Day twenty eight to thirty (2nd – 4th Sept) Walk Day 12 – Exploring the Lleyn peninsula in the car
Day 28 Day of rest
Overslept, so it was a real rush to get to the church for 9:30 (a 20 minute drive away!), and having only had one cup of coffee! Not helped by me thinking when I looked at my watch when I woke up it was 7:30 when it was in fact 8:30. The weather was extremely wet and most of the view was blotted out(!) and it stayed that way all day. Church turned out to be congregation led morning prayer from the ‘green book’. We thought about the importance of bringing peace and making peace. On the way back I harvested a paper and some croissants from the Spar in Nefyn and had some proper coffee and a very leisurely and very late breakfast.
As well as doing some craft, and catching up on Redrock on iplayer!, I did some strategic planning on what to do next, and looked at the public transport options for the next bit of the coast path. I am 4 days off the pace of the walk book (not surprising given my starting level of fitness!), and with other things meaning in the next 2 weeks I am going to lose some time to necessary other matters, I decided to do one more walk on the North Wales trail (which will complete that section) then switch to the other coast of the Lleyn. I will spend some time on Tuesday exploring the Lleyn in the car (so I don’t miss it completely). I have also found some arriva trains (and a couple of buses to help!) and I am staying only 8 miles away from Pwllheli, where I will pick up the trail then head towards the Meirionnydd and Ceredigion sections of the trail!
Day 29 Walk day 12 Y Felinheli to Dinas Dinlle
Phone stats: 32068 steps, 13.59 miles, walking time 4hr 53 minutes
Parked at Dinas Dinlle and got two buses back to Y Felinheli. It had been raining (and was distinctly chilly 11C) when I left the base camp, so I set off in my full waterproofs for the first time. The double bus thing, again, meant quite a late start (10:45). I posted my post cards in the touching point (a post box) and made good progress on the walk into Caernafon. It was nearly all on a combined cycleway/footpath, with glimpses of the menai straights and Anglesey through the trees. I saw the most scenically placed supermarket I have ever seen (Morrisons in Caernafon has an amazing view), and I had a nice coffee (and carrot cake) in a theatre coffee shop in Caernafon. Caernafon marked my completion of the North Wales Section of the coastal path (all 103 miles as Alison has walked!!)
From this point on the path was on a minor road through a huge nature reserve, with lots of wet land and interesting birds. The weather had perked up, the sun was out even it was not exactly tropically hot! As the road moved away from Caernafon there was a row of mountains unfolding (and the cloud lifted from the highest ones). The stretch of mountains was for about 180 degrees (and my pictures don’t do it justice). I realised I must be looking at Y Wydffa (Snowdon), which I confirmed later from the map and a helpful guide in Dinas Dinlle. The view was extremely uplifting – and spoke of our creator God, and the stories of Moses and the israelites, where the presence of God was a cloud over the mountain came to mind
To be honest glorious as it was, I had slight misjudged the length of this section. There was a then a long cut inland with a helpful bench with the most fabulous view of the mountains, where I had a snack and aroused the interest of the local cows. Then more in the nature reserve, and finally 3 sides of a rectangle, a long section on a dyke, then on a road passed a caravan park and Caernafon airport (very reminiscent of Redhill aerodrome!), and then finally the home straight down the sea front to where I had parked the car. The view down the sea front was amazing, mountains ahead and the sea doing it’s stuff, but to be honest it was a bit of a struggle – and I wasn’t surprised when I consulted my phone, that it was nearly 2 miles more than I had done before! Note to self be more careful when combining different sections!
I used the car as the touching point – so that will provide some continuity when I begin walking again on the south side of the LLeyn on Wednesday.
Day 30 Exploring the Lleyn Penisula
I did some car touring, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Lleyn peninsula on a bright but chilly day – This included Aberdaron with its pilgrim church (associated with RS Thomas) and a stroll on the beach, Abersoch (scene of some childhood memories with smelly sand!), and lunch near Porth Dinllaen, with my NT membership proving very useful. It was good to enjoy the beauty of this part of the world at a more leisurely pace.
The Adventures of Alison 