Not really a holiday but a weekend away, so I suppose you could call it a little holiday. Although for the price of it we could have had a proper holiday.

Our weekend away was in Pendine in Carmarthenshire South Wales. Pendine is famous for its beach which was used for racing cars and bikes over the years. Malcolm Campbell being the most famous who in 1924 had a top speed of 146.16 MPH and then in 1927 beat his record doing 174.88 MPH.

For the last few years the VHRA =Vintage Hot Rod Association has held a event there. I have always wanted to go to it but with it being on a weekend we are normally working and in some other part of the country.

Until this year that was when all the planets lined up for us. When we found out we were going to be working on the Gower in South Wales a hint of excitement crept into my head, but soon disappeared thinking we never get weekends of.

When we arrived on site back at the beginning of March and got our rota for the season you can imagine the excitement of not only getting every other weekend of but the most important one being the weekend of the Hot Rod event fell on our weekend off.

So the search was on to find somewhere to stay for the weekend. There was a campsite where we could have stayed with our camper but to be honest it looked a bit rough so we gave that a miss. Finding some accommodation was proving difficult or way to expensive.

Nikki was doing lots of searching, static caravans, B&B’s, apartments, houses, pubs, etc. Nothing was coming up within our price range. We decided we would drive out to the event as it’s only an hour away.

Then Nikki found a pub with rooms and one was vacant. Half an hours walk from the pub to the beach, the good thing we never had to pay a deposit and could cancel up to five days before going if we wanted. She booked it, we had somewhere to stay.

Then we started thinking, a pub, nice because we could eat in the pub but on the down side it’s going to be noisy while we are there but at least we will be there for the event. A week went past and then Nikki says, what about this apartment and reads the list out, a gatehouse to a manor, a large apartment with sea views, decking and a hot tub. HOW MUCH was my answer.

Then we thought about it. The pub would have been a noisy room and we would have ate in the pub in the evening and had to find lunch out in the day so more expense. The apartment has it all plus some and Nikki would have somewhere to go to from the beach on her own because when I get in amongst the hot rods I tend to stay there for a long time.

Just book it I said, it’s not very often we treat ourselves to staying somewhere else other than being in the camper. Nikki’s face was a very happy one. She pointed out that on balance it would cost the same as the pub and eating out as she would take food with us and cook in the evenings and we could take sandwich’s down to the beach with us. And most important she had somewhere to retreat to.

So all booked up and the pub cancelled, just count the days down now. Our managers even let us go a couple of early on the Friday which was really nice of them.

On the Friday we left work at 3pm and we were on the road heading for Pendine by 3.15. Nikki got the food ready while I had a shower and we were off with big grins from ear to ear. And those big grins go bigger the nearer we got when we started seeing some Hot Rods on the road.

At 4.25 pm we pulled up outside the apartment and by 4.35 I was sat on the balcony with a nice cold beer gazing out to sea watching Hot Rods going down the road below us. I was in heaven. Nikki was wandering around the apartment thinking how much space she had but she soon came and joined me on the balcony with her wine.

The Hot Rod event is a real low key event, no trade stands, no beer tent etc just a bunch of real hot rodders doing what they do. All the cars are pre 1949 and in different classes, they race down the beach against the clock over a mile. some come over from Europe. The atmosphere is fantastic with all the cars driving around, the noise of the V8’s and the clatter of the smaller engines. It’s very well organised with plenty of parking for visitors and all safely fenced of for the racing.

They have between 10am and 4 pm to race because of the tides and then they have to get all the fencing in etc. score the tide claims it. Like I said it’s very well organised. The weather sunny all weekend which was a bonus and only rained on the Monday morning when we were leaving.

I took 175 photos, walked miles, drank beer and my cheeks still ache now from all that grinning. I really need another Hot Rod in my life. Nikki never took any photos, she never walked as far as me, she grinned a lot, drank wine, relaxed in the hot tub and wishes she had an apartment in her life.

I will not show you all the photos but here our some for you to enjoy.

Here we are on yet another bank holiday and it’s the beginning of May already. The last week has been very busy leading up to the weekend and we were lucky to get the weekend off, well the Saturday and Sunday at least.

Our days off seem to fly by, we have so many things to do but at the same time just want to chill out so it’s finding a happy balance. We really need to retire but that’s not going to happen unfortunately.

Last week I managed to get out on my bike for a 32 mile ride which took me all along the estuary from Gowerton to Pembrey and back. I much preferred the bike park type of riding but my fitness is not up to that yet so these ride outs are getting me there.

The route is made up of a small piece of road and then a cycle track called the millennium way, mostly flat with only small uphill sections. The scenery is great because you’re along side the estuary for most of it.

Going towards Pembrey was loverly with the slight wind behind me but when it was time to come back the wind was against me, only a slight wind but it slowed me up and as I had already ridden 16 miles to get there the ride back was slower but I survived, although my legs would tell you different at the time.

Being our day off yesterday we decided to get out and about. We don’t like going out and about on a bank holiday because everyone else is out and about but we don’t like to stay on site all day either. Today was forecast rain and yes they got that right.

So decided to go to Penllergare valley woods for a walk. it’s just off the M4 at junction 47. It’s an old Victorian estate, home of the late John Dillwyn LLewegyn. It comprises of over 100 hectares of mixed woodland trees, two lakes and seven miles of woodland walks.

It’s run by mostly volunteers with a small team of full time staff. The land was slowly getting eaten up with development etc until a trust was set up to save it. It’s free to walk around but you can make a donation if you wish which all goes to help maintain and support this fantastic place. You pay for parking which is only £2 for the day. There is a small cafe again run by the volunteers. They serve hot drinks and some very nice cake. After our walk we had to sample some, just so we could tell other people how good it was.

We parked up and started our walk with no plan of direction. The part we started on was called the carriageway and you could just imagine the old horse and carriage bouncing along this route. Off to the left and right were smaller trails but we resisted these for a while until we just had to turn off and find out where one went.

As we rounded the corner we saw a huge big carpet of Bluebells, we had reached a part called Bluebell wood. I must say that by this point we had been walking for about half an hour and not seen a soul which made it even nicer. All you could hear was birds singing and the occasional bee looking to pollenate some flowers.

We came across a loverly old stone bridge and again you could imagine the old horse and carriage going across it. And to think this would all be someone’s garden.

We then found a small little track and decided to find out where we would be taken if we followed it. We were not disappointed when we came to the end of it with a view over the lake and again nobody around so we sat down and enjoyed the view and peace and quiet. We saw fish jump out the water and heard a green woodpecker in the distance and a lonely duck came to see if we had any food and then realised we didn’t have any so he went off looking for other people with food.

We could have sat there all day if we had some food but we were getting hungry or should I say I was getting hungry so it was time to carry on down the next trail we found which led us to a loverly waterfall. Not a lot of water coming down it but enough to make it look nice. As we left we saw another couple going the other way towards the waterfall.

We got lost after leaving the waterfall, well not really lost we just went a different way looking for the cafe. Only a small detour and we found the carpark and cafe. We had only walked about two miles but it was so nice and peaceful, you would never think you were so close to the M4 motorway. A hot chocolate and carrot cake for me and for Nikki a coffee and lemon cake. Not a crumb left on the plates.

We left there and had to go to Tesco (other supermarkets are available) on the way back to base to get some more food. A chill out evening with a beer or two sat in our garden and a nice steak.