Day eighteen to twenty (23-25August) Walk Day 5 and 6
Day 18 Walk day 5 Prestatyn to Towyn
Phone stats: 19337 steps, 8.17 miles, walking time 2hr 54 minutes
Parked in the same spot in Prestatyn with a view to getting the bus back – giving me total flexibility on how far to go. Starting touching post touched and off I set. Walking into the wind as before and all promenade or shared bicycle path, so stuck with my trainers (which also helped with my blister issues!). It was blustery, and the order of the day was a woolly hat and fingerless gloves, and my better wind and water proof jacket.
Made good time to Rhyl, but then was somewhat flummoxed by not being able to find a coffee emporium (all the potential sources were shut or boarded up), eventually I found one open near the sea life centre. To be fair it was hardly conditions to bring out the crowds but this is a seaside town just before a bank holiday!! After coffee Rhyl continued for a least another mile, and then promenade changed to cycle track on the edge of a series of large static caravan parks. Eventually I ran out of steam near a fun fair at Towyn, and marked a touching spot and headed through the fun fair, over a railway bridge and back up to the main road to get the bus back to Prestatyn.
This turned about to be a 2 bus trip, one to Rhyl, and then a different one to Prestatyn (which was faulty and had to go back to the depot for reasons that were not clearly explained but eventually we got back to Prestatyn). On the second run through Rhyl I spotted a shop with fabulous inflatable thunderbirds 1 and 3 outside (about 3ft high) (sorry the picture is blurred I was on the bus!)
After all the delay – I walked back to the car from the bus stop in torrential rain!
Walk Week One statistics I have walked 43.42 miles of the welsh coast path from Chester to Prestatyn (102,698 steps). I am amazed I have managed this much but it is very flat and very easy going (much of it on a shared coastal path/cycle way) – if you are in to cycling this would be just as much fun as walking!
Day 19
Shifting of base camp from Gwaesgynor near Prestatyn to Glasinfryn about 3 miles from Bangor. Had a quick trip to the National Trust garden at Bodnant. It’s a magnificent place, much expanded since my last visit in 1992. Didn’t last long as the pollen levels were too much!!! Had my first bara brith in the NT café on this trip to wales, before heading on to the supermarket and Bangor.
The new residence is very comfortable and has free range chickens roaming around the outside. It also benefits from wifi – which is very welcome. I am comfortably settled in and unpacked ready to get back on the trail tomorrow. They had also made me a whole bara brith loaf to enjoy, so I had my second bit of the day with my tea! In the competition, NT bara brith was better but not by much.
Day 20 Walk day 6 Towyn to Old Colwyn
Phone stats: 18372 steps, 7.76miles, walking time 2hr 45 minutes
Not feeling very lively (with some after effects of too much bara brith!) – added at least another mile to the total distance today hooking up with buses, toilets and car parks at the beginning and the end etc. It was blustery (walking into the wind yet again) but dry through out and increasingly sunny. It was another day on the shared cycle coast path/cycle path and trainers. I had a very welcome coffee stop in Abergele after about 2 miles.
There were a number of boards describing the wild life of this area of the coast line. I did see a lot of oyster catchers and cormorants. There was another bird swimming in the sea I couldn’t identify (sadly I have left my bird book at home) – I will see what I can find out to identify it on the internet later. The boards also suggested there could be seals so there was a lot of ‘seal watch’ going on but no seals. I started to be less believing when the final one of these nature boards I saw today said there could be otters too!! I didn’t think it was really the right terrain for seals – let alone the elusive otter (seals in the wild I have seen many times but I have never seen an otter)!
On the outskirts of Old Colwyn I had had enough for the day – found a touching post and headed inland to get the bus. Bought a new weekly rover ticket as the last one had expired (it had more than paid for itself). Sadly, I will get beyond the arriva bus area by the end of next week all being well. I have to say the bus app has been a revelation – I particularly like the live map facility (which enables me to work out how long I am going to have to wait). In this instance the buses from Llandudno to Rhyl are every 10 minutes so it was not long!
When walking in this linear way you get a real sense of the distance travelled as the next place gets nearer and the stuff travelled through gets further away (and taking 25 minutes in a bus to get back to my starting point is very satisfying). On my next walking day (Monday) – I will park in Llandudno, and get the bus back to Old Colwyn and pick up the route again.
Tomorrow worship at Bangor cathedral beckons at a very civilised 11am.
The Adventures of Alison 