EGGS, CANAL, ROCKS, and SNOW.

OK. So this is our Wales trip - Part 2. If you haven’t read part one that’s OK, we have written them to be enjoyed singularly or together. Kind of like ‘Star Wars’, you can enjoy the first three without any of the prequel stuff. I just hope that you don’t get the feeling reading this (as you do with the new ‘Star Wars’ movies) that the newer stuff is overrated, lacks any real substance, and is more to do with cashing in on the success of the previous movies than contributing something of value to the fans. Is that too harsh even for me? Maybe. Anyway, let us begin with a story about:

EGGS.
I know that it’s a strange one (eggs??) but we thought that we would include this little story just to show you that its not all fun times, sometimes being a tourist can be a tough business. Its hard work! There are people at every turn just waiting to take your money. Let me paint you the picture. We go to most of the places we have seen based on recommendation and any touristy type pamphlets we find along the way. So it was that we happened upon the pamphlet for the ‘Trefriw-Wells Roman Spa and caves’ that was conveniently located along our travelling route. In hindsight, the sheer look of horror on the ladies face (at the sight of customers) behind the desk as we approached and her apologetic “You do know that it’s only a small, unguided, tour”, should have be warning enough but the mention of Romans had me interested. As it turns out the Romans may, or may not, have discovered a tiny cave that can accommodate up to two people at a time (if you squish) which is filled with stinky egg water that they may/or may not have drunk. The Victorians also built a lean-to of sorts here so they could enjoy the stink water. And now, it appears, history may continue like this…”people from the 21st Century were often sucked into viewing these two insignificant sites, and coughing up 2 pounds each for the privilege, in the name of tourism.” Having said that, I drank some water because it’s supposed to be good for you and I paid for the honour. Lets just say that its 12 minutes we will never get back.

RACHAEL OUT THE FRONT OF THE AFORMENTIONED STINKY EGG TOURIST SPOT.

BEN – GETTING HIS MONEY WORTH WITH PLASTIC SPOON GIVEN “FREE OF CHARGE.”


CANAL
It’s not Venice but its cool all the same. The old canal system in England. They used to take cargo around on boats pulled by horses. The Canal system stretches (in the parts we went to) from England all the way through North Wales to ‘Holyhead’ (which is the nearest point to Ireland in Wales, think top NW Wales). The canal is still there and diesel boats now travel around the canals taking tourists, mostly in summer, on holidays. The canals are man made. We went to see Thomas Telford’s aqueduct, which is basically a bridge with water in it, for the boats to go across, about 130 feet from the bottom of the valley, straight up. It was built in the 19th Century and is very surreal. It’s funny how boats just naturally feel like they should go under bridges not across them! Anyway, very impressive, if somewhat scary, to walk across.

BOATS IN THE CANAL BOAT PARKING AREA.

VIEW FROM ON TOP OF THE AQUEDUCT

BEN SHOWING YOU WHERE THE BOATS GO

RACHAEL WITH SOME SLEET UNDER THE AQUEDUCT (She says it was snow?? You decide!)


SNOW.
A trip through North Wales wouldn’t be complete without mentioning snow. We tried to drive through the Snowdonia national park only to have to turn around because of the heavy snow. You think that they would warn you about the possibility of snow but apparently you are supposed to work it out from the name. We boldly powered on through the snow (knowing that the hire car insurance would forgive all sins) until we couldn’t see the edge of the road anymore and everyone else that had been in front of us had turned around. If none of the other clans were going to risk it neither were we. Interestingly, we are going through a cold snap here in London and it snowed for about an hour today at my school and a little less at Rachael’s. The whole playground was white.

RACHAEL FIGHTS THE COLD BEFORE WE LEAVE ON OUR ILL FATED SNOWDONIA TRIP.


THE SNOW BEGINS. IN THE BACKGROUND YOU CAN SEE A ROMAN BRIDGE THAT HAS BEEN INCORPORATED AS PART OF THE ROAD. BUSY PEOPLE THOSE ROMANS. PROBEBLY ALL THE STINKY EGG WATER THEY DRANK.


WE TURNED AROUND NOT LONG AFTER THIS. THE EDGE OF THE ROAD IS THERE SOMEWHERE.


We have decided to keep the ROCKS issue over for part three. Trilogies are so much more interesting and there are heaps of photos for that Blog. Everything is good here but we still don’t have the Internet at home…not sure when, so all our emailing gets done at school. Again forgive us if we can’t get back to you straight away. Overall, let me say that North Wales is much nicer than South Wales but neither holds a candle to New South Wales. See-Ya Aussies.

Love Ben and Rachael
XXX