Seems everybody in this area does their grocery shopping on Sunday afternoon!

We've learned that you don't get anywhere fast in this part of England. There are no motorways, not that we would normally use them anyhow, but even the main roads in this area are narrow and curvy, and at this time of year there is a lot of traffic.

We've taken to getting up and doing our driving very early, as soon as we wake up, because it's just easier with less vehicles on the road.

I took a video for you, but it's a little rough...

Yesterday morning was downright miserable. There was a wind warning in effect, with a steady "breeze" of 30 mph (50 km/h) and gusting higher than that. Add in some drizzle and a temperature of about 13C (55F) and it was pretty easy to just stay inside all morning.

But after lunch, things cleared up a little. The wind didn't die down, but at least the precipitation stopped.

There's one more walk we want to do!

Our things have finally pretty much dried out from getting soaked during our wet hike on Wednesday. Almost. We haven't had any rain the past two days, but we haven't had any sunshine either. Still, the weather has been good enough to get out and get some exercise.

It's a great spot where we're staying. We have a nice view of the sea, and many different trails start from here. And it's only £3 a night, payable by donation in an honesty box.

More of England's Southwest Coastal Path

I was thinking last night that it was almost a year ago that we last flew back to Canada. This year, we arrive in Ottawa  at the end of this month on August 31st. This will be the longest that we have been away since we began this lifestyle in the fall of 2007.

Yesterday, we drove right away and arrived early into the village of Lynmouth and found a parking spot. It was free until 10:00am, but paid by the hour after that. I paid for three hours for a total of £3.90 ($6.60 CAD, $4.95 USD) and we had some breakfast and set off exploring.

A couple of drowned rats

The weather isn't cooperating, but it's only water and we have raincoats. 

We left Max in his spot up on the moors, and set off towards the South West Coastal Path, the longest marked trail in England.

Back on the road!

We had another good weekend with Helen and Tony, and on Monday afternoon our friends Mirsie and David showed up in their van. We had met Mirsie and David in Kosovo last fall and they are on their way back to their home in Scotland after having taken a one year sabbatical to travel in their van.

So it was fun getting caught up with them. 

July expenses, not a bad month...

At the end of last month, I had said that our planned budget for the month of July was $2,045 CAD ($1,545 USD). While we came in at $2,823 CAD ($2,134 USD), the extra was all related to my laser eye surgery treatment.

So without the cost of the treatment, we were pretty much on budget, although some of the categories were a bit out of whack . Here's how it all broke down...

Fun getting caught up with everyone

Ruth's mom and dad came to Canada from England in 1957, but Ruth and her siblings were born in Canada. So all of their aunts and uncles and cousins were across the pond in England, and they only saw them once every five years or so while growing up. Ruth and her cousin Helen were about the same age, so they formed a bond over the years.

When Ruth and I first met in March of 1983, she already had a trip planned to visit England on her own in September of that year.

Interesting day trip to Shaftesbury

We got into the car with Helen and Tony and headed west for a day trip to Salisbury. Ruth and I had been there before, but it was many years ago. Salisbury has a really nice cathedral. Anyhow, while we were driving along, I looked up the cathedral and saw that it is now a £9 ($15.25 CAD, $11.50 USD) fee per adult to enter the cathedral. 

Between that and the heavy traffic, we decided on a change of plans and instead made our way to the closer town of Shaftesbury.

Max is still for sale

We've had a couple of expressions of interest, but nobody who wants to make a commitment. I haven't really made an effort to advertise him much other than writing the motorhome for sale blog post and copying it to a couple of facebook groups.

We would have preferred to sell him to a foreign buyer who would continue to use him the way we have. Such an easy way for someone from Canada or U.S. or Australia, (or wherever!) to get into a European motorhome and be able to turn the key and head off right away. So I'm kind of surprised someone hasn't jumped at the idea.

Quick visit to the capital city of Cardiff, Wales

We stopped in the town of Cross Hands for some groceries, then headed southeast towards the city of Cardiff. The two lane highway turned into a four lane highway, then into the M4 motorway where traffic was fairly heavy going into the city of Cardiff (pop 400,000).

Not easy to find decent free parking around Cardiff, but we ended up parking at the big IKEA store and doing the half hour walk into the central area.

What a difference a day makes!

Unfortunately, the beautiful weather from the day before didn't carry over into a second day.

With heavy rain forecast to begin around 11:00am, we got up at 6:30am and drove right away to another trailhead parking spot a little further on to access a different section of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Trail. 

Easier than we expected to get decent free overnight spots in the middle of summer holidays.

With an absolutely gorgeous day ahead of us, we got on the road early and drove to what turned out to be one of the best overnight spots ever, with a beautiful view of Dinas Head and the village of Dinas Cross.

We arrived up there and were surprised to find we had the place to ourselves. It's actually been easier than we expected to get decent free overnight spots in the middle of summer holidays.

Taking advantage of the blue sky and sunshine!

We said goodbye to Ruth, Chris, and Tigs the dog just before 10:00am, and hit the road heading northwest towards the coast. The skies were supposed to clear up by lunchtime, so we wanted to get some hiking in.

First stop was near a National Trust property called Llanerchaeron. It's actually closed Mondays and Tuesdays, but you can still walk the many trails around the property.

Heading to Pembrokeshire to do some hiking

We managed to get out with Tigs for a few walks yesterday before his mom and dad came home late in the afternoon. Poor old guy is definitely showing his age though. After we're done walking him, you almost feel like you need to go for another walk to get some exercise yourself. But, he's been no trouble at all to look after. 

The weather was better than forecast though... we were actually out in t-shirts in the afternoon.

Busy few weeks ahead of us!

It was a heavy rain day, especially in the morning. But, we got a bunch of computer stuff done, including filling out all the forms for our Turkmenistan trip in October. Had to answer all the questions on the letter of invitation, send copies of both our passports, and send a digital passport style photo of each of us in order to get the visa.

They want to know about your education, how many children you have, their dates of birth and more. 

Meeting up with Tigs the dog

We headed down through the beautiful Wye River Valley here in Wales. Yesterday was the start of school vacation here in Wales, and we saw a noticeable increase in traffic on the roads. Lots of cars pulling travel trailers as well.

There was supposed to be the occasional bit of blue sky, but we never saw the sun all day. Still, we're finding the temperature of about 18C (66F) to be quite pleasant, especially when going for a hike.

Beautiful view over the Clywedog Reservoir

We woke up hoping to see more fighter jets buzzing overhead, and a single propeller trainer went by early on to give us some optimism. However the clouds and rain moved in shortly afterwards, and we had read that the jets don't fly this route unless conditions are good.

So we ended up moving on without seeing any more.

Max's first booboo

We finally had a beautiful day, so we took advantage of it with two different short hikes.

First was a walk up to the castle and the area surrounding the village of Harlech. We didn't go in the castle. We had just spent a bunch of time in a castle a couple of days earlier and reviews said that while Harlech Castle is impressively set up on a hill, the views are the attraction, and the actual interior isn't worth the £8.50 ($14.50 CAD, $11 USD) entry fee despite the fact that we would have saved 50% with our English Heritage card.

If you snooze, you lose...

Yesterday was a rain day. Probably the wettest day we've had for a long time. But, we still managed to get out... with our raincoats and umbrellas! It's only water.

We drove to the town of Porthmadog and found a big Lidl where we wasted some time doing some grocery shopping. Next door there was a camping store where we had a look around as well.

Fun afternoon at Caernarfon Castle

We said goodbye to Helen and Tony just after 9:30am. They were headed back home to Somerset, England. We'll actually be stopping in there to say hi to them again in a couple of weeks time.

We headed about a half an hour south, across the bridge over the Menai Strait and past the town of Caernarfon to a waterfront spot overlooking the strait. As we passed the town of Caernarfon, we saw a huge castle!

Exploring the island of Anglesey

The area where we're staying is called Anglesey Island. And yes, it is actually an island even though it's not separated from the main part of Wales by very much. 

With a mixed bag of weather in the forecast, we set off exploring the island in Helen and Tony's car. 

Sometimes going into a church is like going into a museum!

With a morning weather forecast that didn't include rain, we set off to do some exploring. First stop was the pretty tourist town of Beaumaris, and Beaumaris Castle. From there, it was on to the impressive Menai Suspension Bridge.

Thinking about a new camera

Our Nikon P900 is about five years old now, and it's been through a lot. It's actually starting to physically fall apart. Nothing that stops me from using it, but it's getting close to time to start thinking about a replacement.

We're visiting with Ruth's cousin Helen and her husband Tony right now. Tony just bought a new camera, and so I was checking it out. It's a Sony RX10 which is quite a bit more money than our current camera.

Are we in the UK illegally?

We ended up having a busy day. First, we went and explored the town of Holyhead. For such a small place, it has a big, busy port.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about our passports. Immigration between these countries is very odd.

Welcome to Wales!

Wales is not a new country for us. Back in 2012 we did a three week house sit near Hereford, England and we did several day trips into Wales. But this time, we'll get to spend a little more time exploring!

So, yesterday we took the Stena Line ferry "Adventurer" from Dublin to Holyhead, Wales.

Last day in Ireland

What a great trip this has been. We've been in Ireland since May 8, so just over two months. 

We've pretty much circled the entire island, been to an Irish wedding, climbed Ireland's highest mountain, and learned a lot about the history of culture and conflict here. And I enjoyed a few pints of Guinness!

We don't quite feel like we're ready to leave though.