Day 12: Tenby and Points North

Tenby was quite the treat. A pretty coastal town set up on a point with sparkling water on two sides and a walled old town snug against the harbour. Big lorries were parked everywhere dismantling the remnants of the previous day's triathlon, so finding a parking place was a challenge but when the opportunity for one arose I must say I tucked us in with just 2 turns of the wheel.  I was quite chuffed about that.

We wandered town amongst all the hobbling "2014 Finisher" t-shirts, enjoying the shops on the High Street and a 15th C. Tudor merchant's house. We sat a moment on the bluff in the warm sunshine overlooking the beach and said to each other, if we don't make a move now, we might be happy to sit here all day!  Tenby was well worth the 40 minutes (each way) detour to our plans.

It was already past 1pm by the time we'd retraced our path back past our B&B so a couple of sights were trimmed from the menu.  We were driving north towards Cardigan and the sky was turning grey and my copilot was resting her eyes so I decided to make a quick detour to Cilgerran Castle to liven things up a bit.

Fortified by ice cream Sheila gamely ventured forth to explore. What you see above is pretty much all there was, besides some bits of outer wall but what was special about the place is that they've built little wooden bridges across the wide open space in each round tower where the wooden floors had long ago rotted away, so one could 'walk' across the castle as they did eons ago. That was cool. For me. Mum had my arm in a death grip as her fear of heights was in full effect but luckily it wasn't her strawberry ice-cream covered hand, so I gently led her down to safety. Can't lose her now! I've still got another week of sightseeing to go!

The need for tea was declared so we drove on up all the way to New Quay for my long-awaited Cream Tea. I'd been hankering for one for 2 weeks now and stymied each time. The grey skies and cold breeze didn't endear New Quay to us, it seemed a typical seaside tourist town with tshirt shops and quick cafés. We lucked into a delightful boaty-themed tea shop with a loquacious old owner who's wife had baked every single delicious cake/tart/scones/bars in there. It rivaled the finest bakery anywhere. Needless to say, I had my scone w/ clotted cream and jam and was in heaven.

Off to the Swallows, our quiet B&B located on a horse farm. They tried really hard to think of every detail but it was just a touch lacking in follow-thru. However, it had a little kitchenette, a good heater and the bed was soft and warm so we were happy.

Day 11: Change of Plans

                           (Solva)

Nothing drastic but my carefully laid plans went a bit awry today. In spite of all my months of planning and researching, I never came across the fact that Wales's annual Ironman Triathlon would be running today, and basically the whole southern bit of the peninsula would be impacted if not closed to traffic. Darn, a juggling of my plans were in order. 'Twas still doable but it meant longer drives and backtracking on Monday, and not being able to hit exactly every site on my list, but I can adapt. I think. :-)

So we went west first, to cute little Lower Solva. Pretty much a long narrow inlet with dozens of anchored sailboats swinging in the breeze and a half street of upscale touristy shops and galleries. The Coastal Path went right through Solva, but we satisfied ourselves with wee walk up to the headland for the wonderful views.

Continuing west we ended at St. David's,  Britain's smallest city. We knew this was only because it had a cathedral, a town cannot become a 'city' until it has a cathedral. What we did not realize, however, was how spectacular this cathedral was. 13th C. building, 1530's wooden ceiling - so intricately carved, so detailed, so airy. Service has just ended when we entered so we stopped a female warden(?) to ask a few questions about the rooms beyond where we could see the congregation gathering for refreshments. She was friendly and answered with warmth our queries, and told us to go get our share of wine & crisps. When we explained we hadn't attended the service, she jokingly said "sorry, you had to endure before you could indulge!". It turned out the rooms beyond were more chapels, and we were to just 'push ourselves through' the crowd.

Needing to stretch our legs we followed our guide book's suggested 4-mile walking tour out along the headland for an invigorating stroll along the Pembrokeshire coastline. The sun was warm, the breeze cool, and the views unending!

We sauntered back to town for a refreshing pint, as we're now wont to do, then leisurely drove home to our B&B and called it a day.

Day 10: On Our Way Again

Our walking holiday ended with one final cooked welsh breakfast and a fond farewell to our newly made friends. Time to start Allison's Whip-Thru-Wales driving tour! Our HF friends were quite amazed/dumbfounded when I ran them through our planned itinerary and I found myself repeatedly saying: "as we're likely to be by this area just the once, we'd like to see as much as we can."  They just shook their heads as if to say "those Canadians". Ah well, this is the way Mum and I travel.

Saturday we ticked off one of the 10 Great Drives in Wales by conquering the twisty, winding, blind-curved Black Mountain Road on the way south from Brecon. I'm not sure who had a more difficult time of it, the driver or her passenger!  We were spat out into a yet another single track farm lane that ultimately led us to Carreg Cennan castle. Mostly ruined, it did have a long scary tunnel running ever deeper underground; we went as far as our iPhone flashlight apps and slippery runners would allow before admitting defeat and returned to the sunlight.

Next was the beautifully landscaped Aberglasney Gardens. Known for its 9 gardens since the 1400's it was only fully restored in the early 2000's. So pretty, we decided to forgo the National Botanical Gardens of Wales and continue on to the next on our list.

Laugharne, a picturesque coastal town that's famous for being the home of Dylan Thomas, where he wrote "Under Milkwood" from his little writing shack set right over the sea. The walk to his house along the estuary was very pretty, the town...well, crowded with parked cars was our impression. Time to find our B&B!

(Shed made up as if Thomas just walked away)

Martyn, our host, met us in the drive and ushered us into his relaxing guest lounge, brought us some well-received tea, shortbread and welsh cakes, and we collapsed with our books in bliss for the evening.

Day 9: Last Hike With HF

Our last full day at HF Holidays! We stuck to our routine and hiked separately: me with the Hard group, Sheila with the Medium. Both hikes were very similar, 10.5m/2200', and 9m/2110'. Mine perhaps had some stiffer climbs versus more gentler slopes, and it was certainly colder. Our warm sunny days had changed to mostly overcast with a terribly cold biting wind along the exposed ridge line we traversed. I had on every spare layer I had, gloves on hands and runny nose hankerchief tied up around my ears! The Brits laughed at my thin blood but jeez, it WAS cold!!

Mom suffered significantly less on her hike, especially as they managed to stop in at a pub for a pint along the way!

Our leader had reduced the mileage of our hike by 2 miles as we had already done the first bit on a previous day so it finally gave us Hardies a chance to have a meander around town (today: Crickhowell) and a good sit in a pub after the hike instead of throwing one back quickly before the bus arrived. I was able to treat my leader to a beer and we swapped some sailing stories whilst sitting out in the sunny garden waiting for Mom's group to appear.

As it was the last night, the leaders offered country dancing as the evening's entertainment, interspersed with short offerings by the guests (poems, skits, stories, etc.). I pleaded...well, non-interest, but Sheila apparently kicked up her heels for a few jigs and sat painfully through a few performances before sneaking out the side door. Good for her, though, for representing the remaining Canucks! 

Day 8: So Little Time...

Another day of hiking completed but so little time to blog. By the time we've had a hot bath after hiking and a wee adult beverage it's time for dinner, then the night's entertainment, then it's bedtime!

Thursday I stuck with the Hard group for a 13.5m/1800' walk named Ridges and Valleys and that's exactly what we saw. We climbed gently up to open grassy meadows, across a long ridge, down and up along a forest track, and finally several miles thru lovely leafy ancient mossy-covered oak and mixed tree forest, both above and then alongside a creek bed with tumbling waterfalls. Glorious.

     (my Hard group having afternoon tea)

Mom also stuck with her Mediums and her favorite hike leader. Her hike was simply the "Waterfalls", 8m/700'.

(They could enter the cave in behind the waterfall via a slippery stone path)

     (A welcome cold one after a Hard day!)

Day 7: Ah...A Day Off

Hiking 3 days in a row is hard work! Today was changeover day / day off. For those who booked in for just 4 nights, it was time for them to go (2/3rds actually, including all the other Canadians); for those of us staying 7 nights, it was a free day. We still had breakfast starting at 7:45am and we were able to pack our regular bagged lunch, but there were no planned activities other than 4 o'clock tea, if we so wished (yes, please!).

A couple of years ago I had purchased a driving tour guidebook of Great Britain, which has proven invaluable. It is pretty much the only printed guide I used to plan our trip, and I cut out the corresponding sections relevant to this holiday. We had completed half of the suggested itinerary on our way to Wales, so the other half was our plan for today.

Hay-on-Wye was our first stop. It's famous for its literary festival and for its incredible number of antique book shops. We had a pleasant stroll through several and we decided we could easily live in Britain purely for the sheer volume of excellent books!

The next suggested activity was a "scenic drive" which turned out to be the single track 10 mile Gospel Pass road, the Antique Roadshow one we walked across Tuesday. The drive was wonderful, scenic, and rather tight quarters (as seen in opening photo) but fun to drive. 

We stopped at Llanthony Priory, which I didn't bother to take any notes on the history of, but it was beautiful in its contrast with the blue of the sky and green green grass and was very manageable its scope. Enough to awe, not enough to bore.

On to Dore Abbey, in Abbey Dore, of course. A ruined 12th C. abbey reconstituted as a 17th. C. church. It was very approachable in that it was well signposted and decorative objects that normally were re-set back up against the ceiling, like bosses, were on display so one could really see the detail of these great carvings. Bits and pieces of ruined abbey architectural details were piled on the floor, inviting closer scrutiny. There was still painted plaster in evidence and figures still evident on the walls. Pretty neat.

Our final church was St. Mary's & St. David's in Kilpeck. A wee little Norman Saxon church, it's about 1000 years old and has a wonderfully carved entry door, a simple interior with some excellent stone carvings, and 85 unique corbels decorating the outside of the church.

It was a very relaxing day driving the countryside, having a break from the hiking and the busyness of the house - yet we were pleased to get back in time for Afternoon Tea on the terrace!