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We were lucky enough to have Michelle pick us up again from our delightful cottage very early and take us back to her home for our last breakfast in Farnham and indeed England as today we head for Wales. Our adventure began in Reading where Michelle battled the traffic for over an hour and hordes of music lovers who had descended upon Reading for the Reading Music Festival….ah it's all about timing!!! The train station was where all the action was taking place, as festival goers spewed out of the never ending stream of trains that deposited them for a weekend of fun!
Ensconced in our carriage we sat back and enjoyed the countryside as we traversed Northern England, through Oxford, Leamington Spa, Coventry, changed trains at Birmingham International Railway Station no less, with no problems, and then onward to Wales.
The Welsh names cracked us up, even the English translations were near on impossible to pronounce eg Prestatyn, Cyffordd Llandudno, Penmaenmawr, Llanfaipwll and Rhosneigr. All the stations were beautifully manicured and cared for, something else we could take on board here in Oz, but of course that would entail employing people to do that. The countryside was awesome, so green, hilly and "English" with contented looking sheep and beautiful old architecture. We were astounded at the number of wind turbines out to sea and wonder why we don’t have something similar in Australia. The number of caravan parks along the Welsh coast was also something we did not expect, not that it looked anything like beach weather to me, with grey overcast skies. The tide appeared to be out in the tidal creeks/river and the huge expanse of mud was no appealing. The weather was kind to us with it being fine with sunny breaks and a balmy 18 degrees.
Sadly our train adventure came to an end too soon as we arrived at our destination of Holyhead just after 5.00pm. Not sure what I expected, but the little town was smaller than I thought it would be. We were collected at the station by Dave and taken to our room at The Beach Hut. Kimbo did a sterling job dragging our cases up the narrow staircase only to be confronted with the smallest room we had ever seen. We had to pile the luggage up so that we could open and shut doors. It was hilarious. The view was brilliant, overlooking the harbour and all the activity that goes with that.
We had plenty of time to walk around this interesting little town, which clearly has a long history. St Cybi’s Church has a really interesting history built within the walls of a roman fort somewhere around AD 540, so it’s been around for a bit, and is still used for services twice a week! Around every narrow corner there was something interesting to see, including the cemetery which is vast and I wondered how the people who live in the houses that surround it feel about their outlook. The plus side would be I guess that the neighbours are pretty quiet!!!
I would call Holyhead quaint if a little unloved but nothing that a little TLC could remedy. We tried to find some action on a Saturday night, but it was a little light on. We visited two “interesting” pubs and spent several hours people watching. It was apparent there wasn’t a lot going on, but the DJ at the second pub did his best to spin some dancing tracks that were greatly appreciated by a couple of girls who were having the best time trying every kind of shooter they could lay their hands on, and were being keenly watched by a couple of likely lads. All too soon it was time to wander our way back to our little room with the expectation of a good night’s sleep after a big day.
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