A very happy new year everyone!
2021 was another odd year wasn’t it?
A highlight of the year was our first holiday since the pandemic! We arranged to meet Hannah’s family in Charmouth for a lovely break together and we decided we would have a few little adventures of our own along the way. I LOVE planning road trips and off grid breaks (bit obsessed actually) and we were driving to Charmouth from Belfast, so there were plenty of exciting options!
I did lots of research and we decided we would drive to Wales and stop off for the night after driving down from the ferry in Scotland. Our final spot for the night was the quirky Boy John on the shore of Smuggler’s Cove in the Dyfi valley estuary.
I think I underestimated how long it would take to get to west Wales and there was quite a bit of traffic too. We were absolutely exhausted when we finally arrived, but what a spot and what a beautiful evening too! There was only one thing to do at this point… crack open the wine!
The wine may have hit us pretty hard after such a long day.
It was a bit odd to be staying somewhere that wasn’t home for the first time in so long. We felt compelled to wipe down all the surfaces that we were going to be in touch with. If we’d been there longer we would have definitely done a deep clean. It was pretty grubby in places, but I guess that’s part of the experience of staying in an old boat!
We settled in for the evening and it didn’t take long to feel cosy with the woodburner and more red wine on the go.
A huge perk to the accomodation was that it was pet friendly. We couldn’t have imagined going on our first holiday in so long without our little Frida! She absolutely loved exploring all the new smells and secret nooks of the boat. The three of us spent a little bit of time under the stars together later that night and it was magical.
We explored more of the boat the following morning. Frida wasn’t too keen on climbing the ladder to the top deck!
I absolutely loved it up there and couldn’t resist taking a little moment to do a very quick sketch.
Frida definitely preferred going for a walk in the beautiful area around the boat. It’s a UNESCO Biosphere Zone and is said to have some of the most outstanding natural landscapes and habitats in the whole of Europe. We all certainly approved!
We had a very soggy doggy on our hands after our walk. We hate seeing her cold, so we wrapped her up in our sleeping bag. She was very grateful and had a well earned snooze after all her exploring.
With Frida all tuckered out, it was the perfect time to set off on the next leg of our road trip down to Charmouth. All three of us would love to have stayed longer and explored the area a bit more. I was quite blown away by how tropical west Wales appeared in places. We drove through some wonderful little villages too. One was so wonderful that we had to stop and squeeze in a quick pint to see us through the next part of the drive!
