Coastal Walk

We went up and down the hills following the paths. It was quite tiring, but we were enjoying ourselves, so we kept going. There were a few steep bits on the path and several times we turned and chose a different path, we weren't quite sure if it was too steep for us or the dogs! Better safe than sorry I suppose!

The path that we had chosen ended up taking us through a caravan park called Greenacres, where Andy used to go for holidays when he was young. Walking through Greenacres, we realised we had walked quite far, we were almost at Black Rock Sands. We walked out of the park and followed the road until we came to another path that led back into the hills. Before we carried on though, we took a well deserved break!

This new path took us on a bit of a short cut as we came out at the top of Borth y Gest by a school. We walked through the village with its lovely colourful houses and made our way back to Porthmadog.

When we arrived back, we realised that our 15 minute walk had actually been a 2 hour hike! We went straight to the pub!

The dogs were exhausted and so were we, my legs were aching the next day!!

Spike, Chewy and Coco

Borth y Gest

We got up quite early and thought that we would try the 15 minute walk to some sandy coves in Borth y Gest, that had been recommended in the visitors book.

The walk wasn't that hard, along the harbour, up a slight hill and then down into Borth y Gest. We walked through the village and over a coastal hill where we could see the sandy cove.

It wasn't very busy, just a few with a couple of dogs. We chose a spot and threw the tennis ball into the sea for Spike and Chewy. The dogs love the sea and were soon soaked through!

It wasn't long before we were joined by a friendly lady and her chocolate labrador, Coco.

Coco's owner was quite surprised at how friendly Spike and Chewy are to other dogs and how good they are in sharing their toys. I had no real explanation, its just how they've always been.

Coco and her owner stayed with us quite a while.

After they had left, we decided to explore further and picked a path leading up along the coast.

Wandering Around

After unpacking, we decided to just take a short wander around and get our bearings. We weren't going to be doing much on our arrival.

Porthmadog developed through the slate trade and is still considered a young town as it is not yet 200 years old. The Harbour itself came about between 1821-1825. In the 1870’s, approximately over a thousand vessels used the harbour in any one year and in 1873 over 116,000 tons of Blaenau Ffestiniog slate left Porthmadog to be transported to different places all over the world.

The coming of the Cambrian railway in 1867 opened up the area to tourists but there was a decline in local shipping and the export of slate.

Our Harbour View

Our Cottage

We arrived in Porthmadog on 21/05/07 at 15.30 after a 2 hour drive, which was pretty good going seen as though we stopped on the way for lunch.
It didn't take us long to find our cottage, Limekiln Cottage. Our first impressions were good, the cottage looked lovely, everything was neat and tidy from the outside. The inside didn't disappoint either, the dining room was quite large with a table to seat 6, the lounge was cosy with sofa's to also seat 6, we had a television with Sky and DVD player (we did hope not to use those much!). The kitchen was very well equipped, everything you could have needed. The patio doors in the kitchen led out into an outdoor breakfast area. There were 3 bedrooms, one with a four poster bed, the second with two single beds and the third with bunkbeds. There were 2 bathrooms, the first with toilet, sink and a jacuzzi bath and the second bathroom with toilet, sink and a singing and all dancing computerised shower! Basically, the shower had a built in radio (which also had a connection to play an ipod through) a steam room and the water could either come out of a normal shower head, a drencher or you could sit on the seat and have the water come out of massaging nozzles. We didn't explore all the possibilities as we really didn't have the time!

The view from the cottage was great, it did look over the harbour, but not as much as we were expecting to see of the harbour and next door was a friendly, quiet local pub called the Tafarn Pencei Cafe Bar, which did great cheeseburgers!!

There was a terrace to the front of the cottage and to the left was a bar-b-que area.

On arrival, champagne and chocolates and doggy treats were left for us and the dogs. The champagne didn't last long!

We stayed at Limekiln Cottage, Hoeseasons. From 21/05/07 - 25/05/07 we paid £378 all inclusive. (that did include a pet supplement).

Us inside Wembley

Andy rang home to tell our parents to keep an eye out for us on tv. When we got home we went through the match (we recorded it on Sky plus) to see if we could spot us. At one point you can just about see us when Shrewsbury had a free kick. A couple of our friends were clearly seen as the camera zoomed right in on them.

We will now return back to telling you about our trip in Wales...

Stadium 5

In the second half, Shrewsbury really battled to get an equaliser all the way into the last 6 minutes or so. Shrewsbury's keeper came to the Bristol goal at one point to provide an extra man to see if they could snatch a goal.

It wasn't meant to be though and Bristol went and scored in an open goal. It was all over. Its congratulations to Bristol Rovers.

Shrewsbury players battled though and deserved a standing ovation, which they received and a couple of lucky fans got some of the players boots as well!

We were sad for our team, but had enjoyed a lovely day despite a bit of rain on our way back to the coach.

When we left the ground we found that our way back to the tube station had been blocked off by the police and so had to go down some steps into an enormous crowd, as you can see from the photo. It wasn't that bad though and we were soon back on the coach. We didn't arrive home until 21.45.

A long day, but well worth it!

Stadium 4

Lenny the Lion (Shrewsbury Town F.C's mascot)

The Players.

Stadium 3

Stadium 2

We went to look for our seats and to everyone's surprise, we had great seats! This was our front row seat view!

It turned out that our seats were right down the front, the very first row behind the goal. Ok, we couldn't see the other end of the pitch very well, but there was no one in front of us, but the players! The only downfall was that we had a very good view of 2 of the Bristol Rovers goals!!!

There was a big screen in front anyway for a more accurate view of the other end of the pitch.

Shrewsbury scored in the first 3 minutes and it was brilliant! Our team were 1-0 up and we all got to celebrate at the new Wembley.

Now, i'm not going to talk about it too much, but Bristol Rovers did go on to score 2 goals themselves in the first half.

At half time we were quite cold and hungry, so we allowed ourselves to be 'ripped off' and got a pizza slice and hot chocolate for me and a pie for Andy.

Us outside Wembley

Stadium 1

We had arrived a bit early, but the place was already packed full of fans from Shrewsbury and the opponants, Bristol Rovers. It was a good atmosphere.

We went to get a drink from a nearby pub, but the place was so busy (understandably!) that we gave up and the lads got themsevles a drink from an off-licence.

We started our ascent towards the stadium. It is such an enormous place. We had out tickets checked and went inside. Some of us immediately went straight to the bar while others were greeting more friends from Shrewsbury.

I didn't hear any complaints about the cost of the lager, but the food prices were incredibly expensive! A small half baguette covered in little cheese and 4 pepperoni slices cost £4.00, a cheeseburger cost £6.75 and a chicken tikka pie cost £4.50! Only eat if you are really hungry!!

Wembley Stadium

As we went to Wembley yesterday, we thought we would write about it today and then go back to our break in Porthmadog.

Although Shrewsbury lost 3-1 in the end, it was a good day none the less. We left Shrewsbury at 8am on a coach and we were so exhausted the whole day with just getting back from Wales. There was a good group of us, mostly the lads that play football with Andy and a couple of them brought along their better halfs as well.

It took us about 3 hours to get there, but the trip was good as there was a good atmosphere on the coach. There was a bit of a convoy down the motorways with several coach loads of Shrewsbury fans.

Andy and me have been to the old Wembley before, but along with most of our friends, this was our first time to the new Wembley since its opening for the FA Cup final.

Wembley has lots of great memories with sporting and musical events being held there. The old Wembley had been hosting sporting events since the 1880's. One of the greatest football moments at the old Wembley was when England won the World Cup in 1966, beating West Germany 4-2. Lets hope that there are more great moments to happen in the New Wembley.

The new Wembley is an impressive stadium with a 90,000 seating capacity. The approximate cost of the project was around £800 million!

Well, we could see how impressive it was for ourselves when we arrived! Our coach dropped us off at Stanmore and we took the tube to Wembley. When we arrived we first saw the arch, the landmark for Wembley Stadium.

Porthmadog, Wales

We've arrived home today from our short break in Porthmadog. We had a great time and I think the dogs had an even better time than us! There has been plenty of hiking up and down the coastal paths, lots of swimming (only the dogs, the water was too cold for us!), eating and drinking! Steph's dad and brother came to visit on one of the days and joined us with their dogs on the beach. We travelled to several beaches in the area, Borth-y-Gest, Criccieth and Pwllheli.

We'll tell you more in the coming days with pictures included.

While we were away, a friend of ours managed to get us tickets to watch Shrewsbury at Wembley tomorrow in the play off final for Division 1!

Cling-Filmed Car

April Fools

At 3am on April Fools day this year, we decided to play a trick on my dad. Andy was a bit tipsy as I had picked him up from a night out with his mates. We drove up to my dad's house, but further enough away so he wouldn't be woken up by my car. We proceeded to wrap his car up in cling film! Now, this is a lot harder than what it sounds especially as he had parked his car very close to a bush! It must have taken us around 45 minutes, but we managed to get the cling film around enough to make it awkward and rewarding!
He discovered our handy work around 11am! He was very amused, we just have to watch ourselves now as i'm pretty sure that revenge is on his mind!

The Perkins Boys

Perkins FC

Perkins FC had their last match of the season today. They needed to win to end the season in second place of Division 2. The top 6 teams will get promotion. The league is changing next season from 6 divisions to 4 divisions.
As it happens though, Perkins FC won 4-1, with Andy assisting two of the goals. Overall, it would be fair to say that Perkins have had a very successful season, with just missing out on winning the league, but they are still happy with second place.
This is the last season that they will be called Perkins as the company/sponsor has changed, so from next season they will be known as Reman Services FC.
The players in this team have been playing together for a lot longer than Technical Services FC, however it seems that due to the success of T.S.F.C. and just the general feel good factor, a lot of these players would like to play for Technical Services FC.
The future is bright for both teams!

Team Montage by Mr A Mallett

Andy's Header

T.S.F.C.

Technical Services FC

On Monday 7th May was the John Davis Memorial Cup Final for Andy's football team. The whole team played exceptionally and battled all the way. It would be fair to say that they dominated a good three quarters of the whole 90 minutes. There were numerous chances at goal with Andy nearly scoring an absolute cracker from a header, but unfortunately he couldn't find the back of the net. Their opponants Kinnerley FC, however did find the goal, 4 times! Therefore the result was 4-0 :(
Kinnerley FC managed to score all 4 goals from set pieces, so I guess Technical Services FC will be looking to work on that in the future!
All the lads were generally ok though as they all knew that they had battled and played well.
Andy and I are arranging the end of season do, for the 2nd June, should be fun!!

What holds for 2007?

Well, we have our trip in May to Porthmadog with the dogs, hope the weather holds up! Also, a trip abroad towards the end of the year, but no destination has been decided as yet. Any spurs of the moment maybe on the cards as well.
Inbetween, Technical Services FC have a cup final on May 7th, so fingers crossed! The season ends at the end of May.
We both want to visit our Grandparents, so that will be trips to Wales, St Albans and Beverley.
I have plenty of studying to be doing as well!

Countries

In 2003, I went travelling. I visited Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. I have also visited France, Germany, Spain, Cyprus, Tenerife, Majorca, Menorca, Ireland and Wales. Andy has visited Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Wales.
I'll eventually post some pictures of our trips.
We have a wish list of places we want to visit.

Places we've visited so far...

Spike and Chewy

We have 2 lovely dogs, Spike and Chewy. Spike is a German Shepherd Cross (2.5 yrs old) who likes to play non-stop! Chewy is a Golden Labrador (2 yrs old) who likes to eat a lot! They are our best friends who we love very much! We take them on trips we do in the UK. In 2006 we took them camping to Shell Island in Wales, which they loved! Found out that they are good swimmers! This year in May, we are taking them to a cottage in Porthmadog in Wales. We were thinking about getting them pet passports and then we can take them to Europe, but not sure if its worth it for short trips. Our future plans do take us to Europe anyway, so we're thinking that maybe its best to wait until then.

Smile

Puss In Boots

Chewy

Spike