Pembrokeshire and Skomer Island

First week of school hols and we were off in a motor home. We have travelled like this before and had romantic memories of the kids climbing ladders to get into the bed above the front seats, drawing the curtain and squealing with excitement. We’d done a short stint in Wiltshire 12 years ago and then a 4 week trip around Arizona and Utah so admittedly the kids were little, but remember the flexibility and freedom we felt.  Fast forward to 2022 and we have a strapping 15 year old son and 13 year daughter to accommodate in what was a considerably smaller vehicle. 

The plan was to collect Wanderlust from Reading in the morning then hit the highway arriving late afternoon at our caravan park in Marloes allowing us to explore the peninsula over the next few days.

We soon realised that we had outgrown this kind of travel and vowed to not do again. Our BMW estate would have been a more comfortable ride and we we would have arrived an hour earlier.. 

The caravan park was simple but the location was great. Allowing us to walk the coastal path, visit the stuning beaches and take in the amazing scenery.

Musselwick Beach

Marloes itself is very quiet. Aside from a local shop with essentials, there isn’t much there so bring provisions.  Didn't get the warm and fuzzies from the Lobster Pot - the only restaurant in the village. 

Driving to Dale to dine at The Griffin is highly recommended (a challenging drive in the motor home) - service very friendly and food superb. Such a pretty location that we went back the following night but ate at the yacht club. Food was fantastic and inexpensive. Large carpark enables recreation vehicles to stay but the narrow roads and corners make it a hairy drive, another argument to just bring a car.

The main reason for this trip is to visit Skomer Island - The home of 40000 puffins. Now I didn't get to see these birds in Iceland years ago so this was a much anticipated trip. We were finally doing it! A couple of years ago you couldn’t book the boat to take you out there, it was a first come first serve situation. But we were booked up and ready for the Wednesday morning boat. 

Thousands of burrows on the side of the island