Famous pacer from New Zealand, the first harness horse to win US$1million and described as the "daddy of them all". Many famous victories for Cardy, including an Interdominion, two Auckland Cups, and a New Zealand Cup. The later being a famous victory seeing that he won it from a 54 yard handicap!
And the Cherry Tree Inn (http://www.thecherry.co.uk/) was a perfect little stop on our first day in Wales. It certainly stuck out in the Beer Guide, "a gravity-lover's delight" was enough to sell it to me, so off I went in search of this little beauty. Tucked away in what I suppose you could call a village, though it is only a collection of 10 or so houses, which are group around a little bubbling brook. With enough parking for a Combi and a small car we had to park ourselves up on road. The building itself is an interesting affair, with a little post office and grocery shop downstairs. Upstairs is a rambling pub with 3 distinct rooms (one a restaurant), and a large bar with two servicing areas. However, what I had come for was behind the bar. There sat 6 casks in all their glory, though unfortuantely only two were actually on. I had a pint of the Hancock's HB - it was OK, considering I later found out that it is brewed for the Coors Group by the Welsh brewery Brains. But you just can't beat a gravity fed pint from the cask, it is just so smooth in the mouth. I also ordered a half of the Slaters Premium, but this was the last of the cask and unfortunately it had gone off (which can happen when you are drinking real ale).
Wye Valley was pretty cool and in our post-Iceland photographathon, neither if us thought to take a picture. So you will just have to take my word for it - it was very picturesque. I have got a shot here of the Tintern Abbey though, which was also quite impressive. It was here that we first implemented our cunning plan to avoid paying the £3-£5 entry fees for such attractions by just walking around the outside of them. I always prefer the outsides anyway, the insides are usually not as impressive and often you get some garish attempt to replicate internal furnishings. After a pleasant walk around the Abbey, we spent lunch at attraction number two - though The Cherry Tree Inn was so good, it will get its own posting.
Departing the BBs a kilo or two heavier, we headed off from one National Park to another, this time the Pembrokeshire Coast NP. And this probably topped the Brecon Beacons. Stunning scenery again, great castle ruins, and of course, cool pubs. We also managed to find ourselves a room at a B&B located on a farm in the middle of nowhere. The very Welsh lady who ran it was a hoot, I think she laughed more than she talked - which was just as well, as we couldn't understand half of what she said anyway. She set us up to go to a local pub where I could have, you guessed it, Welsh Black Beef, and also gave me directions to a pub I was most keen to track down - the Dyffryn Arms, which most definitely deserves its own post.
In all, 3 National Parks visited, 7 ruins, 9 pubs, 2 Welsh steaks, 1 million lambs, and 18 new beer ratings. Overall, an unexpected brilliant three days in Wales. I would have loved another couple of days and it would be great to get the opportunity to go back. I certainly recommend it to others.
Apart from just enjoying taking in the whole scenery thing, there would have to be two highlights for me. First was Thingvellir - or the Rift Valley. It is where the Eurasian tectonic plate is pulling away from the North Atlantic plate - at a few millimetres a year. As a history lesson as well, the valley was also the site of Iceland's first Althing - which was the first recorded parliament anywhere.
The other highlight was the Gulfoss falls - the largest volume falls in Europe. And there certainly is plenty of water plunging through it. Is a lot bigger than this picture gives it credit for. The other major site on the Golden Circle is the geysir. Also quite impressive, more so the regularity at which it goes off, about every 5 minutes like clock work. Makes for great watching as new tourists come along not realising they are standing in the path of the water and steam that is shot 30 odd metres into the air.
On our only other full day in Iceland, we drove up north along the western coast this time. Maybe not as dramatic as the previous day, but still plenty of inspiring scenery. It did also include an eventful search for lunch. A piece of advice for all of you, when touring around Iceland on Easter Sunday, take your own lunch!
After all this tourist stuff, there was only one more thing to do tick off the list for Iceland, and that was to go out on the town in Reykjavik - the locals being infamous for their party hard attitude. In a irony I have noticed in all Scandinavian countries, where alcohol is supposedly somewhat of a taboo (beer was only legalised in Iceland in 1989!), they seem to be the biggest pissheads I have even come across. With alcohol quite expensive (beer wasn't too bad at about £4-£5 a pint, wine and spirits was ridiculous expensive - the govt must be collecting a fair whack of duty), the Icelandic usually have house parties until about 1am before heading out to the pubs and clubs. So in an effort to fit in, we did the same, doing a good job of polishing off the remaining wine and spirits we smuggled in the country. Of course, it looks like we Kiwi's aren't as hardy as these Icelandic folk, as before we even ventured outside we had lost over half our crew. However, Anna, Brad, Si and I steadfastly headed out in the cold to see what the fuss was all about. First stop was to stand in the queue in front of Sircus - a very bohemian bar famous for being the local hangout of Bjork. Well, when we finally managed to get in, there certainly was a strange mix of people in there and we certainly stuck out. The locals get very dressed up to go out, and our dress-down approach certainly put the "outsider" sign up. Neverthess, it was a cool little spot (very Cuba Street-ish) and the music was good. On advise from a local, we moved on to another bar a little more upmarket. After another 15 minutes or so queueing in the very brisk Reykjavik air, we were again into a bar that was living up to the Icelandic reputation. Managed another couple of drinks in between making fun of the locals before finally heading back to the pad at about 4.30am. Apparently we were not the quietist and certainly not the wisest (consider we were suppose to be getting up at 8am for our flight!). But it was all very much worth the pain the next morning (well, later than morning, really) as would not have wanted to go all that way without experiencing the infamous Reykjavik nightlife.
All in all, a great trip. We did have thoughts of staying on another couple of days initially, but the 4 days we did have was perfect and we fitted in plenty in our time there. I didn't think it as expensive as the reputation it bears either. Things certainly cost more, but that much more, and because there isn't really a whole lot of things to spend your money on, I think it is probably one of the cheaper trips I've been on. Certainly makes a difference when all the tourist sights are free and you are not being fleeced as you are often are around continental Europe. It is hard to believe people live there though. It does feel like a very remote and harsh environment (top temperature in summer is 17 degrees) and there really doesn't seem like that much to do if you weren't a tourist. However, this remoteness and harshness is also quite stunning and I am glad I got the chance to see it. A couple more pics to sign off on; the first I think shows how small you can feel in this place (see what looks to be quite a large farm house dwarfed by its surroundings); the second of the crew on tour and all that whiteness!
This shot is of the back entrance to the pub, you walk some a cobbled lane and turn into this corridor, which opens up into the pub's back patio.
So a superb place to spend an afternoon - not that it finished there of course!
