Sunday 21 June
Part 2 of our main summer holiday. Father's Day today,but I had mine last night, news got around that we'd landed on return from West Sussex and my whole tribe descended on us for a KFC tea. Both Nelson and Roids had bought me Rum, and I'm afraid to say I overindulged a little .... OK somewhat, and by the time I was climbing the wooden hill I'd consumed 3/4 a bottle to myself and was feeling no pain whatsoever as I stumbled up the stairs one by one.
Highlight of the night for me though was when Bwmps climbed onto my lap with his new Ivor the Engine story book asking me to read it to him, while he fell asleep cwtched tight into my side.
Due to last night's over indulgence loading the car up before heading down to storage was arduous, as was taking off all the locks and hitching up!
Having been to Bognor last week, we've no plans to go far this week. We'd been holding out for a vacant pitch, out of hope if anything, but lo and behold on the Friday before leaving for the south coast one came free, and our destination for week 2 was sorted.
An easy tow of just under an hour, with no diversions through lanes sees us pulling in through the gates of Rivendell once more. I managed to reverse onto the pitch first attempt, but resist telling Herself to get out to record it to show the world how good I am at reversing. Firstly because I'm not a Class 1 HGV driver and was not guaranteed to get it right, and secondly I'm not a needy YouTuber or TikToker desperate for likes or clicks.
I'm pretty sure the working parties in Tenko had it easier as setting up in the heat was a challenge, and we took a break between getting the van sorted and erecting the canopy, taking the opportunity to have a quick cold shower. It was some time before we were able to announce that "We is arrived!"
We get a call from Nelson asking if it would be OK for him and his tribe to join us. By the time I've got back from the Co-op in Kilgetty - for the 2nd time because I failed to listen to what Herself had told me first time around they had arrived.
Nelson had called into B&M on the way down, so Beastie and Bwmps have a haul of brand new outdoor toys! The afternoon and evening is spent playing badminton, Swingball, football, bean bag tossing and fighting the dogs off for a cooling dip in their pool!
It was hard work cooking tea with the late afternoon sun shining straight onto the cooking station in the canopy, but it was nice to get out the Isabella table out and dine alfresco.
Even if Beastie insisted on eating in the boot of Vera!
It was gone 8pm when their tail lights are disappearing through the gate. We have a quick tidy up before heading inside for showers. Herself had herself a tepid one and I opted for a cold one. Hard as nails me!
Herself did try to stay up to watch a bit of TV but can't get her more knackered knee comfortable at all, so gives up and goes to bed to read.
I take the opportunity to sit in silence looking out in the general direction of Pembroke Dock with the 18" fan pointing at my gonads running full chat.
Monday 22 June
It's gone 8am by the time we both wake up, having had a superb night's kip each. The first coffee of the day is taken outside in the sun. I wish I could say in the peace of the early morning stillness, but I can't. The wife next door likes the sound of her own voice, and she's loud. You know the type of nagging wife that they used to portray in cartoon magazines back in the 1970s and early 80s when we were allowed to do that sort of thing?
Let's just say I feel sorry for the husband as they're kicking up dust heading out for the day!
We want fruit and veg, so make the short hop to Four Seasons Farm Shop before it gets too hot to leave the dogs in the car.
One of the things we like about this site is the wide open space, more than enough to give the dogs a little stretch, so that's what we do.
Just gone lunchtime and a rotund man waddles over to our van head to toe in hi Viz.
"I've got to turn the electric off for a few hours for testing?"
"What? On a day like today? It's already 28 degrees and we've got a freezer full of goodies, and have fans running to keep cool!"
He shrugs and waddles off slowly. Probably just as fast as I would waddle off too in this heat, head to toe in Hi Viz.
Meanwhile I fire up the laptop desperately Googling how to work our fridge and turn it to work on Gas cos they're too tight to give you instructions for anything these days!
It's coming close to 2 hours, which in my mind equates to the "couple" that Hi Viz promised, and we appear to be nowhere close to having the switch flicked, in fact it appears that Hi Viz is nowhere near either!
The sun is beating down, and without any fans running it's like being in Tenko, only without the Japanese torture! We decide to escape, knocking the fridge over onto Auto so it will switch over to electric when Hi Viz gets his act together.
At this stage the alcoholic Tiktoker would have been posting teasing thumbnails about a disaster and bragging about caravanning off grid.
We're cruising the lanes towards Lawrenny Quay when Herself has a ping moment.
"What's that pub around here babe? The one on the quayside."
"No idea, can you be a little more specific?"
"You know, the one that we towed the caravan passed last time when we were lost."
"Gotcha"
Luckily it's roughly in the same direction, and were pulling up in the car park of the Cresselly Arms, which is perched at Cresselly Quay sitting at the upper tidal reaches of the Cresswell River.
The tide is out, nearly at low tide as Herself takes a quayside table while I go in to get some drinks and a pack of Billtong to share with the dogs.
We weren't going to move today, but Hi Viz made us change our plans. That word serendipity fits the bill here again. We had a delightful afternoon watching on as a bloke takes his two small dogs over to the other side on some stepping stones and below us in the mirky water dozens of what I think were dogfish made their way out to deeper water.
Back on site the Thors get dragged out for some relaxation in the sun. Our electric is back on and the fridge had switched back over to work on 240, therefore saving my precious gas supply.
I may have fallen asleep at some point, but was woken by the smell of minted lamb cooking on the Ninja. Herself has outdone herself here. Once I've wiped all the dribble from by bare chest and sat at the table I'm presented with a plate of wonderfulness.
I can promise you it tasted as good as it looks. The evening was spent taking cold showers and taking it in turns to have the benefit of the big fan, but even going to bed after the sun had gone down the control panel was saying internal temperature 31 degrees.
Tuesday 23 June
Looks like another hot one in the shire when we wake, luckily the fans are keeping the van reasonably cool overnight so a decent night's kip is achievable.
Breakfast is poached eggs on sourdough. In a moment of weakness I'd picked up an avocado yesterday at Four Seasons. I've only ever eaten it once before and thought it tasted of nothing really, but all the diabetic advice on Tiktok recons it's good for my condition so give it a whirl again.
I don't know if it was under ripe or something, but mashing it was a challenging task, and once more I found it tasted of nothing, just taking on the flavours of anything you added to it.
By mid morning it's getting too hot to sit in and around the van so we put our plan into place. After cold showers we traverse the Presseli Hills in the air conditioned comfort of Trude heading towards Traeth Mawr at Newport (Pembs, not the shithole close to the Severn Bridge). On our previous visit you were able to take your car down onto the beach. This suited us because it would be less wear and tear on Herself's knackered knee(s) and there would be no lugging of food, drink and chairs onto the sands.
Over the hills and dropping into Newpost we're happy to note that the outside temperature is a few notches below what it was back at Tenko Rivendell and a hazy mist is lingering giving a little protection from the sun.
The beach is reasonably quiet, most people have dogs with them and most are either in the sea or at the water's edge.
We waste no time in joining them and just how warm the water in the bay is comes as a pleasant surprise, and Herself hitches up her summer trousers to enjoy a deeper paddle with the dogs.
I went in a bit deeper as I wanted a pee obvs!
We walk back up the sands for a bit of a relax, people watching while we eat our sandwiches. Gwen moaned and whined all the time, looking on enviously as other dogs played in the sea. The way she carried on you'd swear she hadn't just been down there playing in the surf herself!
We head back down there, this time throwing caution to the wind, and by the time we got back to our seats she's ready to flop with her head in a bowl of water!
The mist is burning off and it's getting too how to be out with the dogs and no shade, so we make tracks back over the hills.
The plan was to stop off for a drink at The Salutation Inn on the A487, it had looked very enticing on the way. Pulling into the car park it became apparent that they had no beer garden, and the only outside tables were adjacent to the road. We didn't stop and pressed onto the one and only Tafarn Sinc at Rosebush. You can read all about the place HERE , so i'll not bore you by repeating it all.
Suitably refreshed by Asphall Cyder and Staropramen we head back to site, stopping off at Morrisons (and CK's because Herself forgot what she went in for) for provisions.
The late afternoon and evening were spent sitting in front of fans in attempts to keep reasonably cool, and we found it cooler in the darkened van than outside. It was gone 9pm when shadows were cast over the site by the tree line and it was cool enough to sit outside in the fresh air reading until the light eventually failed.
The roof vents were left fully open on going to bed, content in the knowledge that if it did rain, sleeping directly underneath one of them we'd soon know about it!
Wednesday 24 June
Waking at 6am my heart sinks seeing that little red light in the shower room glowing. I won't settle until it's sorted and resign myself to getting up, as comfortable as the bed it.
When I get back Herself had decided to get up and make the bed, but I'd done my very best to stay half asleep dragging the waste tank over to the disposal point, so jumped back on it trying my very best to drift back off, but ended up just looking up at the clear blue skies overhead.
It's a little cooler with a breeze first thing as we breakfast under the canopy with the grass still soaking wet with dew.
Plan today is to stop near the van for as long as possible until it really heats up later on. So that's what we did, spending the morning lounging, dozing and having cold showers until it was time to scrub up and head off out for a spot of lunch.
There's only one place on our minds and it's stiflingly hot as we thread our way through the lanes. Parking up at Lawrenny Quay we bag the last quayside table with shade and settle down for a crab sandwich with a view.
I'm pretty sure crab tastes so much better when your eating it next to the body of water it was pulled from!
Despite the shade, it's getting too hot for the girls so we up sticks and head for a spin in the air conditioned comfort of Trude. Outside hits the magic 30 degrees, and we were going to call at Manorbier so the dogs could have a cooling dip, but the car park was some way from the beach, certainly too hot for delicate paws, so we carry on west along the single track road soaking up the dramatic coastal scenery. The dogs are content sleeping in the coolness of the car anyway.
Doubling back we head for Saundersfoot. With Trude parked up I carefully plot a shaded route to The Captain's Table and run the gauntlet with the dogs, bagging a table in one of their fully covered cabins. Coming out with drinks I sit down and my phone pings.
"Are you enjoying your pint at The Captain's Table?"
It was from one of Nursey's old school friends, and I'm like a Meercat now looking around. She joins us for a while and we have a good old catch up before returning to the car and back to the van.
Back at Tenko we spend some time lounging and spending some time in our new favourite part of the van this week. Honestly, I don't know if we'd have managed without it.
I fell asleep again, but am woken by Herself for a superb Steak Frites that she has produced for our evening meal.
Late on and the sun is once again casting shadows over the site and it cools down a little. A bowl of strawberries hits the spot in between a few chapters and calling time on the day.
Thursday 25 June
Forecast to be the hottest day of the week so far, and it's stickily hot in the van early morning. Herself had a plan to be out and on the beach before it gets too hot.
We've traversed the Presseli Hills and are parked up at Newport before mid morning and enjoy a few hours lounging, and ensuring the dogs have shade in between time playing in the water.
Approaching midday it's getting too hot and the air conditioned comfort of the car is calling. We take a different route back, stopping off at The Harp in Letterston for a cold one in the shade.
After a slight diversion into Roberson Wathen for ice lollies we pull into Croft Park, adjacent to Tenko, where we take a table in the corner for more refreshments.
By the time we get back to Tenko the mercury is pushing 35 degrees and the rest of the afternoon is spent taking more cold showers, trying to find some shade and sitting in front of fans.
The site owner pauses his grass cutting to take a photo of our dogs in their pool for his website.
It's gone 7.30pm before we even think about an evening meal, and even then cooking anything is out of the question. At 7.50pm we're pulling out of the gate and the temperature is still the wrong side of 30 degrees. Kitchen closed by now in Charlie's Bar so we carry on. The Captains Table has no outside space, and even they did there was noone eating. The chippys that were open had people queuing out of the door so we press on.
Dropping down into Wisemans Bridge and the place is rammed, no tables available outside the inn either. Herself resigns herself to cooking. We cruise the lanes to Kilgetty, where like a mirage the Seven Spice fills up Trude's windscreen.
I pop inside to place an order and come out with 2 pints of Cobra to be consumed while we wait. The food was very good, very good indeed and once plates were swilled we sit out reading in the relative coolness of the evening air.
Nelson sends us a Whatsapp of the storm back home, we've nothing yet. Not too long after we're scrabbling around closing roof vents as big droplets hammer the roof. This was soon accompanied by white flashes and huge claps of thunder.
I fall asleep as God puts on a superb light show, with Herself sat up worrying and trying to convince the dogs that they too should be worrying.
Friday 26 June
What a night! The storm raged and knocked off our power intermittently, not really an issue, but slightly annoying as our Amazon Echo continually rebooted illuminating the van inside. The lightening continued through the night, albeit at a distance and without being accompanied by thunder and rain.
It's decidedly cooler when we wake, and all fans are switched off and we feel comparatively cold in temperatures of just 19.5 degrees..
Herself wants to get some model vehicles for Grumbles from the market in Cardigan. We'd been cool under a blanket of cloud as we followed the A478 over the hills until we'd cleared the delightful metropolis that is Crymych when gaps started to appear in the clouds. By the time we're crossing Afon Teifi in the shadows of Cardigan Castle the sun is shining and temperatures have risen to 23 degrees.
Now too hot to leave the dogs alone, Herself does a quick smash and grab inside the market and we head off out of town.
We take the B4546 that follows the banks of the estuary through St Dogmaels. No point going all the way to Poppit Sands as dogs are banned this time of year, so we stop off at the Teifi Waterside Hotel.
First time we've been here on a fine and warm day so a table is taken right on the banks looking over towards Patch as boaty people from the Yacht Club do boaty stuff with their boats.
Back on site I have a power nap before we head out for an evening meal. Yesterday I noted that Charlie's Bar on the adjacent Croft Holiday Park had Moules Fritts on the menu. Herself knows how much I like this dish so agreed to go there tonight.
The dish was superb, as was Herself's pasta dish, however on their website they state that dogs are allowed on the terrace and inside in part of the restaurant. Well that's a little misleading downright lie. If you have dogs you are not welcome in the restaurant at all, but are directed to sit outside in reception, surrounded by a queue of people either trying to check in or wanting to complain about the caravan they've been allocated, while all time time staring and wondering why a solitary couple is dining in reception.
We'll not be darkening their door again in a hurry.
Saturday 27 June
We'd decided yesterday that we both had a bit to do before going back to work, and Herself even if she won't admit it, is concerned about Grumbles being on his own for the best part of a week, and would therefore be returning home this evening rather than tomorrow morning.
A slow morning is had, gradually breaking camp and cleaning the inside of the van from top to bottom. We'd planned to pop out somewhere in the afternoon, but to be brutally honest neither of us were feeling it.
Nelson rings, could he and the tribe come down? A few hours later they're pulling in through the gate and our little corner of Pembrokeshire comes to life.
Bwmps loves caravans and dives straight inside and Beastie sets up an obstacle course and played badminton with her mam while Bwmps then busied himself with the tap and watering can!
We've no food in to cook so need to head out. You know last night I said I'd not be darkening their door again in a hurry? Well, plans changed. It's warmer today so sitting on the terrace outside Charlie's Bar was possible, plus there's no way were going inside anywhere with 4 dogs between us ...... that and there just happens to be a play park right next to terrace.
Food was lovely again, and Teacher actually managed to enjoy a hot meal while Bwmps terrorised other children in the park. What a lovely few hours to end our holiday, and we're both happy that Nelson and his tribe descended on us to liven up what would have been a damp squid of a day.
The clouds blew over and it was threatening to rain. All our chairs are out in the open back at the van so we make tracks, finishing breaking camp and hitching up.
All done we're pulling out of the gate at just gone 7.30pm for the short journey back home.
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