Pwllgwaelod

The PW____ beach we can’t pronounce

Sunday… super sore muscles and another down-ish day at a beach. This beach is literally down down the end of the narrow road our house is on. The road ends at a small cove with a popular pub and a free car park. (That pub does a brisk business on a Sunday afternoon.)

Taking down the lunch and chairs provided with the house we settled in for the day. Great people watching, lovely view… lots of easy strolls up and down the beach as the tide went out. We stayed until we were the last people on the beach watching another beautiful sunset, interrupted only by a dreadlocked camper coming to take a bathe in the ocean under cover of darkness.

Since we have to leave our Wales abode at 4am on Tuesday morning to catch the flight to Dublin it is likely that Monday will be packing and cleaning… no big adventures.

A "Down Day"

Nevern/ Cilgerran Castle

Library to use @#$%#@**$  internet…. Check. Pharmacy to get more magic gel. Check.  Find suitable tape for for iPhone. Check.  Yes, tape for my iPhone. (don’t panic Aspen) 

The knee was indeed sore after our day at Marloes and a non trek agenda seemed in order. What to do.. what to do? Having tried several ways of making a video of my nearly daily gauntlet drive through Fishguard (without success), I thought it might be brilliant to tape my iPhone to the visor and make a video that way. Two pounds (as in British Sterling) worth of medical tape and a gauntlet drive later… I have a cracking video of the harrowing drive from upper Fishguard to Lower Fishguard and back up again. 

Cracking? Yes.. I just used that word. Too much UK tellie?  I’m finding myself saying all sorts of words here I rarely use in real life. The word lovely has popped out so many times when talking to locals it practically feels like a hiccup. Lovely? I don’t speak like that…. unless I’m keenly aware of my brash American accent and blunt phrasing apparently.  

Tah. Cheers. Dahling. Luv. Grand. All used to soften the linguistic edges here.  (along with some soft phrasing and distinct uptalk)

Kind Welsh Lady-“Are you enjoying your holiday” 

Holiday Me “Yes it’s been lovely”  (regular life me would have said “ Oh yeah”.. It’s great” )

But back to the “non trek” day…… 

Drive to Nevern (pronounced like LaVern but with an N)  to see a truly charming church (but most of them are). This one is particularly popular because it contains a 13th century church, and 11th century celtic stone cross and an inscribed ogham stone from the time of the Roman empire. 

Then on to Cilgerran (in spite of more strange directions from Betsy) where the castle ruins are supposed to be one of the most lovely situated in all of Wales. (So say 19th century poet and artists)  Down to the last of our UK cash and not wanting to get much more since we leave in two days, Roberta pays for me to go into the castle while she waits at the gate. (luckily they let her use the WC even though it is technically inside the paying boundaries)

The castle must have indeed been a site when viewed by boat from the river below, but that is not where the National Trust has any access. Close up and personal it wasn’t much as Welsh castles go, but it did have some interior stair structures I hadn’t sen before and was happy to have for reference. The down side of all this is that very thing.. stair structures. Up up the stairs in the turrets (no railing no rope) and then worst of all down down the turrets. 

Each step is made like a dramatic cheese wedge triangle…super narrow at  one end and just deep enough for your foot at the other. (height of each step changes so as to maximize tripping opportunities)  The spiral stack of cheese wedges always seems to have the narrow end on the left as you descend the stairs. Murder on my bad left knee.. and possibly deadly. 

Sweating in hot flash fear, and pain to beat the band,on my last decent I stopped in a window frame on the second level down to cool off and think through my options. It was the end of the day and I was literally the last one in the property. My knee was really hurting. Why did go up that last time? Would someone come looking for me if I wasn’t out at 5pm proper?  Loathing the thought of being found sweating in a cold castle turret by the bored British Youth that had taken our 3.50L , I promptly got on my butt and slid myself out of the turret. So much for the non-trek day… my knee actually hurts worse now than after the long trek at Marloes.

(Note that the national trust is particularly worried about people doing the high jump over railings)

A girl from London was lost down our very very narrow street the other morning. She knocked and asked us directions (which was hilarious.) I offered her use of our Garmin, Betsy, to which she replied. “oh I’ve got a tom tom already. I live in London and there this thing is priceless. In Wales it’s bloody useless”  

Amen to that sister. Betsy continues her dramatic choices and unknown final destinations which differ from that plugged in. Adds to the adventure?  I’m glad I finally have my left side of the road driving legs nearly underneath me. It has taken longer than in the past and made things a bit more stressful than I would have liked… but the gauntlet that was Fishguard is now manageable so I have high hopes for the rest of the journey. 

Deer Park and Marloes

Our time in Wales is actually winding down… it has flown and yet not. One last coastal region we really want to see and it is ONLY 26 miles away. This means it will take at least an hour to get there… really.  And it did. 

Also knew this would be a real challenge for my knee day, as it would require quite a bit of walking. What a glorious day it was and I don’t mind the pain I’m in today. The pictures don’t even come close to doing the place justice. 

We walked around a “small” headland called Deer Park.. and then about a mile up the coastal path. The drove to another access point for a beach called Marloes Sands. Another mile walk down to that beach and it was getting late in the day.  We stayed as long as we felt was prudent given the drive home (an hour remember) then reluctantly headed back up the hedgerow path to the car park. At the car park we were blinded by the most intense sunset sun I’ve seen in some time. The pics are not an exaggeration. Check out the “orange” queen annes lace skeleton. Turned orange by that sunset. 

Apply magic gel to very sore knee and drive home. Betsy the contrarian satnav (as they call GPS here) has once again chosen a destination of her own.. but I’m getting savvy to her ways and discover her trick before we are looping on the M4 again. 

No lobster tonight… but the smell lingers. 

Fish market? Fishmonger? Fish?

Fishmarket who?

Misty day equals try the internet day. It was time for a slightly slower day anyway. Off to the Fishguard library again. The ladies on the second floor know us well. It takes several dozen attempts to actually get online… and don’t get me started with the nerve wracking contest between my laptop battery life and the time it takes to upload pictures for the blog. It was a close shave this day. As a result our plans to visit a woolen mill seemed thin on time. 

We thought there would be fish markets abounding here on the Pembrokeshire coast… we would just stumble across them, buy cheap fish for dinner and lay about after rolling in the glow of mass amounts of butter and lemon. Nope. 

In Fishguard… FISHguard…one of the largest towns on the west Pembrokeshire coast, and a major port… there is no fishmonger. (except for on Thursdays at the public market… and the guy was out of town for the two weeks we were here!)  In fact, according to Fiona the local librarian, fish it not easy to come by in Fishguard, except for on those market Thursdays. She called her friend Jill in Newport who sometimes sold fish at the end of the week to see if she had anything. In the process of this conversation the other librarian mentioned that there was crab and lobster at Porthgain.. but no fish. 

What? Stop. The. Bus.. .forget about the fish…hang up on Jill in Newport. Crab and Lobster in Porthgain? Fiona may have tread marks on her as we flew out of the library on an evening quest for crab and or lobster. Porthgain is not far in miles (as is everything here) but again… it takes a bit to get there due to the Welsh roads combined with my driving skills. 

After a quick stop to take a picture of the actual port and many attempts to get cell reception on our UK phone we managed to get a call into the house with the big crab and lobster sign. A nice lady named Sylvia met us down in here garage that was filled with a giant sea water tank and recuirc system with lobster and crab. Off we set with two live lobsters and a single crab. 

Lobsters are large… they need a large pot. They also need some sort of tool for breaking into their giant claws. I won’t describe the scene that ensued at length… lets just say a very posh food was devoured in a not very posh way… and the wooden rolling pin at 1 Tower Hill will never be the same. 

YUM!!  Worth every whack. 

About the Coast

Apologies for the lump of photos... not much in my control here at the Fishguard Library... and I'm down to 13% battery!  Use your imagination with the pictures. 


Week 2:

Celecta is fortunate to have escaped the crazy that is R and C in Wales. The morning we drove her (Celecta) to the airport we had to leave in the dark to get there in time. We looked the route up the night before on Betsy and it “seemed” like a good option. The next morning though, Betsy had changed her mind (something we are discovering she does a lot). After a snippy pre-dawn and sleep deprived exchange about directions… I choose to follow Betsy.  Celecta must have been so grateful to get to that airport because the drive that ensued was harrowing indeed. 

Have I mentioned the 15 feet hedgerows that are on either side of the road? Have I mentioned roads so narrow one car can barely get through? Oh yes… have I mentioned hairpin turns on steep grades of up to 22%?  Well… we experienced all these “regular” Welsh road conditions in the dark…. as well as some of the most dense fog I have experienced while driving.  It was not a pleasant morning. Sorry Celecta. 

We were sad to see her go though, as her civilizing effect is quickly wearing off. (off of me anyway)

Betsy has continued her random road choices. In our attempts to see St Fagan’s, (the Williamsburg of Wales as I call it) Betsy tried to take us in a never ending figure 8 loop on and off the M4. We gave up looking and headed back to the safety of the narrow hedgerows. 

Do they HAVE over the counter rub on ibuprofen in the US? A question for Jason I think. Anyway, if they did I never knew about it and it has been a godsend here. I had hoped to walk several stretches of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, but the peg leg knee issue has forced different approaches. With my new rub on gel ibuprofen I have made great strides in the knee area. Not completely healed sort of strides.. but the “I can walk without excruciating pain in every step” sort of strides… All thanks to the magic gel. (and a few days of relative rest) SO… attempts at coasteering have been made. (coasteering is a name they are trying to get to catch on here.. not sure how I feel about it)

In spite of the vast amount of coastline here, much of it is inaccessible to the public unless you are in a position to walk vast distances. (and as you know I am not) So we have been attempting to access as many points as we can by car and walks that are within my ability. The access points with parking are actually very few, and hidden like the proverbial haystack dwelling needle. So far we have managed 4 or 5 points and put in some respectable walks… for a pegleg. 

Abermawr, Abereiddy and the Blue Lagoon, White Sands, Strumble Head. Abermawr is a beautiful little beach made of totally smooth rocks. Accessed, as all things in Wales, down a steep switchback one lane road with parking on the verge, it was worth the effort. We walked about 1/2 mile on the Pembrokeshire coastal path from Abermawr to ? and then spent most of the afternoon poking around the rocks at the beach. Other than the “front bottom” view of a local swimmer who blithely changed his clothes on the beach, it was a lovely afternoon. 

The “Blue Lagoon” at Abereiddy is much touted in various readings about the region, and is also the source of the coasteering term. The lagoon is actually the results of a long defunct quarry which is now used as a team building 

Our longest “walk” so far was also in the worst weather. Seems appropriate. White Sands beach on St. Davids Head was our beginning point. (the books never seem to mention whether parking is free or not… it was not here) The goal was yet another carreg, and according to the one source we had it was only 1.4 miles to the carreg. I beg to differ. 

It probably seemed so much farther because of several factors; the general slow pace of the peg leg, the steepness of the path, the multitude of photos taken, the number of desperate pee breaks R needed, the bracing pace of the wind, the steepness of the drop off next to portions of the path, and eventually the pelting of the rain. 

We made it to the carreg.. but only in a desperate state where I bothered to take only 3 pictures. (it was super cold and spitting rain) R didn’t even come all the way up. The views on the path were stunning though and in spite of the massive amounts of magic gel I used up it was worth it. 

Strumble Head was a bit last minute. It was supposed to be raining and we had planned a “down..aka.. internet” day. It was chilly but sunny so we headed out. More narrow steep roads.. always the hedgerows, but this time with lovely snippets of blue sky and bright ocean in the distance. It’s a popular destination with a lighthouse and deep blue waters. We started on a bit of the coast trail but after about 1/2 mile had to turn back as we encountered a long steep stair stepped section. I can go up fairly well, but the down is a knee killer. Didn’t want to get back into really bad knee territory so we turned back. 

We ended up spending the evening at Pentre If an  (which spellcheck won’t leave alone). We took chairs and settled in and I tried to do some drawing on my iPad… (that was a sad event). It was chilly,  but a lovely gamble that paid off with ever changing light and a gorgeous sunset.

If it weren’t for the two hour time it takes to use the internet at the local library I would post more pictures and perhaps be a bit more verbose.