A holiday in October means there is no guarantee of the weather (not that there is any time in the UK really).  The night we arrived in Wales, I stayed up late till high tide as we had arrived just in time for Storm Brian and the caravan site was on flood alert.  I wanted to go to bed knowing that we weren’t going to float off in the night – we didn’t.  The next day was still really blowy with showers so, not wanting to stay in the caravan all day, we drove to West Shore Beach at Llandudno.

The weather doesn’t matter when you are at the beach.  In many ways, it can enhance the experience.  We’ve visited this beach many times before, but had never seen the sea so rough there before.  Rowan was amazed by the size of the waves though I’m sure they were much bigger the previous day.

We strolled along at the side of the sand dunes where the path we would usually walk down was hidden by sand dumped by the weather the day before.  The wind buffeted us, but it was so invigorating to be out.

Eventually, we made our way to the shore where Rocky enjoyed getting his paws wet (Pebble less so).  Me and the boy played a version of “what time is it Mr Wolf” with the sea, creeping forward as far as we could until a bigger wave sent us running and laughing back up the beach in an attempt to keep our feet dry.

After a while, and beginning to get a little cold, we walked back and had a hot drink at the café.  We felt energised and refreshed and Rowan’s cake lasted two minutes. Who said you need sunshine to have a good time!

Our second beach adventure, again when the forecast was not so good, took us to the beach at Newborough on Anglesey.  Being out of season, we were able to walk the dogs on the whole beach so we took the opportunity to venture in the direction of Llanddwyn Island.

Along the way we stopped for a picnic in the rain, a fallen tree providing a seat and shelter for Rowan.  Whilst we filled our bellies, we admired the views across to Caernarfon Bay, the mountains barely visible for the cloud rolling over their tops.

Further along the beach we found some stumps where me and Rowan could practise our Karate Kid moves.

After just under a mile, we reached Llanddwyn Island.  The island is home to the remains of a chapel, a lighthouse and various rocky outcrops to explore.  However, it is a nature reserve, and as such, we couldn’t visit with the furry pair.  If you’d like a sneak peek at Llanddwyn Island, take a look at the brilliant blog post and video from the guys at Potty Adventures.

We continued past and were treated to a deserted section of beach.  With the cloud, spray from the sea and drizzly rain, it looked eerie and exciting and we set about exploring.  There were rock pools to investigate and crags to climb (Rowan was particularly proud when he reached the top of one of them).  I really liked the green rocks sticking out of the sand.  It was a gorgeous place and it was confirmed again that there is no such thing as bad weather when you are outside having fun.