One of the problems with planning everything in advance is that it leaves no room for spontaneity and has the risk that the activity will take place come rain or shine. You can imagine our relief, therefore, when our designated beach day was beautifully sunny and our biggest concern was layers of sun cream rather than layers of clothes.

Of the three local beaches, the kids opted for the one that had facilities (aka a place to buy ice cream): Newgale beach. Newgale Beach is a beautiful blue flag beach with two miles of soft golden sand and crystal clear water. The beach is so big that even though the car park was full to the rafters, the beach never felt crowded or busy. Of course, our main mode of transport is bikes so we didn’t need to worry about parking.

The kids were little troopers cycling the 2.5mile journey there (all downhill) and back (all uphill).

Newgale beach is also a popular spot for surfing and the kids had a fun time playing on their body boards. The rest of the time we built sandcastles, played bat and ball, ate a picnic and, of course, had some ice cream. We even managed to buy some home made Welsh Cakes which Oliver devoured! I think all that time in the sea made him a tad hungry.

The afternoon was spent chilling in the campsite and getting home made pizza from the campsite shop for supper. It was so peaceful. Kids are pretty tired after the late night last night and all the exertions today, so it wasn’t long before everyone was tucked up in bed.

Tomorrow we head north!

Campsite details: we stayed at Rainbolts Hill Farm campsite. It’s in a stunning location on the top of a hill with sea views. We can also see a castle. There are two fields and you can camp anywhere. Despite being fully booked, there’s loads of space and it doesn’t feel busy. It’s got an alright shop where we managed to pick up some local brew for Andy and in the evenings they have a food van offering fish and chips and pizza. There’s only a couple of showers for each gender though and you need to pay 20p for 2min, or £1 for 10 minutes. It’s to encourage people to preserve water. There are three beaches a short drive/cycle away. In all I would definitely recommend staying here if you’re in the area.