October 2016 Prestatyn, North Wales
After four and a half months house sitting in North Yorkshire we were sad to leave and yet we were equally eager and excited to be heading to Wales to begin our next house sit. As we had two nights gap between leaving Pateley Bridge and arriving in Prestatyn, North Wales, we spent two nights in Chester on our way.
These were still early days of traveling for us so everywhere we went was via public transport. This meant we had to be super organised, pack efficiently and resist all temptations to buy ‘stuff’ in order to keep our travel gear to a manageable amount.
Traveling by train was quick, efficient and allowed us the opportunity to see the countryside as we went along. As we drew closer to the west coast of Wales, not too far from our destination of Prestatyn, we were astounded at the massive line-up of static caravans and caravan parks side by side along the coastline. Little did we realise that this first sight was only just the beginning of miles & miles & rows & rows of statics and caravan parks in this area!
We were staying only a ten minute drive from the beach with Timmy the dog (we felt a bit like Famous Five characters!) and Guinness the (black) cat. Timmy’s favourite walking spot was down on the beach so the home owners wanted us to use their car to take Timmy out walking each day. Oh what a hardship……beach walking in the morning and evening every day for two weeks. With Timmy’s eyes always on the ball to chase and retrieve (following his natural instincts as a Collie x Lurcher) we could wander and throw the ball for as long as we wanted and he never seemed to tire.
Having the use of a car we were told to go and explore some well known spots nearby. Betws-y-Coed lies in the Snowdonia National Park area so we were very keen to go there. We took Timmy along with us and we all enjoyed a great day out with gorgeous autumn colours in the trees, interesting craft shops, cafes, a miniature railway, and bush walks along the stream. Walking around the village with Timmy on a lead wasn’t the easiest (he is definitely a “chase the ball on the beach” sort of dog…) but absolutely worth the effort.
Llandudno (we had fun trying to pronounce this one!) is a very popular beach destination with quite a sizable shopping centre, long expansive stony beach, walking tracks around the limestone headland and of course a Pier with flashy stalls and amusement arcades and plenty of seagulls to steal your ice cream (cone and all!) right out of your hand if you are not guarding it – this is truly what we saw happen…….just as well it wasn’t our ice-cream!! Or our hot chips!
Conwy Castle was about a thirty minute drive away and definitely no place for dogs so after our morning beach walk we left Timmy resting while we went exploring the castle. Wow, so much history and actually all very interesting unlike being at school struggling to understand such information (for Liz that is!). To be standing on castle walls and climbing up inside towers that were built in the 1200’s by King Edward the 1st was amazing and it helped us understand how these structures are still standing when we saw the sheer width of each wall.
Conwy is very much a fishing village within the city walls which join the castle. With narrow streets, quaint shops, cafes and bakeries (with the best ever vanilla slice!!). Time your visit to coincide with the Conwy Food Festival and you won’t regret it!
Although it was not peak holiday season there were plenty of tourists around, especially queuing to view the smallest house in Britain . A great place to experience Welsh life and definitely a place we would love to visit again.
October 2017 Coupar Angus, Scotland
A stunning part of the UK to be house sitting in Autumn. Staying away out in the farmlands of Perthshire where acres of potatoes are grown we felt very much at home being that we come from Pukekohe where some of New Zealand’s best potatoes are grown.
Puss, the cat, was our sole house mate and he spent most of his day sleeping or sitting at the window watching the world go by with a bit of mice hunting thrown in just to show us how clever he was.
The home owners made it very clear to us that we could and should go off exploring as much as possible during the day as Puss clearly didn’t need us between feed times. With Scotland being renowned for rainy days we were keen to get up and get going on the first fine day. As it turned out we had brilliant weather and not much rain at all in the month we were there so we visited many places.
I (Liz) like to see the cities, towns and villages whereas Peter always prefers to go-bush though we do combine our interests well. We had time to visit Perth, Dundee, the Fife coast, and even went as far north as Aberdeen. It really was the smaller villages that we both found more appealing in this area.
Blairgowrie, Dunkeld, Anstruther & Pitlochry were favourite spots.
Locals are always keen to suggest places to visit and we were pleased to be told about Drummond Castle Gardens. These are spectacular formal gardens near the house (castle) that also lead on to acres of fenced bush area where we saw our first ever red squirrels in the wild collecting nuts for their winter feed. They really are the cutest little animals and it is so sad that they are such an endangered species in the UK.
Buchanty Spout was also recommended to us as a good place for viewing salmon leaping. Autumn is the season when the salmon swim upstream to reproduce. There were no sign posts anywhere and not much of a parking spot. A short walk through the bush and down onto the rocks beside the river and there we waited along with a guy who had his camera set up on a tripod watching and waiting.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the first salmon leap up out of the water reaching towards the top of the waterfall. I did feel sorry for the ones that had to try and try again many times before they finally made it! The trees all around were beautiful colours and the river flowed quickly with several gentle falls so it was a fascinating place to be and so fascinating to watch salmon en route to their home waters upstream.
On our way driving out to Queens View, which is not far from Pitlochry, we crossed over the Garry Bridge
and saw crowds of people standing on the bridge taking photos. This was not surprising as the autumn colours were absolutely stunning along the river bank which meant the bridge was an excellent platform for taking photos from…..naturally we also joined the crowds and also took some photos…
Queens view is aptly named after Queen Isabella, the 14th century wife of Robert the Bruce who used this spot as a resting place on her travels and is also where Queen Victoria visited once during the year of 1866. Queens View is near the end of Loch Tummel with fantastic views looking westward down the Loch.
This is only a taste of things we have seen and places we have been in this area and it is another place we would happily go back to in a heartbeat.
October 2018 Brussels, Belgium
The beauty of basing ourselves in the UK house sitting is the close proximity to many other countries. There were several countries where we were keen to house sit and Belgium was one of them. When a potential house sit came up in Brussels we quickly applied and excitedly accepted the invitation to house sit there.
Manchester was the nearest airport to fly from and we landed at Charleroi airport, which is about an hour drive from Brussels city centre. We missed the first city bus due to not having the correct boarding pass, so it was a bit stressful getting things sorted in time for the next and last bus for the night. Not speaking the language and not understanding much of what anyone else was telling us didn’t help the stress levels! Very soon we were rolling along the highway in comfy seats surrounded by many other foreign travelers all heading to Brussels city.
As we arrived in Brussels the night before our house sit began and we didn’t have to be at our house sit until later in the day we had a few hours to mosey around the streets in central Brussels.
With constant aromas of hot waffles and fresh Belgian chocolate wafting all around us we kept the pace up to avoid temptation and rather savor that experience for another more relaxing day which in the end didn’t actually happen as I got sick.
Grand Place (Grote Markt) is right in the heart of Brussels and is where the tourists head so it is always a buzzy part of town. Grand being an appropriate name with such opulent buildings (most with gold trim) surrounding the town square. An excellent place to sit ‘people watching’ for a while sipping coffee (both of us) or a Belgian beer (just Pete) from one of the nearby cafes.
Our house sit was two tram lines from Gare du Midi which we navigated easily and is something that I (Liz) particularly enjoy…..trams, buses and train rides. I think it’s the challenge of hoping we get on and off at the right stop that floats my boat (or should that be “spins my wheels”?).
With a gorgeous young golden haired poodle at our side we enjoyed many walks around local streets, through various parks as well as tram rides further afield all with our happy and very excitable Marlowe in tow. It was autumn time of year so walks in the parks and through the woods were particularly pretty.
One highlight of our time in Brussels was the Helmet weekly market held just 4 houses away from where we were staying. Every Monday from 8am – 1pm people flocked to the market. We were amazed at how many people came and it didn’t take long for us to join the crowd buying good quality fresh produce and nosing around the variety of stalls looking for bargains.
Our time in Brussels was fairly quiet and relaxing due to the fact that, unfortunately, I (Liz) was not feeling the best with a head cold. While Liz was recuperating Pete “persuaded” Marlowe to explore the Foret de Soignes, an 11000 acre beech and oak forest in south-east Brussels which is reached by travelling on a historic tram.
An (almost) warm autumn day, an eager young poodle, a forest filled with autumn colours all made for a great day out exploring. Brussels, yet another place on our “gotta go back” list.