Three countries in one day - Scotland, England, and Wales - 5th August 2026
Heya from Brecon, Wales,
After an easy flight from Edinburgh to Stansted, London, we picked up our hire car - a snazzy brand new Vauxhall Mokka, that I can just about fold myself into - and hit the open road.
Well, the open road is a bit of an exaggeration - it was a crowded M40 full of trucks and commuters.
Anyway, after about 20 minutes on the highway, I had the car sussed, and we drove two hours to a P n R in Oxfordshire. 10 minutes later we were off the town bus and wandering around the absolutely packed and heaving city centre of the second most famous University town in England: Oxford.
We spent two hours avoiding the throngs and enjoying the summer sunshine as we marvelled at the beauty of the architecture of this town. Neither of us could really imagine what it would be like to be a student in this elegant and historically important town. We saw some of the colleges, the Radcliffe Camera (library) and some of Christopher Wren’s designs. Check out Jen’s video:
Lunch was a salad bowl from one of the shops in the famous Covered Market before we got the bus back and jumped back in the Mokka to head to Cymru. (Wales)
This was the last of the UK countries for us both to visit, and the entrance over the Prince of Wales Bridge was epic in scope and stature. What a way to enter a country!!
The next hour and a half saw us drive on highways, national roads, local village streets, and down hedgerow-lined country roads. Talk about mixing it up!!
I asked Jen if it reminded her of home - as we live in New South Wales - and because it was high summer, we both agreed that the rolling hills and pastures did look a bit like home - especially around the Tamworth/New England region.
Around 5.30 pm, we pulled into the car park of the Nant Ddu lodge, checked into our cracking little room, and this little driver (about 5 hours behind the wheel today) sat in the lush garden and had a pint of local ale. Ahh, t’was lush, indeed!
We had dinner in the bistro and shared rib-eye steak and lamb rump, with three types of potatoes - boiled new, fried and gnocchi - veg and sauce, and I had another pint before a wee dessert whiskey. The grin never left our faces as we shuffled off to our huge warm bed.
Three countries in one day, and what a day it was. (pics below from online)
The next day saw us leap out of bed and hit the indoor pool and spa complex within the lodge. A heated indoor pool was just the thing to do some laps in before we hit the spa and sauna. A refreshing shower before we hit the dining room again for an included continental buffet AND hot breakfast. My full Welsh breakfast was very similar to a full English and hit the spot. Jen went for Bacon and Egg muffins with hollandaise sauce, and she couldn’t even finish them all.
So overall, our first impression of Wales has been amazing.
The scenery is gorgeous, the roads great, the people friendly (complete with Gavin and Stacey accents) and the food top shelf.
Let’s just hope that we can see a Common Welsh Green Dragon in the wild.
Bye for now.
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