We have survived the two storms of Dudley and Eunice. No damage to us or the camper unlike a lot of other unfortunate peaple around the country. Hope your all sorted soon.

We are still at Minehead and the site we are on is an old quarry. We are on the southern side of the site so have a huge big quarry face in front of us which give us a bit of protection yesterday from the 65/70 mph gusts.

The site has been full most of the time we have been here with lots of caravans and campers coming and going. It started getting less busy two days ago when news of the storm was on the news. Some peaple left early and I expect a lot cancelled their weekend trip because yesterday no one arrived.

I really wanted to go down to the sea yesterday morning but stayed with the camper in case I had to move it or anything happened so it was a day of staring out the window at the rain and we even had a couple of hailstorms and watching the trees blowing about, and when the big gusts came through making sure I wasn’t just about to take a sip of my beer. I don’t like to spill any.

As the day went on the gusts became less and not as strong and the red warning went to amber so Nikki could start to breath again. This morning it’s like a different world, all calm but rain is forecast for this morning.

What else have we been doing. Nikki has been going to see Mi Mi, I have been watching the rugby after getting to grips with how the tv works and I had to get my other ear micro suctioned out. Walking down to the beach, out on my bike up the woods. Making the most of our last few days of freedom before starting work.

We had another day out last week when we went to Porlock. Only about six miles away by car. It’s a small little village by the sea, very pretty and very busy in the summer but ok at this time of year. Most of it is closed up.

Down by the harbour is my favourite bit with three cottages right on the sea and when the tides in the sea surrounds them on three sides because of the harbour. I should think yesterday in the storms got a bit scary with the high tides forecast also.

The beach is a pebble beach with great views either way and the sound as the sea rolls up them and back is fantastic. I actually surfed here a long time ago. As the tide comes in it funnels through a small inlet under a small bridge and into the harbour. It all happens quite quickly when it starts to come in because this is part of the Bristol Channel with a huge tidal range.

Once you walk over the small bridge and past the cottages you’re on the beach where the first thing you see is an old war bunker. It’s on a bit of an angle now after being battered by the waves over all the years but it still has a smile on its face. Probably smiling that the war is over. Some peaple may not even notice the smiley face.

The plan was to have lunch out this day so after the beach we went up into the village/ small town and looked for somewhere to have lunch. That didn’t go very well, closed, closed and the small cafe that was open didn’t look very inviting. Nikki went in a clothes shop to have a look around while I stood outside thinking, why go in there there’s no food just clothes. Ten minutes later she came out with a bag. I quickly asked her what she had bought hoping she had found some food for us but it was only another dress, in the sale of course.

But she had been recommended a place for lunch by the owner of the clothes shop so that was good. It was a pub just down the road which was open and serving food. We walked off to it and the wood burner was roaring away and was a really nice cosy proper old pub. And a very nice lunch was had.

So that’s up to date. We move on next Thursday crossing over the Severn bridge and back into wales. Staying on a site on the edge of Newport. We need to pick up some storage boxes which we left there last year. We will stay there for five days and then on March 1st we will head on to the Gower and settle in ready to start work on the 3rd March. Stay safe everybody.

As the days go by, and I must say they are going past very fast we are into our last month of freedom. And another plus is that means it’s only now 7 weeks until our next payday. The bank manager will be pleased.

With a new season brings a new destination. We were going to St David’s in Pembrokeshire which we were looking forward to. But it’s all change, we are now going to Gowerton on the Gower coast of South Wales. Another nice area and to be honest much better for us this year as Mi Mi is still not well and back in hospital.

Being at Gowerton puts us 3 hours away from Barnstaple in North Devon rather than 5 hours away from St David’s and from Gowerton were straight on the motorway. So all in all better for us this year.

So I have been doing some research in the area of the Gower and it all looks good with at least four bike parks less than an hour away, and some great walks, Nikki has some shops nearby and there are plenty of nice beaches on the Gower. so on our days off we will have lots to do.

Last week I went out on my bike up in the woods just going here there and everywhere because there were so many bridal paths and some very nice downhill runs. All in all covered 18 miles of fun. The pic below shows a sign, at this point there were four choices of route. Can you guess which one I took.

After getting to the bottom of a very steep and winding hill I took another small road which took me to the Tall Tree trail. And guess what there were loads of tall trees including the tallest tree in England, well it was the tallest in 2009 so the sign says. Your not allowed to bike on the walking trails but luckily the biggest tree was at the beginning of the trail.

The whole area was planted in the 1870’s and most of the trees are Douglas firs, the tallest being 197 ft tall that’s just over 60 metres and they say the trunk weighs 50 tons. I never saw any scales around though.

Another hike, a couple of days later took me along the coast path to Dunster beach. I was only going to go to the sea front at Minehead but got a bit carried away walking along with the wind behind me, that’s the wind as in weather not the wind from me. So as I walked along past the end of the promenade, pass the golf course, and in the distance I could see the row of beach huts that face the sea at Dunster beach and thought that will be my turning point.

A fantastic location to have a beach hut on a nice day if you can afford one. After passing all the huts I took a road which headed back to Minehead. Another six mile hike done. With that and the bike ride a couple of days earlier I have had a couple of nothing days with my body aching a bit.

That was until this morning when I decided I can’t just sit still and do nothing for more than a day. So on with my walking boots and a gentle stroll down to the harbour area and back. Only three miles in total but it stretched the legs.

It was a bit gloomy down at the harbour and even started to rain while I was done there but it still looked good with the tide in and the small boats bobbing about. There was even an old canon overlooking the harbour left over from days when it would have been used to protect the harbour from invaders.

I am home alone for a week now as Nikki has gone to see Mi Mi and then to see her sister and the boys and grandkids. I have food in the fridge and takeaways down the road so I will be fine. And on Saturday the Six nations rugby starts which I love to watch. Nikki has left me instructions on how to put the tele on and find the rugby. It’s all so complicated now, two remotes, do this do that, press this press that, plug that in unplug that. I am giving myself half an hour before the game starts and if all fails that gives me enough time to get to the pub to watch it all afternoon.