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After posting last nights blog (early for me), it happened to be the ‘Golden Hour’ photographically-speaking where the natural light is infused with red and gold tones.

I’m very rusty on the Nikon DSLR so I thought I’d have a little wander down the lane to the field full of cows and get my eye in. A couple of OK photos later and I called it a night, heading back to our lovely little cottage.

The fresh air, the pizza and the beer combined to mean it wasn’t long before we all retired to bed, hoping for better weather for the following day.

And we got it by the Tato Newi bag-full!

Waking late to sunshine reflecting off the white walls and around the curtains was a joy.

We had already planned what we wanted to do today, so it was a quick breakfast, with Jane back on the Vegan Gravel with yoghurt, whilst I ate the leftover pizza from last night.

Before setting off, I finally remembered to put suncream on my bald bonce, after cremating it for the previous two days, and loaded more into my “walking bumbag” for later top-ups.

Van loaded, we set off and spent the next hour traversing Pembrokeshire via single lane roads with the high hedge sides all the way down to the National Trust carpark at Marloes Mere.

We set off and worked our way around the pathways down to Marloes Sands, where we were greeted by a wonderfully enthusiastic doggo that was desperate to play with Toby.

After a bit of beachcombing we then headed up the steep climb back onto the cliff top and followed the coastal path along the edge, overlooking some incredible views and a sea that was turquoise where it wasn’t crystal clear.

The views are spectacular, and it’s hard to capture how amazing they are. We turned into another headland and looked over the bay. Four Seals watched on as we curved around the cliff top near Watery Bay (honestly, that’s what it’s called).

Round the corner to bay after bay – Victoria Bay, Little Castle Bay, then on to Deadman’s Bay where we reached roughly half way on the walk.

Just before we entered Deer Park, we both sat, had a breather, a protein bar, a bag of crisps and a drink. I finished first and saw that behind us there were not one but 6 Choughs.

Red-billed choughs (pronounced “chuff”) are considered a rare bird in the UK with a population of just 394 breeding pairs apparently. We’d seen at least 10 in the last couple of days, so not sure on how current that statistic is!

We carried on around the headland and in to Oh Deer Park, name tweaked by me because it’s covered in cowshit and there are no Deer. There is an Iron Age fort though. And just along and above Wooltack Bay is the sharp climb to the NCI Lookout post.

The northern coastline isn’t a patch on the southern side in my humble, but it’s still a gorgeous place to walk. From the peak at the Lookout we then dropped all the way down to Martin’s Haven, past Lockley Lodge Visitor Centre to the jetty where the ferry leaves if you fancy a boat trip to Skomer.

Then a sharp right and up an almightily steep set of steps back up to the Cliff Top and West Hook. We headed along the coastline before turning inland crossing two large farmers fields, the first full of Pembrokeshire Tato Newi (fab salad potatoes or serve with butter).

We had done about 5 miles by this point and it had been getting steadily warmer during the day. Although we kept stopping and making sure Toby had plenty to drink, he saw his arse and had a sit down protest, throwing himself into the shady undergrowth along the hedge.

We did the parent thing and just walked off. We were a good 60/70 yards further on before he started to get the message.

Once we got on the road it wasn’t long before we made it back the the Van where we all rehydrated & had a rest. It’s great being able to pull chilled cans of coke/water out of the van fridge.

Another 6.3 miles walk by a fat bloke with Grade 4 osteoarthritis in both knees and most likely hips based on their soreness. Well happy with that, having walked the best part of 20 miles over the last few days!

Once sorted we drove back towards Dale then hung a left and cut through to where we holidayed in 2022, passing the cottage we rented before parking up in Little Haven.

We had an hour to kill before our pre-booked table in the Castle, so it gave us the opportunity to visit a fabulous little Take away Cafe and Shop just across the road.

We visited Lobster and Môr on our last day of 2022, and had their hand caught lobster in a roll for our “going home” dinner. We’ve decided to do similar and have bought a lobster and a crab sandwich as our lunch tomorrow. I nipped them back to the van and put them in the fridge. Handy that van.

Still time to kill so we sat in the beer garden at the St Brides Inn and I supped a bottle of the Nons Nepa ale, from yesterday’s Brewery.

At last it was time for tea! We headed in to our table at the Castle and very quickly decided what we were having!

We shared a starter of Lobster Arancini, before Jane had yet another Dressed Crab Salad, and I had the Fish Pie. All with a side of Parmesan truffle chips.

Food and service were all great and it didn’t take us long to devour it all. We had definitely built up an appetite!

Back in the van and a weary drive home, where we are now. All flaked out on respective sofas, chairs and dog beds!

Hoping that it stays clear tonight and I can have a play with the camera on the tripod & see what stars come out to play!

Can’t stay up too late though as we have a trek tomorrow and an adventure on the high seas planned!

Laters Taters!

Well that was a big walk yesterday! If we add a bit of unrecorded ‘playing on beaches’, we walked about 9 miles, a lot of which were of Pembrokeshire National Trust “up and down” coastline. For someone with no knees, wearing sandals (no socks), it was a biggie!

We’re both feeling it a little today (sore hips) so decided to ‘take the day off’ and just potter locally. Toby was also supportive of this decision as he’s fed up of long drives.

After getting up slowly and showering lazily, I made us brunch – grilled sausages and bacon made up into butties with brown sauce. The fresh fruit juice helped cut through the grease but also made it feel healthier.

Today’s weather at the start of the day seemed also to be supportive of a potter, insomuch as it was very overcast & muggy. The rain was forecast to ease towards the back end of the day, but by 1pm it was lashing down. Not a lot of incentive to leave the conservatory!

By 2pm rain stopped play! Toby wouldn’t even play with fluffy pig or squeaky pig, it was that bad! It had gotten worse, with visibility dropping significantly.

Only one thing to do! Fall asleep in the chair for an hour and snore. I copied Toby and did the same.

So when I woke, I had an idea and I knew Jane would like the surprise! I hassled and hustled Jane & Toby into the van and we set off 10 minutes down the road!

The look on Jane’s face, as I turned left into The Old Farmhouse Brewery & Taproom near St. David’s suggested that my idea was misguided. Jane & Toby decided to stay in the van, and wait for the rain to move through. It was certainly getting a bit brighter.

I went in and was welcomed by Mark, the owner, building restorer, farmer and Brewer. What a really nice fella! We talked through his journey & I chipped in with what little I know about commercial brewing.

After a lengthy chat, a tour of the brewery setup and an open invite up to Manchester, I bought the taster pack of 6 beers but unfortunately the Sugarkelp-infused Lager was out of stock. “The Shed” in Porthgain had taken all his stock.

We bid our farewell & headed the 5 minutes in to the smallest City, St David’s. We parked up, stalled a bit so we could get the 2h parking ticket, and gave Toby his tea.

Once done we wandered in to Town where Jane ticked off a habitual visit to “Window On Wales” gift shop, and then down and then around the Cathedral.

Don’t take offence St. David’s but as much as the outside of the Cathedral, its setting and the ruins around are impressive, a quick glance inside was somewhat underwhelming. Not sure what I expected but my comment in a virtual guest book would be “needs more stained glass & pimping up inside”.

We began wandering back up to the “City Centre” and to our meal booking for this evening. Table for two plus dog at ‘Grain’, a courtyard restaurant serving pizza and craft beer from the BlueStone Brewery.

The service, food and beer were fabulous! After a starter of Manchego cheese, honey and pickles, I had the Ultracomida (Italian tomatoes, mozzarella, fior di latte mozzarella, serrano ham, chorizo, piquillo peppers, portobello mushrooms, manchego) and Jane went for the very controversial Hawaii (Italian tomatoes, mozzarella, serrano ham, fresh pineapple, oregano).

A pizza box was required, and I suspect I’ll be having ham & pineapple for my breakfast tomorrow.

As we left, Toby flounced in to one of the outside booths to get a drink of water. We apologised to the family for the intrusion and headed around the back of the booth to leave. Just as the young girl put her hand down between the tarp cover and the bench to stoke Toby, he stopped and had a wee. Thankfully he didn’t warm her hand.

We then headed up towards the Tourist Info Cente only for us all to get another dose of PTSD from the “St David’s 2022 Incident” (see link for horrifying details – NSFW).

We thought we may get recognised. We headed back to the van, our nerve had gone.

We decided that as the sun had now come out, we would head down to Porthgain and find out more about whether The Shed was dog-friendly and if so, was there any availability for our last night on Friday.

Jane waited with Toby outside and I went in to enquire. My delight as they confirmed that the covered area outside is dog friendly and during the day even the ground floor area is as well was a bonus! Then another bonus – they had a table for us on Friday at 6pm! I think the lady that took the booking said that other than name, email, telephone all I needed to secure the booking was to purchase their fridge stock of the Kelp-infused Lager from The Old Farmhouse Brewery & Taproom. What a coincidence! The only beer I’d been unable to buy at the Brewery. I agreed and cleared out their stock from the thankfully small fridge.

I went outside and told Jane the good news! I also mentioned it was dog friendly and we had a table for 2 plus dog on Friday at 6pm!

We headed home & as I write this up, Toby is asleep, Jane is crocheting & I’m supping ale, writing a blog and taking & editing photos for said blog!

Oh, the weather is now lovely this evening!

Catch you tomorrow folks!

We just settled in last night, unpacked the van and got stuff put away in the cottage.

It’s a really nice layout in a dinky little footprint. You enter through the middle of 3 doors (2 are now windows – this was once 3 separate spaces) and into a hallway that opens out westwards to an open plan living room with kitchen.

Out from there is the nice, big conservatory with comfy chairs, that when the clouds and mizzle clear will give a nice view over the white plastic-covered silage bales to the sea. Hey, Farmers gotta farm, right?!

At the eastern end is a big double bedroom with a large ‘Jack and Jill’ 2-door bathroom with walk in shower. 

A steep & narrow staircase leads to an open loft space that has two single beds and a tiny room on the eastern end for storage.

Charlie Bigham Lasagna & garlic bread for tea (aren’t we posh!), accompanied over the course of the evening by 3 of the beers from Magic Dragon & Snowdon Brewing – ‘Green One’ (Citra session IPA), ‘Dolphin’ (NZ hopped IPA) & Snowdons ‘IPA’. All very nice beers. As a homebrewer though, I think I and most from our brewclub have brewed beers of at least as good a level. Humble brag for Chiv Tap Brew Club members!

I was knackered after the drive, just like Toby, and given the rain was coming in, I went to bed leaving Jane to her crotchet. Another wonderful creation in the making, this time using a 3km long ‘mega whirl’ cake of colour-changing yarn!

Having woken up at around 6:30am, I had a wander into the conservatory to check out the view. The rain was proper rain and the clouds weren’t much higher than our hilltop abode. So, back to bed it was!

Oh! I’ve brought my camera bag. Another hobby that I would like more time to improve. Two Nikon Digital SLRs, lenses, filters, tripods and straps and a GoPro. The sunset pic was my first DSLR photo for over a year. Hopefully, I get to use it more this week. Yes, phone cameras have improved, but sometimes there’s no comparison.

Hoping we get some clear skies at night because if so I’ll be trying to capture the Milky Way. While not a designated Dark Sky Reserve or Park, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is known for its dark skies, “offering excellent opportunities for stargazing”, according to Google AI!

Eventually we got up. I made some coffee and given it was still raining but forecast to clear, we decided to have a brunchy breakfast. Grilled sausage, Bury Black pudding slices, bacon with scrambled eggs and Heinz beans (to be served onto the plate – not in a bloody ramekin!). Missing a good mushroom & tomato, but otherwise decent if I say so myself.

Showered, changed (I’ve only brought shorts, so was hoping it was a warm wind), & van loaded, we set off to suss out Porthgain before deciding where to start our coastal walk.

Due to people who can’t park properly, on arrival no spaces were available so we buggered off to Abereiddy to pay £5 for the privilege of parking on beach stones. Grifters gotta grift, right?

A mooch on the beach and a run and ball chase for Toby, whilst I split slates in the hope of finding a record-breaking fossil. Sadly I just got dirty hands.

We set of on our 4.5mile circular walk from the Traeth at Abereiddy and along the cliff tops to Porthgain, before an inland route back to the van.

First stop was the Blue Lagoon, a place where Jane and our friend Ian nearly lost their lives as kids, cramping up in the freezing cold water as they tried to swim across it.

Testament to their bravery/stupidity, there are still berks that go there, only to launch themselves off the very high building ruins into the flooded quarry, now opened up to the sea as a safe harbour.

Back around and onto the cliff top path and many little coves and beaches, most inaccessible or empty of people.

Along the cliff tops we saw so much wildlife from butterflies & ladybirds up to oystercatchers and fulmers. No chuffs today though, but we live in hope.

Eventually we got to the old mines and then, passing the white cairns that helped ships find their way into the harbour, we headed down the steep steps to Porthgain harbour.

From here we sussed out The Shed, renowned for its seafood and then the Sloop Inn where it was only polite to rehydrate with a pint of West Wales Golden Ale.

Up the hill and then hang a right and we headed inland on a path back to Abereiddy. It tunes out to be a belting circular walk of around 4.5 miles and I’m pleased to report no real issues with body parts (ankles, Achilles, knees and hips). So fingers crossed.

I do however have to report that as I write this I look like Jerry The Berry due to my sunburn!

We arrived back to the van, loaded up Toby & thanked the young gent who had relieved us of our £5, before heading home.

A quick freshen up, Toby had his tea and we then spent the rest of the evening with our friends down in Puncheston. No detail required or offered, but suffice to say we had a lovely time with lovely people!

Catch you tomorrow for some fancy food ‘Down South’!