And when they were up they were up, and when they were down they were down

Day forty nine to fifty one (23-25 Sept) Walk Day 22 and 23

Day 49 Day of rest

Another leisurely Sunday! I went to church in Penbryn, and what was billed as an 11:15 communion, turned out to be a baptism (with a puppet). The fact it was a baptism was obvious as soon as I reached the car park! There were two great bits of scripture read, but very little attempt to explain them. The high point was singing Calon Lan in welsh. I am no welsh speaker (and I am sure I sounded like the policeman in ‘allo ‘allo!) but this is a spiritual experience to sing and I find the ideas behind the words challenging but inspiring. Here’s a link to Katharine Jenkins singing it with the translation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EadntTQ0AkA

I went on to a very scenic lunch in a beach hut café in Aberporth, which was served on entirely recyclable containers including wood utensils (similar to lolly sticks). I then retreated to base camp for a session of knitting and watching the new Star Trek series.

Day 50 Aberaeron to New Quay Sept 24^th Walk Day 22

Phone stats: 14500 steps, 7.3 miles, walking time 3hr 1 minute

It was cool but the sunshine was very welcome. I drove to Aberaeron, and was soon on the trail after touching the touching point I established on Saturday morning. The route rose gently out of the town, and in the distance views of the hills and wide expanse of the coastline (and the path I have travelled opened out!). It was distant but by the end of the day I was pretty sure I could see Yr Wydffa, and the outline of the Llein peninsula and Bardsey, opening out the trail I have travelled. Looking forward, New Quay was in view for most of the day, which was encouraging too.

The route got steeper and rose up and down a number of times. It was also quite warm, and my efforts to dress appropriately were not entirely successful (and I ended up carrying a lot of kit!). I had a coffee stop shortly after a very scenic holiday village, and then the route went down virtually to beach level, where a stream cut through a section of zigzag strata. It was then a bit of a struggle back up and then a more gentle climb, before winding down to Llanina and past the inevitable static caravan park. Eventually I reached the beach, and had my lunch sitting on a rock watching the waves (which were very Robinson Crusoe-esq).

The final mile or so around the beach was a delight and I was much reminded of a previous visit to New Quay with Jane and Jasper (a cavalier king Charles dog). We had a short break near Aberaeron on October 2007. It was a significant time in Jane’s first round of cancer treatment, and I distinctly remembered taking the elderly Jasper on to the beach down a slope, and a café with a terrace (both still there). Jane loved this part of Wales, and it is good remembering her and our times together.

I struggled up the hill to connect with the bus back to Aberaeron, using a curry house as the touching post (as that was near to where the coast path will go tomorrow). I waited in the sun for about 20 minutes and then the bus came. It is always very satisfying to see the journey back!

When I got back to the base camp – there was a cow in the garden!

Day 50 New Quay to Llangrannog Sept 25^th Walk Day 24

Phone stats: 26146 steps, 11.04 miles, walking time 4hr 20 minutes

The cow was still in the garden when I left for the day. I drove to the free car park in Llangrannog, and walked down to the bus stop.

Today I was using the Cardi Bach Bus for the first time (which runs twice a day to connect the remote places between Aberteifi and New Quay and to help walkers!) This turned out to be quite a stomach churning experience, as the driver took the bus down some lanes I would have thought twice about driving down… I am not the best bus traveller.

I was back in New Quay by 10:30, and touching the curry house and heading off uphill. The initial ascent was pretty near the edge and up higher than previously! But then the next mile or so out to the coast guard station was reasonably ok. And then….. Up and down precipitous cliff walking. Stunning, scary and exhilarating. Due to the tricky conditions, it took nearly 3 hours to get the 3.5 miles to get to Cwmtydu, with seals and a couple of seal pups on route too. I could see the dolphin watching boats but didn’t see any dolphins myself (I was concentrating on my footing)

There were options on what to do next, and the next bit of the cliff path had a serious health warning, so I took a delightful alternative route inland, clinging to the high edge of a tree filled valley. This first involved climbing out of Cwmtydu, on one of the roads the bus had used earlier! I had lunch at the start of the tree filled valley section. The path finding was a bit challenging, but ordnance survey map app was really helpful along side the Ceridigion council footprint signs. I was conscious that I was also a bit of a spent force (and had already done 9 and a half miles), at the point the inland route was due to rejoin the coast path, I took an ‘unauthorised’ road route back to Llangrannog, which also ended near where the car was parked.