Day 67: Tuesday 14th June 2022

Day 67: Tuesday 14th June 2022

We planned not to do too much today, still being a little tired from the walk yesterday. We decided to walk along the canal to Talybont-On-Usk, 2 miles from the campsite. 

It was lovely being by another canal again. There were lots of narrowboats motoring along, as well as lots of primary school children learning to kayak!

After looking around the village, we decided to walk to the reservoir, which was another 1.5 miles away. I read another poem there, but unfortunately we couldn’t actually get close to the reservoir as it was closed off. 

We perhaps walked too much, as the journey back to the campsite did feel quite long, and my feet started hurting again due to how much walking we did yesterday! It was a nice day again despite being tired, we enjoyed seeing the canal and saying hello to people on their boats.

We had a relaxing evening though, and got ready for our travelling tomorrow to a campsite near Bath. 

Day 66: Monday 13th June 2022

Day 66: Monday 13th June 2022

A long walk planned today! We headed off around 9am, after getting ready and making lunch to take with us.

It took us about an hour to get up to the top of Bryn, faster than yesterday, as we knew we had a lot longer to go so were pacing it out. It was much less windier today and so definitely more pleasant walking, with a clear day, so the views were excellent. We followed the ridges along towards Pen Y Fan. For most of the way, it continued to look very far away - it didn’t feel like we getting much closer! 

The walk ahead of us! The highest peak is where we were heading for.

The path up Pen Y Fan was particularly steep but really worth walking. We were quite tired by this point so pleased to reach the top around 1.15pm and have lunch. However, we also knew we had been walking for four hours, and that this was half way - we had to walk the same route back, so we were a bit apprehensive!! We could see for miles - great to see some more of the Brecon Beacons from up high and also see the town of Brecon and the smaller villages below. 

The summit of Pen Y Fan still seeming quite a long way away!

On the way back we had an interesting chat to two other walkers, one of whom is thinking about selling her house and buying a van. We continued on and enjoyed the walk back, although our feet were beginning to hurt. 

Pen Y Fan from across the next hill

We got back about 6pm, and worked out we had walked 18.5 miles in total! Which was unexpected, as the guide book had estimated the walk to be 12 miles!! Exhausted this evening, but really enjoyed the day. 

Day 65: Sunday 12th June 2022

Day 65: Sunday 12th June 2022

Mum has really wanted to see the Brecon Beacons, so we made sure to do a walk around the National Park today. We left around 11am in the end as we were a bit late getting organised for the walk, but luckily for this walk we didn’t need to get any transport anywhere - we could walk straight from the door.

We headed towards St Meugan’s, Llanfeugan Church first, and met a few people coming out of it who told us that we could look inside. They also told us more about the Yew trees around the Churchyard, which are thought to be 5000 years old!! Amazing to think how long they have lived and how life has changed around them. 

Leaving the church, we followed the footpath through some woodland before reaching a lane and a few fields, climbing upwards. As we turned around to look back at the path we had come up, there was already a great view of the surrounding fields and villages. We continued uphill and got to the top of Bryn at about 1pm - perfect time for a picnic! It was a great view and really worth the walk. 

As we would like to go further tomorrow, we continued along the path a way in order to make sure we know the way. We passed lots more sheep and also a few wild ponies. It was much more windy at this point, so we turned back, but look forward to tomorrow! 

We got back about 3.30pm. We hope to walk to Pen Y Fan tomorrow, the highest point of the Brecon Beacons at 886m. It is quite a long way from the campsite so we aim to leave early! 

Day 64: Saturday 11th June 2022

Day 64: Saturday 11th June 2022

We got up early and left by 7.30am this morning to get past any difficult roads whilst there wasn’t too much traffic around. We were able to stop en route in Abergavenny, a really nice town. We stayed there for about two hours in order to get some breakfast (cake!!) and also buy some bread. We wished we had stayed a little longer, but wanted to get to the campsite, as you could check in from midday. 

It is a great campsite, the facilities are very useful - there are even fridges and freezers! After settling in, we caught the bus to Brecon which again was a nice town to explore. There has been an event going on called “Race The Sun” around the Brecon Beacons, where participants have been taking part in cycling, kayaking and hiking Pen Y Fan. We cheered a few cyclists on as they passed us at the bus stop - it looked challenging but a great event to take part in! 

We hope to do some more walks over the next few days around the Brecon Beacons. There is another canal nearby, so we’d like to do another walk alongside it, as well as a few more walks to some of the peaks. We also got chatting to a nice couple all about different festivals and also different towns/ places to visit.

Day 63: Friday 10th June 2022

Day 63: Friday 10th June 2022

A really nice day weather wise today. As the campsite hires out canoes, we were able to go out for a few hours on the River Wye, which runs directly alongside the campsite before continuing to Hereford and beyond. The instructor gave a safety briefing for about 15 minutes, and then we were off! It was great fun, although we weren’t very skillful.

It gave us a good chance to spot a number of different wildlife on the river, including swans and two cygnets (thank you Dad for teaching me that!) ducks and their duckings, a Heron, a fish jumping out of the water (I’ve never seen that before!) and also some cows that came to say hello. 

We got a bit stuck on one particular turning in the river, due to the current in the river. We tried at least three times to get past it, but each time we were eventually carried backwards again, probably to the amusement of the cows and ducks watching us! So we gave up and decided it was a good place to turn round and head back to the little jetty, as it was about time to go back anyway and our arms were getting a bit tired! It didn’t take us long to get back, as the river carried us that way naturally. 

The rest of the time we spent today doing laundry again, and just getting sorted really in the van. Very lucky with the weather today - lots of sun, so able to hang our washing outside to dry, as it is so expensive for the tumble dryers and washing machines! 

Day 62: Thursday 9th June 2022

Day 62: Thursday 9th June 2022

Today we did not do much. Mum enquired about canoeing, but the owner was away on a course, so instead arranged to hire one for tomorrow. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry (with help from one of the really nice cleaners as we had no idea with this particular washing machine!) and then a walk in the afternoon around the wood opposite, once it had finished raining. 

I spent quite a lot of time researching Glastonbury and listening to one song from each artist to make sure I know who I’d like to see performing. We don’t know when our shifts will be though, and bet one will be on Friday when everyone we really want to see will be playing! But that’s fine if it happens that way. We will be stewarding for Oxfam, 3 x 8 1/4 hour shifts, arriving there on the Monday. Not long to go! Excited, but nervous too! 

Day 60 & 61: Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th June 2022

Day 60: Tuesday 7th June 2022

We are now travelling down through England to get closer to Glastonbury, ready for the festival. Our next stop from Stafford is Mordiford, near Hereford. We left at 8.45am and stopped at Ludlow Foodhall on the way, where we have been a number of times previously. The journey through Hereford was quite difficult due to some of the busy roads, but we got to the campsite okay! 

It is a big campsite, the facilities are good and the River Wye runs alongside it, so we ventured for a little way alongside the river in the afternoon. There is a possibility of canoeing, as they hire them here, so hopefully we might be able to do that later in the week! 

This campsite has their own “landmark” signpost, so we had to take a photo, having visited the one in John O’ Groats one month ago exactly! 

Day 61: Wednesday 8th June 2022

As we are in the area, we decided to catch the 10am bus to Hereford to look around the town. It is a good town - quite a lot of shops, a nice Cathedral and again a really nice river walk. I seem to post a lot of pictures of pretty rivers and bridges! 

The Mappa Mundi, the largest surviving medieval world map, was also located at the Cathedral, although we didn’t manage to see it.

The cafe we had researched was unfortunately shut. Never mind! After a bit of wandering around and wondering where to go, we found a great cafe called Rocket near the Cathedral for some delicious flatbreads and salad! 

Back at around 5.15pm. It is strange being back in England, but nice to feel slightly closer to home, as it has been a long time that we have been travelling! Really enjoying all the stays though - every campsite and each area is very different which is very interesting to see. This morning, someone kindly helped show us how to put the outdoor awning up for the first time, so fingers crossed we remember how to do it for next time!