We woke to find the first snows of winter coating the mountains of Snowdonia. Several scans of several weather forecasts convinced us to take a trip out west to Criccieth in the hopes of finding some sunshine to counteract the bitter cold.

First stop was at Porthmadog as Neil fancied a ‘flick’ through the record shop he used to frequent back in 1974. I was surprised to find some pretty big price tags on some of the albums that Mom and Dad have!

The sun began to make an appearance as we got to the beach, so we hiked up to the castle to ‘warm up’ a bit.

There was only one cafe open, but happily, it had a free table with a window view. Surely one of the best places around here to bit sipping a hot coffee on such a cold day. We watched the waves come in and the seals playing in the bay, before setting out south, to reach Black Rock Sands.

The official footpath, somewhat unappealingly, walks right next to the railway and it’s six foot high metal security fencing, so with the tide heading out, we opted to stick by the waters edge for some better ambience.

The remaining tide prevented us from crossing over to Black Rock Sands, but we got a good view from the headland and retracing our steps meant easier logistics with the car.

The sun was low, but warm and there wasn’t a breath of wind.

Overhead, the fighter jet pilots seemed to be having fun.

The mountain skyline looked fabulous!

The puddles in the car park were giving some super reflections, but I kept missing Clare’s jumps over them!

We were about to leave, but the sun looked to be setting, so we sourced a few hot drinks and ‘sat out in the sunshine’ with two degrees on the thermometer, to enjoy the last of the light and the feeling of it’s warmth.

Back at The Cottage, the temperature fell below freezing outside. Inside, we kept pretty snug…