Caernarfon; Sunday, 07 May, 2017

Another early breakfast and then a stiff walk out of the town centre up to the site of the former roman fortress Segontium which has a perfect position looking over the Menai Straits. I had a long wander round the site before heading back down into town and over to the Castle for a look round there.

I spent quite a long time looking round the castle and taking in the stunning views from the towers. Back at ground level I had a bite to eat and then decided, as it was such a lovely day, to head up Snowdon, so I caught the bus back into Llanberis and wandered over to the Snowdon Mountain Railway.

It was here that the plan fell apart as the first available train wasn’t for another three hours and that wouldn’t leave me enough time to get back down, get back into Caernarfon collect my luggage and make the train I needed to catch from Bangor.

So instead, after quickly consulting the Snowdon Sherpa timetable, I changed my plan and for the second time in as many days a short while later found myself standing up at Pen-y-Pass. This time it was to wait for a very irregular Snowdon Sherpa service that takes a very scenic route down through the region back to Porthmadog.

In the end it turned out to be a very good choice as the views from the bus were stunning as we made our way through Snowdonia.

Back down in Porthmadog I had enough time for a late afternoon coffee and snack in a café overlooking the bus stop before picking up the bus back into Caernarfon.

After picking up my luggage I headed back to the bus station and caught the bus back to Bangor where, due to the unique way the trains are timetabled, I had a 58 minute wait for the train back towards Crewe.

Whilst I was waiting I kept an eye on the train I was due to connect with, which was running on time, but then noticed than an earlier, and significantly faster, train that I was due to miss by a couple of minutes was over 20 minutes late and consequently now a possibility to catch.

As my train made its way back across North Wales, the train I was aiming for continued to run later and later. By the time my train made it into Crewe, bang on time, the fast train was now so late that it was due to arrive at the same time as the train I was originally intending on catching. Whilst it still meant I had a 35 minute wait at Crewe, it did at least mean I could catch the fast train that only stopped at Milton Keynes, rather than the one that stopped at every station down the line.

30 minutes late for the train, but around 45 minutes earlier than I was originally expecting, the train pulled into Watford Junction where I disembarked and headed for my hotel for the night, prior to a full day in the office.