THE BIG 60 !!!!! ( 5 nights)

Yes I turned 60 last week and not wanting any wild parties we took the caravan up to Dan yr Ogof for a quiet family weekend. Well that was the plan anyway, but I underestimated the party heads of my thirty something year old children and spouses!! Now Dan yr Ogof has a strict 'no rowdy family parties' policy so when laughter and loud voices were still coming from one of the caravans at 3 o'clock in the morning my heart was in my mouth, especially as I was given a good deal to book the whole well behaved family ..3 C'vans and a tent. Well despite this recurring the next night and a 1 o'clock finish on the third night there were no complaints ...PHEW!!! I don't think this site is overly strict as far as noise curfew is concerned I can't imagine any campsite where parties would be allowed to go on so late. It made me quite anxious as I would hate not to be able to go back to my favourite site just as I'd reached retirement age, but I also didn't want to be thought of as the miserable old git that spoiled the party .... even though it was my party lol.

We went up to Dan yr Ogof on the Tuesday to make sure no-one invaded our pitches but we needn't have worried because Mr Price had coned off a whole area just for us. The other 2 C'vans joined us on Thursday and the tent arrived on Friday morning. Wednesday was my actual birthday and as we had to pick our youngest granddaughter up from nursery we took her out for lunch. Then we went back to our house where I cooked some party food and the family came over for a little party. Once everyone went home we went back to the caravan where our Duvalays were waiting for us to crawl back in. It was my idea of a perfect day.

I think the family enjoyed the site, the only down side as far as the adults were concerned was the lack of children's play area, though the kids didn't seem bothered. There is a play area within the animal park but it's not accessible unless you pay for the visitors pass. I'm sure there will be a play area built one day but as the site is relatively new everything takes time. I also wonder where it would go as the site is segmented into hidden area so wherever it was build only a small number of caravans would be able to keep an eye on their children from their caravans. Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit the dinosaurs or go up the mountain pass to look down on the red kites ..activities which I'm sure the children would have loved, never mind ..hopefully there'll be a next time. We did manage a walk to Craig-y-nos country park which is just opposite the main entrance and goes through the prettiest part of the park that most visitors miss.

We made the most of Sunday as the weather turned out to be lovely and not the heavy rain day forecast. We had a cooked brunch then took a stroll around the site ..all the little secluded areas never fail to impress, then it was down to the river for the kids to throw some stones before packing up to go home.

It was a lovely weekend filled with some very happy memories. It's 15 years since the last time I had a holiday with all 3 of my children and it might never happen again as work schedules dictate. But I hope they'll all look back on it with affection and remember a special weekend to mark my 60th.

Relaxing after a mountain hike.

Two very tired dogs.

Gathering for Brunch.

A very rare picture of all my children and grandchildren with us.

Our little camp.

Long weekend over Easter. ( 5 nights)

2nd - 7th April


The weather forecast was for a cloudy cool weekend so we packed the caravan with warm cloths, food that we could cook in the caravan or the new electric frying pan and set off on Thursday evening in the rain for a 5 night break at Dan yr Ogof. We were set up by 7pm but were soaked through so made use of the drying room to get our coats and jeans dried out. Since our first trip out we have fitted an electric towel rail in the bathroom ...it has made a big difference and now we get out of the shower to a dry heat instead of the blow air heating which has a tendancy to chill you when you're wet.

The other investment we've made is 2 duvaleys. They are every bit as good as the reviews and we are now enjoying a really good nights sleep and waking up without painful hips.

Well the weather men got it wrong and by Friday afternoon the clouds were dispersing and the sun was raising the temperature and by Sunday the temperature was in the high teens reaching 21 degrees by Monday. Steve had to drive home on Saturday and pick up some cooler cloths as we were melting in our winter woolies.

The highlight of the weekend was a walk to the Wellington bomber crash site. It has been my ambition for over 40 yrs to find the site but have failed several times. We were fortunate to meet a gentleman called Jack who knew where the site was, but even with his experience we struggled to find the site. The wreckage is the same colour as the rocks so you can easily walk within a hundred metres and miss it. After a few attempts we found it, the sense of achievement was almost overwhelming.

Our new friend Jack

I love being up on the mountains

Our next trip is in a couple of weeks .. we will be celebrating my 60th birthday with all the family at Dan yr Ogof ....I can't wait...not to be 60 but to be back up in the mountains.