White Water Rafting & Outdoor Weekend 2005
Thank you to everyone who attended the first ever 18 Plus White Water Rafting
and Outdoors Weekend, everyone survived, no one fell over the cliff during our
cliff top BBQ and bonfire, no one died of midges, drown in the white water
rapids or got blown away climbing Mt Snowdon
- despite the 120 Mph winds and everyone who attempted it made it to the top and
back (there was no train lol for those expecting one), the five people sharing
the alpine loft bunk also survived my very loud vinderloo fart (the curry was
good, the fart wasn't). Everyone survived the Alpine sleeping arraignments -
although a couple of us decamped outdoors on Sunday night lol.
Our secluded little cottage, 10 minuets walk from the road, sited in a little
forest clearing and perched high up in the hills above Betsy Coed a beautiful
little town, perched in a valley, in the heart of the Snowdonia National Park
with a river running through it, Victorian houses, little Welsh shops and at
least a dozen outdoor stores and big waterfalls close by, surrounded by rugged
mountains, a rushing river falls through the town and forest that border it.
We had a beautiful lake just a short walk from our cottage, a little stream
supplying fresh mountain water but we had no electricity just gas power
(including the lights), even the fridge (when we eventually managed to light it)
was gas powered.
We were entertained by a Welsh male voice choir in the Royal Oak on Friday night
and a bongo man who kept popping up over the hedge in the park to play his drum
and ask us for money for his imaginary van's and his empty petrol tank.
We had sunning views as we ascended Snowden and entered the clouds, as they
rolled over our heads and the valleys below. The wind was fierce and we met
quite a lot of people heading back after getting only half way up, including a
party in their SHORTS! Hello Australians (this is usual on Snowden as tourists
don't always know much about mountains - such as realising despite the weather
at ground level, they can still be pretty cold and dangerous places).
Tracy can't say she didn't get her trousers down on the weekend, after failing
to find the nearest toilet it was time to do some nasty stuff with the sheep and
we have the PHOTOS to prove it lol (and an offer to zip her up had everyone
volunteering to help ;).
After Snowden on Saturday we had a curry in Llanberis a nice town on the other
side of Snowden.
After White Water Rafting on Sunday we took in visits to Portmarion and
Portmadog (the home of The Prisoner - a program I've never seen but the village
is stunning and is a must visit for anyone spending time in North Wales, you
have to see it to believe it). There was a beer festival on at the Festiniog
Railway station in Portmarion and we sat and watched the steam trains and the
boats in the harbour in the summer sun.
On Monday we took a short walk to Swallow Falls and later passed Conway falls
going in the opposite direction, had some tea in the Welsh tea shop and then I
took a run off piste through the forest from Swallow Falls back to Betsy Coed
via the lake above our cottage and then we headed home. Others spent the
afternoon on the Festiniog Railway, while a couple went to visit a local Copper
Mine before heading home.
Traffic wasn't too bad at all for us, with just one hold up on the A5.
I hope everyone else made it home safely and without too many hold ups.
The weather was excellent, with the exception of the high winds on Saturday as
we ascended Snowden.
Jarrett
| Pictures courtesy of Jarrett Smith (click on picture for larger image) | ||||
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