As you may have guessed due to the distinct lack of updates on the Prattle over the last few days, we have been off on holiday.

Our second voyage in the Conway Cruiser, we chose to go for an extended four night visit to North Wales, with Akra Jr’s only criteria being that it had to be near a beach and our only criteria was to make sure we packed enough wine. I’m not sure that Li’l Bhaji expressed a preference either way.

Surprisingly (for fair weather campers who like our comfort and luxury) we decided to run the gaunlet of the bad weather, called its bluff and won… ish. We did question our sanity on the way up in the car as it was a torrential downpour, and Akra had to do the first part of setup dripping artistically while I tried to amuse the kids with Little Chef lollipops aquired earlier.

Then, about 15 minutes after arrival, the rain stopped, allowing us all to get out and have a wander and add the finishing touches – like a much needed windbreak, a luxury purchase that turned out to be a necessity after we realised shortly after arrival that camping by the sea meant very exposed and windy. Mostly, though, the rain fell at night (in rather fat blobs and accompanied by very blustery winds, but hey – who needs sleep when you’re on holiday, eh?) and on the Sunday we had a few downpours, but we carried on and enjoyed our daytrips regardless. The heavens opened again shortly after departure, washing the car of all the mud we’d aquired trying to get off-site.

Aberafon‘s facilities, we were quick to discover, were clean but very basic. The toilets closest to our pitch had no hot water, and you had to remember to bring your own loo roll, soap and a towel. The main amenity block was a walk away, but at least had warm water – and a charge of 20p for a 3-minute shower. We now realised that we’d been very spoiled with our previous trip to Bracelands.

Access to the site was down a very narrow and windy single-track lane – not too bad coming down, but you offered supplications to multiple pantheons that no-one expected you to reverse on the way back up. We also hadn’t quite appreciated what a private slipway on the property actually meant in reality; early evening saw the salty smell of the sea air replaced by burning boat fuel as engines were revved and boats cleaned before putting them into the sea, and young lads with ancient landrovers practising off-road rocky beach driving. Not quite the peaceful idyll we were expecting.

The view and location, however, eclipsed everything and made it all worth while. Aberafon Campsite is set at the base of a mountain, with Snowdonia a short journey by car away. There’s also something very primal about being by the sea, and even the early morning trudge to the toilet block was a magical experience as soon as you took a lungful of sea air and cast your eye on the low sunlight sparkling on the water.

The pitches are arranged very thoughtfully and with plenty of space. Aberafon had a much greater community feel to it than the larger commercial Bracelands site. We got to know our neighbours fairly swiftly, of both the human and animal kind – ducks, geese, (not so) wild rabbits, a chicken and a couple of goats also make Aberafon their home, much to the boys delight. We quickly relaxed into the slower pace of life, and after the shock of the first night, found the boating community to be friendly and interesting – it was actually great fun sitting back with a glass of wine and watching the ritual launching of the boats to make the most of the evening tides.

The four nights we were there weren’t perfect. Willful stubborn offspring and their willful stubborn parents (aka Akra Jr, Li’l Bhaji and us) pretty much wrecked one of our evenings, and the rain made a very muddy field interesting to tow out of at the end of our stay.

However, given the opportunity I’d be back at the Aberafon campsite in a heartbeat… whatever the weather.