Force 8 winds gusting to Force 9 all morning with light rain and spray. Calmer in the afternoon - rain stopped but wind still strong.
Yesterday we met two youths walking the entire 870 miles of the Welsh Coast Path. They started in Chester ten days ago and are walking the Anglesey section in a clockwise direction, so we should meet them again in a few days time. They were heading for a hostel last night after camping for seven of the previous ten days. A good decision given the strength of the wind.
Shirley and Rich's 'full English' (shouldn't that be 'Welsh'!) was excellent and set us up well for the day.
The view from our room (top picture) didn't exactly entice us out, so despite breakfasting at 8am we didn't get going until after 9.30. There were several excuses - my load was lightened by sending a set of Scottish maps to Austria, and we enjoyed looking at Shirley and Rich's photobooks of a trip to the USA.
The rain wasn't as hard as expected, but the wind was stronger, quite violent at times. The coastal scenery was dramatic, with the spray from huge waves crashing high above the coastal cliffs, and through splendid rock arches.
Wes Johnson, at a Coast Watch station 5 km south of Trearddur, saw us coming from miles away. We chatted at length, but we didn't get invited to the warmth of the interior.
A little further on, past a couple of pristine white goats and a sheep with young lambs sheltering contentedly on the path behind an expanse of gorse bushes, the high tide at Borthwen inundated the beach to the extent that we had to find an alternative inland route. Earlier we had skipped across a section of beach just before a large wave deposited water a metre deep over the path.
Continuing past various inlets, with foam spraying everywhere, we eventually reached a point where the terrain forced us inland towards Four Mile Bridge, on the ancient stagecoach route to Holy Island, so named as it is four miles from Holyhead. Here we got our first taste of mud. Sue had to be very careful not to get wet feet in her trail shoes, Paul ripped his trousers trying to be clever with a barbed wire fence, and two year old Bertie Pointer and his welly clad servant joined us for a section where some boarding floated enticingly on six inches of flood water.
Amongst this minor mudfest we passed through the village of Four Mile Bridge, where the Y Gegin Fach café served us some great cheese toasties for lunch.
Little Egrets and Eider Ducks were two of the bird species seen here that will in due course be listed. Spring Squill, Bluebells and Thrift were also coming into flower.
The walk continued past frenetic jets at an RAF Base, eventually leading to a long section of firm beach and a footbridge leading to the small town of Rhosneigr. Ambleside B&B was duly located, tea and cake consumed (thanks Cathy) and ablutions completed.
Cathy suggested two restaurants no more than four doors away. Both were shut, as was much else in the town. However, a ten minute walk saw us at the Oyster Catcher restaurant, where we enjoyed a fine meal.
1 comment:
Sounds invigorating. That is one of the many walks on my "to-do-list."
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