Last weekend was a Bank Holiday weekend in Britain and Michelle and I decided to make the most of it. We organized a roadtrip.co.uk tour to the Snowdonia region in North Wales.

We left work on Friday at 5:30pm and jumped on our bus at Earls Court. It took 5 and 1/2 hours across from London to our destination – Llandudno. At 12:30am we just got off the bus and hopped into bed.

The next morning we awoke early, had breakfast, and then made our way out into the town to check it out. Our first stop was a 20 minute climb up a big cliff called The Great Orme. It’s this amazing place right in the middle of town and allows great views of the township and the two beaches that surround it. After the Great Orme trek we made our way down to the main beach where the RAF were trying to recruit. After checking the town out a bit more it was time to board the bus and make our way to Mt. Snowdon.

Mt. Snowdon is Britain’s second highest peak (right after Ben Nevis in Scotland). Upon arrival we discovered that 60mph winds were preventing the train up to the peak from running. The group decided to schedule the Mt. Snowdon climb for the next day so it was time to revise our days plans. Our first stop was to visit the castle town of Caernarfon and have a mosey around. Nothing too exciting there so it was time to move onto the township of Beddgellert where we learnt a terribly sad story about a dog called Gellert and how he was unjustly murdered by his owner. After Gellerts grave we stopped for some awesome icecream before moving on to Betws-y-Coed, a town famous for it’s artists.

After having a few drinks and learning some new dance moves from one of the South Africans on the tour we crashed for the night only to awake the next morning and start our expedition to Mt. Snowdon. Fortunately the weather was much better today, perfect blue skies. The only problem was that everyone else in the world happened to want to do the same thing and we had to book our train tickets for 4 hours in advance. This meant we had 4 hours to kill in Llanberis. I was excited by this prospect for I got to do a guided tour through a hydroelectric power station that had been built into one of the old slate quarrying mountains. An amazing engineering feat. After doing the tour it was onto the train for the hour trek up to the peak of Mt. Snowdon.

The views on the trek up and at the peak were amazing. It has to be experienced if possible. Truly stunning and something that photos can never reveal. After our long day at Mt. Snowdon, it was time to relax with a bbq on the beach back Llandudno.

The next day we drove through Conwy another castle town and saw Britain’s smallest house before making our way to a place called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch – the longest placed name in the world. We got our passports stamped here too. After that it was off to Portmeirion. Portmeirion is a privately owned village that has been created over the last 95 years. The owner(s) have created the buildings from bits and pieces of other buildings.

That’s it – apart from the painful 5 hour drive home. We had another fantastic trip and love being over here in the UK.

Check out some photos 05-27 North Wales (Snowdonia)”>here.

From Loch Ness to power boats and military jets screaming through the Scotland Highlands, my week in Scotland was an experience I will never forget.

I started my trip in Edinburgh, a beautiful city with a fascinating history. On my first day, I explored Edinburgh castle and checked into the hostel. The next morning it was up early and onto the bus for my 5 day MacBackpacker tour of the Scottish Highlands.

Day 1

The first days bus trip was a hurried affair, covering a lot of ground. Our first stop was to the world’s smallest commercial brewery. It was here that we tried Scotland’s finest single malt whiskey, better known to us foreigners as Scotch. Let’s just say that the shot of Whiskey we all downed nearly came back up. It was so potent and burned all the way down.

We then enjoyed a few hours of narrative history from our Scottish tour guide and got to know the others on the tour. We had a few intermediate stops before making our way to Loch Ness. It was here that we were dared to go for a swim. Almost everyone in the group took up the challenge, some of us going in our nightwear or underwear. Let’s just say, that this dunk was the coldest I have ever done. The water temperature is a constant 6 degrees Celsius all year round. It didn’t help that I didn’t have a towel to dry myself with either.

After Loch Ness it was time to down a beer and head to our hostel in the Isle of Skye.

Day 2

At the Isle of Skye our 5 day tour group joined up with the 7 day tour group. We tripled our group size and with that tripled our party potential. With the bus now at capacity we raced off to experience the beauty and wonder of the Isle of Skye. In the space of one day, we managed to hike a massive mountain called The Store, visit a wondrous cliff face called The Kilt (because it looks like a kilt) and experience spiritual enlightenment at Fairy Glen. After such a big day it was time to get to know our new 7 day buddies a bit better, and what better way to do it then by having a chilli cook-up and some brewskies.

Day 3

After a huge night, we fueled up on some 70p cereal before heading back to the mainland. Our first stop was Eilean Donan Castle. A beautiful privately owned castle. Of course it has an exciting history but I won’t bore you with those details except that this is the castle featured in the Highlander movie. The main goal of today was to head down the west coast to Oban, but we made plenty of stops along the way taking in the wonderment that Scotland has to offer.

Day 4

Now in Oban, it was time to hit the sea and go on Sea-fari. On our way to Seil where the sea-fari departs we stopped, departed the bus, and walked over the entire Atlantic Ocean. Quite a feat if you ask me. At Seil, we donned some wonderful water and windproof outfits before jumping onto some power boats for a cold but exciting tour of the surrounding islands. We saw all sorts of nature and wildlife and had so much fun whizzing along in beautiful blue sunny skies.

After our speed boat ride, it was off to one of the islands called Easdale. Easdale was famous for it’s slate production back in the olden days but is now a quiet tourist town. Here at Easdale, we picnicked before playing a football match. It was so much fun, after our picnic we went for a walk to an abandoned slate quarry where we had a rock skimming competition. A couple of the ‘crazy’ ones even went for a dip in the crystal clear water of the quarry. Not for me, I learnt my lesson from Nessy.

Day 5

After a huge party night with way too much good music and tasty beverages it was off for our final days trip back home. By day 5 I and many others were adventured and partied out and could barely bring ourselves off the bus to enjoy the experience of Rob Roy’s Grave and the William Wallace Monument.

By this stage, the onset of a cold had taken hold and I didn’t think I could make it out one last time for a farewell party night. But given the option of trying to sleep in a hostel dorm at 6pm or going out for one last hoorah, the horrah won and I’m glad I went out. What a night! I met so many cool people on this trip and had the most fun ever.

I had the most awesome time in a country whose beauty astounded me every day. If you ever get a chance, visit Scotland and pray you have perfect days of sunny blue skies like I did.

Check out some photos 05-09 Scotland The Brave”>here.