Oxford to Llandudno

Today it was time to move on from Oxford and the Cotswolds to my new destination - North Wales. 

I woke up early to pack after a really restless night from an uncomfortably warm room. The morning was grey and it had rained overnight. After breakfast I spent some time downloading timetables for the trains and buses I would need in Wales - just in case the wi-fi at the next hotel was not as good as this one. 

I got to the station early to catch the 9:39am to Birmingham New Street station. The scenery at the start of the journey was very familiar but misty.

At Birmingham I changed to the 11:25am train to Llandudno Junction. From Birmingham to Wolverhampton the scenery was all industrial. But after Wolverhampton the country returned, eventually becoming hillier.  

By the time we reached Chester it was raining lightly. Shortly after leaving Chester we reached the coast of the North of Wales at Flint. 

As well as this curious "beached" ship. 

The train had wi-fi, which was excellent because my daughter Emily emailed me to tell me she had just won Best Documentary at the South Australian Screen Awards. Modern technology immediately allowed me to then share the wonderful news from the other side of the world! 

From Llandudno Junction I had a 20min wait before the final 10min train trip to take me to Llandudno itself. 

All together the journey took nearly 5 hours. The Birmingham to Llandudno Junction part was particularly slow because it had so many stops. There may have been a faster route but this was heading through country I hadn't seen before so I didn't mind.