Friday and Saturday were much duller than the last few days and correspondingly a little cooler with the lack of sunshine.
On Saturday we had a train trip to North Wales. Initially I’d planned the trip as it included an optional trip on the Ffestiniog Railway through the Welsh mountains. Unfortunately we hadn't booked early enough and couldn't get tickets for the steam train ride and so decided to spend our afternoon at Betws-y-Coed which was an alternative destination.
As it turned out no-one got their ride on the Ffestiniog Railway as our charter train to Wales was delayed by more than an hour due to the failure of a swing bridge near Selby. Although we caught the train in Wakefield, its full journey was from Hull to Blaenau Ffestiniog. Despite making up all but about 15 minutes on the trip to Wales, our train missed its slot on the single track line from Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog and the additional steam trip couldn't be fitted into the timetable.
We planned some walks along the banks of the rivers Llugwy and Conway which pass through the tourist village of Betws-y-Coed.
We were lucky enough to spot a heron on the river and managed to follow it along the river.
In this environment the heron was extremely well camouflaged making it difficult to spot at times as it hunted along the river banks.
Occasionally it broke cover giving us a better view as it kept a close eye on exactly how close we were getting.
Then finally it decided it had had enough of being stalked by us and took flight and disappeared off down the river leaving us to continue our walk along the river before returning to Betws-y-Coed.
Posts
Beautiful photos. I've always loved North Wales, and I had a holiday not far from Betws-y-Coed a few years ago. We stayed in a wonderful little cottage in a village called Cwm Penmachno, you've reminded me how nice it is up there. Glad you had a good day, a shame you didn't get that extra trip through the mountains, no doubt it would have been spectacular. Maybe next time...
ReplyDeleteWe rented a cottage near Lake Bala just inside the Snowdonia National Park a few years ago and were impressed by the scenery. It was good to return for another look even for just a few hours.
Delete