The welsh coast path – here we go again!

I haven’t done this for a while! And now I am back on the trail of the Welsh Coast path, picking up where I left off in September 2018 on my sabbatical adventure walk. As I was travelling here I am conscious that quite a lot has changed since then. I have moved and changed role, but more seismically the world has shifted on its axis in the wake of the global pandemic. Wales comes into focus with greater attention to precautions still in place. Sometimes it is hard to compute all that life was and the things we didn’t think about back in the heady days of 2018!!

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Sept 4^th. A brief stop at Gwbert to get back in touch with my last touching point in the 2018 trail. The wall on the way to the Gwbert Hotel complex, where the coast path turns up the road towards Mwnt. On my final day I walked back from here to Aberporth! It was a glorious, sunny day and a pretty strenuous walk as I remember it! I walk back to the view point where the car is parked and establish my next touching point by the entrance! (can’t have been even a mile!).

I drove on to establish base camp for the next couple of weeks, which is just beyond Newport in Pembrokeshire. It is a comfortable holiday let, with good facilities and fantastic views (particularly from upstairs across to Dinas head across overgrown fields with horses).

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Sept 5^th. A there and back again walk as the buses don’t run on a Sunday! I parked the car in Cardigan, and establish the touching point to go on from tomorrow and then walked back to the Gwbert view point. Fine views of the estuary of the river Teifi abounded and varied landscape included a couple of fields of maize (very North by North West). There was one field of bullocks that were sheltering in a shady spot. I asked them politely to stay there and they obliged. I should perhaps learn how to say that in Welsh too! Wildlife of the day was butterflies and I saw at least 7 different species.

It was warm and sunny from time to time (and by the time I was heading back a bit too warm and more sunny). There was about a mile each way on the pavement by the road but the views help keep the motivation up! I have my first outside coffee at the Gwbert view point and watch people coming and going!

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On the way back, I spotted some impressive chain saw sculptures in the garden of a house, made all the more realistic by the sound of chain sawing going on in the garage (and large bits of wood awaiting attention!) I found a slightly different route back which wound down into Cardigan above the car park (and avoided the field of bullocks I had walked through on the way out!).

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I am having some difficulty with my step counting apps, the long used Samsung app is now under counting regularly and said I had only walked just over 2 miles all day! The new step count app – says as coast path steps (the outbound leg was 8,000 steps covering 5.6km 3 ½ miles  – my overall step count for the day 19,000 covering 13.3km 8.3 miles including a trip around Tesco’s and general mooching!). I had also seen a sign saying Gwbert was 3 ½ miles at the start – so I am hoping the new step count app is about right!)

It was very good to start, I am slightly apprehensive about the terrain and my fitness, but it was very good to be beginning once again. Tomorrow I need to acquire a rover bus ticket, and will take my first ride of the week on a bus (maybe even the Poppit Rocket). This will take me into Pembrokeshire as the other side of the Teifi estuary beckons. One more step along the world I go!

Running total 4 miles