Pembrokeshire again - this time with added heat

The Hiscocks family have been holidaying in far west Pembrokeshire for 50 years. Regular readers of this blog will have seen previous posts of our times down here. It's a spot that holds a special place in our families heart, with both my parents ashes scattered on one of the beaches here.

Normally, of course despite usually coming down in August, the weather can be mixed, and packing raincoats and warm clothes is pretty mandatory. Although we needn't have bothered.

For the first time I can remember, we had a week of wall to wall sunshine, and more amazingly, the heat to go with it and virtually no wind. With the UK basking in the second heatwave of the year, and the driest first half of the year since 1976 it was as warm as the Mediterranean normally is - although large parts of the Med were experiencing even hotter weather this year.

As always, we had a fantastic time. The local campsite owners where the rest of my family stay, say it's been very quiet all year, but I thought the area was heaving - certainly during the week we were there.

We stayed in a town house slap bang in the middle of St Davids. Very handy for shops, pubs (if you could fight your way to the bar) and restaurants (if you could find/book a table). What was very evident was that nearly all hospitality places, from cafes to restaurants and pubs, were hiring and short staffed. The problem is that there's nowhere, or nowhere affordable, for potential short term staff to stay for the summer. Holiday lets are far too expensive, and temporary, affordable accommodation is in very short supply.

However, on to the holiday!

We started by calling in at Solva on the way as we usually do, and climbing the Gribyn hill on the side of Solva harbour, one of my favourite places anywhere. The views over St Brides Bay are gorgeous. We then called at the campsite to catch up with those of my family who were around, before a bunch of us drove to Strumble head for a short 30 minute coast path walk round to a secluded rocky bay called Porthsychan. Secluded that is apart from the seals. There were several bobbing around in the bay watching as we swam, picnicked and generally lazed about for a few hours. 

Glorious Solfa/Solfach from the Gribyn. 

Stumble Head light

Saturday was a lazy day, catching up with family on the campsite before popping to Caerfai Bay in the evening for those that wanted to swim or paddle board.

Caerfai

Sunday saw a trip to Scolton Manor, just outside Haverfordwest. Somewhere I'd never been in all our years of holidaying in Pembrokeshire. It was OK, although to be honest there wasn't that much to see or do. Still a nice walk in the woods, an ice cream made for a pleasant couple of hours.

There be dragons at Scolton

On Monday a few us us climbed one of the local rocky hills, Penberry/Penberi, a 175m lump of rock not far from the campsite. Not an overly strenuous climb, but required some wading through bracken and gorse, but the views were worth it across to Ramsey Island , Stumble Head and as far as Skomer and towards Milford across St Brides Bay. We also saw a smoke form a wild fire on a small island just off the coast. 

On Penberry/Penberi

View towards Ramsey Island from Penberry/Penberi

In the afternoon we had a pre-booked power boat trip around Ramsey with Falcon Boats - fabulous as always, and despite having done these trips before, learned some new stuff from the experienced and knowledgable crew. We saw seals, oystercatchers, peregrines, kittiwakes, guillemots, jellyfish, shags, petrels, fulmars and more.

Exploring a sea cave on Ramsey Island

That evening the "kids" (anyone under the age of 27) went to a local (just outside the gate) pizza place, whilst the oldies had a great catch up meal in our holiday home.

Tuesday saw us do a long beach day on our favourite beach - Abereiddy, home of the famous Blue Lagoon, an old slate quarry. Parking's a nightmare, and managed by the coasteering groups so an early start saw us get there for 8.30am whereupon there was a slight altercation between my elder brother and a car park attendant (a "you can't park there" altercation, but eventually resolved amicably(ish). The altercation was interrupted (and probably resolved) by the sight of a dolphin pod swimming in the bay - a rare treat here indeed. After that it was seven hours of lazing, kayaking, swimming, jumping of rocks (not me) and more picnics.

Blue Pool, Abereiddy

Abereiddy Bay

Intrepid explorers

Wednesday saw our two (grown up) kids have a lie in, whilst Anne and I went for a four mile circular walk on the stunning coast path alongside Ramsey Sound. It was a fairly gently stroll, before the sun got too hot. Again, wildlife was spotted regularly - oystercatchers, choughs, shags, but the highlight was spotting a seal, and then realising that it was adjacent to a rocky cove where a mother seal was feeding a newborn seal pup. In the evening we had a decent meal at the Bishop's pub/restauarant in St David's.

Mother seal and pup

Ramsey and Ramsey Sound

Our last day on Thursday (we had to be out of our house by 9am on Friday!) a gang of us went to Picton Castle & Gardens just outside Haverfordwest. It was the hottest day of the week, uncomfortably hot to do too much, so a wander around the gardens hunting for shade, a picnic and an ice cream was all we were good for! The highlight of the day was the owl Gardens and zoo - we watched Freddie the otter being fed, alongside an excellent and knowledgeable patter by his keeper, and then a similarly engrossing talk from the owl keeper as he flew four of five of the 25 odd owl species they have there, including a glorious eagle owl.

Freddie the otter

Eagle owl

The day was topped off as I took some pictures of the rising Sturgeon Supermoon over St Brides Bay, a great bookend to the fabulous sunsets we saw all week.

Sturgeon Supermoon over St Brides Bay

One of the glorious sunsets 

We were, as always sad to leave and come home, but happy in the knowledge that we will, of course be back, whether it's next years family break or maybe just a day or two to pop down the M4 - after all, it's barely a couple of hours away.

Just don't tell anyone about this place........

All my photos are available here

Twitter: @Statto1927 Flickr: 

https://www.flickr.com/people/simon_hiscocks/ 

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Puffin extravaganza

Full disclosure. I'm smitten with puffins.

Skomer puffins

Having never seen one in the flesh before, I'd booked an excursion to the Pembrokeshire island of Skomer some months ago as a birthday present for my wife as she wanted to see puffins, and Skomer is one of the best places in the country to see them as they descend in their tens of thousands from the arctic to breed.

We'd booked a stay in Milford Haven, in a superb Air BnB right on the marina for a couple of nights, making a short break of it. Having stayed in Milford Haven in September last year we knew the place pretty well and had booked a couple of restaurants for the nights we were there. The day we travelled we went to the picturesque Bosherston Lily Ponds which were in bloom, and the impressive Broadhaven South beach with the iconic Church Rock just off the bay.

Broadhaven South and Church Rock

Bosherston Lily Ponds

But enough of that, you came here for puffins!

There's limited landing of a maximum of 250 people a day during the season on Skomer for good reason, it being owned and managed by the Welsh Wildlife Trust. The island is a haven for breeding seabirds of all shapes and sizes, but particularly puffins, razorbills and guillemots. We booked our tickets via Pembrokeshire Island Boat Trips (I don't think you can do it any other way). We parked at the National Trust car park at Martin's Haven, for free, being NT members, before collecting our boat tickets from the lodge adjacent to the car park which is also a little gift shop where you can buy a cold drink or an ice cream (we bought some puffin mugs on the way back!). Just for clarification, I'd booked online and had e-tickets issued, but you have to verify this at the lodge and pick up a specific coloured boat time ticket).

Being an albeit shortish boat trip from Martin's Haven, sailings and landings are subject to weather, sea conditions and so on, and refunds will only be given if they cancel - which they can do at short notice. We had a story about one person who'd travelled from Manchester only to find out 40 minutes prior to sailing that they couldn't go due to conditions, so do bear that in mind. The weather and seas in this part of the world are notoriously fickle, and whilst they'll do everything possible to get you there, sometimes it just ain't gonna happen.

Anyway, we sailed on time. A seagull landed on the boat shortly after we set off - I though he was just hitching a ride, be he knew better. The skipper of the boat gives hime 3 cheese puffs each time the boat goes!

Cheese puff anyone?

I was worried that my little bridge camera (even though it's got a decent zoom) wouldn't be able to get near enough to the puffins to get some decent shots, my fears exacerbated by some of the enormous camera lenses and other kit being carried by some of the other passengers. I mean seriously big lenses!

We started to see puffins and other seabirds as we approached Skomer and people started snapping away. After landing and climbing the steep 89 steps, we were given a briefing by one of the volunteer wardens. Essentially, don't start for the paths as puffins and other nesting birds are everywhere. Sure enough, on the climb up from the boat, which is one of the main puffin nesting spots, they were literally within touching distance! I needed have worried about my little (compared to many others) camera! Indeed, some of the best shots of the day I took with my iPhone 13 Pro.

We had five hours on the island. There's little shelter and no facilities other than one set of (rudimentary) toilets in the centre of the island, and water for sale, so you need to come prepared. Once you're up on top, the goings is fairly flat and not unduly strenuous, but the steps up are steep. We walked virtually the perimeter of the island, cross crossing a couple of times. It's about a four mile walk around - we did nearly six miles on the day, which turned out to be lovely and sunny and warm with a gentle breeze.

 I'me only going to give you a couple of taster pics here, the link to my full album is below. Suffice it to say, there was never any danger of getting some fabulous photos of these little birds that make you smile every time your see them. The only real danger was running our of battery power (I ALWAYS carry at least one spare) or filling my memory card (I ALWAYS carry a spare).

It was an absolutely fantastic day, and a pleasure to see and be amongst these beautiful little seabirds as they go about their business of rearing their young. I'd heartily recommend this trip.

As well as they puffins and other seabirds including oystercatchers, we also saw pheasant, rabbits and voted. A short eared owl is sometimes around but he wasn't making an appearance on this day.

You can see my full album here

Twitter: @Statto1927 

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/people/simon_hiscocks/ 

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Center Parcs: Re-visiting an old friend

The Lake near the Sports Plaza

We're just back from a midweek break (Mon-Fri) to Center Parcs Longleat. We first visited in 1995 whenour firstborn was just under a year old, and have been back many times since. I've blogged a few times over the years about our visits here 2020, 2012, 2010, 2008 and 2006.

In many ways, there's little to add to these previous posts, but this post will no doubt regurgitate some of of what I've said before. The basic premise is a weekend or midweek break away in a forest lodge with time to do as much (for a cost) or as little as you'd like, with the centrepiece activity the sub-tropical swimming paradise, complete with hot tubs, heated outdoor pools, and various slides, lazy rivers, wave machines etc. There are several restaurant choices or the lodges are superbly equipped for self catering needs, supported by the well stocked onsite Parcmarket. Additionally, (free) wifi is near universally available over the whole site and fast enough for streaming (take an HDMI cable to attache to the TV), which also helps because depending on your service provider, your phone signal may be non existent.  We stayed in one of the two storey executive lodges close to the main Plaza which had the added benefit of its own sauna, but frankly, all of the lodges are well enough equipped and comfortable enough for anyone for a 3/4 day break. 

Over the years many available activities have changed, some have disappeared some have been modernised, and plenty of new ones have appeared but the bottom line is there's something for everyone irrespective of age or ability, loads to do if you want to, and plenty of opportunity to just chill out if you don't.

About to enter the Rapids

Girls on the Rapids

It was noticeable that several things weren't available/open during our visit. The high ropes weren't in use (low ropes for younger kids was), the zip line wasn't even up. The smaller of the "big" rides - the "Typhoon" in the sub-tropical swimming paradise remained closed all week. The Pancake House was closed for refurbishment, and the Foresters restaurant in the Village square was open but had scaffolding all around. There may well have been other activities that we didn't look at that weren't on, although how much of this was due to restricted use due to covid rather than refurbishment I couldn't tell.

Talking of covid, there was plenty of hand sanitising stations, masks were worn by some people, but I'd argue the majority weren't wearing even in indoor areas (this is England of course not Wales). It was table only service in the bars in the Plaza and Sports Plaza (I keep calling it by it's old name, the Jardin Des Sports - maybe they changed it because of Brexit?), but you needed to download an app and register to get table service - a bit of a faff as it wasn't the most intuitive app to register and there were (as far as we could tell) no options to pay via Apple or Google Pay.

Lads in the Sports Plaza pre snooker

We've always visited in January-March or October/November, avoiding the school holidays where we could due to eye watering price hikes on the basic accommodation fees at those times. And this is the kicker. A Center Parcs break is generally not cheap, either for the accommodation or the activities (although the sub-tropical paradise swimming and slides are all free) - especially if you're in a bigger group, but at the end of the day, it's a holiday and we planned and budgeted for it

There were 5 of us this time, with my son's best mate (he's virtually part off the family anyway) tagging along as his girlfriend unfortunately couldn't get the time off. 

With the situation around the pandemic easing, plus being in England, there was thankfully fairly little evidence of restrictions dampening the holiday experience. We understood the place was roughly at 85% capacity due to a combination of opening up gradually and a significant amount of lodge refurbishment going on. As always, apart from arrival day which is always a bit busy, the rest of the stay was pretty relaxed - the place was busy but nowhere near full on - and although we were officially outside of half term, there were lots of children in evidence.

A handy tip for people who haven't been before. Time your activities well and there's plenty of availability for certain activities. We were in the sports Plaza at around 4pm-6pm on Wednesday and it was dead. Only 1 of the 10 (I think) Badminton courts was in use, there were plenty of spare table tennis and snooker and pool tables available. This is likely due to people going back to their lodges for tea and to put younger kids to bed! You can (and it's recommended to) pre-book activities, but you can also book onsite on the day - we did a virtual walk up booking for one activity. Restaurants you almost certainly need to pre-book.

Our stay also caught the end of Center Parcs Winter Lights experience, with many of the walkways lit up with twinkling, or cascading lights, as well as full on Winter Light walk in the Village Square complete with music - if anyone local to us in South Wales did the Bute Park light trail, it was pretty similar (if much smaller) and even though we're several weeks into 2022 and Christmas is a distant memory, it was still a magical experience and especially so for the younger clientele.

Winter Lights I

Winter Lights II

Winter Lights III

As we are all a bit older now - well basically it was two retired/semi-retired oldies and three twentysomethings our activity choice has changed a little over the years. Nevertheless, we got stuck in and our week included cycling around the site (2 of us hired bikes, which also reminded us both how unfit we are!), badminton, crazy golf (indoor and out), table tennis, snooker, spa sessions (for the girls), a falconry experience, 10 pin bowling and of course plenty of sub-tropical swimming paradise fun in the pools and on the slides and rapids. 

The Gang mid-Badders

Adventure Golf
Basically outdoor crazy golf - 9 or 18 holes

Challenge Golf 
(basically indoor crazy golf - only 8 holes though?)

Just a word of note on the sub-tropical swimming paradise. On our previous visits you could just go any time you likes whilst it was open (until 9pm) but currently you have to pre-book a 3 hour slot, with a maximum of 4 slots available for a midweek stay (one a day effectively). There is no restriction after 6pm though - so if you're cute and booked a slot from say 4pm, you could actually stay until closure at 9pm.

This didn't prove problematic at all, and we made sure to include one session in the evening when it was dark - being in the well heated (basically like a bath) outdoor pool under the stars and going down the rapids in the dark is a CP must do!

Rapids at night

We bookended our week with a meal at the Indian restaurant "Rajinda" on the Tuesday, and "Las Iguanas" on Thursday, our last night.  There's normally a £5pp deposit with your pre-booking. It's worth noting that Las Iguanas doesn't do the same deals as its "normal" restaurants (e.g. 2 for 1 cocktails), presumably because it has a captive audience. It also had a few things not available when we sat down at 7.15pm on Thursday (which we vaguely recall happened on our last visit) possibly because it was end of week and they'd run out before the weekend refill.

Everything is well signposted

One of the potential benefits of a CP stay is the chance to see nature and wildlife close up - we've seen deer on our lodge patio before now. Sadly we didn't see any deer, foxes or badgers this time - out lodge was very close to the Plaza, but there was plenty of avian activity - as well as the usual garden bird suspects (robins, blackbirds, blue tits) we saw Jays, buzzards, long tailed tits and a tree creeper. There were also plenty of squirrels, an odd frog or two and some baby rabbits.

As has always been the case, the one guarantee is that you come away from your break, whether a weekend or a midweek stay felling like you've genuinely been on a break and are all the more chilled for it.

It can be pricey, but it is recommended, and as I've said in some of my previous posts, we will be back.

Twitter: @Statto1927 

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/people/simon_hiscocks/ 

Instagram: simon_hiscocks