Paid collaboration with Bailey of Bristol
Part Two
After our first week exploring the beautiful South Coast of Wales we headed north. We left our campsite overlooking Treath Mwnt and drove along the coast towards Barmouth. Barmouth is a famous resort town with a beautiful harbour and ocean views. We had planned to stay in the area but all the campsites were fully booked and so we carried on towards Black Rock Sands. Black Rock is a unique beach that you can drive onto and park for the day. It sounded fun and we decided to give it a go.
The beach itself is vast! There is a gigantic holiday park which we had to drive past on beach road to get onto the beach. After driving onto the sand we turned left away from most of the other vehicles and the large caravan park. The views across the sands and the mountain in the distance made this one of our favourite beaches of the trip. Unfortunately the beach now closes at 6pm and the barriers come down. It would have been an incredible location for sunset photos but some users of vehicles have been using the sand dunes and other areas of the beach as their toilet and the council has taken action to now issue fines to those camping on the beach. This is a real shame as the area is incredible and we are sure the stupid actions of the minority have ruined a great experience for many.
There is the Glan-Y-Mor camping park overlooking the beach if you wish to stay in the area but the opportunity to capture van photos at sunrise and sunset on the beach is now not possible.
It is worth dropping in here that we always do our best to travel responsibly. During the lockdown hundreds of cars were parking in areas they shouldn't have in Snowdonia causing massive problems for the locals and emergency services. As we left Black Rock Sands we were subjected to a scary moment from another motorist who swerved into our lane on the road making us stop before using hand gestures towards us. Obviously we don’t know the reasons as to why he did that but we guessed that some locals are fed up with holiday makers, tourists and travelers not respecting the local communities. The sort of behaviour seen in UK beauty spots over the last few months will inevitably cause tension and this is something we are keen to avoid.
Having left Black Rock Sands we carried on our journey and decided to spend the night in Snowdonia in an overnight parking location that we knew of where we could watch sunset and sunrise in the mountains.
So far on our trip the weather had been fantastic and we were treated to a clear evening and morning in the mountains for a beautiful sunrise. We watched as the sun rose above the peaks on the horizon before having breakfast and carrying on with our journey. We planned to head towards the Llŷn Peninsula where we would be visiting Abersoch which is a great beach if you have watercraft. After relaxing on the beach in the warm morning sun we drove across the Peninsula to Port Lago Camping. It seems that it is a relatively unknown place. The campsite is actually part of a working farm and they have created a fantastic little campsite overlooking the ocean.
The facilities are very basic but the reason for visiting and staying is for the beaches in the area. The campsite has the family friendly Porthor beach to the south and the tiny Porth Ferin to the north. Both are easily walkable from the campsite and the coastal walk is beautiful. The real gem of the campsite is Porth Lago which is picture perfect and directly beneath the campsite. The views of the beach at sunset as the sky lights up from the golden sun are worth the £15 to stay. We did get a lot of wind throughout the night as you are camping on top of a cliff and that's worth keeping in mind.
The beach is definitely up there as one of Wales' most attractive beaches and could easily be mistaken as a more tropical location. After waking and enjoying the warm morning sun through the vans windows after a cold windy night we packed up and left the campsite and farm and worked our way down the very narrow lanes before making our way back onto the main road.
We drove along the coast exploring the beautiful coastline as we went and visiting places such as Morfa Nefyn which has a National trust car park and the small fishing villages nearby are worth a visit. Also along this route is Trefor where you can park and go and see the sea stacks. We would be spending the evening staying at Aberafon Camping site. This place had the tightest entrance off of a fast main road we have ever visited. Our motorhome just managed to squeeze by with only mm of space on either side. When we worked our way through the gate the tiny road flanked by a stream led to the main camping area and we were surprised to see the sizes of the motorhomes and caravans that were there. We wondered how they had managed to fit through the tiny gate and wiggle their way down the tiny tiny path to the camping area. We had a sea view pitch and we were just in time to watch a beautiful sunset and make our dinner.
We woke to a misty foggy morning and we left early as we were a bit worried about the steep hill leading up to the narrow gate leaving the campsite. The direct angle of the hill up to the gate made it easier to squeeze through but the blind corner on the main road and fog made it a bit of a dangerous exit but we survived!
We were on our way to Anglesey to explore Newborough beach and the forest area. There is a £5 entry fee and a height barrier closes in the evening restricting access to larger vehicles, although you are still able to exit at any time.
When we arrived we were one of only a very few vehicles in the car park and we spent the first hour walking through the woodland area, the sun had now come out and the birds were singing. After some lunch we spent the afternoon sunbathing on the beach as it was so warm and sunny.
Later in the afternoon an old lady fell on the beach really hurting herself, the coast guard were called and eventually an air ambulance was sent to take her to hospital.
The beach itself is really sheltered as there is a small peninsula that sticks out. We decided to walk out to the tip as there is a beautiful old lighthouse and path leading to the lighthouse. The view is fantastic with the distant mountains on the horizon. The colours of the late afternoon and early evening sky made for a really soft hazy glow which eventually obscured the view of the mountains as the sun began to set.
It was the perfect ending to an incredible trip through Wales. There are so many other parts of Wales that we have now added to the list and we can't wait to be back and explore again.
We want to give Bailey a massive thanks for once again supporting us with the use of their fantastic motorhomes and we will be back travelling in our Bailey Motorhome in a few weeks touring the Scottish highlands and finding the best beaches.
