Day 06 – Porthmadog to Colwyn Bay

After beautiful weather on day five, day six started rainy and windy and continued most of the day.  As today’s trip included Anglesey, the weather matched our expectations for the wind swept island… but we had fun nevertheless.

 

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch Station
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Caernarfon

Coastal Road Trip, Caernarfon Castle
Welcome to Caernarfon!  Impressive castle but the verdict is out on the rest of the town.  Though we did have a good coffee.

 

Coastal Road Trip, Caernarfon Castle, Carousel
And the Merry-go-round Carousel in the market square brightened things up a bit.

 

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Coastal Road Trip, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch Ticket
It had to be done, first visit on Anglesey was to the the town with the longest place name in Europe and second longest in the world: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.  Which means even the train tickets have to be extra big.
Coastal Road Trip, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch Station
…and the train station signs… etc etc… you get the idea 😉  Secretly I (Julian) was excited to visit, I had always wanted to since a kid.  Check.

 

Plas Newydd

Coastal Road Trip, Plas Newydd
Next stop was Plas Newydd House & Gardens.  The impressive interior is home to the largest canvas painting in the UK.  We did take a picture of it, but we couldn’t get the whole painting in the shot, so best to just google it!
Coastal Road Trip, Plas Newydd, Garden
A bit of colour on a grey day in the Plas Newydd Garden.

 

Anglesey, west coast

Coastal Road Trip, Anglesey west coast
Most of the west coast of Anglesey looked like this, wet, windy and stormy.

 

Trearddur Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Trearddur Bay
Struggling to get out to sea at Trearddur Bay, we watched a little longer, he capsized a minute later and gave up.

 

South Stack

Coastal Road Trip, South Stack Lighthouse
The rain stopped by the time we arrived at South Stack Lighthouse on Holy Island, also a RSPB bird sanctuary.   We also tuned in to Irish radio and our mobile phones started trying to connect to Irish networks, you then realise how close you are to Ireland.
Coastal Road Trip, South Stack Lighthouse
Great views of South Stack Lighthouse over some pretty severe cliffs.  We walked a bit further on to also try and see North Stack Lighthouse, but the weather closed in and all we got was pictures of sea mist.

 

Beaumaris

Coastal Road Trip, Beaumaris Castle
Following the northern and eastern coast of Anglesey, we ended up at Beaumaris Castle.  Seemed one of the nicest towns on the island.
Coastal Road Trip, Beaumaris Pier
Beaumaris Pier, with seagulls hovering in the wind, almost in formation.

 

Conwy

Coastal Road Trip, Coastal Road Trip, Conwy Castle
Back on the mainland we passed through Bangor to Conwy, and its grand 13th century Conwy Castle, before heading to Colwyn Bay for the evening.

 

Daily video

3 thoughts on “Day 06 – Porthmadog to Colwyn Bay”

  1. Good to see you got to Anglesey. You may know that Mike spent a lot of time sailing on the Straits from Nelson , next door to Plas Newydd. I did my first dinghy course there too but didn’t go in the house. Interesting that you saw Rex Whistlers long painting as I went to see one of his other works at Mottisfont near Romsey last week – a large room with walls painted as trompe d’oeil when WWII broke out. You should visit when you are down therr again.

  2. Conwy’s lovely, hope you had an icecream on the harbour. Holy Island looks impressive. No Llandudno ? (the Great Orme !)

    (you spelt the station wrong)

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