Dolwyddelan - 12th August 2026

Heya, from Dolwyddelan, Snowdonia, Wales.

After leaving Abertyswyth, we drove to a cute little spot called Dolgoch Waterfalls. We parked up (no free parking anywhere in the UK) and paid before walking on a very good tarred track to the lower waterfall. We then did the 60-minute round track up over the waterfall and back to the car park. This was a good little hit-out to stretch the legs, and we even saw two caves that I swear were dragon lairs. We went into one, but I didn’t have my sword and shield with me, so I didn’t enter. Besides, I let the Newcastle Knights do the slaying this year! Oh yeah, 30- 26 over Canberra to secure a finals berth. From Spooners to Finalists, COME ON BOYS!!! Sorry, got sidetracked then. Check out this majorly cute little spot:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/af3533_cec0ba5639694e64a73465743137b0cf/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

We then drove to our accommodation in Dolwyddelan, but 10 miles before we arrived, the road was blocked by the police as there had been a motorbike fatality on the road about a mile before where we were due to stay. The (very polite) copper told us that it would probably be a two-hour delay and to try again then. Rightio, time to recalibrate.

Aila, the barmaid, had told us of a cool little town called Portmeiron in the northwest. She told us that the town was built to resemble an Italian town, and the buildings reflected that. OK, let’s go, but first, what does Wiki say about this place:

Portmeirion (/pɔːrtˈmɛriən/;[1] Welsh pronunciation: [pɔrtˈmei̯rjɔn]) is a folly[2] tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Dwyryd in the community of Penrhyndeudraeth, 2 miles (3.2 km) from Porthmadog and 1 mile (1.6 km) from Minffordd railway station. Portmeirion was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the Baroque style and is now owned by a charitable trust. It has served as the location for numerous films and television shows, most famously as "the Village" in the 1960s television show The Prisoner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmeirion

This joint was like an Italian pastel Disneyland, which was very bizarre. We had to pay 20 quid each to get in, and we spent an hour or so shaking our heads and wondering if our Volvic water had been spiked. It was OK, I guess, and the brass band playing was excellent, but it was a wee bit tacky…oh well. Check it out:

• 

• 

• 

• 

We then drove back to the blocked-off road, and it was still blocked. I asked in the local pub, and they told me it wouldn’t reopen until the morning and we could drive an extra hour around the long way to get there.

Rightio then, let’s drive for another hour...

We followed a bunch of cars through the countryside and over a mountain pass. The mountains were surreal, with hundreds of acres of pasture on the plateaus and thousands of sheep. We felt like we were driving on the top of the world, and we could almost touch the clouds and sky. We were pretty tired of driving by then, but the views were indescribable.

Finally, finally we got to our accommodation at about 6 pm, after having driven for around 5 hours (to go about 60 miles) to find out that they don’t do dinner anymore. Not to worry, our host told us, there is a pub 200 yards up the road. Coolio. We checked in to our old school room, dumped the stuff and hot-footed it to the pub: Gwyndir Hotel. A pint or two, a Sunday roast for dinner, and a brisk walk around the village, and we were back in the room and crashed out before the sun had even gone to bed.

• 

• 

• 

The next few days we drove, hiked, and checked out the sights of this region. The highlights included the cutest town ever called Betsw - y - Coed, with possibly the greatest sausage roll that I've ever had, Swallow Falls and the local rivers, slate fences and castles.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We also drove out to a famous beach town called Beaumaris that is on Holy Island. It was a pretty standard, cute town, but the castle complex was something straight out of a film or 80’s  Lego booklet, complete with moats, bridges, towers and portcullises. So cool.

That’s about it. We’ve rested, we’ve hiked, we’ve eaten minimal food - as we are trying to cut down on what we consume, and Jen is having a booze free country. (I’m not.)

We are doing some canoeing in Eastern Wales before we hit Liverpool for two nights and then go back to Delph.

P.S. All of Wales and half of England have been classified as a drought zone. Today, the temperature will get to 30 degrees, and there are bushfires in Southern Wales. This shit is unheard of, and we are glad that we escaped the 40 degrees in Albania. Glad we’ve seen this before it all cooks…

Ciao.