Abergavenny & Aberwystwyth

We have have two beautiful days on the road. The weather and the the scenery has been spectacular. 

After a hearty breakfast at the Neeld Arms in Grittleton we headed west to Wales. In order to cross the River Severn you need to take one of two bridges. One is on the M4 and the other, almost right beside it, is on the M46.  Both of these bridges are long spans and are toll bridges.  We chose the M46 bridge because it allowed us easy acces back onto the less busy A and B roads that wind through the towns and villages.  As we approached the toll booths we started looking for some cash.  But as we rode up to the toll gate the lady in the booth waved us through. "Motorbikes are free", she told us. The toll for cars was £6 something. 

About 10 miles from Abergavenny we discovered a very nice village called Usk. We stopped for coffee and checked a few hotels. We couldn't find a vacancy so we continued on to Abergavenny. The prices for accommodations vary a lot.  We have been quoted anywhere between £35 to £180. So far we have been paying between £62 and £85. These prices include a full breakfast. Still... it is pricey at $2 to the £!  

The roads we have traveled have been very nice. Both the A roads and the B roads are narrow with no shoulder. There is a fair amount of truck traffic on the A roads. The trucks fill their lane and leave minimal space for approaching vehicles. We are much more comfortable on the motorcycle than we were in the car... Me particularly.  Also forward visibility is limited due to the curvy roads and high hedges, that grow right to the edge of the pavement.  We are keeping the speed down. I'm more comfortable going a bit faster when I have a car ahead of me leading me around the blind corner. :-)

It takes quite a bit of concentration to adapt to driving on the left side of the road, especially when you are starting out.  As a reminder, I have an arrow, made of electrical tape, taped to the windshield on the bike.  However, riding a motorcycle is much easier than driving a car. Cars are often parked on the side of the narrow roads and vehicle have to squeeze by each other.  It is much easier to deal with these situation on the bike.

      We stayed at the Kings Head Hotel in Abergavenny 

 We stopped here for coffee on the road to Aberwystwyth. The sign outside said " morning coffee" We stopped at about 10:30. It was closed. We are not sure if we arrived too early or too late. Beautiful spot though!

We arrived in Aberystwyth at 11:30. The road from Avergavenny to Aberystwyth climbs and winds though the Brecon Beacon mountains. They are not rocky peaks but they are very scenic. We climbed gradually to maximum elevation of 1350 ft then a steeper descent to Aberystwyth on the coast. 

Thank goodness for the GPS. Navigation without one, would be much more challenging.  Nothing is on a grid, as we know it, and all major intersections are roundabouts. It is nice to know which exit to depart the roundabout on before you enter it. The GPS tells you to "depart on the 3d exit" for example. It certainly reduces the stress for me. 

Aberystwyth is a university town. It is not too large but it has a nice laid back beach strip with hotels, guest house, nice restaurants and bars. It didn't take long for us to find a nice place to stay... Heldsmans guest house, located on the beach road.  We decided to stay for two nights and get caught up on some laundry. Also there an 8 kilometre walk along the costal hill to the next town. We are planning to do that tomorrow.  

Just a quick note on the weather.  Everyone is telling us that this glorious weather is unusual. It was close to 30C here today. There were a lot of sunburnt people leaving the beach just before sunset. The weather is forecast to be nice for the ne t couple of weeks.... We'll see. 

 

               The main beach in Aberystwyth

     Our accommodation is the Helsman B&B.  Cream coloured building with yellow pillars 

                        This large building is the Aberystwyth University 

                                      Sunset from the beach. 

                      One of the main shopping streets in Aberystwyth 

 

Bournemouth & on the road...

 Yesterday we spent a nice day at the seaside. (You have to say that with a British accent for full effect.)

By afternoon the beautiful sunny day attracted hoards of visitors to the coast. We started the day with a large breakfast, at 8:30. After the FULL English breakfast (choice of cereal and fruit, juices, yogurt, coffee, tea, etc. followes by eggs and bacon, fried tomatoes, beans, mushrooms and toast ) at our B&B we walked a few blocks to the beach. Then we followed the beach road to the Bournemouth pier and the commercial centre of Bournemouth. The beach was quite empty on our walk into town. It was a pleasant 35 min walk. Temperature in the mid teens. Sunny with a light wind.  

We spent a few hours looking round town.... Browsing the stores and people watching.  Our newly aquired SIM card for our iPhone seemed to be acting up. Service was intermitant. Luckily I found a Vodafone store and they quickly and efficiently rectified the problem by installing a new SIM card.

A couple of times yesterday, I was impressed with the efficiency of businesses when it came to handling busy situations. In the Vodafone store I was approached by a women as I walked in the store. She asked me what I needed. I quickly explained the problem with the Phone. She wrote my name down and told me look around and listen for my name to be called. Within a few minutes a young fellow called my name, showed me to his desk, asked me about the problem and quickly rectified it. 

A similar situation occurred at a popular fish and chip restaurant on the beach strip.  I suppose this is a case of practise makes perfect.  With twice the population of Canada in a lot less space, they have plenty of practise dealing with crowds and queues. 

By the time we made our way back down the beach it was active with families having fun on the beach and in the water. Surfing is popular here although the surf was not high enough to break on the reef. 

          Morning on the beach looking west toward Bournemouth 

          These little sheds / cabins were all along the beach. Families own or rent them to

           store their beach gear. They have little kitchenettes in most of them and beach 

           chairs, tables etc.  as the families arrive a community of picnics develop. I was told 

           that these little huts are unique to Bournemouth. 

On the road...

This morning I picked up the motorcycle and brought it back to the B&B to figure out what we could take with us.  It took a while to get things organized and by the time we were ready to depart, the rain arrived.   We left a suitcase and a few things that would not fit in the motorcycle luggage at the B&B until we return in a couple of weeks. 

The rain didn't last long and was it was only spitting a bit when we had traveled a few miles. The traffic on the motorway toward Salisbury was quite busy. Mostly weekenders who were heading home early. We followed our planned route clear of the main highways.   Our route took us around Salisbury enroute to the Cotswolds. As we approached an intersection north west of Salisbury we noticed a huge  field filling up with cars.  As we passed by we realised what was the attraction....  All these people were stopping to visit Stonehenge. We had visited Stonehenge in 1971, so we gave it a pass this time. 

Around 3:30 we started looking for a place to stay. We came across a place called the Mill Inn so we stopped to check on accommodation. It turned out that they didn't have rooms to rent but made a call for us to check on a room. This place was full but they gave us directions to a pub in a nearby village.  

When we arrived at the pub located in Grittleton they had a room for us. We checked in and quickly ordered a beer and a cider. The pub closes at 4:00 and reopens at 7:00. When the staff left, we were sitting on the front patio with our refreshments. They and told us that the side door was open and to let ourselves in to go to the room. They also told us that if we locked yourselves out just go up the fire escape, the door is always open!  Gotta love small towns!

We went for short walk, watched a bit of cricket and went back to the hotel for a nap. After the pub reopened we went down for a bite to eat, another beer and to chat with the locals. It was a good day!

    The Neeld Inn

   The view down the street from the  pub patio.

Fernie to Bournemouth in 22 hours

Planes, trains and automobiles have been transportation modes that have dominated of our lives for the last 22 hours.  We learned a few more things about travel on these three legs of our journey. 

The first thing we learned was that it is much more difficult to travel with a lot of luggage. We brought one large duffel bag loaded with motorcycle gear, clothing, helmets, MC luggage, etc. We normally travel only with carry on bags so waiting for and then lugging around a couple of large bags was not much fun.  

The Gatwick train station and airport are together so transitioning from plane to train is quite seemless,  unless you have large luggage bags.  Not only was getting to the platform a problem but we soon discovered that the trains that run though the Gatwick station are electric commuter trains that have very limited luggage capacity.  We had to park the bags in the entrance area. On the first leg of our train journey we found a seat but on the second leg we stood with the bags at the doorway.  We weren't the only ones who had large bags. Collectively we concluded that having trains with limited baggage space was not such a great idea for trains that pass through an airport,

However, the train ride was good fun... On the first leg sat we a group of guys our age going to Goodwood race track for an old motor vehicle show.  We had a good chat with them and as bonus they had brought some beers along for the journey.  On the second, but shorter, leg we chatted with the other large-bag travellers.  

Once arriving a Poketown station (one of the Bournemouth stations) we hopped a cab to Clarendon Lodge B&B.   We are located a few blocks from the beach and a few blocks from the high street.  It is a nice big house in a good location. We are very happy with our room.  £65.  Including breakfast. 

After a short rest we headed out to explore the high street and visit the beaches.  First stop was to take care of communication needs.  We have an unlocked iPhone 4s so we found a mobile phone store and bought a SIM card (£2) and a Vodafone pay as you go card (£10) it gives us phone and text capability as well as 500mb of data. This should last us for our 3 week stay.  Nearly every place we have been in has had wireless internet.   

After a walk to the beach we found a nice little pub and had a drink and a bite to eat.  Prices are high here but some items are similar priced and some items are more expensive. Wine by the glass was too much.... £6.75  for a small glass of red.  We settled for a pint of beer and a cider for Linda.  These were priced similar to Canadiian tourist zone prices. We split a big burger and fries with salad and the total tab was  £17.75. 

A quick visit to a grocery store discovered that prices are quite similar to Fernie or Kaslo. We will likely eat our main meal at lunch time and the buy food and drink (wine, beer, cider, etc. ) at the grocery store for a light evening meal. As I write this I am sitting in the pal our room of the B&B sipping on a pretty good £4.5. Chilean merlot. 

Below are a few quick fotos. ...  

     We were wondering who might frequent this cafe?

One of the more interesting, but typical, buildings on high street

An iconic Britsh Post box

Off to the UK

It's our anniversary motorcycle trip. This time to Wales and southwest England, Devon and Cornwall.  

We are at the Calgary airport having a quick bite to eat while we wait for our 4:15 departure.  Apparently at the Calgary airport, at least in Kelsey's restaurant they already knows where we are going. How do I know?  We just ordered a beer and a cider and they are already charging us in British pounds!  £4 for a draft beer and the same for a can of cider.   Or perhaps I'm justcheap, old or used to Kaslo prices??? 

If all goes according to schedule we should land at Gatwick about 8:30 UTC.   Then we will take the train to Bournemouth where we spend a couple of days relaxing and getting acclimated.  Sunday morning we pick up our rented motorcycle and head off for a two week tour.