Whitby | 17

After our few days in Nott'm, we headed up to stay with some friends in Middlesborough and then to Whitby on my birthday. Now the weather at Whitby was pretty grim. It was on and off drizzling and a van went through a puddle, soaking my boyfriend -not ideal (I briefly mentioned in my Wales posts that he gets crabby in the rain, they just don't mix well). But despite this, we had a great day.

Whitby is one of my favourite places. I love the harbour, the cobblestone streets with wonky old buildings and alleyways with shops poked here and there. I love the fact that everyone up't Nor' is so friendly, and you can chat with anyone without having weird looks thrown your way.

We headed towards the Whitby abbey steps straight away. (Side note: wheelchairs and cobblestones do not mix well -they give you the worst back pain ever!). We actually picked up a bike lock in Nott'm for my wheelchair and used it a few times before abandoning my wheelchair at the bottom of the Whitby Abbey steps. I knew I wanted to give getting up the steps a pop, but I also knew I wouldn't be able to walk to them and then do the stairs, so using my wheelchair was necessary. Conveniently enough, the steps have benches to the side of them every 10 stairs or so: the perfect rest breaks to not only rest my legs but also check out the amazing view of the harbour town. 

Once at the top, we went through the churchyard, taking in the ornate old tombstones and the view of the North Sea. We then headed on up to the Abbey, reading a little bit about the ruins before heading up to them. 

Whitby Abbey is so pretty. It's the type of place you wander around while wondering how it would have looked centuries ago and what people would have thought about it back then. What's left of the abbey is essentially part of the shell of the original building. There are signs and illustrations showing what it may have looked like in the 13th Century, and they tell you quite a bit about how it would have been used too. 

After a quick trip to the gift shop and a lot of spent pennies, we headed for some food and went to some shops before heading home. Whitby was an amazing day, and I'm so glad we got to go there on my actual birthday. 

Cheerio for now! 

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Nottingham | 17

In mid-October, we took a trip up't Nor' for my birthday. We planned to stay with some friends in Middlesborough and then head to Whitby on my actual birthday, but with my birthday falling on a Wednesday we decided why not extend the trip and go up a few days earlier. Trying to find a halfway point we landed on Nott'm for our destination and spent a few days there exploring before heading further north for my twenty-second birthday.

While in Nottingham we did a ton of things. We went to the Goose Fair, the Justice museum, saw the sky mirror, Lord Byron's house, the Robin Hood statue, ate the worlds best pizza and doughnotts: as well as exploring some pretty cool shops and restaurants. Oh, and I got my nose pierced! ...something I have wanted for such a long time but never actually gone through with it.

Nottingham was an amazing place, and somewhere I know I'll want to revisit again and again. There were so many other places and restaurants where we didn't get to explore or experience so another trip is definitely needed.

Cheerio for now! 
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Wales | Where We Went | Part 3

Our third day in Wales started with a trip to get breakfast, followed by us going on the Brecon Mountain Railway. The train was a steam train with rickety carriages which were furnished with wooden benches and wide windows to take in the beautiful views. We passed the Pontsticill Reservoir and had two stops to our ride. One at Torpantau station and the other at the Steam Museum. 

The Brecon Mountain Railway also had a workshop you can look in, which smelt exactly like my grandfathers' garage and had my heart a flutter. It's an oily, rusty metal scent that if I could bottle into a perfume, I totally would! 

After our time on the railway and a quick stop in the gift shop for postcards, we headed off to find Sgwd yr Eira (a waterfall). I should also mention that by this point it was starting to rain and as we started our trail it got heavier and heavier. With a boyfriend becoming crabbier by the minute from the rain and both of us being soaked through, we decided to turn back. After drying off our clothes and having a warm shower, we had some hearty grub and called it a night.

We had heavy rain for the majority of that night and had to pack up while it drizzled; but even so, it was probably my favourite night of the trip. There's something pretty soothing about falling asleep listening to the rain. Although we still had a day left and had thought about visiting some areas on our way home, such as Cardiff or Tenby, we decided it was best to simply pack the car and start heading home. 

Cheerio for now! 

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Wales | Where We Went | Part 2

Our second day was a whole day to explore wherever we wanted. We got ready for the day and headed off for a waterfall walk. A walk that was supposed to take fifteen minutes but thanks to me, took us a good few hours. The walk included a lot of photo and boomerang opportunities and, I mean, it would have been wrong if I didn't take advantage of those opportunities. As a result, I have a ton of photos, so this post (like other posts about our time in Wales) is going to be more photo heavy in content. 

Later that day we decided to check out an all you can eat buffet in Merthyr Tydfil and then turned in for the night. 

Stay tuned for Part 3,

Cheerio for now! 

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Wales | Where We Went | Part 1

In August my boyfriend, James, and I went camping in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. We went for a long weekend, staying Friday night through to Monday morning. We stayed at Grawen Caravan and Camping site, where we pitched a six-person tent on the Friday and made our home for the next three days. *Unfortunately, I didn't take any 'tent tour' shots so I'll just go on to show you what we got up to in the land of Wales.

Our first day was spent waking up before dawn and setting off for our destination a little after four am. Our journey was filled with Spotify playlists, podcasts, and tired ramblings accompanied by long silences. We crossed the Severn Bridge a couple hours later and quickly found ourselves in Merthyr Tydfil, a short drive from our campsite. I'm going, to be honest, our first day was mostly us getting things together like food, fire wood and setting up for our first night. It also included me napping (something that is unheard of).

We spent our first evening checking out a waterfall, wandering around Brecon in torrential rain and then ducking into a quaint, local pub for some dinner; where we quite possibly ate the best pub food I have ever had. We had hoped to later make a fire that night, however, I was far too tired and the weather too damp; so we simply called it a night.

Stay tuned for more, 

Cheerio for now! 
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