Crawling along a narrow ledge behind a waterfall, the freezing water is cascading over my head and I am gripping the rocks to avoid being washed off into the river below.
Chloe, the gorge-walking instructor, is shouting words of encouragement from the other side of the waterfall.
When I finally reach her, I realise my challenge is only just beginning as she points to the torrent of water below.
“When I say jump I want you to leap out as far as you can,” she says. A few nervous seconds later I’m taking the plunge — my own whoops of delight echoed by my waiting family on a nearby riverbank.
This type of summer adventure is one that has become a favourite en famille: a French term I use because customarily we go canyoning or white-water rafting in the Alps.
This year, of course, it’s all change. With a desire to avoid all the Covid anxiety which international travel still brings — not the mention around £500 in testing fees for four — we swapped the mountains near Morzine for the Brecon Beacons in Wales.
And instead of catching a plane for a week of exhilaration, we hired a campervan for £1,000 and trundled a few hours down the M4.
As committed Francophiles, we were keen to see just how the Brecon Beacons compares to the French Alps and were pleasantly surprised.
While the French have undoubtedly nailed adrenalin sports such as white water rafting and canyoning thanks to the altitude of the Alps (canyoning is descending down Alpine rivers and skidding down rocky chutes or fissures into freezing water) the Welsh prove that mountain-based sports are not just the preserve of Europe.
Black Mountain Adventure’s gorge walking takes place in the Ystradfellte Waterfalls area of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
A small village in the Fforest Fawr area, Ystradfellte is a popular centre for tourists, many of whom walk in the hills or visit the waterfalls and caves of the river. But walking was only a small part of our mountain adventure.
After meeting in a nearby carpark — a tight squeeze for our giant mobile home — Chloe kitted our party out with wetsuits, helmets and lifejackets before starting the full day trek along the river.
To get us accustomed to the cold, Chloe, a trained mountaineer, said an early plunge into the 8C river was a must. She explained the wetsuits would keep us warmest once they are wet.
Soon our teenage children were grinning with delight as the current carried them downstream on their backs to the next rendezvous point where we would start our ascent.
Scrambling over boulders, wriggling through fissures in the rocks and plunging from rocky ledges is a remarkably uplifting experience and our group was too buzzing with excitement to notice that we seemed to be permanently plunging into freezing water as soon as we had dried off in the sun.
Along the route, Chloe pointed out remnants of Welsh gold mines and local flora and fauna, telling us that if we were lucky we might spot an eagle soaring overhead or a trout lurking in the crystal clear water.
As it turned out, we were the ones doing the flying, with a final thrill-seeking leap into the water. The day ended literally on a high as we plunged off an 18-foot ledge called Loonies Leap — with our children insisting on doing it a second time to recreate the thrill.
Keen to learn more about Wales’ famous caving history, we couldn’t miss a visit to the National Showcaves Centre during our stay.
The Swansea Valley caves, which are one of Wales’s most popular tourist attractions, were discovered by the Morgan brothers, Tommy and Jeff, in 1912 and an audio tour of the pair talking about their find is what guides you through the awe-inspiring Dan-yr-Ogof and Cathedral Cave.
It’s all artfully lit and with the cascading waterfalls and stalactites and stalagmites, there’s plenty to keep even novice geologists interested.
As you wander through Cathedral Cave and admire its streams and pools, the showpiece has to be the mesmerising cavern known as ‘The Dome of St. Paul’s’. Its cascading waterfall and awe-inspiring ambience provide a superb photo opp: some couples even get married there.
What we hadn’t expected was the large collection of dinosaurs — models of course — to keep the kids amused too. There are 220 life-sized replicas, including some motorised versions, with many positioned around a copy of an Iron Age village.
And while our world-weary teens weren’t as thrilled by the dawn of time collection as many of the younger visitors, they perked up as we came to a field of alpacas and sheep along the drive from the attraction.
Naturally, there were plenty more sheep to be seen, as well as the Welsh ponies that live, breed and run wild across the rugged and remote uplands, as we rumbled through picturesque south Wales in our motor home.
Some corners were simply too tight to navigate, but as long as we stuck to relatively main roads, it proved a fun way to travel.
The sheep were on hand when we coaxed our mobile home up the hill to a lake for a spot of paddle boarding too. Until we alarmed them by letting the air out of our inflatable paddleboard, sending them scurrying off back to the lake.
Wales is known for its rain but thanks to our four-berth camper, the odd shower proved only a minor inconvenience. It was also great to play cards in the evenings with the family in the well-lit motorhome rather than in a tent — the small campsite we used (everything else was fully booked months earlier) had no electric hook up, so the van’s electricity came in very handy there.
With a toilet and showers on site, we opted not to use the mobile toilet (to avoid all the cleaning that entails at the end of the trip), although the motorhome was ideal for cooking, saving us a fortune on meals out.
But next time, we would probably save ourselves £1,000 and simply take a large car with two tents. While my wife and the two teenagers slept in the motorhome, insulated from any noise of fellow campers, I enjoyed hearing the owls hooting at night from the tent.
Welsh country roads could also prove a challenge and on several occasions we had hairy experiences trying to negotiate a narrow stone bridge or having to pull over for oncoming cars on a narrow lane.
Our base was a 10-minute drive, or 40-minute cycle ride along the river, to the smart little market town of Crickhowell overlooking the River Usk, with its quirky bookshops, tearooms and gastropubs, including the 15th Century Bear Hotel.
And with the imposing Black Mountains around us, it was ideal for exploring the Brecon Beacons. There are also the partial remains of a 13th century castle, occupied for around 200 years.
Some days we simply enjoyed wild swimming in the river beside our campsite, cooked a barbecue and shared a glass of wine with friends, while another happy afternoon was spent mooching through Brecon itself.
Yes, we missed the raclette and fondues that have a become a staple on French family summer holidays. But we did have a little tea-light driven raclette device from our last trip away that melted chocolate for a late-night pudding by the fire — not to mention excellent local real ale at the Dragons Head pub in Llangenny, with some of the best homemade sticky toffee pudding I’ve ever tasted.
And having experienced a holiday without the faff of a flight, France may just have some competition even when foreign travel becomes easier again.
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