Here we go

We're penning this at 1045 and watching the views from the traffic cams along the A5 (amazing what you can do with the internet these days). Truth be told, it has to be wondered if the pics from the cams are genuine, or simply old shots - blooper reels from the Sweeny, perhaps - or maybe the same cars are simply going round and round. At any rate, we're told this is one of the busiest Saturdays in the year and that hotel bookings in Llandudno at least are the best for many years. So where's the avalanche of holiday traffic? By now, we'd expect at least five-mile queues, with caravans galore, stacked end-to-end, screaming kids fighting over the seat-back PS3 control, steaming cars, with irate females haranguing harried partners for not having the car serviced before setting out and the ubiquitous cones, resolutely funnelling lines of slow-moving vehicles and their frustrated occupants into narrow lanes, crawling for miles with no sign whatsoever of any 'men working' or any accident or breakdown.

But no. The traffic is flowing smoothly, Rhuallt hill is a model of traffic management, the Eirias 218 camera is bent at an odd angle and showing a concrete bulwark which, though undoubtedly fascinating to the aficionados of modern motorway construction techniques and compulsory fare for the avid readers of 'Practical Concreting' is hardly the endless snake of cars we were hoping to see, and even the Junction 28 cam, about two miles before the threatened roadworks, shows only the usual traffic density.

Oh well, perhaps it'll all happen later. Then we'll be able to see the poor unfortunate souls destined for a week's paddling and sight-seeing as they attempt to navigate the delights of the Black Cat roundabout and the wonderful new tarmaced expressway into town, which clearly was in urgent need of being re-surfaced, although it seemed in better condition than most roads in the region to us uninformed and clueless road amateurs. Then we'll be able to sit back and say "Glad I wasn't going out today!"