The weather held last night and although we were all knackered I managed to stay awake until around 00:30 this morning, when it was as dark as it was going to get.
I set the Nikon up with a wide angle lens, mounted it to my tripod, connected my phone to it so I could remotely control it & set my phone screen to night-mode (all red monotone).
After about 15 minutes of being outside without light, my eyes adjusted and I could see the Milky Way overhead very clearly. The more my eyes adjusted, the more I saw.
I saw shooting stars/comets. I saw satellites trundle West to East, South to North, even the odd iridium flare or two (I think I managed to get a photo of that).
I did my best with the camera, but the photos aren’t the best and certainly don’t do it justice.
Even at 1am there was still sunset light. The double flash of an iridium flare from a satellite can be seen above the house roof in one photo.
The lens started to suffer from condensation build up so I called it a night, packed up & went to bed.
The morning started like yesterday – bright sunshine lighting up the inside of our cottage. We showered and had a quick breakfast (more vegan gravel, but crumpets for me), loaded the van and set our course south towards Tenby.
Tenby as pleasant as it is, is not somewhere we usually head when in Pembrokeshire. There are people in Tenby and we try to avoid those things in the main when down here.
This visit had purpose though and Tenby was not a destination, a mere portal to another world! Maybe a touch melodramatic. We headed for the ferry to Caldey Island.
The good weather meant that the Farmers were literally making hay while the sun shined, which meant lots of big farm machinery on the very small roads. A few close shaves later, we arrived in Tenby.
Pretty, busy, touristy, narrow! We struggled to find parking for a while and were frustrated by the satnav & traffic. Eventually we found somewhere and abandoned the Van.
A walk through Tenby and down to the harbour before buying our tickets and hopping on a little boat across the water. This was Toby’s first boat trip & he did very well. Suffice to say he is now officially a ‘Salty Sea Dog’.
Jane was last here about 50 years ago, and apparently little has changed. I’ve never been before, but it looked like nothing had changed.
The beach where you arrive was quiet and tropical! Beautiful white sand & turquoise sea!
Today’s walk was engineered to get to the southern coastline and see if we could spot any wildlife, but took in the other key points of interest:
- The puffin bench
- The toilets
- Cistercian monks & Caldey Abbey
- The lighthouse
- The cliffs
- The chocolate and fudge factory
We headed off and up to the Abbey. Very nice, if not a bit Colditz-lite.
We called in at the gift shop but Jane was disappointed to find that she couldn’t buy a Caldey Abbey branded teaspoon to add to her global collection of teaspoons.
We did however visit the post office on a more successful attempt. Jane bought some stamps to add to her global collection. Of stamps.
I then bought a postcard, paid for a second class stamp and sent it to our home address. If, if it ever arrives, it can be paired with the postcard Jane sent home half a century ago!
From there we visited the toilets. Well Jane did. I just loitered outside with a disarmingly charming dog. After which we continued uphill towards the old Chapel.
We ignored that for now, turned right and looped around the headland through fields until we got to the lighthouse.
Slightly disappointingly the walk was not cliff-edge and so it was a view out to sea. I love a good Puffin Hunt, but it seems that’s best done from water level.
The walk improved and we did start to see cliffs and more bird life.
First, we started to see the Fighter Command of the airborne division, the Swallows, spitfire’ing their way over the fields, acrobatically flipping, turning and finding their target with such dexterity. Marvellous!
We then turned into a cove and got to a cliff top viewing point. A belting view from which we spotted lots of different birds, but sadly no Puffins. We did see Razorbills perched up in the crevices though. More a Bristol Blenheim of a bird.
So we continued on to the next viewpoint. A really good view over the cliffs and a steep drop down to the sea. Perfect!
“Pass me the binoculars” said Jane. As I turned to reach the binocs, out of the corner of my eye I saw an inbound squadron of Heavy Bombers, the Herring Gulls, the AVRO Lancasters of the Bird World, they had a height advantage, a tailwind, and the sun behind them – a perfect approach.
Seconds later, Jane, Toby and I were absolutely covered in bird shit! We had just been Carpet-bombed! It was in Jane’s hair, on her face and hands, a massive dollop on her vest-top! They got Toby on the head and face with the worst just above his right eye. I was collateral damage, but still ended up wiping from my chin, hands, camera strap, hat and also got a decent blob down my teeshirt.
I’m sure I heard the Herring Gull shout ‘Tally Ho!’ and then laugh hysterically as they all turned for home!
To give an idea of quantity & stickiness, imagine if someone threw a couple of whisked eggs at you, with force.
We were almost defeated. But with a stiff upper lip that tasted of birdshit, we carried on.
The path took us inland and back to the old Chapel, next to which is the Chocolate and Fudge Factory. Inevitably, much was bought.
Time ticking on and keen not to leave it til the last boat at 5pm, we headed back to the ferry, managing to get on the 4:30pm and we headed back to the mainland.
We headed up the hill back towards the van, turned left only to coincidentally arrive at the HARBWR Tenby Harbour Brewery. “What luck” I said, hurriedly shutting down Google Maps.
What a find! Turns out we arrived via a backstreet, where a small bar and the shop were. I bought a beer for now, two beers to take home and a new teeshirt, one that wasn’t covered in birdshit.
We enquired about food and if it was dog friendly & we’re told to head up the stairs, hang a left and ask in the beer garden.
We did. It was brilliant! We got a table in the little courtyard in the sun, and ordered a shed-load of ‘small plates’, all of which were really nice! Highly recommend a visit if you get the chance!
After sating our appetite, we headed back to the van, where Jane could change her shirt and Toby had his tea, before setting off back to the cottage.
What a day! Brilliant apart from the shower of 🕊️💩!
Much love! x
Oh! About another 5 miles today, with 4.1 of them on Caldey. 🤪
