My husband Colan had been planning a weekend away to celebrate our first wedding anniversary, he had been doing it in secret for the past couple of months. On Thursday night Colan informed me what to pack, then on Friday afternoon he surprised me with Tinkerbell – a brand new, spring green VW Campervan. She was waiting outside our house, rearing to take us on our adventure to Snowdonia. I love camping and I've always taken a fancy to the VW Campervans, plus Snowdonia is somewhere I've always wanted to go . . . Colan had thought of all this and even put a few bottles of Bulmers in the fridge to cool – he knows me oh so well! So with the fridge and cupboards packed to the brim with food, all our sleeping materials in the back . . . we were off.

On our journey it really didn't matter that the weather was grim, we had beeps and waves from other VW drivers, people in the street were pointing and smiling as we drove past, Tinkerbell was making heads turn – we really were traveling in style.

During our weekend we traveled around Snowdonia, due to the dismal weather we decided to save a journey up Snowdon for another day. We stayed in a beautiful campsite on the Friday, head for the coast on Saturday and on the Sunday we drove down past Aberystwyth and stayed on the road towards Rhayader, this was a very special part of Wales and we will definitely return.

On our stay at the campsites we met some 'hardcore' walkers and bikers, they knew the weather forecast, yet they still chose to camp overnight in a tent – madness if you ask me! We on the other hand had a cosy retreat, somewhere completely dry where we could cook a fry up for breakfast and eat dinner in the evening with chilled beverages to wash it down. I know which one I'd prefer.

Would you like to experience Tinkerbell? Infact there are other characters also available for hire; Mary Jane; Bernie; Aria; and the more vintage of the collection is Ned. The company is called Passage Unwritten, based on the outskirts of Hereford and run by a friendly,  bubbly lady called Stella. Go to www.passageunwritten.co.uk for more details.

So yes, the weather was awful but the weekend was great, Tinkerbell made our adventure one to remember. We hope to hire Tinkerbell again, but only next time we will explore the Brecon Beacons, here the views and scenery are exceptional and I'm sure Colan will be keen to see what the fishing is like!

Lisa Marie