they propose to climb Snowdon, then drive to Stirling in the afternoon. I thought I had mis-heard. Not the
one in Scotland, surely? It was.
Yesterday afternoon, though, was to be devoted to Caernarfon Castle. By now the 7.21am northbound
Trans-Wales Express had become the 2.36pm southbound. And so I allowed myself the luxury that
hitchhikers all too often deny themselves: exploring the places along the way.
The world can sometimes resemble a sequence of roundabouts, truck-stops and lay-bys rather than a rich
and rewarding collection of communities. So I made the most of Caernarfon, a town that waves across the
waves of the Menai Strait at Anglesey, before what turned out to be the final lift.
Jane was driving a Range Rover, making this an exceptional day for top-of-the-range cars. She was listening
to House music at a volume sufficient to entertain me and the two terriers, Barbara and Tim, in the back.
Winning team: Simon Calder finally makes it to
Holyhead station, several hours late (Simon
Calder)For the last 30 miles of an enriching day, I learned about her career in the music business, the benefits of
employing teachers with different life experiences and the joy of the open road – with a 1980 Viking
Fibreline in tow.
By the time I reached Holyhead I was four hours behind schedule. And I didn’t care. At the end of a long
and splendid day on the road, for the first time in my long hitching career, I had been picked up by someone
towing a caravan.
Humanity: marvellous.