Camping by the River

Or to be more accurate Llan Gwynant campsite, at the foot of Snowdon in Wales.

Took a couple of days off work, and met up with some old friends and their family yesterday. They were on their way to Scotland, travelling up from Cornwall, and were camping for a few days in Snowdonia. We'd arranged to meet up and spend a night camping with them. No need for our tent, as they have a 14 man tent, so plenty of room. We took some food, and the rest of our camping gear, so there was plenty of stools and chairs for everyone to sit on, and a table to sit round.

It was a brilliantly sunny day yesterday. Just right for a plunge into an icy cold mountain stream. Our pals had wet suits, but Frodo and I are made of stronger stuff. Samwise had more sense - put his toe into the water and asked where the warm parts of the river were?

Had a great time last night, drinking, reminiscing and swapping stories. Frodo spent his time collecting quartz from the lake shore and stream, whilst Samwise enjoyed making friends with the other children, and trying out one of their Isla Bikes.

The rain pelted down all night, and we woke up to find that the clouds had come down from the mountains. It stayed damp for most of today, with a dry spell for a few hours in the afternoon. There was still plenty to do round the campsite, and enthusiastic children braved the river again.

We'd like to have stayed longer, but I can't afford the time off work. So packed up and goodbyes to everyone at teatime today. Our friends should be travelling back from Scotland at the end of August, so we've invited them to break up their journey with a visit to our house around the Bank Holiday.

Family Camping

Over the last couple of months we started with the purchase of a 6 man tent.

This was followed by 4 sleeping bags, 2 double self inflating mats, a tent carpet, 2 camping chairs (we were given another two for the boys, plus a small windbreak), a camping stove, gas bottle, gas regulator and gas pipe, pan set, kettle, folding table and 4 stools, tupperware boxes and containers, mallet, set of hard ground tent pegs - with luminous hooks, tent peg extractor, lantern, 2 collapsible buckets and a collapsible water container.

So with the addition of a cooler box (which we already had), and a couple of shopping bags of food, plus washkits and a change of clothes we were all set for our first family camping trip.
Decided to leave 12 iron spikes, 30 feet of rope and 6 torches behind :)

We stayed at Bryn Bach Caravan and Campsite, near Abersoch in North Wales. Set off straight after work/school last Friday, and arrived on a sunny evening at 8pm. Took about an hour to pitch the tent and set the stove up, whilst the boys explored the campsite playground.

Found that the 20 LED lantern gives a cold, rather weak light, so not too impressed with that particular purchase. It does have a remote control, so in theory you don't have to get out of your sleeping bag to turn it off.

The self inflating mats were certainly more comfortable than the ground, but are a little slippy, so the slight slope that we were on meant that everybody gravitated down the slope in the night.

It rained during the night. We discovered in the morning that we hadn't sealed the door of the tent properly (we know how to do it now), so water had got into the front corner. and had dampened a few things.

Fired up the stove - managed to brew up a cuppa, and produce bacon, eggs and toast for breakfat.

We walked over a field and down a steep hill to the beach. Samwise saw a rabbit dart across the road in front of him. We spent a damp misty morning mooching along the beach collecting shells and rocks, and looking at jellyfish.

The weather had much improved in the afternoon, which we spent loafing in the sun on the campsite whilst the kids played with some other children of a similar age on the campsite. Had a couple of beers, and a visit to the campsite by an ice-cream van meant ice-cream/lollies all round too.

One of the pastimes of camping is that once your tent is up and your camping area established, is to sit and watch newer arrivals struggling to set up theirs.

Cooked up a large pot of pasta for tea (made a bit too much), and the kids played out until the sunset.

Light rain during the night, and in the morning. Packed up all of the kit and took the tent down between showers. All done by 11:30 am, and headed home.

So a successful enjoyable weekend for all of us. Relatively cheap - if you don't count the initial 600 quid to buy all of the equipment. Should be doing it again soon.