By the mountains and the big big sea...

We wanted to go on holiday...somewhere new that neither of us had been to before.

We wanted golden sands and mountain in the distance.

We wanted sparkling waves to swim in.

We wanted nature to soak in.

And we wanted to get on one of those chuggy turquoise trains that we had seen in New Street station bound for Wales.

Dean googled something like 'mountains, sea, wales, holiday,' lol and discovered Barmouth.

What a little gem of a place. It's on the coast in the Snowdonia National Park. It has huge sandy beach with grassy dunes overlooked by Cadair Idris and the Rhinog mountains.

It's on a beautiful estuary and has the quaintest wooden bridge a mile long which crosses it.

 And that little chuggy train we fancied would be going all the way there.

We found the cutest place to stay, just up the coast in a place called Llanaber. A tiny shepherds hut made for two. Two spoons, two mugs, two plates, two chairs...

Somehow, despite being teeny tiny Llwyndu Farm Hut has a huge bed, a beautiful little wooden kitchen with a hob and a belfast sink, table and chairs and a shower and toilet. 

But the best thing was the view right out across the bay.

We were treated to picture book sunsets

which turned our faces golden,

to pink skies

that lit up the hills on the Llyn Peninsular,

 to the full moon setting over the bay in the early morning AND one morning whilst sitting in bed having a cuppa we saw two dolphins swimming across the bay. Pure magic.

We hired bikes and cycled the Mawddach trail.

Miles and miles of estuary and misty hills.

We loved cycling over the bridge to get there.

We took the Ffestiniog steam train and thought of Ivor The Engine.

'Give us a little toot of your whistle Ivor!'

It had beautiful old wooden carriages and it sounded so wonderful as it filled the valley with it's clickety clacking.

There she goes...

We walked in the woods.

We said hello to Welsh snails.

We climbed big hills

and took in vast views.

And we just hung out by the bay watching the comings and goings.

It was kind of hard to access the beach near the Farm Hut because of the railway track so we often had it all to ourselves.

I had some moments with that big old setting sun.

I can still feel the warmth of it on my face and feel the freshness of that sea air deep in my lungs. 

We had so much fun together in this magical place. I think we found somewhere we will visit again and again.