Get ready... it's a long one!
No real plan, just Little Blue, me, Chris and the road ahead. Another road trip, this time we set out to explore and discover the wonderous west coast of Wales...and what a coast it turned out to be. The weather was superb, the scenery stunning, the crystal clear ocean undeniably tempting, the sunsets...just incredible and the campsites wonderfully welcoming and very reasonably priced. We saw so much of this wonderful coastline stretching from The Mumbles in Swansea, up through the picturesque Gower Coast and on up into Pembrokeshire, spending an inordinate amount of time swimming in the crystal blue oceans to cool from the searing heat of the sun. Cold but refreshing! We joined The National Trust mainly for the free parking and have already saved 3 months parking fees against our monthly subscription of £6,40 pcm...oh and the refreshing drink of choice this trip was Pimms...by the jug! It truly was an amazing trip, one I'd do again in a heartbeat and highly recommend
Started out in Porthcawl, visiting an old friend, couldn't possibly cross the bridge and not pop in on Neets who lives in the cute village of Newton. If you've not been it's worth a visit, three pubs on the green, offering great food and a gorgeous beach.
Drove on up to the rather splendid Oxwich Bay for a magical night of camp fires on the beach, a refreshing dip and a relaxed walk along the two mile long stretch of white sand leading to Three Cliffs Bay.
On to Rhosilli, Rhosilli is such a perfect place to watch the setting sun and it didn't disappoint.
You can't go to Rhosilli and not walk the infamous Worrms Head. We saw the 'pick your own sunflower' fields too. It's a spectacular walk out into the sea over the 'worm' shaped headland. My advice would be check the tide times if you fancy walking over the causeway and don't take any chances. The tide rises fast along this coastline and it's easy to underestimate how long the walk will take. The first part of the walk is fairly easy but the causeway is incredibly rocky and uneven and can take time to navigate. Worms Head done and a relaxed walk over to one of my very favourite beaches, Llangennith, for a long swim in the clear sea followed by a rather large and deliciously refreshing jug of Pimms from Eddy's Restaurant/cafe on Hillend Campsite, perfect!
Next stop Amroth where you can walk along the beach to Wisemans Bridge and stop for refreshments at The Wisemans Bridge Inn, where incidentally, there is free parking all along the road...don't find much of that any more! Then from there, a cute maze of old mining tunnels lead to Saundersfoot Sands. If you choose, you can follow the coastal path further to reach two more beaches, Glen Beach and Monkstone Beach. We chose not to as the beaches were so incredibly crowded due to the sweltering weather. We had a sea swim at Saundersfoot followed by the most amazing bacon sandwich and coffee at The Sail, a cafe on the beach just at the back of The Old Chemist Inn. it's worth a visit, the food was delicious and the coffee, extra creamy...The cold pint in The Chemist Inn went down well too.
Stayed the night at Simply Camping, Amroth,which is exactly what it says it is...simple and cheap but with everything you need. Portaloos, lovely hot showers, peace and quiet and a sea view across the fields. Its set on what was an old dairy farm and you can get fresh milk in the morning down at the farmhouse and milkshakes too. Nick, the campsite owner, was more than welcoming which made it a really lovely stay with loads of recommendations, one being Cafe Mor, a fresh fish cafe. I would definitely stay here again. It's on Pitch Up if you fancy giving it a go.
Freshwater West...I't's just BEAUTIFUL.
Freshwater West next and what a beach. Right up there as one of my favourites. Indescribably beautiful where the sand stretches on and on and exploring the dunes is other worldly. LOVE this beach, the sea is shallow and safe and the parking is FREE. If you go nowhere else on this coastline, Freshwater West is an absolute MUST. Its been used as a film set more than once and it's easy to see why!
Decided to look for Cafe Mor and fill our empty bellys with food of the fishy kind and we were not disappointed. Cafe Mor operates out of an old fishing boat at The Old Point House in Angle Village. We walked down from the village and over the marshes (you can drive) and it was worth every step in the blazing sun and blistering heat. The crab roll, served with their own homemade seaweed ketchup, was the BEST i've ever tasted. This place is so quirky it's great, with a small shed/bar serving cold beverages in the grounds and a fabulous view across the estuary. A DEFINITE RECOMMENDATION FOR FRESH FISH LOVERS!
Newgale at sunset...stunning!
Headed on up to Newgale to stay at a site which is not a site. I only wish I could recommend it but sadly, it's not really open to the public, only friends of friends. It's such a shame because the views from the top field of the farm were probably some of the best i've ever encountered and we found ourselves mesmerised as we sat peacefully watching the ever changing colours of the sky in the setting sun. Don't despair though, there is a campsite which runs parallel to the beach at Newgale and has an onsite pub and small shop. The beach itself is pebbly but beautiful and is the perfect spot to watch the sunset.
From there we visited:
Solva, which is a pretty little harbour town with a small beach.
Martins Haven, surrounded by dune walks over the coastal path and where we went out on a boat trip to visit Skomer Island, known for its puffins, seals and birdlife. If you visit this tiny harbour, National Trust, keep your eyes open for Maximus, the resident male seal. You can't miss him, he's huge.
Marloes Sands, a stunning rocky beach with a National Trust car park and field parking on the cliff top and a lovely walk over the coastal path and down onto this gorgeous beach. Be aware though, the tide comes in rapidly here...lost a flip flop. Managed to rescue it from the sea...just as well considering I only had one pair with me. managed to rescue someones towel too so that was my good deed for the day
Broadhaven and Little Haven, long narrow pebble beaches at high tide and deep expanses of firm sand at low tide. Broadhaven is fairly touristy though, as far as West Wales goes.
The 'BLUE LAGOON' at sunset
Abereiddy Beach, famous for it's 'Blue Lagoon'. This place was just gorgeous, a short walk up the coastal path from the pebbly Abereiddy beach is the Blue Lagoon. It was an old slate quarry where the cliff was blasted when it was no longer in use to allow the quarry to fill (tidally) with sea water. It's popular but was not overcrowded and is not as the name suggests...blue...I'd describe the water colour as slate green but still stunning. There is an old building on the cliffside where people were cliff jumping, not for the fainthearted. nut looked like loads of fun. The lagoon is VERY deep and VERY cold but absolutely stunning and a real suntrap for the sun worshippers among us.
Moved on to visit St Davids and spent the day in the sea, swimming (so hot), on Whitesands Beach which was where I stood on a Weever Fish and Oh my word did it hurt. The pain was excrutiating and left my foot swollen, numb and temporarily paralysed. I'm not one to make a fuss but I was in so much pain I had to drag myself to the Lifeguard station where, Lifeguard Owen took a look and, thankfully, knew exactly what it was. Apparently, they bury themselves into the sand in the shallow water, (the Weever Fish, NOT the Lifeguards!) with their venomous spine pointing up and wait for tiny feet (which mine are) to step on them, injecting their nasty venom. I literally felt like I was being poisoned. REMEDY... foot in hot water, as hot as I could physically stand, to draw the venom out and repeat for as long as necessary, i.e until you can feel your foot again. Weever fish stings are still very rare but are on the up in the U.K due to the rise in sea temperature. So my advise is...wear water shoes, these tiny fish inflict pain and have left my foot still numb and sore...and that's after a fair few days! Needless to say, we left Whitesands (probably never to return) to take a drive along the coast road in search of a campsite. At this point I have to mention WILDFIRES! Why? two reasons:
Because people need to be aware of how easily they start in these unprecedented temperatures where the ground and crops are already parched and how quickly and uncontrollably they spread. We saw so many wildfires during or short stay and it was heartbreaking to see the farmers so distraught having lost their crops/livlihoods.
And if it had not been for a farm blaze of 20 barley fields (tragically, all lost), we would not have been diverted and consequently would not have found our final campsite.
Our final campsite, CAERHYS ECO CAMPING, Abereiddy, was an absolute gem of a site and for that reason, in my opinion, it deserves a BLOG ALL OF ITS OWN, which has now been uploaded so please take a look, it's a beaut of a site, and see what we got up to on the final leg of our journey.
YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS THIS ONE!
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