Camping: Newborough, Anglesey, Llanddwyn Island - 7th - 9th September

It was with much excitement (super weather forecast) and much sadness (last camping trip of the year) that we set off for Anglesey on the Friday evening. The Journey was pretty uneventful apart from getting caught in a load of traffic around Queensferry.

We got to White Lodge Caravan Park and were directed to our pitch. It turned out we had one of the allotted ones for a tourer though as the camping field was full, it wasn’t any bother though and we got the tent and everything set up in just under an hour, inclusive of our new tent carpet (ah, the luxury!).

We munched on a supper of tomato soup and mature cheddar sandwiches before polishing off a bottle of wine and bedding down for the night as we knew we’d be up early.

The next morning we wolfed down an eggy breakfast and packed up a lunch to take with us on the walk we’d found via the BBC to Llanddwyn Island (link to their pdf here). The campsite wasn’t far out of Newborough where the walk began so we headed off in the general direction of the town to get on our way. The sun was dancing through the clouds and it wasn’t too hot, and being 9am it was really nice and quiet on the roads. We set off early due to the tide times, wanting to get a decent stretch of time on the Island itself.

We walked through the village and down to the forest, through the tall trees and made our way to the coastline. It was a lovely surprise at walking over a sand dune to find the most beautiful stretch of beach with Llanddwyn Island at the far right of us.

 

Spot the Ecologist. 

We walked along the beach and watched the waves roll out, down to the Island, crossed over onto it and wandered about the various coves and hills leading to the lighthouse and cottages at the end of the Island.

I took far too many pictures as the island is so beautiful and best of all we pretty much got it to ourselves, it was only when we started wandering back that we saw more and more people arriving and we were happy that we’d had a good few hours in relative peace.

Full set of photos in my camping album on flickr, which can be found here.

We stopped for our lunch in the forest at a little picnic spot that was deserted, most people heading for the beach in such glorious weather but not for us as eating sandwiches covered with sand is not my idea of ideal. Sandwiches, chocolate and squash consumed we headed back for the campsite. It was only when we arrived back we realised we’d been walking for five hours. I can’t recommend this walk enough though, it was absolutely beautiful and not too much of a stretch if, like me, you’re not the fittest of folk!

We spent some time cleaning the tent when we got back, and has showers (shower facilities really good, even though they’re places at the back of the kitchens…I can see the appeal in the winter when the weather’s cold though!) and then went to the restaurant for a couple of ales and then some dinner.

The food was beautiful and we had a full three courses, knowing it was the last camping trip for 2012 we though we deserved a little treat.

The service was great but, and I know this is somewhat a matter of taste, we really didn’t need to be asked every few minutes if everything was okay. One check back per course is fine. I know they were quiet but it was a little bothersome and we just wanted to relax and have a natter and not be interrupted every few minutes.

We retired to the tent, pooped after our day of walking and we were soon tucked up in bed listening to our audio books and feeling content.

It was a lovely end to a beautiful, sunny weekend. We’ll definitely be going back to Anglesey in the future, it’s gorgeous and great for a not too far away but far enough away camping trip for the weekend.