Time To Go Home

We woke up late on our last day, we had to vacate by 10am and we woke up at 9.15am, the alarm hadn't gone off! Good job we had done most of the packing the night before. We rushed round getting everything into the car. Once the car was loaded up we drove to the office to drop off the front door key. No one was there though, maybe we didn't have to rush in the end? There was another couple trying to give their key in as well, we all decided just to put them in the letter box.

We stopped off at Pendine beach to give the dogs a run before the long journey home. The beach was pretty quiet again. On our way back to the car we were stopped by a man, turns out he was from the local council keeping an eye on dog owners who do not pick up after their dogs. He thanked us for cleaning up after our dogs and gave us some free doggy bags.

About half way home we stopped off at a little cafe for some food, it was pleasant enough, pity there were no tables and chairs outside because it was lovely and warm. We had an easy journey home and still had the weekend at home before it was back to work.

What's Next?

We haven't got much planned for the next couple of months, but will probably do something. We've got Uganda in October, so we might take the dogs somewhere again before then. We've been busy sorting the garden out as we are having really lovely weather and it's good to make the most of it as it can go as quickly as it came in England! Of course we will be supporting England in the World Cup and have made sure we are free to watch the games.

Andy turns 30 in November, so we'll do something special then as well.

The Manor House

The house we were staying in was a fairly large manor house split into 3 accommodations. We had the largest of the three which we had managed to get on a cancellation, therefore the cost of our stay was greatly reduced. Our part of the house sleeps 8 people in four large double bedrooms, each bedroom had an en suite. The downstairs was made up of a large lounge and dining room and what once looked liked the bar was now a kitchen. We were at the back of the house, if it was still one large house. We had a little balcony off the dining room. There was no proper garden, just a paved area with trees. Underneath the house, the cellar had been converted into a swimming pool and sauna. The pool was an exercise pool.

Outside on the drive was the hot tub, which we used every day of our trip! Sharing our drive was a mobile home that belonged to the site manager and his wife. We didn't meet them straight away as they were stranded in Poland due to the ash cloud that had affected a lot of Europe's air space.

The house was high up on a hill and the drive up was pretty steep, which we realised just how steep when we took the dogs for their evening walk. We were glad we hadn't rented one of the cottages on the site as they were up another level and the drive was even steeper!

The house was decorated with these beautiful, huge chandeliers in the lounge and dining room. There were large leather sofa's and the odd piece of beautiful furniture. We couldn't quite understand the choice of art for the house though. Even though the art was interesting we couldn't help think that it didn't suit the house. Most of the rooms were dressed with these large paintings of half naked people, we figured maybe South American. There were no signatures on the paintings.

There was a more fitting picture, a photo of a family from the Victorian times, which Steph thought was a bit spooky as well because it reminded her of those photos that the Victorians took of the dead.

The house was creaky, but we did not encounter anything supernatural!

The house had freeview but the aerial wasn't very good, so you lost some channels. The freeview box was a bit dodgy as well and Andy ended up fixing it. We're not too bothered about tv when we're on holiday, but it is nice to have it in the evenings.

If you rent this house you need to bring your own towels and things for the kitchen like washing up liquid, sponges, salt, pepper etc... as it is bare. This is usual in some holiday homes, but our experience is the 'household' things are usually already catered for.

Would we rent this house again? Probably no and most definitely not at it's usual price. Although the house was interesting and it was a bit of a novelty staying in a manor house, we don't think it had the luxuries you would expect especially if you paid full price.

We've also got plenty of other places to visit.

We enjoyed our stay though and the dogs had fun.

We booked with Hoseasons, Seascape Cottages, Manor house 4 we stayed 3 nights and paid £140 including pet supplements.

Pembrey Country Park

We ventured further from Pendine and came across Pembrey Country Park. The park consists of woodlands and a beach with lots of activities such as a dry ski slope, adventure activities, etc... We of course were just there for the walking. To enter the park it costs £3 to park the car. We drove to the beach first.

The beach was huge, it is one of the longest beaches in Wales. There were very few people on the beach and it felt like we had the place to ourselves. The weather was warm. The sand was scattered with shells in lovely different colours. Sand dunes lined the beach and the water looked warm, but we knew it definitely was not!

After the beach we went back to the car and let the dogs have a drink, we then carried on for a stroll through the woodlands, we stuck to the edges.

A few people were sun bathing and having a picnic on the large open green areas. We walked quite far and the dogs were getting tired, so we headed back to the car. It would have been nice to have a picnic as well, but we didn't think to bring one.