Meat and Veg Hot Pot

European made motorhomes (e.g. Rimor, Hymer, Pilot etc) tend to have only a hob with 2 or 3 rings. Only the British made motorhomes have a fitted oven. This can leave you limited in what you can cook but Zoe and I do cook a lot in Herman and we simply love it.

This has got to be my favourite meal to have while camping. It's delicious, it's good for you, easy to make, wholesome and doesn't have much washing up.

The basic idea is to put cuts of meat and vegetables into a saucepan with the lid on and cook it all on a low heat. The veg maintain their flavour and the meat is tender.

We normally use lamb chops but any cut or meat will do so long as it is small pieces. We like using carrots, potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, anything really and olives are great too.

Trim any fat off the meat and chop up the veg and put it all in the saucepan with the meat at the bottom so it can cook in the liquid. We then add about half a pint of stock, wine or water and cook on a very low heat with the lid on for 45-60 minutes.

Serve when the meat is cooked and the potatoes/carrots are soft with some crusty bread and red wine.

The Last Day

I'm feeling very tired now and so this is going to be a short and to the point post. In fact we've both been feeling tired all day. It must yesterdays walk catching up with us. It's our last day of holiday today. Tomorrow we travel back home.

Today we met up with our friends Alan, Melissa and little Oliver. We had a lovely lunch at the Gower Wild Flowers Cafe where we saw a cow get itself stuck across a fence. Later we ended up at The Mumbles for long chats and coffee. It was great to see them again but it rained all day.

Sun, Sea and Coastal Walks

What a beautiful day. We managed to get up early to a bright blue sky with the sun a blaze and hot. It's time for a coastal walk.

Worm Head, Rhossili

We went back to Port Eynon, made some sandwiches and set off west to Rhossili. I figured it would take about three hours. How wrong I was. It took 5 hours and it was tiring but boy it was strikingly beautiful and didn't disappoint.

We walked all along the top of there

There was much wildlife to see, mainly crows but we also saw a Greater Spotted Woodpecker catching bugs on the wing. Never seen them do that before before and certainly not on the coast. The sun also brought out many peacock butterflies.

We are now on bus back to Port Eynon and Herman. Feeling very tired and I have a beer and a BBQ calling me.

Who is Herman?

I guess I should have introduced Herman at the start of my blog.
Herman is a 1998 Hymer B564. He is 6.5 metres long, sleeps 4 and has a kitchen and a bathroom with large shower. We brought him in July 2010 when he had already travelled 50,000 miles.

Here is an early video I made of our first trip in him.

Such a Strange Day I Can't Think of a Title for this Post!

Working water wheel

Will the "Mill"

A bit of a strange day today. First of all, it was raining. Now, there's nothing wrong or different about that other than it seems to keep us inside too long. That pitta-patta on the roof is soothing and tells you that you are in a safe, dry and cosy place while it's bloody horrible outside especially when you are still in bed wrapped up all snug like. So, by the time we set off it was 11:30 but where were we going? That's the second thing, we decided on going to the Gower Heritage Centre. I don't know what we were expecting at the Centre, maybe help and advice about visiting the Gower Peninsula or a map of walks but instead we were met by a patch work quilt of history, shops and activities. I'd describe it as an old exhibition attraction which has evolved around an old working water mill (which was interesting) with huts, shops and passages added on over time with the odd mannequin dressed in old clothes. You could watch/try your hand at throwing clay (I think that's the correct term) or watch a puppet show. The Centre then turned into a zoo with chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats and guinea-pigs. Oh, and a museum of tractors and old farm appliances, a blacksmith and a small section about air-raid shelters of WW2. It was very, shall I say, well used and dusty and definitely aimed at young kids.

From Port Eynon Point

So, instead of a beautiful place that I've been told and read about my first impression of Gower was a grubby, 3rd rate, expensive attraction which left us feeling a bit fed up.

Looking towards Rhossili

We left and headed to Port Eynon which is on the coast. This was more like it. Port Eynon is a quiet village with a church, a chip shop and a long sandy beach. It also has a beautiful coastal area with rock pools and many different types of birds including oyster-catchers and plovers. From the top of Port Eynon Point great views with jagged rocks and shear cliffs can be seen. It gave us the idea of taking a walk along the coast tomorrow to Rhossili if the weather is nice hopefully we'll be awake.

"We Got Ourselves a Convoy"

We spent most of today travelling south to the Gower peninsula near Swansea. We took many A roads but they all felt like B roads; narrow, twisty and up and down. There were many times where followed by a convoy of cars and for many miles there were six motorhomes in the convoy.

Oh, at one point on a deserted road we spotted four buzzards just sitting in a field.

We are now at Gowerton Caravan Club site. Apparently, when the tide comes in it blocks the roads into the site.

Ceod y Brenin

Today we went to Ceod y Brenin which is a activity centre ran by the Forestry Commission. They have many mountain bike tracks and walking routes for different abilities. We chose to do the "strenuous" red route. All routes are very well sign posted. It was a 2 hour walk over different terrain with waterfalls and great scenery.

Along our walk at Ceod y Brenin

 At one point we criss-crossed over a bike route called "The Beast" which is an extremely difficult trail which requires high levels of skill and stamina. I had to laugh though when one of the signs for "The Beast" also had a skull and crossed-bones on it indicating a warning of death! We didn't see anyone on "The Beast" trail.

WARNING: Death Ahead

Today had been such a nice day we thought we'd end it with a BBQ with sausages and peppered steak.

The Bridge is Out

Barmouth Bridge

Back to normal this morning as we get up late again. Today we wanted to cycle along the Mawddach Trail and over the bridge that stretches across the mouth of the river into Barmouth. We thought we could get some more beer and wine and maybe some bread. But instead the bridge is closed for the week for some maintenance. Barmouth Bridge is a grade 2 listed structure and consists of a footpath and a railway line. The footpath has a toll and costs 90p for an adult or £1.50 for an adult on a bike.

River Maddach from the bridge

The bridge to Barmouth is out

Anyway, so instead of crossing the bridge we cycled all the way back to the George III pub, which is actually a hotel, and ordered some lunch. We both had the steak and ale pie with chips and it must have been the best steak and ale pie we'd had for a while; lots of nice big chunky pieces of steak in a suet base with a puff pastry top which oozed gravy when you cut into it, and the chips very also very good as well. All chased down by two pints of the Snowdonian ale made by the Purple Moose brewery.

It is now the evening and we are preparing dinner (more steak and potatoes) while the wind has picked up and is rocking Herman, the rain has started again, our next door neighbours are having a BBQ and a tawny owl hoots nearby.

Cycling on the Mawddach Trail

Mawddach

Today, back to normal. We woke up at 8:10 but that could be because we were kept up all night to the sound of the rain drumming on the roof. We think it's louder here because we are camped right under some trees.

Harlech Castle

We move on today to Craig Wen on the south coast of the River Mawddach near Dolgellau. The journey was going to be a short one and so we decided to visit another ruined castle this time Harlech Castle. We managed to get in for half price again thanks to the English Heritage membership. The castle is another one of King Edward I's when he was trying to gain control over the Welsh in 1280ish. Small tip: There is a pay and display just opposite the castle entrance, don't bother with that. Instead, at the base of the castle (on the A496) where the railway crosses the road there are signs for the castle and there is a car park right next to the rail-crossing at the castle base. This is good because the B4573 which the castle is on is not suitable for campers/caravans (steep, narrow and twisty).

Overlooking Afon Mawddach

We arrive at Craig Wen and head off on a short cycle ride along the Lower Mawddach path which is a disused train line. We arrive at the George pub who sell a bloody gorgeous pint of Snowdonia. At this point it was getting late so we only had the one pint and headed back to Herman. Hopefully, we'll be back soon ;-)

Mount Snowdon

Dolbadarn Castle

What is it with us? We woke up late again. It must be this mountain air or the evening wine. Anyway, today's weather looked a lot brighter and drier so we decided to go to the top of Mount Snowdon in the cog-wheel train.
We got our return tickets, which weren't cheap and since we had a few hours before our allotted time we checked out Dolbadarn Castle (pronounced car-sil ;-)  ) which is small ruined castle.

Fabulous Views

We got on our train and trundled to the summit. The views were stunning and you could see for miles. Good job we never went yesterday because I think we would have got fed up of looking through mist.

Us, 1084 metres up

When we got there we where given 30 minutes to have a look round and take photos. There is a warm restaurant and a few stalls but we went straight to the place which marks the summit. It was a bit crowded, windy and bitterly cold but you really couldn't complain about the views.

Caernarfon Castle

Snowdon is around here somewhere

Bloody hell did it rain last night. It sounded like golf balls bouncing on the roof and not like the usual soothing rain sound.
We woke up late again, about 10am. There was light rain and low cloud so we decided to go to Caernarfon Castle travelling via Llanberis where the train to Mount Snowdon is located to just check it out. The scenery to Llanberis was amazing with dry stone wall bordered narrow roads, streams and mountains.
We arrived at Caernarfon Castle and had lunch in the car park (£4) at the foot of the castle and then we went in. With our English Heritage membership we got in for half price (£5.24 for the both of us). The castle is partially a ruin with a theatre in one tower, a museum for the Royal Welch Fusiliers and an exhibition to the Prince of Wales in another tower.

Caernarfon Castle

 

Where's Wally?

In Wales there were many Princes and Llewlyn made himself leader of them all. In the 1200's when the King of England Edward I beat Prince Llewlyn and his armies Edward I built a ring of castles around the Snowdonian mountain range but  Caernarfon was going to be special. This was the castle he was going to live in. Edward was born a son (later crowned King Edward II) who became the first Prince of Wales as we of them today. The latest is, of course, Prince Charles.

The Story of Beddgelert

Statue of Gelert the faithful dog

Today we went for a short bike ride into Beddgelert (pronounced Beth-gelert  'g' as in girl) . The journey was about a mile long all down hill. We followed a route from the village sign posted with "Gelerts Grave". Not knowing who Gelert was we decided to follow it. It turns out that Gelert was a large and very faithful dog of Prince Llewlyn who lived here when people lived in castles and used swords (in the 1200s). One day the Prince went hunting but Gelert wasn't to be found so he went on his own. Arriving back Gelert sprung from nowhere startling the Prince. He ran to the room where his baby son and heir slept and found lots of blood but no son. Thinking that Gelert killed his son the Prince drew his sword and slay Gelert. As Gelert howled in pain the son cried out in response. The Prince found his son next to a large wolf that Gelert had killed while protecting him. Afterwards he named his dog Beddgelert and it was said that the Prince never smiled again.

The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway runs through the campsite and we watched a couple of trains (that makes it sound like it's really busy, it's not at all) and then had a short cycle around the forest.

So far, no otters seen yet.

Snowdonia: All I can say is, wow!

One of the many mountains

Of all the days to have a lie-in. The day we were travelling to Snowdonia. We woke up at 10ish. I've not done that in ages. Herman does that to you you know? The bed is so comfortable and it's so dark and cosy that you just keep sleeping. Anyway, the journey from the Peak District to Snowdonia was going to be 2.5 hours but instead we took a slight detour for a more scenic route down the A5 to Betws-Y-Coed. We are glad we did because the scenery is just amazing. Like the Peak District, Snowdonia is beautiful and lush green (that'll be the rain I guess) but with mountains instead of hills and lakes, rivers, streams and waterfalls are everywhere.

Herman in Beddgelert

We arrived at the campsite and pitched under the trees right beside the river with the hope of spotting an otter. The lady in reception was talking about them as if they are a permanent feature like the squirrels and rabbits around the site. So, fingers crossed that we spot one and get it on video.

There is no phone signal at the site let alone WIFI or 3G so no blog updates for a few days and I won't be doing any fishing either. The fish in the river is trout and it's their migration period so fishing is out of season at the moment.

I've brought my telescope and it's very dark outside at the moment but the trees may be a problem so I may venture out in a bit.

Wet and Windy at Lyme Park

The unpleasant weather continues. The strong cold wind brings with it rain and sunny intervals. It's definitely not a day for long walks on top of Mam Tor and along the Edale Valley.  Instead, we decide to visit Lyme Park which is a country house surrounded by a 17 acre garden with roaming deer.

Lyme Park was used as the backdrop in the BBC's Pride and Prejudice. You can go inside but you can't take photos so we've only got external shots. There are many rooms each with its own history, portraits and antiques from 1600's to 1800's. There was an interesting exhibition on about Mary, Queen of Scots who was supposed to have been imprisoned there for a few months.  Lyme Park was also supposed to be the place where plans where made to get rid of the monarchy.

Tomorrow we are heading for Snowdonia in Wales and there is a chance of snow!

Our next campsite, Beddgelert, has no WIFI so I will update when I can.

Apparently, there is a river running through the campsite and there is a possibility in seeing trout and otters. So, the fishing rod and binoculars are coming out for sure.

The Devil's Arse

On the map there are quite a few attractions around Castleton. We visited there a few years ago one Christmas. At the time we went for a walk following our guide book. This time though we decided to check out the caves and if we had time, walk up Mam Tor which is an impressive large hill.

We started by visiting Peveril Castle which was built just after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It is now a ruin but you can enter the keep.

By the time we left it was lunch and we decided to grab a sandwich at a nearby deli/cafe. They had a cabinet full of cakes and starring at me was a huge custard slice with icing. The custard was over an inch thick! I had to have it and it was delicious.  And Zoe thought so too.

We ventured over to Speedwell Cavern and went inside. We had to put on hard hats and descend 106 steps down to a small boat. Eight of us got in the boat and the guide led the boat down a very narrow and low 400 metre man-made tunnel. The tunnel was mined 200 years ago as lead mine.

Next we went on to the Devil's Arse or rather Peaks Cavern which is a natural cavern and caves where rope makers lived there their entire lives making, erm, rope. I volunteered to help make some rope, which seemed very simple and I got to take the rope home.
The Devil's Arse got it's name because the Victorian's believed that caves lead down to Hell and there's a small area which when it gets flooded as the water drains away air gets trapped and for about 10 minutes you can hear the devil farting! It got renamed to the Peaks Cavern because Queen Victoria paid it a visit once and there was no way the Queen would be seen in the Devil's Arse.
We liked this tour. The cavern and caves didn't have the best structures and there weren't any stalactites but the guide was brilliant and very informative and some of her stories were amazing.

On the way back we went through Winnats Pass which is a very beautiful rocky gully. The road was a bit steep and I had to rev the nuts out of Herman in 1st gear to make it up.

By the time we got back to the campsite the wind and rain had picked up and our neighbour's awning had been completely destroyed. There were poles bent and scattered everywhere and the canvas was torn and flapping wildly in the wind.

Poole's Cavern and Buxton

Some stalagmites

Completely different day today with regards to weather; misty, cloudy and some rain. The previous night we found it got really cold while sleeping so we decided to have the heating on last night but at some point in the early morning I had to turned it off because it got too warm to sleep. Outside, Herman must of been glowing white hot.

Because of the pending wet weather we decided to take a short walk to the Poole's Cavern. It had it's fair share of stalactites and a stalagmites and whole load of history which involved the Victorians being their usual brutish selves by blowing up natural columns and generally damaging the place.

Zoe enjoying an ale or three

Afterwards we decided to walk in to Buxton and get a bite to eat at a pub but along the way we saw signs for the Peak District Annual Festive with included a beer festival. We arrived there and also discovered a tent selling hog roast baps. Result. After a few real ales and a pig buttie we headed back to the campsite and Herman in glorious sunshine. The weather folks had got it wrong again. We chose to walk back a different way since the signs posts were heading our way but they took us a very long way round and the small map of the area was pretty useless too.

Arrival in the Peak District in Herman

Misty Morning in Bicester

Having arrived Friday night at Brook Farm campsite (see long grassy field) near Bicester in the dark with a bright full moon and starry sky we awoke early to beautiful misty morning with clear blue sky and nobody around.

What's that noise?!

To get to the farm we had to cross a railway line and in the morning we decided to stop for a photograph!




Saturday morning the drive to the Peak District was uneventful and we arrived at the Grin Low Campsite near Buxton in time for lunch. Being October lunch was a fry up on the BBQ including sausage and fried egg.

Zoe at Soloman's Temple

A BBQ fry up with Herman in Grin Low

Grin Low is beautiful campsite set against a rocky cliff surrounded by rolling countryside. Nearby is Solomans Temple which is a small viewpoint tower built in 1896. It was on this walk where I had realised that I had forgotten all of our maps and walking guides for the Peak District and Wales. Which, of course, is what we've planned to do. Never mind the AA road atlas will have to do.