Mumsy's 50th Birthday Fairy Camp

After travelling 280 miles we finally reached Nantcol Waterfalls in South Wales on Saturday afternoon, ready for my mums 50th birthday camp. As the 'main event' wasn't until the following day we pitched up and explored the site - eagerly awaiting the following day.

The dogs weren't fans of the metal bridge across the river...

That night we all gathered around the fire and I met some of the other campers for the first time. This is Rach, I think she had peaked by the time she made it to our fire pit as she introduced herself and then sat on my lap...

It's a shame there isn't a video but I can assure you she's blurry because she didn't stop moving/swaying :-)

The next morning the transformations began. Homer was very keen to be the first to get into his fairy outfit. 

And the rest of us followed suit.... 

Soon enough the entire campsite had been overtaken by fairies, goblins, elves, pixies and god knows what else....

Time for a photo shoot and a play down by the river....

Time for the most amazing cake ever and birthday presents....

And then some party games, first off musical camping chairs....

followed by a bit of dancing.....

and balloon sword fighting....

and then I'm not quite sure what....

The partying carried on around the fire pit into the night - Happy 50th Birthday Mum!!!!!!!!!

The next day we got up and headed to Portmeirion where The Prisoner was filmed (not that I've ever watched it).

Although I've been to Portmeirion before I was too young to remember it - but I do remember seeing the photos - might have changed a little bit...

....shame Sarah wasn't there to show she doesn't have a mullet anymore ;-)

Although it's very different I didn't mind the quirky buildings and colours - the OH hated it though! Grumbling around looking miserable he complained 'it's no National Trust'. Oh dear! Who would have thought it could have caused so much negative feeling. 

Time to head back to the campsite so he could go back to normality.

Mum was still in fairy mode, walking around like a druid.....

with an axe....

Time for some food and more drinks around the camp fire, with pretty glow sticks hanging everywhere.

We didn't exactly plan to have two bottles of red wine but the leg of lamb wasnt cooked until half eleven, and by ten we were in the drinking mood. Shame the alarms we set for 7am the next morning so we could get up and climb Snowdon.

But we got there and we ready to go..... 

As Mum's been up before we decided to follow her lead along the Miners Path.

After about an hour and a half walking along at a nice pace up a gentle gradient it suddenly got a lot steeper and turned into rock climbing.

The 'path' had changed a lot and we got lost three times. Apparently the route is usually really busy, but nope not for us, we didn't see anyone for hours.

Visibility was also getting worse and we started slowing down - you know you're going slowly when a man with a prosthetic leg overtakes you... 

Time for a quick rest at what we nicknamed the bus stop....

By this point I was running out of steam, the conversation had ended and I was face down just ploughing on. The OH though was loving every minute - hated Portmeirion and loved this!!!!

But after a little while longer the summit was in sight....

We had made it!!! After 2 hours and 55 minutes we reached the top. Ready for those amazing views - oh ok maybe not.

Oddly, but very very very gratefully there is a cafe at the top. So we sat down and had a hot chocolate and a pasty. 

Then it was time to go back down. Me and Mum were changed people, happy as Larry walking back down, cant sat the same for the OH though who preferred the way up. 

That was until we got hideously lost and ended up on another path back down. The mist and fog was so thick we couldn't see a thing. After about three quarters of an hour walking around on no designated path, through the quagmire, the mist finally cleared and we could see our way.

Time for some sugary Jelly Babies for the last boost....

And we were on the home straight....

Back down in a bit less than three hours :-)

A great sense of achievement - and bizarrely as soon as I was down I thought 'Yes, I could do that again'.?!?!?!?

Here we are with the beast in the background (with the mist finally clearing, bugger)

Mission accomplished!!

Before heading back to the campsite we took a quick detour to Beddgelert, home of the camping equipment Gelert, and the gravesite of a poor doggy who was killed by his owner after he thought the dog had attacked his child.

That night we were joined by my sister Sarah, Andrew and Emma who gatecrashed our tent for the night - how can you say no to that face...

Chilling with Uncle Matthew

Nanny Gruffs makes Emma cry.

She was far too excited by the camp fire to sleep that night, so she stayed up with us :-)

She must be a future camper.

Having porridge in the morning...

and then time for the beach...

And time for another blast to the past - this time spotting a jellyfish, albeit a much smaller one...

That afternoon we explored Harlech Castle....

Steve at his door...

The most normal family photo I think I've ever seen of us lot (the one with the axe earlier is the norm)

And another replica - same place just wrong direction, and no ice cream this time :-(

After a long day on aching legs we all gathered around the fire and was entertained by some music....

and a very bad rendition of Let It Be.... 

Our last day had arrived (weep) and after surfacing from the tents at around 3pm we headed off to the Blue Lake for yet another walk....

We got lost again, but it wasn't exactly a clear path as we didn't expect to go through this cave....

Homer taking a dip....

 After one final night around the camp fire it was time to pack up and head home :-(

It took a while to acclimatise to the house though, we sat in the garden for the first night, drinking from the camping cups, keeping warm around the chiminea and heating up the mulled wine....

 Maybe its a sign we should go camping again.