenge for the 'Life On The Road' picture referred to elsewhere in this blog, before stripping off to join him. Boy, was it cold!! We both got out with that feeling of our skin being on fire, but so refreshed after our exertions on the hill.
The rest of the day was spent lolling about in and around The Rosabella, nattering, reading, writing and sketching, and a brief trip up the road to the mountain bike centre for coffee and cakes - just how a Bank Holiday Sunday should be!
Monday 31st May - Hay Literary Festival
A great night's sleep, a lazy breakfast and off for home via the Hay Festival where we enjoyed the ambience, met friends and heard some good music. The day went so quickly that we decided we would go back to our overnight spot for one more night. K had no work for the week but T needed to be in Shrewsbury for work at 8.45 on Tuesday so it was going to be an early start.
Tuesday 1st June, Abergwesyn - Shrewsbury (75m)
T woke up on Tuesday feeling like death - one of his headaches had hit him with a vengeance. Nevertheless, we headed for home to drop K off. On the way T called his office to see whether there was anything happening but for all sorts of reasons decided to carry on to work - a decision which was to have far reaching consequences for the next six months, but not something for this blog. It was a flat ending to what had otherwise been a happy weekend.
View Abergwesyn Common, May 2010 in a larger map
View Abergwesyn Common, May 2010 in a larger map
