Week 22 / 23 Murphys on tour

After the hottest summer for ages the true British summer - you know the one - nice one day force 10 gale the next, has finally arrived but will it spoil the intrepid Valley Holiday maker - nope.

The start of our fortnight, after Ann and John have enjoyed Carribean style weather for their whole two weeks, has arrived. The weather was typically British for the duration to be honest but strangely this was one of the best holidays I think we've had for years.

Some times I return from holidays down in Newquay completely exhausted and drained after trying to fit so much in in two weeks but this was a truly relaxing time. It was noticable aswel I think how much more grown up both the girls have become especially Bethan who is catching her sister up and starting to look a real young lady. Both were a pleasure to be with this year.

Thats not to say we didn't get about much. One of the planned highlights was our idea to go Whale watching in the Atlantic which we booked up for and left the caravan at six in the morning only to find it had been cancelled. Amanda was gutted, I was, I have to admit, ever so slightly relieved as a pub crawl around Newquay the night before was not exactly the best preparation for 4 hours at sea in a small boat. We will go again before the seasons out hopefully.

But when one door closes - early as we were in Pembroke we decided to get some breakfast and make a day of it which turned out brilliant fun as we hired a surfboard and tried our hands at surfing. Bronwyn managed to look the part whilst the rest of us spent more time underneath the board than on top of it to be honest, but it is such a nice place no one cared.

Come to think of it considering the weather was not that brilliant we seemed to spend more time in the sea than we have done for ages - and great fun it was aswel. We even got Clive bodyboarding in Mwnt with us (and I was glad to hear him say he ached all over the next day - I thought it was just my old bones, although why he insists on gurning before we get all rubbered up is anyones guess :0)). Llangranog , until the lifeguard pulled everyone out of the water was also something special - what a fabulous day and huge waves in emerald green water - work just seems a distant and fading memory at such times.

One thing we didn't do that much strangely was BBQ - I suppose everyone had had enough chicken and steak the previous two weeks but we did eat out an awful lot more than usual.
The Newquay Indian with Ann, John, Clive and Jane, Welly time where we were the last ones out of the pub, The Ship in Llangranog and Weartherspoons in Aberystwyth all became a bit too familiar over the two weeks and now serious dieting is in order.

I suppose more than anything this holiday was spent together - we played cards, ate out together - watched films together - I really enjoyed it and woke me up a bit to how much time I spend in work in the week and really get to appreciate the time we get as a family together in West Wales.

Its easy to see why people can spend whole seasons in their mobile homes down here. If you love being outdoors or even just chilling on the verandas with the stunning sunsets in the afternoon - it is a really special place.

Two weeks have once again flown by and work returned so quickly but there are still plenty of good times ahead. This was one of the best.