Following our exhausting day at Snowdon, we decided to treat ourselves to a little beach day. A quick Google revealed the seaside town of Rhyl as our destination. After a quick dirve, we found ourselves on the beach front, and I have to say, for a beach in North Wales, it was not half bad.
Still, our priorities were different – lunch was calling to us. Being at a seaside, the natural choice was fish and chips. We settled on Les and Rita’s Fish Bar, and I habe to say, if you ever find yourself in Rhyl, I would highly recommend going there. The fish was deliciously crispy, the chips crunchy, and the curry sauce couldn’t be beaten.
Afterwards, we made our way down the promenade, and towards the beach. It had the makings of the typical British seaside town – business closed down or hanging on by a thread, save for the omnipresent betting shops and big chains, and the only visitors (except for a few people like us) being locals and those drawn by nostalgia. The pandemic may have been a boon to British domestic tourism, but it is likely too late to save it completely.
Before we went to the beach proper, we decided a round of mini golf was in order. It was not the most creative of courses, but it was fun nonetheless. This was my second time mini golfing, and it really cemented a weakness I was already starting to develop – when I see a cool path that leads straight to the hole, I can’t help but go for it – which led me to having about 10 on one hole! Safe to say, I did not win the game.
Afterwards, we made our way downwards to the beach, where we ate ice cream and doughnuts as we debated to whether waffle or wafer cones were the best choice for ice cream (a debate I seemed to have lost for the wafer side, unfortunately).
I was initially sceptical about getting into the water. After all, I had never really been a beach person, and the last time I actually went to the beach must have been years ago. Eventually though, after a lot of persuasion from Nat and James, I went into the water up to my waist. What followed was another round of persuasion, and the slight application of force, to make me get into the water properly.
When I got in properly, my scepticism washed away like the waves, and I proceeded to have quite a good time. I suppose it shows that sometimes you should just try to have fun, even if you think you won’t! We spent a few hours on the beach, in and out of the water, and then it was time to get back to camp.
Back at the site, it was time for a dinner. We chose Pen-y-Bont Inn as our place, mainly due to a deal they had on steak and red wine. However, it was a decision well made. The starters were incredible (I had a beetroot and blue cheese salad, with some fantastic caramelised walnuts), and the mains were also very good (though I suspect that they were not fillet steaks, as advertised).
Following this delectable dinner, we made our way back to camp, where we would begin a long night of drinking vodka by the campfire, the details of which I will spare you. In short, it was a fantastic night.
However, as is the case with many fantastic nights, it led to a not-so-fantastic morning, where I struggled to get out of bed. After hours of feeling sick, I finally mustered up the strength to get up. I splashed some cold water in my face, and suddenly I felt a whole lot better, which was good as we had a long day still planned ahead.
Today’s activity of choice was to be a pub crawl through the nearby town of Abergele. James had a call to take, so Nat and I left first. We naturally couldn’t take a car, so we chose to walk instead. It was a very pleasant (if long) walk through the Welsh countryside. Sheep were ever-present, and the rolling hills were absolutely stunning. I couldn’t help but imagine living in the area, and being able to see such beauty on a daily basis.
After reaching Abergele, our first stop was the Bull Hotel. It was a nice enough pub, though I can’t say anything noteworthy about it.
Our next stop would be the George and Dragon, which had one of the coolest pub signs I’ve ever seen. We were lucky as on this day the pub had free pool, which we played extensively. I played quite well in my first game, but as I finished my pint, my motor skills fell apart, and I began to play awfully, to the point I potted more whites than there were balls in the game.
Our final stop would be the Harp. As it turned out, this was a pub for locals. The moment we opened our mouths and our South English accents came out, we felt the whole pub turn to look at us. This was the first and only moment I could say I felt unwelcome in Wales.
This would be a good time to bring up the friendliness of the Welsh. With the exception of the Harp, everyone was incredibly friendly towards us, people greeted us with smiles, and wherever we went, people were willing to help us out. The contrast between peoples attitudes back home and here in Wales could not be starker, though I don’t know if that’s more a comment on South England, or on Wales.
Nonetheless, we finished our pub crawl, and we began the long walk back to camp. Our plan for dinner was a simple all day breakfast, however this would prove to be anything but. Despite our previous successes with cooking on a campfire, today would prove to be horrendously difficult, and we eventually gave up on any fanciful cooking and just shoved it all into a pan, and let it almost burn, just to avoid food poisoning. Camping may have been fun, but, as James put it, the difficulty in performing basic functions like cleaning and cooking really got to you. We turned in for the night after a long and very disappointing dinner.
The final day would simply packing up and and the long drive home, though I did go for a little walk by myself to grab some geocaches, and snap some final pictures.
Overall, I did enjoy the trip. North Wales is incredibly beautiful and the people are so friendly and nice. It had been a very long time since me, Nat and James could spend this long together, and nothing can beat catching up after such a long time. I would 100% go again, and perhaps climb some different mountains together.
We May Roam 