Solva to Ceibwr Bay

I woke up surprisingly early considering the previous day’s exertions and was soon cooking myself up some breakfast after a bowl of cereal. The guy, who I’m really ashamed to say that I’ve forgotten the name of, said I was free to use the stuff to make sandwiches too which was awesome.

Not everything was as dry as I would have liked, most notably my boots, but there wasn’t a lot I could do about that now. The walking was quite pleasant to start with and the rain had stopped for the time being. There was a fajr few people about as well. Some cheerier than others, is it that hard to say hello?

Going along opposite Ramsey Island was a particularly nice part of the day (see picture below) and Whitesands Bay was also enjoyable despite the lack of whiteness and sand. Post St David’s Head, the terrain got a lot more rugged suddenly. It made for more interesting walking, but I wasn’t in the most energetic of moods.

The path skirts the edge of the first hill, but there is soon considerable climbs to deal with, which tired me out slightly. The approach to Abereiddy was really demoralising as it looked so close, but the path wound in and out, up and down and seemingly never any nearer to the village.

From there on, the coast was very pretty, with little cove villages every now and then. I eventually made it to Trefin via a very steep road and headed to the Old School House Hostel. The owners, Chris and Sue, found the place on a driving tour of Britain and are lovely people. I got the Eco rate for arriving by foot and they also let me help myself to leftover food (frozen pizza) and gave me a free breakfast. Also had a chat with a nice guy called Petter, who was there with some student friends.

Woke up early again, apparently I am unable to sleep in now. Breakfast was pretty good despite me generally not being a big porridge fan. Unfortunately, Trefin doesn’t have a shop and I didn’t have food, but Sue gave me directions to a cafe I should hit around lunchtime. I was all geared up for wet weather, but it was sunny, so the waterproofs were gradually removed.

Abercastle was very scenic, despite the lack of a visible castle. Soon hit Aber Mawr where I needed to then take an inland diversion to find this cafe…

The Woollen Mill Cafe was part of a working wool mill, but was empty when I arrived despite having an open sign, I went into the shop to see if anyone was around to help me. Eventually, someone turned up and I ordered a slightly overpriced Cawl. £5 for what can only be described as a mugful. Didn’t even get service with a smile. I also bought some expensive biscuits. These were a little too nice and were gone in no time.

The way back to the coast was through a little wood where the nearby house owner had made lots of creatures out of wood and debris along the path. (see below)

The walking was then pretty hard but gave some great views. Three miles from Strumble Head the rain started and it did not stop. Suddenly it was very muddy and slippery and my trousers were soaked. It turned into a knackering and demoralising afternoon. Soaking wet, all up and down and feet sliding all over the place with every step.

I finally hit Goodwick around 5 and the rain was now rentless. I nipped to a mini supermarket for cheer up snacks and was given a wide berth by all the dry non-muddy people. It was then along the roads to Fishguard and Hamilton Backpackers Hostel. The owner, Steve, was again really helpful and a really cool bloke. I got some dry clothes on and warmed up, was able to use the tumble drier there for my wet stuff. A huge polish guy offered me a whisky so chatted to him and Steve for a bit before heading to the chippy for my tea.

My dorm mates, three Dutch men, all snored and between them were able to keep up one long constant snore. Despite the alternating snores that I dubbed the see-snore, I did sleep ok. Breakfast was cereal and again free, and I was also not alllowed to pay. I would reccomend staying there even if I had payed the usual price, same goes for the Old School House in Trefin.

The day started quite bleakly again, but did brighten up a bit. Was treated to more climbs and dips before reaching Dinas Island, which as far as I could see not an island. Yet. The peak was awesome and the views either side were great, although it was very windy up there.

On to Newport, which did not look very far but the path wound around quite a lot and it was stupidly slippery with mud. I was cursing the idiocy of it aloud quite often. All it needs is a bit of drainage. Progress was slow anyway, but made it in the end and went in search of a shop for supplies.

This unfortunately did add a bit of distance to the route though. About two miles on from Newport there is a sign warning that the next stretch of path is remote and rugged, so that was grat when I was already behind time. In the end it was remote, but no harder than previous stretches had been. The path was slightly ridiculous at points though and would go downhill on a headland just to come immediately back up to be about 10m away. I have no shame in admitting to jumping a few fences to avoid the depression of pointless path routes at times.

I got to Ceibwr Bay around 5pm and called for a taxi into Cardigan. My parents were coming up for the weekend and they were going to meet me at a b&b there in the evening. The rain started as i waited so I had a nice half hour sitting in that. I settled into my room with a pasty, welshcakes and tv and waited for the arrival of mum and dad.

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