Across The Pond - South Wales Last Bit

July 6, 2012

On our last day in Llangattock/Crickhowell, Rowan and I took a stroll down the Monmouth and Brecon canal, just a few steps down the road from our cottage, to get some photos before we leave here. Go here for info on the canal system: http://www.canaljunction.com/canal/mon_brec.htm  We will come back here some day to rent a narrow beam boat to cruise the beautiful waterway for at least a week.

We ran into this very cute family of ducks who were quite curious to check us out.

The scenery is just fantastic. Very much like walking through the shire in a Lord of the Rings movie.

View of Crickhowell from the canal

One of the rental boats. They can be rented by the week for a toodle down the canals. They come with kitchen, sleeping quarters, shower, loo....everything needed for a comfortable lazy trip through the tiny villages along the canal. Just stop in a little village for cooking supplies, a pint at the pub, and you are on your way.

Listen for how quiet it is during this video. 

I have to share this movie of the ginormous redwood tree that sits on the edge of the canal here in Llangattock. I have been at the foot of this tree on previous trips and now finally have the movie camera to take a video of this monster. It must be a few hundred years old, and how a redwood tree got here in south Wales is beyond me, but here it is. A magnificent example of a giant redwood.

This photo shows how determined the ferns are around here to get growing. With all of the rain that falls here, no wonder you can find these little guys growing out of just about every rock wall around.

 We made one more trip to the meat market in Crickhowell to get dinner for our last night here. We were tempted to go for the lamb's liver (look at the big bowl of it on the upper left) YUM......

 ....however, we ended up going for the pork chops instead....

 .....can't forget the cheese course either :o)

 A photo of a great spotted woodpecker in uncle Bob's yard.

 Rowan cooking up our last dinner in the cottage

 Yummy pork chops with onion, apples, mushrooms and cider

 We have had a really great time here in the Brecon Beacon/Usk Valley region of South Wales. We will now be moving on to the north coast of Wales.

Stay tuned.........