I went to Wales last weekend...

I've had so many different blogs written and ready to go but keep changing my mind. I thought I should write a political one but what is there to say? Our choice is so poor, the people running are all sub standard and most them are from the wrong side of the tracks that they have an absolute inability to relate to the majority of the population, coming from extremely wealthy families and not having ever had to scrimp and scrape to live. I won't be voting Conservative and I have no idea who I will vote for but the one thing that does turn my stomach is the line that keeps coming from all the parties, "Vote for so and so to keep so and so out of power."
Thousands of years of fighting for democracy, thousands of lives spent and still dying for freedom all distilled into "don't vote for the policies you believe in, block vote for who we tell you to vote for."
Is this really what it comes down to? It makes me sick. Vote for your beliefs, vote for the policies that are closest to your heart, vote for someone you trust to do right by you, that is what democracy is about, not plumping for second best or someone else's choice for your vote. Make your voice heard, that is what democracy is all about.

Anyway, I went to Wales last weekend, specifically I went to Pistyll Rhaeadr Waterfall and then to Shell Island. It was a stunning day. I had both my girls with me and the youngest brought her boyfriend along, a nice lad that I may let live a while longer.
This is the first trip in a while and the destination was decided at 11pm the night before after we decided to chase the Sun,

 It was a beautiful day, the weather was glorious all day but I should mention that when we got to the waterfall I did fall over on the rocks. My girls laughed at me and it took a complete stranger to ask me if I was OK for my embarrassment to become complete but it was worth it, who would believe that this is in the UK?
The last time that I was here was a few years ago and it was a cold and icy day and very barren so it must have been winter. It was still breathtakingly beautiful and something that you just don't expect to see, a hidden treasure.

I thoroughly recommend making the effort, it is very pretty and as you can see, it is a picture book waterfall.

The journey to Shell Island was a complete nightmare. It isn't on a map so we were relying on memory to get us there. I was guessing it was in the Aberdovey region so we spent over n hour driving up and down until my daughter remembered that it was much further north and it is infact 6 miles south of Harlech Castle.




On the way there I did have to pull in and take a photo of Bala Lake.

When we eventually found Shell Island it was as pretty as ever and quite busy, let me just clarify that statement, there were plenty of people there but with close to 5 miles worth of beach that stretches half a mile to the sea, a thousand people wouldn't crowd it so despite the numbers of people there, all it meant was that we didn't have the beach to ourselves.

It was around 4ish when we got there, the sun was high and bright yet a heavy mist had rolled in from the sea, creating the most peculiar lighting. Here is my youngest with her beau.

Just to illustrate the point, the top of Shell Island was clear but looking out across the bay, it could have been Africa, it was the Mountains looming over the water, bathed in mist, all that was missing was a herd of wildebeest.

The journey home was sheer hell. I decided that a journey across Wales to try and get home on the A40 was the way to do it. Why take the motorways when I am sure I can find a better route...

Unfortunately my youngest is the map reader and she fell asleep so I had to keep pulling in a checking the map because there is very little signal for my phone's satnav. At one point I even drove 45 minutes back towards Wales before I realised my mistake and turned the car around. My eldest kept awake and kept me company and we listened to Classic FM all the way home, what a civilised way to travel!

From a 6.30am start, we got home just before midnight. It had been a truly memorable day and a special pleasure to have both girls with me.