Homeless!

We have been very quiet for the last six weeks due to homelessness. The flat we were moving into wasnt ready in time and the builders kept saying finish next week...we left our old place on 22 June and finally moved in here on 15 August. Apart from some weirdness (no toilet roll holder, no cupboard doors in our room) it is nice. Much smaller than the old place but nice to have a modern environment. We miss the garden and the neighbours but the old ladies who live on our stairwell are lovely. We are gradually collectin furniture...everthing takes weeks to deliver in england so even though we bought beds as soon as knew we were able to move in they wont be here for a couple more weeks yet.
While we were homeless we went to Wales, which is about a 5 hour drive if the traffic conditions are good. Culturally it is quite like going from Sydney to Hobart...every one is friendlier and more relaxed and it rains a lot. The day we left Canbridge there were floods all along the border and the only certain access was past Bristol in the south or right up north, but as we had nowhere to live we went anyway!


It rained a lot the first few days...we camped at Dan y Ofog (I think) in the Brecon Beacons which is a cave complex, dont know what the caves are like really because every time we tried to go into one the water level rose and they closed it on us. Fortunately (an for no paticular reason we could see) the cave reserve was infested with lifesize fibreglass dinosaurs which the kids thought was fantastic (note: you cant shelter from the rain under a diplodocus it runs down the sides and drips on you underneath, actually it cascades on torrents).


We very quickly gave up on the hills and decided to head for the beach at the Gower Peninsula, a place called Port Eynon. Lovely beach and quite a pleasant camp ground right next to it. Lots of people but in large field so it didnt feel all that crowded (and we are getting used to it a bit). Kids loved the beach and the weather wasnt too bad. We all had a go at Archery which was a great success with the kids, might have to join the local archery club..


From here we went to Newgale Beach near St Davids which at low tide is several hundred yards wide. At high tide the water comes right up to the shingle bank and there is no sand. Went body boarding and did a surfing class with the kids...they can both stand up. St Davids cathedral is fantastic and St Davids is smaller than I thought it would be. I did the coast path from St Davids back to Newgale which is about 10 miles. Every little headland has an iron age hill fort and the coast is all crumbling cliffs and rocks.



We managed to find a little B'n'B for a week at the end so Mardi could get some work done in a beautiful little town called Solfach which was near St Davids...a picture postcard place. The BnB was right on the waterfront, did some walks, went crab fishing off the quay, play ground right next door and they had a regatta while we were there. The kids entered swimming, diving and silly jumping events and had a blast.