Llansannan Holiday Days 6 to 8

Day Six:: 

We love an unusual mode of transport to get somewhere, especially when it's going somewhere interesting. I can't remember who suggested the Great Orme Tramway but it starts at Llandudno and travels up a fairly steep hill, to the most amazing views at the top of the summit. 

It's actually two trams, there's a break in the middle where you have to alight and walk through a station to the next tram, presumably because it's cable hauled and there is a limit to how far one cable can travel. 

You can tell it's a Victorian tramway because the tramcar seats are very narrow - it's sort of a modern person-and-a-half wide per wooden bench. Or an adult and child. It's good fun though! As you leave the first station you are actually on the modern road which apparently is the only cable hauled tramway in Britain to be on the road. Then after a short while you are off through the countryside and, for those riding backwards (facing the way you've come) the most amazing view of the seafront unfolds in front of you. 

We had chosen the hottest day of the holiday to do this so it was all a bit sweaty and hot for a while. At the top there is a restaurant place but you are either crammed inside with everyone else or outside in the blazing sunshine so we grabbed some food to wolf down and went off to have a look around and keep moving. Aren't these views amazing?

As we were sitting down on some grass to let the little ones roam around, my sister and partner and nephew took the cable cars down the hill but we had got return tickets so we were getting the tram back down again after watching some impressive clouds work their way toward us. I love cloud formations, they're so interesting! The one below looks like spokes from a cartwheel. 

By the time we got back down into Llandudno town, it was boiling hot again. Baby F was very irritable having not napped and the seafront and pier were absolutely stuffed to the gills with tourists (like us) and thronging with people. We split up by accident again and then there was no signal to contact each other so for a while we were just roaming around looking for ice cream to try and cool down with a slightly screamy and very hot baby. Not the best experience!! The only option was to get back to the car and encourage a travel nap to calm things down. 

Little trouble was fine by the time we got back to our holiday haven, happy enough to baaah at the sheep (a new noise for him at the time that he was chuffed with). 

Day Seven::

This was a slightly odd day, we had hoped to start it at Conwy Water Gardens and Dutch Pancake house, which we did but, to be honest, it was a major let down. The gardens you just kind of wander into and there were four or so chickens, a terrapin, lots of empty looking overgrown pens, some pens with ducks in and a pond with a half finished nature walk? The advertisement for it had been laminated in the holiday home and promised otters but the tiny pen which had a small written bit about otters appeared empty and there wasn't anyone around to ask. It was all a bit strange and unkempt, like they'd forgotten about it but hadn't bothered closing it. There was a small play area which was 'closed for refurbishment' but looked like it had been that way for a while with no work happening. 

So we thought we'd have brunch at the pancake house instead but apparently you have to pre-book and you can't just turn up on the day. And, aside from a slightly strange and scruffy fish shop (which to be honest was the most interesting bit) that was it! The website and advertisement for it looks significantly different to the actual place itself!

We very quickly moved on to try and find something else to look at, had a quick stop off at Trefriw Woollen Mills, which had a little museum and lovely shop, and then ended up at Betws-y-coed which is basically just a nice looking village with a bridge and some quirky shops and lots of scenic walkways. 

This is where the parents had come after our morning at Rhyl, and they'd spotted some interesting looking eateries for us to go back to for lunch so we returned en-masse for stone baked pizza. 

It was a quirky collection of things together, one of them being a main train line which had a brilliant display of recycled animal sculptures on the platform. They were really cool! The rhino in particular had been set up so that you could donate your bottle tops until it was full so it was slightly interactive with the public. 

If you crossed the bridge over the main track there was a little train museum and miniature railway. I did pop over and have a look but the train was broken and there were lots of people sat on the carriages waiting to go whilst the driver went off to fetch another mini train to pull them along. It seemed to be a bit of a one man band so it was taking a while. All in all it was a funny end to a funny day. 

We drove the scenic way home (not hard in this neck of the woods, it's all scenic), pausing by some reservoirs to take photos and chat to the sheep. They weren't that interested in answering back. You could literally drive for miles and not meet anyone coming the other way at all other than sheep, it was so remote!! Thank goodness we didn't have any car trouble because we would not have been able to explain where we were. 

It's beautiful though, especially in the sunshine. When it's grey and raining and misty it probably feels a very different place - and I'm glad we never had to drive through it in the dark!! 

Day Eight::

Home time!! As always the holiday had whizzed past and, just as you get used to the quirks of a new house - like the incredibly creaky floorboards upstairs and where to tread to make the least amount of noise - it's time to go again. Our lovely landlady came to say goodbye and thanked us for coming bless her, and we drove up the incredibly steep and stony track for the last time. Reece definitely breathed a sigh of relief at the top because he had been worried about the car making it up the hill with all of our luggage in. 

We had a special destination for the way home... Cadbury World! Highlights for this particular place have to be meeting and having a photograph with Freddo the frog, the little Cadabra ride through a town of cocoa beans, the cup of melted chocolate with chosen toppings (Baby F is particularly partial to Bournville chocolate buttons it turns out) and all of the interactive things you can do whilst walking around like writing in chocolate and having a go at tempering. 

Our tummies and shopping bags full of chocolate we headed home with one stop-off at a service station to stretch our legs and eat some tea, not bad going with a 15 month old! He did so well on this holiday and aside from a couple of stressy moments, was a delight to be with and to watch experience all of these new things. It was a lovely holiday!