Heavenly Haven Holidays Spent in Splendid Snowdonia.

This post was written by Suhani, aged 14, who entered our Young Persons’ Writing Competition 2019.

I aroused from a deep slumber as my exasperating alarm went off besides me- illuminating the time 4.30am- however the normally aggravating sound overwhelmed my body and a sense of elation surged through me. I groaned as I my sleep was disturbed at this ungodly hour, but the trip ahead compensated for that fact. Finally the much awaited day had dawned upon us, our bags were packed although the last minute hustle and bustle filled the whole house. “Remember to hand the keys to the neighbours…. did you give Bubbles and Beffy (our pet fish) to Aunty Shellie”, I could hear my mum screaming to Dad as she hurriedly packed various filled sandwiches (Nutella, cheese and tomato and egg mayo); who oblivious of what mum said, kept nodding his head irritatedly. We still managed to set of half an hour later than expected, but everyone was buzzing with the holiday vibe that no one bothered to acknowledge the fact…

The car journey seemed to take even longer than expected, everyone grew impatient. The incessant honking represented the angry drivers, marking the beginning of the summer holidays, children wailing, teenagers throwing tantrums and frustrated parents trying in vain to control the situation…the air was thick with choking fumes- I had always loved the smell of petrol-opening the window wide at petrol stations just to annoy my little sister. Later as we stood at standstill on the motorway, I plugged in my headphones in order to block out all the distractions and typical holiday pandemonium, and soon I drifted asleep…the rest of the 240 mile journey across the country sped away. I awoke just in time to witness the transition between the urban, busy city life to the more tranquil, natural, rural winding lanes. A huge canopy of treetops spread like a green blanket and they flung their leaves to the sky like a crowd of vivid, green umbrellas. As I breathed in the oxygen-rich air, my lungs circulated freshness around me and I was filled with a powerful energy.

As we drove swiftly into the caravan park, I felt as if I entered a magical wonderland, it gave me flashbacks of my trip to Disneyland Paris the previous year, large biomes of activity centres burst into the air, laughter and fun resounded through the air. As we started to head to our allocated caravan- this was an exciting experience as I hadn’t been in a caravan before- we saw the two other families(my childhood friends, we have known each other for most of our lives we had planned this trip with, we broke into a chorus of hugs and greetings.

Within a few minutes, after we quickly settled our belongings and freshened up, we headed to the infamous Snowdon Mountain- a popular destination for enthusiastic trekkers and nature lovers. We wanted to make the most of our first day spirit and energy.

I was surrounded by the soaring summits of majestic mountains, the steep path glistened with damp-polished by nature into dangerous, slippery slopes. The journey uphill tool anywhere between 5-7 hours, however the combination of a very pleasant company and the breath-taking, picturesque view didn’t even give us an opportunity for complaint. Our tactic to ease our journey was to take regular breaks, we discovered a little café nestled into the boulders, where we had ice creams to relieve ourselves of the summer heat- a reward for reaching the top. On the way back we were exhausted therefore we took the Snowdon mountain railway- a steam train- back down, this time the journey only took an hour!

We got up to many fun-filled activities in addition to the trekking, for example we went to the beach- my favourite bit. The beach was long and narrow and sloped gently down to the sea, the small sheltered cove was reached by scrambling down a steep,winding path. The emerald jewel of coral reefs and diamond dust beaches emanated a tropical atmosphere. The island was a time capsule, wherever we went we found relics of an ancient world, the beach was littered with many seashells and the shore was a jigsaw of animal fossils. I felt like I had entered a paradise. The week washed away, but it left wonderful memories and fun imprinted in my mind!