Wandering Around (North) Wales

Disclaimer – I have definitely procrastinated in writing this, bit of life getting in the way and my own lack of drive, so it isn’t in the exact order of everything we did, but I’ve included all the stuff we loved!

Back in June my lovely friend Pete asked me if I would join him on his family holiday to North Wales as part of his PA team.

Pete had found this amazingly accessible house named Brynweirglodd outside of Porthmadog near Cwmystradllyn. The house has 3 double bedrooms upstairs with a full bathroom and downstairs is the accessible bedroom with a wetroom, kitchen and dining area, and the living area.

The drive from Edinburgh was pretty lengthy so after a quick shop to the local Tesco we were early to bed.

Pete’s family were staying nearby at a camping ground, so we arranged to meet them at Cadair Idris so they could attempt to hike it (I, of course, stayed down the bottom on dog watch). I did manage to trek up the hill for about a kilometre before I got exhausted, but I did get this lovely photo of the Welsh hills.

On another day, we all headed to Llangower and Llyn Tegid, Wales largest natural lake. We were just in time to see a steam train chug past!

Making the journey over to Caernafon, we found the beautiful Queen of the Sea which did tours of the bay and was able to be accessed by Pete in his chair! We did have to use his little portable folding ramp on either end of the gangway, but it was the first time Pete had been back on a boat since his accident!

We topped the day off by a lovely meal out in Tremadog, at a restaurant called Y Sgwar. The food here was amazing and the service was on point. Definitely must go-to!

A lot of it could be made gluten free, so I was in heaven! I had the scallops, steak and creme brulee.

Pete’s mate Rob joined us later in the week after recovering from a bout of the Spicy Cough (covid), and we headed to Coed y Brenin where the boys went and checked out one of the accessible paths (and some that weren’t all that accessible!). I walked one of the easier paths and got in some reading. Once we were all back, I got on Pete’s spare e-bike and the boys were trying to teach me some mountain bike tricks in the learner’s area. I even tried out the pump track and managed at least one corner without using my feet hahah!

On of the evenings, Pete, Rob and I got on the bikes and went for a ride up to a local dam. I was absolutely loving the e-bike and how easy it was on my legs! Not so much my butt though. We took some bevvies up to enjoy the scenery.

I had a free day while Pete and Rob went to go conquer a mountain. I decided to check out the man made tourist village of Portmeirion.

A ticket was super expensive at £17. The village was made in the mid 20th Century in an Italian style. The pastel colours and life sized chess board gives the area an Alice in Wonderland vibe. There was a wedding happening when I was there and there are also apartments to rent out for holidaymakers.

The village also has access to a coastal walk and goes past the Portmeirion Lighthouse, which was nice, easy path to navigate.

North Wales is a beautiful place to visit and explore and we found a lot of things that were accessible in either Pete’s powerchair or in his off road buggy.