Travel – Page 2 – C J AIREY

Day 2 – Dawn to Dusk with Icecream in between!

The day started early today for me! Sunrise around 4am as it happens, when my inability to sleep continuously for any length of time let me down again. Unable to settle, I got up, and headed to the upstairs lounge that has that big picture window.

Although there was a big dark cloud along the horizon to the east, the rising sun fought intensely to show itself, even if it was just in little slivers parallel to the sea.

Hopefully, if I do wake again at this time, I’ll be able to witness a cleared sunrise & get some decent photos of it!

I did try and go back to sleep after a while and managed to doze through until about 8:30am. Better than nothing I suppose.

Turns out Mum had her sleep interrupted, but hers was by Alfie, her doggo, who was restless, and as I vacated the upstairs lounge, they both went in. Mums morning was worse than mine as she let Alfie out in the garden and he promptly rolled in a pile of fox sh1t, so she ended up spending the next part of her morn giving Alfie a shower down.

Eventually we all ended up congregating around the kitchen table and having a light breakfast, all the while deciding what to do. Not easy when there’s a sudden & heavy downpour as the sky went black.

Thankfully that cleared, as we packed up and headed the 0.3 miles up the road to Boulmer Beach Car Park. A £1 spent for 2 hours parking and we headed off back south down the sand.

Beach-combing for nice shells and red, blue and green ‘sea glass’ (the rarer colours), we meandered past our cottage and down the coast almost to Foxton Bay.

Spot the picture window on the upper floor of our Cottage?

We walked back past the carpark and along past ‘our local’ pub (yes, I can do that) and to a specially built shepherd’s hut filled with lovely artwork for sale by local artist Jenny Allan.

Our 2 hours was almost up so we headed back to the small but full carpark and let someone else have a go.

We’d decided to drive down to Amble via Warkworth and its stunning hilltop castle. Coming in to the village, we were greeted by a stream of red Mazda MX5s all in really good nick. We lost count and with driving, I have no photos or record, but we all would say somewhere between 25-30 cars! It was great to see! Subsequent research suggests it was the MX5 Owners Club Tyne Tees, who organise regular trips up the coast road.

When we got into Amble, albeit the roads got quite narrow and busy we were able to get to a decent (and once again £1/2h stay) car park near the harbour.

A meander to the crafty ‘Pods‘ at Amble Harbour Village on the quayside eventually led to the purchase of some taster packs of ground coffee for me (there’s a French Pot here), and a 3ft tall carved log section depicting a Green Man face.

The pods. And the green man against the side of the first pod, until shortly after!

My mum also got to sit on a bench on the harbourside that is dedicated to a relative of ours, Auntie Teasey, which was a nice add-on!

Dedicated to Teresa Timoney (Belfast 1929 – Amble 2021).

My slice of toast input was wearing thin and I was getting somewhat peckish. That meant a Chippy tray & cheeky birds, that knew exactly what they needed to do. To be clear all of us had chips, not just me, including baby Spadgers.

Baby Starling learning how to nab chips off his mam.

From there, you’d think we’d hang fire for our pub tea, but then we walked past Spurellis, who have an incredible reputation for Gelatos and Ice cream. I have no idea what we were thinking but Jane & I had two double scoop cones between us! (£11, fyi!). Jane had chocolate and toffee fudge, and I had double strawberry and cherry & cream.

Bloated, and now at risk of explosive bowel movements (we’ve found that Ice Cream can do that to us), we decided to head back to the van.

I know we’ve not seen or experienced Amble as much as we should so it’s a definite “back there again if we can”.

Then we started heading back towards home, via Alnmouth and a pub in Lesbury where we’d booked a dog-friendly table for our tea.

Unfortunately our initial experience of Alnmouth was ‘Crap parking facilities’. But then again, I doubt the 18th Century smugglers that helped it prosper after being wiped out in the 14th C & then the Black Death cared much for the large scale storage of Jaecoo SUVs.

We did have aa great estuary walk though and then headed north along the beach though after finding a spot.

The dogs loved it! Toby headed straight into the water, but for Alfie this was a whole new game. Egged on by Toby, he got brave and had a go, bless him!

The walk took in the estuary and then a walk along the the side of the ‘oldest 9-hole links course in England’, which I presume means there only one or two, not being a golfist.

Another 2h parking stint almost expired (this time free), before we headed the very short trip to the Coach Inn in Lesbury, where we fed the doggos in the carpark before heading inside and negotiating a slightly earlier access to our table.

We all ended up ordering food, and all of us ended up leaving plenty of the lower cost items (chips and salad). But we had decent food at a good price and we managed not to fall asleep at the table!

Then, we’re back at the cottage where we’ve been chatting, snoring (dogs especially so), writing blogs, crocheting, and I’ve started tinkering with some paper and might have a go at a watercolour painting whilst here. Seems only right in such a tranquil place, surrounded by such fluid beauty.

And that’s a wrap! Bedtime now and we’ll see what tomorrow brings, weather wise first, plans second!

Night, night! (Although it’s still daylight here).

Day One – Beef Pies, Sausage Rolls & Twice Brewed, USA give us a Goal!

Boulmer. Pronounced Boomer. Thats where I am right now. It’s on the east coast, just south of Seahouses & Craster and plenty north of Newcastle. We’re here for a week.

So why Northumberland, apart from the obvious (it’s beautiful!)?

I’ve been through and down the coast of Northumbria a few times due to my old job, but just once with Jane (a quick stop-off in Seahouses on our way back from a weekend in Edinburgh). The Caravan & Motorhome Club were a client, and one of the reasons for my travel. I received their magazine and one such cover photo looked like it was shot in the Bahamas. It was this coastline. We’ve wanted to come here since.

But that’s not the only reason. There are a couple more reasons, both with a similar theme.

Our doggo, Toby is nearly 11 years old (the equivalent 77 in human terms). He’s getting a bit nobbly bobbly, to the point where we’ve just had two lumps biopsied (if that’s a word).

It’s also Mums 80th birthday in October and it’s been over 9 years since she’s had a holiday. She’s getting a bit wobbly bobbly, insomuch as her trapped nerve or vertebrae issue means her head has a little shake when she looks directly forward.

Time moves on. More than ever over the last 6 years (3 being part of running a tech business, 3 realising nothing lasts forever, so “make hay while the sun shines”). So much has changed and I want so much more to make sure I enjoy life in the present, having been ‘elsewhere’ prior to 2023.

So we booked this cottage ages ago as a surprise ’present’ to Mum as part of her birthday. Booked through Cottages.com (although it’s now not listed) it’s turned out to be one of the nicest cottages we’ve ever stayed in! But I’ll come back to that.

We set off in the California (campervan) from Cheadle Hulme at just before 10am this morning and headed up to my mums in Shevington, north of Wigan, where we loaded up the final luggage haul and the high value items. These being 3 pies and 3 sausage rolls from Baldys Pies (check them out, they are multi-award winning).

After stowing the pies in the pre-chilled camper fridge we set off up the M6 heading to Once Brewed, a small hamlet just off the A69, and very close to the Sycamore Gap site. I’d seen on the map there is a Twice Brewed Observatory and Planetarium, so wanted to check that out.

On arrival, it turned out that:

The sign on arrival to the hamlet now says it’s ‘Twice Brewed’, not Once Brewed
There’s a decent pub on the same site called the Twice Brewed Inn, serving decent food and beer
And who’d ever have thought it, but there’s also a brewery and tap room on site!

We did go to the Observatory, sadly not dog friendly, but the cafe was. Three leek & potato soups, with white buttered bread and a cheesy scone (with a silent ‘e’) downed and I nipped in and bought a selection of beers and the obligatory matching glassware.

Check out the ‘Toxic Juice’ Green Slime Sour on the left. I will share a review in a future blog.

A panic buy of a £1 pay & display ticket (not very well signed, imho) and we set off for the next part of the journey, to NT Cragside House & Gardens for a recce of a planned visit. Blimey, NT places aren’t cheap anymore, if they ever were, but I’m assured this is going to ‘press my buttons’.

On reflection, I’m sure it’ll be a really good day out!

Final push on and through Alnwick, past another brewery (!) and a few places we’ve added to our potential ’to do’ list, before heading up the coast to our cottage.

And wow! What a gaff this is! A huge enclosed garden perfect for doggos, with decent, secure off-road parking, and a brilliant sprawling 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 lounge home with a big & well-appointed kitchen.

The Cali’ through the utility room porthole!

There’s a lounge upstairs. It faces east and has a huge picture window. What a great picture! It overlooks fields then the beach and the sea.

We unpacked & settled in and chilled out in all of the various areas. Toby has been especially ‘chilled’ as we have had to ‘dope’ him up for the journey with a mild dog sedative. It worked and the car journey was much kinder to him for being tranqued up.

Eventually we sussed out the range cooker and got those Baldy’s pies & gravy underway, along with a side of mashed potatoes.

AWARD WINNING TRIPLE TRUFFLE CHEESE:
•Cave aged cheddar •Red Leicester •Vegetarian Parmesan •Malden salt •White pepper •Salted butter •Maris Piper potatoes •White truffle •Classic béchamel •Black & white sesame crumb

DRY AGED STEAK, CORNED BEEF, KIDNEY & BOVRIL:
•Roasted & 18 hour braised Hereford beef shin •Sautéed & braised ox kidney •Corned beef •Confit garlic •Rosemary •Thyme •Chives •Beef shin & Bovril reduction •Parmesan & cheddar crumb

Full as bulls we then retired to the lounge, put the telly on (USA v AUS) and then promptly fell asleep!

I suspect it won’t be that long before we all retire to our various rooms after the fun but intense drive here.

Anyhoo, we have a local’ish day planned tomorrow to get our bearings, but plenty already planned and even booked to keep us on our toes!

Much love and be good to each other, you wonderful people!

Mijas 2025 Day 5: Top Scranning & Ta’ra!

I got up just before 9am so that I was ready to let Mike the Pipe in to check the plumbing & hopefully identify how to resolve the leak from the apartment above that led to the ceiling above the shower collapsing (all prior to our arrival).

He arrived promptly at Spanish 9am (just before 10am) as expected. The lady who looks after the apartment above was with him and acted as our translator.

Same carved on a tree somewhere on the Rec from 4 decades ago.

After lots of heated debate between the two they left and headed upstairs to try and sort the leak, saying they will be back later. Which at 11:15 they were. Bathroom sealant in hand he explained that the leak was fixed and had been pressure tested as ok. At least that was how the translated message scanned.

An hour later and the drip, drip, drip was back. We will keep an eye on it & report back to the property owner, who bless her, has been mortified that we have suffered the inconvenience. So much so that she has sent us £50 to spend on tonight’s meal.

Mr B has been noseying on the tinterweb at a restaurant that they’d been to a few years ago (“Alboka”), and commented that the menu suggested that they had changed style and upped their game massively. We decided to head down there for an early lunch.

Doing so would allow us to come back to the apartment and squeeze in some pool time in the afternoon, before heading to the restaurant right next door to where we planned on lunching.

Albeit they opened at 12:30, it was more like 1:15 before they were ready to serve so we passed the time by either having a cervesa grande or by looking in touristy shops. I made my decision quickly.

During this stop, Mr B and I contemplated the Horse/Donkey situation there and whether it was likely to continue. It turns out that a) it’s €80 for 4 passenger trip, and b) the local government are under pressure to stop issuing licenses, which was good to hear.

We headed over the road to the Alboka Gastro. Beers/Vinos/Cocktails ordered, we checked out the menu. Wow! What a menu!

We ordered:

Iberian Pork Meatballs, Manchego Cheese, caramelized Apple, Goat’s Cheese cream and Tomato compote.
Spiced Rice, Prawns with Garam Masala sauce and Coriander.
A salad of Grilled Avocado, Feta Cheese, Quinoa, Blueberry, Apricot, Apricot, Pipirrana and Coriander vinaigrette.
Homemade Duck Foie Mi-Cuit with Pedro Ximénez and Cognac, roasted Apple cream and White Chocolate cream.
Oxtail Croquettes With Goat’s Cheese sauce
Prawns Pilpil/Prawns, Garlic, Chilli, Cherry Tomatoes and Oyster sauce.

And then:

FRENCH MERINGUE WITH CUSTARD SAUCE FOAM AND RED FRUITS.
FIG CRÈME CARAMEL WITH PASSIONFRUIT COULIS & WHIPPED CREAM.

The food, service and atmosphere are exceptional! Some of the very best food we’ve ever had, and I’ve eaten at L’Enclume!

Prawn in Garam Masala, with the Meatballs and then the oxtongue in the background.

There are three chefs – a Spaniard, a Ecuadorian and a Colombian. You can tell in the food. Fabulous fusion of flavours throughout the menu.

Foie Gras and the Avocado Salad in the distance.

Sated, we headed back to the apartment via some more touristy shops. Jane stayed on the balcony and Mr & Mrs B joined me at the pool for a swim but they headed back upstairs whilst I stayed poolside for an hour and overheated. I spent the following hour in a dark air-conditioned room until I felt more sane!

In the meantime, it turns out Danny Boy the racing taxi driver is now off tomorrow so we have been switched and will now be travelling to Malaga Airport with “The Big Mig” Miguel. I wonder which lines he will be taking down the hill?

Oh, Mike The Pipe needs to come back as the leak is definitely not cured.

We all chilled for a while before readying ourselves for our next meal – sadly a “Last Night Meal” before we catch a flight home tomorrow lunchtime. As we did, Twitcher Jane spotted a Northern Goshawk, which made her day.

All dolled-up, we headed down to the main Square again heading to Pampa on Avenue Virgen de la Peña, right next door to Alboka.

We were heartily welcomed and the lady greeting us remembered Mrs B from their last visit a few years ago. We plumped for ordering the Tabla Pampa, a share board for 4 people. It was ace! And was more than enough for us. A big spinny wooden board loaded up with iberian cured ham, iberian regular sausage, iberian spicy sausage, iberian loin, manchego cured cheese, potato russian salad, spicy chicken wings, codfish fritters, argentinian skirt steak (with creamed celeriac) and meatballs. Stuffed!

After that we headed up towards the Place de Toros to visit a little bar that Mrs B is very fond of. Sadly that was closed so the girls substituted the drinks for a tub of icecream each in the walk home.

I love art, but am not very good at Spanish

And then we were back on the balcony to sup up the remaining booze, before heading to bed.

Tomorrow will be packing, a taxi to the airport, security, gate, flight, discomfort, queueing to get out of Manchester Airport and then taxis home.

So on that note, I bid you a final “adios amigos” for this holiday blogging! Thank goodness for that I hear you cry!

Much love,

Chris

Mijas 2025 Day 4: Mad Dogs and Klansmen

Having completed the mission of disposing of all of the remaining Victoria ale, I slept a bit better last night.

My crap sleep has nothing to do with the accommodation. The pillows & mattress are comfy and the roller shutter on the outside of the window provides blackout conditions which usually make for a good nights sleep for me.

As is now the routine, my morning consisted of dozing first, then slow repeated movements to the balcony via the espresso machine, toaster and meat selection.

Jane’s newest cactus (in C/Hulme) was a talking point over breakfast

By midday, we were all breakfasted and sat in the sun (in shade on Mr Bs part) listening to the kids playing in the pool and wondering which one we would drown first if they keep having screamy, noisy fun.

Also, as the church bells rang in the midday, we saluted that with the hiss of Alhambra Tradicional being opened.

The next hour was spent scouring the internet for 83mm barrels for a VW 1500cc engine. A bit niche even for VW enthusiasts, but I have a need. No luck as yet sadly.

By 1pm we changed and headed out, down the hill and had a stroll around the town. We headed to the lower road at the bottom of the crevasse that got a mention yesterday.

If you walk down, then to return, you must walk up and so we did, up and around a very steep road to a small square next to the Ermita de la Virgen de la Peña, a little hilltop chapel with some nice views down the valley.

The unspoken negative to Mijas in my opinion is the use of donkeys and horses to pull carriages full of tourists around the hilly & hot town. Personally, it doesn’t come across as a progressively good look.

A steady climb up past the old flour mill, and passed the intriguing Museo de Miniaturas, where you can see a donkey that has been painted onto a grain of rice apparently.

From there it was on to Patio Antiguo for a spot of Tapa or two. The thought today was to eat a bit early avo then spend the evening on the balcony eating a “picky tea”. I went for the Octopus Frito and a Taco Carne Ragu. Decent portions when they arrived, which was after a couple of corrections to the “All good? Everything here?” question from the waiter.

After our late lunch. We went for a wander around the less central parts of town and above where our apartment is. Heading out from the centre we passed a few artisan shops. I have mixed views on making and then selling incense burners min the style of Ku Klux Clan members though.

Very quiet residential streets, all whitewashed with lots of steps or gradients between them. We even met a prison dog. She looked at us through the bars of her window and required us to stroke her. When I stopped, I got a wrist tap reminder to continue. Eventually I made it away.

As lovely as it was, even taking in a few natural caves on the way, it was very much “mad dogs and Englishmen” as the temperature crept up to 32 with no breeze at all. We all got to a point where we just turned around and stumbled back to the apartment and its aircon.

We had thought about going to the pool but it was still busy and the little ones were still jumping about and having fun so we stayed on the balcony for a while longer.

Around 5pm, Mr B and I headed out to hunt and gather from Happy Larrys Emporium of Joy. It being hot, we felt it was safer to break the journey down into hydration stops, with our first being at Restaurante Los Arcos (beer was fine, but Google reviews suggest this is the best way to visit).

We then went to to the old Eroski supermarket and had a good old chuckle with Happy Larry, after buying a few extra bits for tea.

Sensibly, we stopped at Porras for another rehydration (two actually) whilst putting the world to rights. Having realised it was heading towards 7pm, we got la cuenta, paid up and headed back to the apartment.

From here on in there’s little to say other than we chatted, laughed drank, ate lots of picky things (cheese, meats, figs, avocado, tomatoes in balsamic vinegar, haribos) and did a rinse/repeat until almost everything had been eaten and drank.

Finally, at around 1am, we retired to our beds in readiness for our last full day. An all too brief visit for sure.

Up early as we have a plumber coming to inspect a leak above our shower at “Spanish 9am”.

Adios Amigos!

Mijas 2025 Day 3: Happy Larry

I’ve had a terrible nights sleep, so was awake earlyish. It’s my turn to hunt and gather so I dressed and headed out to the artisan market. Which is closed on Sundays, like most other shops. Having used google maps to locate a few alternatives, tried them and also found them to be closed, I decided to head down to Happy Larry’s, opposite the bus terminus and where we’ve been a couple of times already.

Walking across the already hot main Square, the sun was giving its best through the palm trees, casting long shadows like witches fingers across the terrace.

At 9:08, Happy Larry (job satisfaction seems not to bother him) opened up the “Opens at 9am” supermarket, and the waiting punters were greeted with a swiftly turned back.

Nespresso espresso pods, bread, cherry tomatoes, some weird local cheese, orange juice and cheap corn snacks. Hunted. Gathered. I returned victorious. And then went back to bed!

Basically, I have discovered what Victoria’s Secret is…

Drinking it has the same effect as spending a day supping Efes in Turkey or drinking Joey Holts’ bitter – nice going in, but it’s going to make a rough exit. I will amend my drinking habits (after supping the remaining cans, of course) and hope for a better nights sleep a couple of nights from now!

The girls decided to go on a mooch and a shop. Mr B was happy in his spot on the balcony, but I got changed and was going to go and fall asleep at the pool. Turns out that Sunday is play day & the beds were allocated at that point.

So we sat on the balcony. The clock struck 12pm. We opened the fridge and started the controlled disposal of the offending and aforementioned beer. we take a job seriously.

Realising that if we were too keen on the disposal job it may compromise the evening, we changed tack, and I changed shorts (the elastic has gone in my netting-lined ‘swimmers’). We headed out for a walk to keep our fitness levels in check. We didn’t want risk “doing a Kalvin Philips”, did we*!

Mr B led me down a path (not the first time) and up some steps. We had a really nice walk around the cliff edge.

It’s a fab walk around the sheer cliff tops, and has been worked really well. It’s safe, shady in parts, cracking views, had lots of insect/butterfly activity and we even caught a glimpse of Mrs Bs fanny thing off in the distance.

As the rocks twist east you get a really good view back towards the hillside town (and if you look closely you can see the girls waving at us)

Out in the other direction, we can see the ever increasing building work along the coastline. We suspect Belamadena and Marbella will soon join Fuengirola and create one long resort.

But in lighter news here’s a photo of a butterfly and some lovely flowers, courtesy of Mr B.

There’s one part of the walk where, if you’re paying attention which I was, you cross a small bridge. Turns out that the next part of that walk is on a pedestal of rock, that only really connects back at the next small bridge.

The small crevasse (?) surrounding the pedestal is of a decent height and is used by climbers for a bit of a laugh.

We headed up and around to where there’s a really nice classically presented church, that sits right next to last nights bagpipe/sitar event, and just across from the Bull Ring, thankfully no longer operating in any other way that a hopeful reminder of the cruelty.

Then we had a beer. At a place that apparently is very good. It was. But time pressures meant we moved downhill to another bar, the Blue Bike Cafe.

A beer/sangria refresh accompanied by some green olives & a plate of shaved meat. Another mooch for a while and then another stop. This time in “The Big Square” again.

You can probably guess this became a recurring theme, albeit I was full of food and pretty full of beer before we called it a day & headed back home.

Sat on the balcony, I finished tonight’s drivel. Now I need to fall on the sword, finish those tinnies of Victoria & regain control of my intestines!

*KP was less than a kilo over what he was supposed to be at ‘start of training’. The manager acknowledges he made a mistake calling this out in public.

Mijas 2025 Day 2: Pool Days & Ball Bags

By about 11am, we had all eventually ended up on the balcony and had a bit of fresh bread that Mr B had hunted and gathered before the rest of us surfaced. The bread was garnished with some sandwich meats bought last night in the Supermarket and topped off with a Nespresso or two on my part.

The cicadas were already busy making their music, and there’s been a light breeze that just makes the 30°C heat that little bit more acceptable.

The combination of a long day, a lack of sleep over previous nights and a fair few beers yesterday combined to make me somewhat sluggish but eventually Jane, Mrs B and I spiralled down the stairs to the garage, with Mrs B accidentally playing knock & run on one apartment as she pressed their doorbell rather than the stairwell light switch.

From the garage it’s a short flight of steps back up to the pool area which has a nice layout to it and a ‘grownups only’ vibe. Lots of “do not” signs with a big reminder to ‘observe the siesta rules between 2pm & 5pm. It’s makes for a very relaxing swim and sunbathing session!

I’ve changed so much over the last few years with regard to sunbathing. I used to hate it, and rarely sat in the sun for any length of time. Nowadays I do 2h stretches interspersed with a dip to cool off, and I don’t read books or listen to music either. I just relax and think about nice things.

Jane, Mrs B & I soaked up the sun, whilst Mr B took himself off and had a little walk, and probably a cerveza grande or two. I’d be shocked if he didn’t!

It wasn’t difficult to relax by the pool, especially when the fella in the far corner sparked up a big doobie and the (imho unpleasant, and) Manchester-ubiquitous smell of weed wafted across the pool area.

After a while Mr B joined us at the pool, kindly following his instructions and bringing us cold beers. Pool-dipped, sun-dried & beer-supped, we packed up, went back the the apartment and readied ourselves (over a period of a few hours) for the evening to come. Mrs B put on a spread of snacky things.

And what an evening I had! But more of that shortly.

We meandered down to the big Square & grabbed a table at the restaurant we ate at last night, but this time just had a couple of beers. Well, Jane had a Sangria. And then another. And then an antihistamine.

I remained sociable and watched the Palermo v Manchester City game on my phone, before it was time to pay up and head to tonight’s pre-booked table around the corner at Le Caprice de Koco.

It’s known for its fusion approach to tapas. So we decided to order one of nearly all of the menu and two of some of the more interesting ones! We also realised we needed provisions for later, so Mr B and I snook off to the supermarket for more meats, beer and wine.

Back, and after a wait, drinks were served. Mine a beer (shocker), but the others went ‘cocktail’, with Jane having Sex On The Beach, which is her preference. I don’t like sand, personally.

So, having consumed a fair amount of liquids, I made my excuses and nipped to the loo. Tiny toilet, pocket door. To stand and urinate meant hanging ones arse over the sink. I was also wearing light grey shorts so decided to sit & preserve dignity & cleanliness.

Part way through venting bladder, the hinge bolt on the toilet seat snapped and fell to the floor. As I almost did when part of my scrotum got trapped between the seat and the porcelain. Thankfully, it didn’t draw blood but was a good ‘nip’.

I returned to the table and, after being asked if I was ok a few times I explained the above. Which is why, after being threatened with the story being outed, I have included it. I apologise to anyone who suffered a trauma that was worse than the trauma my scrotum suffered. Call 0800 816 81775 if so.

Thankfully a midge bite on my ankle distracted me and food then arrived (after a fair wait). The food was bloody fantastic. So fantastic and served so late in the evening that it was devoured before any thought of taking photos.

There’s a photo of the menu instead. So just imagine it & come here and try it, if you can.

We paid the very reasonable bill and coaxed the slightly sozzled Jane home via a rickety lift to save walking up a load of steps. Across a small local Square, I realised I was ahead of everyone so sat on a park bench and supped a tinny because I’m classy.

The evening concluded on the balcony, forced to listen to a concert at the amphitheater that seemed to be a mix of bagpipes, sitar and clapping.

But at least the lizard enjoyed it! Let’s see what tomorrow brings, as it will definitely not be the same as today!

Night folks! It’s now 01:17 so I’m late to bed & it’s my turn to get the bread shortly!

Pembrokeshire 2025: Day 8 – Encore!

Don’t panic! It’s just a short one. A ‘mignardise’ from the Chef, if you so choose…

Then the house lights go up and the curtains do close on this one for the final time on this hols, after this though!

The last night didn’t quite end as peacefully as I made out if I’m being honest, and it didn’t feel right ending it there.

Basically what I didn’t say was that the very last mouthful of that very delicious hake I had contained a pinbone that I’d missed. And it stuck part way down my throat. And invoked a gag reflex! More food and drink weren’t helping shift it in either direction either.

I managed to contain myself enough to take myself off to the one tiny toilet that they had & began coughing & choking. Then I threw up, thankfully down the pan & neatly & quietly!

It was still there.

I went back to the table, we asked and then paid the bill hurriedly and we drove the short nip up the hill to Bickney Bach cottage.

Where I could ‘let rip’ and chundered so hard it was impossible for the fish bone not to have dislodged. Was a shame wasting what was genuinely a fabulous meal and the incident was of no fault of theirs. It’s fish. It’s what happens! If it’s good enough for the Queen Mother, it’s good enough for me!

Having finally recovered and then packed and tidied last night, we sat for a while and listened to the rain and wind batter the conservatory. I really just sat and tried to convince myself the bone had gone. Which I think it had, but it left a scratch sensation.

We had agreed a 9am start so we could do the last bits of tidying and recycling. Cans, bottles (many), cardboard and plastics all went into separate sacks in an outhouse next door.

At around 9:50am we were all done, so locked up, left the key in its safe, waved our wonderful cottage ‘goodbye for now’ (we will surely return), and set off to our real home.

Waze reckoned 4h40 and a peculiar route that went through Mid Wales, avoiding what must be weekend traffic around Ruthin & Mold. With stops for doggo, we reckoned a half three ETA.

We seemed to be constantly stuck behind little cars being driven by little Yodas cousins, who all loved dabbing the brake and decelerating to 26mph on a 60mph road any time a vehicle had the audacity to use the opposite carriageway.

Near Sarnau, we planned to stop to give Toby a leg stretch. I pulled in off the road to a large park. Well! To our surprise, it turned out to be the Y Bryn a’r Bragdy (Brewery, Taproom & Restaurant).

As Jane needed a wee, we went in, and I bought a selection of their beers, and visited the loo, which passes the big viewing windows into a very well appointed brewhouse.

What luck, eh!

We set off and headed north to the outskirts of Aberystwyth, where Waze began our diversion from our normal route home.

Easy journey home apart from a moment where a Police Car put its ‘blues & twos’ on as he was behind me & I panicked, given who knows what speed we should have been doing on this wide road without housing, or junctions – 20, 30, 40, 50 & 60mph were all potential limits. Thankfully Plod was called elsewhere and he shot off into the distance!

The rest of the journey was uneventful and we arrived home safe & sound, another holiday over!

I just want to say a big thank you to the folks that have sent me messages (public and privately) stating their enjoyment of the blogs. Whilst I do just write for fun, it means a lot to know that there are some sickos out there that voluntarily read this nonsense!

Thank you folks, you bunch of weirdos! 😜🩵

Pembrokeshire 2025: Day 7 – The Finale!

Having got back and finished the blog, we did almost nothing last night!

We gathered together all the birdshit-covered clothing along with our laundry so far and ran a couple of loads through the washing machine, hanging them out to dry overnight.

After which, Jane crocheted and I sat with Toby, whilst having a couple of nice beers from the Tenby Harbwr Brewing Co and the Kelp Lager from The Old Farmhouse Brewery in St David’s.

Our plans were simple for today. Not much driving as we are heading home tomorrow (so this could be the last blog of the hold), and tea up at The Shed Bistro, Porthgain at 6pm.

We got up late and slow, as the forecast was overcast and very windy (so much so the washing was dry and being ripped from the line by 11am!).

We cooked up what remained of our supplies of bacon, eggs, beans, black pudding & I made a couple of ‘tières of cafe. Eaten & dishwasher loaded, we just sat in the conservatory and listened to the wind buffet the glass and watched the clouds whizz by.

There’s a TV in the cottage that’s not been switched on, and I have a speaker to stream music but that’s not been unpacked. It just doesn’t need stuff like that when it’s so peaceful and the view’s this good.

That said, visibility isn’t a patch on what it was yesterday on the southern coast of Caldey! Prior to the birdshit bombing raid, we had the binoculars out as we could see Lundy Island and even down towards Bude on the North Cornish coast!

The more I’ve reflected on yesterday, the more impressive Caldey becomes. I mean, just look at this for a view…

By 2pm, we’d still not moved (unlike the 23mph winds) and Toby was definitely stocking up on ‘rest’! He’s now 10 years old, and so we need to start making concessions for him. Bless him, though, he’s so good.

We finally made a move! We loaded up the van again and headed out into the bluster, and made our way to go see the Mother In Law – well, where we scattered some of her ashes.

Nolton Haven has, for decades been a special place for the Robinson fam, and I couldn’t begin to estimate the total number of minutes Jane’s dad has spent asleep on the rocks to the right of the beach (it’s usually slightly more sheltered from the wind and not in direct sunlight, which suited him to the ground).

We mooched about, gave Toby a good run after his ball (and a flirt with a girlie dog many years younger than him), did a bit of beach-combing and had a sit for a while on those rocks where Arthur would settle.

After a while, we headed back to the van and took a more coastal route back to Porthgain, via Solva. Sadly not enough time to stop but we did take a road out down the Solva Valley that was very pretty.

Once in Porthgain, we parked up and with half an hour to spare before tea, had a pint in the Sloop. Dogs are only allowed outside on the patio, which is fine, except it was still blowing and was actually quite chilly in the wind. I ended up going back the van and getting my windstopper jacket. Jane sat there with her matching jacket but with the hood up.

Pint supped, so we headed down to the harbour and The Shed Bistro. It’s dog friendly in the outside annex (covered, canvas sides and heating if required) which is where our table was.

Drinks ordered and delivered and on to the food. We each ordered starters, then a main. A good idea until the starters arrived! They were huge!

Jane had the Smoked Cerwyn Cheese Croquettes, served with Walnuts and Beetroot, and I had Cod Cheeks in a Katsu mayo with pickles shallots. Super tasty!

Monster starters. My Cod Cheeks in the foreground.

For mains, Jane ordered the Bouillabaisse, served with Saffron Aioli & Leek Oil & I had the Beer Battered Hake.. Again the food matched the outstandingly good service!

Suffice to say there was no room for pud, despite the decent choice (all made on premises)! All in all a fantastic ‘final night meal’ that did the whole holiday justice!

We settled the bill, and had a quick mooch around the harbour before heading the shirt hop up the hill back to the cottage.

So, we’ve now packed up what we can, loaded the van, given the cottage a bit of a clean & hoover, and we’re set for the journey home tomorrow.

It’s been a great week, in a great cottage in a fabulous part of the world, with my two best friends. We’re sad to leave but will look forward to coming back here again!

Until next time (probably Mijas in a few weeks!), Adios Amigos!

Pembrokeshire 2025: Day 6 – An Absolute Shower of Sh.t!

The weather held last night and although we were all knackered I managed to stay awake until around 00:30 this morning, when it was as dark as it was going to get.

I set the Nikon up with a wide angle lens, mounted it to my tripod, connected my phone to it so I could remotely control it & set my phone screen to night-mode (all red monotone).

After about 15 minutes of being outside without light, my eyes adjusted and I could see the Milky Way overhead very clearly. The more my eyes adjusted, the more I saw.

I saw shooting stars/comets. I saw satellites trundle West to East, South to North, even the odd iridium flare or two (I think I managed to get a photo of that).

I did my best with the camera, but the photos aren’t the best and certainly don’t do it justice.

Even at 1am there was still sunset light. The double flash of an iridium flare from a satellite can be seen above the house roof in one photo.

The lens started to suffer from condensation build up so I called it a night, packed up & went to bed.

The morning started like yesterday – bright sunshine lighting up the inside of our cottage. We showered and had a quick breakfast (more vegan gravel, but crumpets for me), loaded the van and set our course south towards Tenby.

Tenby as pleasant as it is, is not somewhere we usually head when in Pembrokeshire. There are people in Tenby and we try to avoid those things in the main when down here.

This visit had purpose though and Tenby was not a destination, a mere portal to another world! Maybe a touch melodramatic. We headed for the ferry to Caldey Island.

The good weather meant that the Farmers were literally making hay while the sun shined, which meant lots of big farm machinery on the very small roads. A few close shaves later, we arrived in Tenby.

Pretty, busy, touristy, narrow! We struggled to find parking for a while and were frustrated by the satnav & traffic. Eventually we found somewhere and abandoned the Van.

A walk through Tenby and down to the harbour before buying our tickets and hopping on a little boat across the water. This was Toby’s first boat trip & he did very well. Suffice to say he is now officially a ‘Salty Sea Dog’.

Jane was last here about 50 years ago, and apparently little has changed. I’ve never been before, but it looked like nothing had changed.

The beach where you arrive was quiet and tropical! Beautiful white sand & turquoise sea!

Today’s walk was engineered to get to the southern coastline and see if we could spot any wildlife, but took in the other key points of interest:

The puffin bench
The toilets
Cistercian monks & Caldey Abbey
The lighthouse
The cliffs
The chocolate and fudge factory

We headed off and up to the Abbey. Very nice, if not a bit Colditz-lite.

Caldey Abbey. Apparently there’s a glider in the loft space.

We called in at the gift shop but Jane was disappointed to find that she couldn’t buy a Caldey Abbey branded teaspoon to add to her global collection of teaspoons.

We did however visit the post office on a more successful attempt. Jane bought some stamps to add to her global collection. Of stamps.

I then bought a postcard, paid for a second class stamp and sent it to our home address. If, if it ever arrives, it can be paired with the postcard Jane sent home half a century ago!

From there we visited the toilets. Well Jane did. I just loitered outside with a disarmingly charming dog. After which we continued uphill towards the old Chapel.

We ignored that for now, turned right and looped around the headland through fields until we got to the lighthouse.

Slightly disappointingly the walk was not cliff-edge and so it was a view out to sea. I love a good Puffin Hunt, but it seems that’s best done from water level.

The walk improved and we did start to see cliffs and more bird life.

First, we started to see the Fighter Command of the airborne division, the Swallows, spitfire’ing their way over the fields, acrobatically flipping, turning and finding their target with such dexterity. Marvellous!

We then turned into a cove and got to a cliff top viewing point. A belting view from which we spotted lots of different birds, but sadly no Puffins. We did see Razorbills perched up in the crevices though. More a Bristol Blenheim of a bird.

So we continued on to the next viewpoint. A really good view over the cliffs and a steep drop down to the sea. Perfect!

“Pass me the binoculars” said Jane. As I turned to reach the binocs, out of the corner of my eye I saw an inbound squadron of Heavy Bombers, the Herring Gulls, the AVRO Lancasters of the Bird World, they had a height advantage, a tailwind, and the sun behind them – a perfect approach.

Seconds later, Jane, Toby and I were absolutely covered in bird shit! We had just been Carpet-bombed! It was in Jane’s hair, on her face and hands, a massive dollop on her vest-top! They got Toby on the head and face with the worst just above his right eye. I was collateral damage, but still ended up wiping from my chin, hands, camera strap, hat and also got a decent blob down my teeshirt.

I’m sure I heard the Herring Gull shout ‘Tally Ho!’ and then laugh hysterically as they all turned for home!

To give an idea of quantity & stickiness, imagine if someone threw a couple of whisked eggs at you, with force.

We were almost defeated. But with a stiff upper lip that tasted of birdshit, we carried on.

The path took us inland and back to the old Chapel, next to which is the Chocolate and Fudge Factory. Inevitably, much was bought.

Time ticking on and keen not to leave it til the last boat at 5pm, we headed back to the ferry, managing to get on the 4:30pm and we headed back to the mainland.

We headed up the hill back towards the van, turned left only to coincidentally arrive at the HARBWR Tenby Harbour Brewery. “What luck” I said, hurriedly shutting down Google Maps.

What a find! Turns out we arrived via a backstreet, where a small bar and the shop were. I bought a beer for now, two beers to take home and a new teeshirt, one that wasn’t covered in birdshit.

We enquired about food and if it was dog friendly & we’re told to head up the stairs, hang a left and ask in the beer garden.

We did. It was brilliant! We got a table in the little courtyard in the sun, and ordered a shed-load of ‘small plates’, all of which were really nice! Highly recommend a visit if you get the chance!

After sating our appetite, we headed back to the van, where Jane could change her shirt and Toby had his tea, before setting off back to the cottage.

What a day! Brilliant apart from the shower of 🕊️💩!

Much love! x

Oh! About another 5 miles today, with 4.1 of them on Caldey. 🤪

Pembrokeshire 2025: Day 5 – We Broke Our Doggo!

After posting last nights blog (early for me), it happened to be the ‘Golden Hour’ photographically-speaking where the natural light is infused with red and gold tones.

I’m very rusty on the Nikon DSLR so I thought I’d have a little wander down the lane to the field full of cows and get my eye in. A couple of OK photos later and I called it a night, heading back to our lovely little cottage.

The fresh air, the pizza and the beer combined to mean it wasn’t long before we all retired to bed, hoping for better weather for the following day.

And we got it by the Tato Newi bag-full!

Waking late to sunshine reflecting off the white walls and around the curtains was a joy.

We had already planned what we wanted to do today, so it was a quick breakfast, with Jane back on the Vegan Gravel with yoghurt, whilst I ate the leftover pizza from last night.

Before setting off, I finally remembered to put suncream on my bald bonce, after cremating it for the previous two days, and loaded more into my “walking bumbag” for later top-ups.

Van loaded, we set off and spent the next hour traversing Pembrokeshire via single lane roads with the high hedge sides all the way down to the National Trust carpark at Marloes Mere.

Marloes Sands – the sands being in the opposite direction.

We set off and worked our way around the pathways down to Marloes Sands, where we were greeted by a wonderfully enthusiastic doggo that was desperate to play with Toby.

After a bit of beachcombing we then headed up the steep climb back onto the cliff top and followed the coastal path along the edge, overlooking some incredible views and a sea that was turquoise where it wasn’t crystal clear.

The views are spectacular, and it’s hard to capture how amazing they are. We turned into another headland and looked over the bay. Four Seals watched on as we curved around the cliff top near Watery Bay (honestly, that’s what it’s called).

Round the corner to bay after bay – Victoria Bay, Little Castle Bay, then on to Deadman’s Bay where we reached roughly half way on the walk.

Just before we entered Deer Park, we both sat, had a breather, a protein bar, a bag of crisps and a drink. I finished first and saw that behind us there were not one but 6 Choughs.

Red-billed choughs (pronounced “chuff”) are considered a rare bird in the UK with a population of just 394 breeding pairs apparently. We’d seen at least 10 in the last couple of days, so not sure on how current that statistic is!

We carried on around the headland and in to Oh Deer Park, name tweaked by me because it’s covered in cowshit and there are no Deer. There is an Iron Age fort though. And just along and above Wooltack Bay is the sharp climb to the NCI Lookout post.

The northern coastline isn’t a patch on the southern side in my humble, but it’s still a gorgeous place to walk. From the peak at the Lookout we then dropped all the way down to Martin’s Haven, past Lockley Lodge Visitor Centre to the jetty where the ferry leaves if you fancy a boat trip to Skomer.

Then a sharp right and up an almightily steep set of steps back up to the Cliff Top and West Hook. We headed along the coastline before turning inland crossing two large farmers fields, the first full of Pembrokeshire Tato Newi (fab salad potatoes or serve with butter).

We had done about 5 miles by this point and it had been getting steadily warmer during the day. Although we kept stopping and making sure Toby had plenty to drink, he saw his arse and had a sit down protest, throwing himself into the shady undergrowth along the hedge.

We did the parent thing and just walked off. We were a good 60/70 yards further on before he started to get the message.

Once we got on the road it wasn’t long before we made it back the the Van where we all rehydrated & had a rest. It’s great being able to pull chilled cans of coke/water out of the van fridge.

Another 6.3 miles walk by a fat bloke with Grade 4 osteoarthritis in both knees and most likely hips based on their soreness. Well happy with that, having walked the best part of 20 miles over the last few days!

Once sorted we drove back towards Dale then hung a left and cut through to where we holidayed in 2022, passing the cottage we rented before parking up in Little Haven.

We had an hour to kill before our pre-booked table in the Castle, so it gave us the opportunity to visit a fabulous little Take away Cafe and Shop just across the road.

We visited Lobster and Môr on our last day of 2022, and had their hand caught lobster in a roll for our “going home” dinner. We’ve decided to do similar and have bought a lobster and a crab sandwich as our lunch tomorrow. I nipped them back to the van and put them in the fridge. Handy that van.

Still time to kill so we sat in the beer garden at the St Brides Inn and I supped a bottle of the Nons Nepa ale, from yesterday’s Brewery.

From The Old Farmhouse Brewery, St David’s

At last it was time for tea! We headed in to our table at the Castle and very quickly decided what we were having!

We shared a starter of Lobster Arancini, before Jane had yet another Dressed Crab Salad, and I had the Fish Pie. All with a side of Parmesan truffle chips.

Food and service were all great and it didn’t take us long to devour it all. We had definitely built up an appetite!

Back in the van and a weary drive home, where we are now. All flaked out on respective sofas, chairs and dog beds!

Hoping that it stays clear tonight and I can have a play with the camera on the tripod & see what stars come out to play!

Can’t stay up too late though as we have a trek tomorrow and an adventure on the high seas planned!

Laters Taters!