U.K: Wales

Caught a bus & train from Edinburgh down to Shrewsbury in England where Liz Shanklin (a family friend who I'd never met before) picked me up. We walked her gorgeous collies up the Wrekin (a big hill) and set off for her holiday house in Abersoch, Wales that night when Simon got home from work. I've really missed having contact with family dogs!

Had a really nice relaxing couple of days in Abersoch with the Shanklins (Liz, Simon, their children Sandy & Tori), it's a little beach holiday town where people tend to spend the whole summer, all the kids get summer jobs in cafes or the sailing club etc. The whole family was so kind- Sandy gave me his room to sleep in, showed me around town and the sailing school where he teaches, and took me for a sail. Tori was so sweet and chatty and let me use her laptop to organise photos and took a real interest in my trip. With all the walks and dogs and beach it felt very much like a Hoadley holiday and I was made to feel very welcome. So thankyou to Granny & Pa for putting me in contact, and to the Shanklins for having me! Plus I got to use the hiking boots I've been lugging around!

Headed down to Aberdovey after this to stay with Drew, a mate I'd travelled with in Laos/ Vietnam. He's English but again holidays in North Wales, so stayed with him and his friends in one of their houses. Met a lot of his friends who spend all summer together at the beach and vistited them all in their various holiday jobs during the day (ice cream shops, lolly shops, beach warden..) and then hung out in the arvo & night. Almost went for a surf but no waves, jumped off the jetty into the freezing ocean, pottered around in a cave with gumboots and bike helmet on but didn't do the pitch black abseil (again with the scary caves... I know) and swung on a rope swing over a gully. The town was really pretty and Drew took me on a 'roman walk' along the coast, looking out over Cardigan Bay. The Welsh signs on everything were fantastic, there was a house called 'Llareggub.' (read backwards)

At first when speaking to British people I thought I must look really lost or something because everyone greeted me with a concerned 'are you alright?' but then I realised it's just their 'how's it going' equivalent. And now I automatically substitute flipflops for thongs, wellies for gumboots, cashpoint for ATM, swimmers for bathers, and trousers for pants to avoid confusion!