A great day in Pembrokeshire. Although the sun didn’t show up, we only had about 45 minutes of drizzle during the day. It was about 18 to 20 degrees so not too bad. Coats and sweat shirts did make an appearance though (the first one since June!!) towards the back end of the afternoon.
A late night last night so Finners slept in until 7.30! Charlie was out to the shower block by 7.45 - returning at 8.30!! I’m not sure that I’ve ever spent 45 minutes in a month, let alone a day, in the shower when I was 14! He said that the towel was hairy and he had to have 2 showers - makes sense as Brunnehilda hasn’t been cleaned and de-dogged since Derbyshire!
Breakfast of Coco Pops and bacon bagels and we were ready to face the World - well Pembrokeshire anyway. I showered (for a lot less than 45 minutes!) and we were heading out in the car by 10.30.
First stop a fill up with very cheap petrol (10p cheaper than at home). So cheap I very nearly filled an empty tank for under £100!! Second stop was Manorbier, about a 15 minute drive away. We parked up and walked up the hill to the castle.
Wow, what a great place. So much to explore - dungeons, towers, chapels, crypts, solars and Great Halls. The castle was built in 1130 but still felt very much alive. The medieval dressed mannequins helped with that and caused the Twinnies a few double takes when they entered some of the rooms!
Lots of cramped spiral stone staircases with uneven steps and scary battlements on top of high towers - Kim would have bloody hated it! I did constantly have her on my shoulder though telling me to have the boys in a tight and controlled formation!
Lovely views from the top though …
After the exploration and a bit of a picnic in the Inner Ward we then had the obligatory game of football. To be expected whenever MacArthur boys stop moving forward for more than 2 minutes!
We had purchased 3 hours in the car park so it seemed a shame to waste it - especially as it was right next to the beach.
More beach golf, paddling and crabbing. We didn’t find any just a few little things that looked like sea wood lice! Got to say it was a bit chilly by the water so no great desire to go in for a swim! Thankfully some of the rocks provided shelter for the Twinnies to have a wee, but then when Harry announced he was desperate for a poo, we all trudged back to the car park and the public toilets.
Onto Tenby and then right out again without stopping. It was very busy and the car parks all seemed a long way out and very full. Charlie didn’t think it looked up to much as well so the Volvo kept rolling!
I remembered Saundersfoot being nice and was quite close by. We had been to a really lovely hotel high on the cliffs for my cousin Paul’s 50th - about 10 years ago. So we made the 15 minute journey further along the coast to try and get something to eat. Now Harry had pooed he was starving hungry - to be fair, all of us were. Beaches and castles do take up a lot of calories!
Busy here again including a harbour side car park that necessitated driving round waiting for someone to leave. Didn’t take too long but then I had to wait in a queue to get a Pay and display ticket. Of the 4 machines, only one was working! We all dutiful queued up-to pay. As I was doing so I wondered how many nationalities, other than the British, would even bother given the circumstances but Brits do love a queue - almost as much as they like a rule to follow!
We had a quick look round deciding where to eat but the consensus (not an easy thing to get at any time with the 3 MacArthur boys!) was for fish and chips. And what a great choice. It might have been bloody expensive for 2 fish and chips and 2 kids nuggets and chips but it was bloody beautiful.
We sat by the sea front and devoured every morsel. Charlie said it was the best fish he had ever had. I said fish and chips always tastes better when you eat them looking out to sea. Harry nodded sagely and popped a chicken nugget the size of a tennis ball in his gob! Even Finners nearly finished his! His big brother ensured clean boxes all round. I was reminded of the extraordinary eating capacity of a 14 year old boy!
Ice creams for pudding and then back in the car and home to Brunnehilda. Stopping at a Morrisons Express to stock up on evening snacks.
We spent a relaxing hour or so at Brunnehilda until the Twinnies, messing about as 7 year olds do, knocked a cold coffee all over the seats. Annoyingly I over reacted, shouting at them both. Kim was so careful with them in the van when eating - putting towels down and reminding them every few minutes to be careful. I had let my guard down and Brunnehilda’s upholstery had got a soaking!
I felt bad because they’d been pretty much perfect during the day! They gave me that rather startled but sort of repentant look and promised not to mess around when drinks where out again. That particular vow lasted for about 6 minutes!!
We went down to our beach for an hour to run off some energy with a game of football. It really was quite chilly. On the way back we passed a large party of Hasidic Jews walking up the road - so weird, it was like Stoke Newington had gone to the beach. I expected at least one quizzical question from the Twinnies but none came.
Back to Brunnehilda. The boys played FIFA and watched a DVD. I made supper (bacon butties and warmed up pasty) and tried to watch The Cobblers on iFollow. The awfully slow Caravan Club WiFi, unlike the Cobblers, wasn’t playing ball and of the 90 minutes I paid £10 for I think I got to see about 10 minutes of it! They won 3-2 but I didn’t see any of the goals!
And so to bed after a really fun day. Poor old Finners has got the pleasure of sharing a bed with his grandad tonight! From my perspective, i could only think of one other person that I’d rather share Brunnehilda’s bed with than Finners - but she wasn’t available!!
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