Daylight shone through the skylight in Mum and Dad's room and so Mum got up, put her beloved onesie on and climbed down the stairs with the promise that she wouldn't look out of any of the windows. She cleaned the stove from the previous night's fire and sat on the sofa. It wasn't long before Dad appeared. They walked together to the kitchen window and looked out.
The view was absolutely lovely and just the kind that they were hoping for. Mum was so pleased that she grabbed her camera and went outside straight away and started snapping.
Dad watched Mum skipping about the place with her camera. Look, there she is in the window, onesie and all! Just mind your head on the doorframe, Dad, these are proper cottage proportions!
The view that Mum and Dad were treated to. It was all hazy in the weak winter sunshine.
The front door of Fron Dirion. What a perfect little place in the middle of nowhere!
The back garden, all enclosed with fencing because the cottage lay on working farmland. Baaa!
A view towards the second valley. And just down the hill there's the little track that Mum and Dad had to drive up in the dark.
Frondirion? Fron Dirion? Mum isn't sure which is right but both are wonderful!
It was time to go into the warm, have some breakfast, get dressed and decide what to do with the day. Somewhere amongst all that, Mum took a few photos inside the cottage.
One of the teeny tiny windows at the front.
The lovely Welsh dresser.
The cosy living room.
Fish drawings on the wall. Wait....what? Oh yes, the 18th century cottage was used as a fishing base in the 50s and 60s and the drawings had been preserved from those times.
Mum and Dad decided that today was a great day for a walk and so Dad chose one of the 'Mystery Day Out' envelopes. It said 'Glacial Valley Views' The hats came out, the boots went on and they set off for a spot of yomping.
And here is where the postcode took them. Ohhh, sounds scary!
They parked in a little car park on the Nannau estate, grabbed the map from the envelope and set off for what sounded like dizzying heights and sheer drops. *gulp*
They saw walls that shone and looked like rivers of stone.
Mum took this photo for Nan. Nan likes sheep. Dad likes sheep too but preferabley with less fluff and more mint sauce.
They rounded a corner and saw their first glimpse of Llyn Cynwch. And more sheep.
The lake looked beautiful in the hazy sunshine and under the silhouette of Cadair Idris.
Llyn Cynwch was lined with an avenue of oak trees. Apparently they are the only ones left from what was a very large forest of them. Huw Nanney, a previous owner of the Nannau estate was in debt so he had most of the forest chopped down around 1603...and was sent to prison for doing so. Serves him right!
The walk along the lake was very pleasant, and at the far end the trail took Mum and Dad up, up and away. The climb was mostly easy with a few little challenging bits and once over the other side of the hill they were quite taken aback with the view.
The panorama started looking across to Cadair Idris.
And led all the way down the Mawddach Estuary to Barmouth.
Mum and Dad stood for a while and enjoyed the view before carrying on along the trail. Mum wanted to wander onto the grassy bits and she's very glad she did because look what they came across....
A bench. Perfect!
They sat on the bench for quite some time and looked out over the estuary. Then Mum decided to try out the remote control that came with her camera.
Wonky and with grass in the way, but there they are. Hello Mum and Dad!
After a while of just sitting there, the cold wind started to seep in a bit and they thought it was best to get moving and see what was around the next corner. Good timing too, because a small group of walkers appeared and shattered the peace and quiet.
The path around the corner seemed to get higher, but that's probably just because the sides of the hill got steeper and steeper. This was probably where the trail got its name!
The hills seemed to go on forever and down on the valley floor the Afon Maddwch snaked alongside the A470. It was all very pretty.
The sheep on the distant hills were just tiny pinpricks of white...but there were lots of them!
After helping a couple of lost walkers down to the track, Mum and Dad made their way back down to Lake Cynwch and back to the car. They were definitely ready for another sit down out of the chilly breeze. The trail may only have been 3 miles long but it felt a bit longer than that to Mum.
Mum's nice new boots no longer looked like nice new boots. Still nice boots, though!
They thorougly enjoyed their first proper walk in the hills of 2016, and the scenery, peace and exercise did them both a whole lot of good. As they set off for a bite to eat Dad said he felt 'Weary in the leg and invigorated in the soul'. Mum agreed wholeheatedly.
Since they needed food, groceries and kindling, they decided to head into Dolgellau, the nearest town to Fron Dirion (about 9.7 miles away) Dolgellau isn't huge, but there were plenty of shops and eating places there including a wool shop and a craft shop! Mum and Dad chose a little bistro cafe called Y Sospan which was built in the 17th century and began life as a courthouse and centre for public administration.
A lovely room in which to rest weary legs and fill hungry bellies.
The building had lots of old paintings, decorations and friezes, some of which depicted Witch Trials and ghastly hangings.
The food at Y Sospan wasn't brilliant, but Mum and Dad were ravenous after their walk so they cleared their plates and headed back into the town for a mooch. They went into a gallery and Dad found kindling whilst Mum was in the craft shop *cough*. The town was fairly quiet and had a nice feel to it.
Dolgellau, watched over by Cadair Idris.
The final port of call on Mum and Dad's first day out was the local Eurospar on the edge of Dolgellau. They needed some basic supplies, cooked breakfast goodies, something for dinner that evening and another dinner for another day.
Erm. Busman's holiday or what?!
Everything had finally been found and bought so off they drove, back to Fron Dirion after a lovely day out. Off came the boots, on went the onesie and it was time for a nice, easy dinner.
Ham and Leek quiche for Mum. Nom.
Beef baguette for Dad. Nom.
The weary pair settled down on the sofa and watched one of the 'Watch' mystery items from the big box. It was 'Easy A' and both enjoyed the film and sofatime before heading up the stairs to bed. They fell asleep very, very quickly.
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