That sounds like a splendid plan, Nikki.. What is your preferred breakfast? Maybe the CAT will be open and we can get something there.
Health warning: The CAT don't serve anything that I would describe as 'food'. Bloody hippies...
Website says hot food not served until noon, so I'm guessing it's muesli before then?
I still don't own a stove, but I could bring supplies from Brum if that helps?
Will attempt to do something daring like book my train tickets, too...
Rationalising stuff is good. I have a stove, pans and a bottle of paraffin so they will do for both of us. The paraffin will last us pretty well the whole trip (Jan and I had enough for the whole week in Guernsey). If it looks as though we are running low on paraffin then there are good hardware shop in Dolgellau. Some supplies are to be welcomed. What is your normal diet, Nikki? I eat pretty well anything but coleslaw, which is an abomination unto every deity that man has invented, and some he hasn't. I will take some porridge oats with me, teabags, squeezy honey, and I tend to buy milk as I go (Kim may well have told you about this). Lunch in pubs/cafés works for me, and evening meals as we see fit. I'm happy to cook stuff: rice with something, fresh pasta with stuff in it (spinach is OK), dried pasta with some sort of sauce. I'm just aware that we need to carry dried stuff around and it's good to consume it as we go. Rice is much more camping-friendly than pasta as it is much denser, but you tend to eat the same weight of either. It's useful to have some instant calories in the form of fig rolls, dates or geobar-alikes. If you like bacon for brekkie, that's fine, so do I, but the washing up is a pain. Oh, I will take washing up kit as well.
I'm still deciding on which tent to take. I'll probably go for the Hilleberg, for the space. The extra kg can be lost somewhere else.
I'm going to have to get my stuff together at the end of this week as we have a busy three days Fri, Sat and Sun doing family things on Fri and Sat and riding with Auntie Helen on Sun. I'll probably need to do a bit of laundry as we go as I don't think I've got enough cycling shorts for the whole trip and besides, they are about the bulkiest of the garments I'm likely to take, with the exception of warm tops, which I'm hoping will not really be needed and therefore can be reduced to Just The One.
It is possible that, if the weather looks decidedly unbeachy, I might decide to head up to Holyhead, just to say I'd done the Welsh End-to-End, to add to my collection of such things, but if there's a chance of Fri pm & Sat on a beach, then that's my preference. Did you say that you planned to visit an aunt somewhere, Nikki? There are only three trains out of Pwllheli on Sunday 18th so I think I'm going to buy a ticket and reserve a place for the 1348 but try to catch the 1128, for which I would want to be away from the campsite at around 9 - it's 15 miles. The ticket is valid on both trains, it's just that I can reserve a bike space on the later in case I can't get on/miss the earlier. I will delay buying this until we reach Pwllheli on the way through. Then I will have a good idea what the weather is going to be like. If I end up in Holyhead there is a far greater choice of trains.
I'll PM you my mobile no. and email address.
