From Tenby, or should I say Dinbych-y-Pysgod, we headed west through Skrinkle Haven (what a great name) to Manorbier where we pulled up on a hill above the beach. Parked directly in front of us was a small van and to add a bit of sparkle to my day, a man hopped out, stripped naked (nice butt) and then donned a wetsuit. He then grabbed his surfboard and trotted down to the picturesque beach, where there didn’t really seem much surf worth the effort. We followed him down to the beach and it really is a gorgeous place with Manorbier Castle tucked in the sand dunes; definitely a lovely place to sit on the sand, or just to sit around on a surfboard and wait for a wave. We didn’t sit or surf, but walked to the far end and then on to the path up over ‘The Priest’s Nose’ headland and round to the next bay.
We retraced our footsteps back to Eileen sitting in the maes parcio (car park) and drove round to Stackpole Quay. We noted The Boathouse selling cream teas, but set off down the Grisiau Steps and picked up the Wales Coastal Path heading south. This has to be one of the most beautiful walks we have done.
The silver and blue sea shimmered in the sunshine, all the way out to the horizon. The coastline is dotted with caves, stacks, islands and sandy coves; I felt jealous of the seagulls being able to see so much more of the scenery than we could, but what we could see was wonderful. Being unable to fly, we wandered along on foot to Barafundle Bay
Barafundle is often voted as one of the World’s most beautiful beaches and I had to agree, and the fact that it is a long walk to it, makes the remoteness of the beach seem even more special. I wished the weather was warmer and we could have spent a day there with swimmers, towels and a good book in hand. Never mind. We continued on the path around the edge of Stackpole Point, past Ramming Hole and Saddle Point, finally arriving at yet another beautiful beach, Broadhaven Beach.
We sat for a while enjoying the view over the beach, the Twyni Dunes and Church Rock, then walked inland to the Lily Ponds, along the river and over Eight Arch Bridge, across the fields and back to The Boathouse for the much deserved cream tea.
From Stackpole, we drove across to the west side of the peninsula and marvelled at the wide spread of beach at Freshwater West. With so many gorgeous beaches in this area, we wondered how busy they are on a summers day when it’s not quite as chilly.
Next job was to check out a campsite for the night and Newton Farm said it had showers and electricity and at only £8 for the night for the two of us and Eileen, we checked in, picked a spot with views across the fields to the sea, and then drove down to Angle (not sure if it’s 90 degrees, or 180 degrees…). This was to be our last beach of the day, a very different one with big rocks breaking up the wide stretches of sand and as we drove back to Newton Farm we could see across the bay to the oil and gas terminals of Milford Haven, not such a stunning site after all the scenic places we had seen today, but probably quite pretty at night with all the lights on.
On Tuesday morning we only had one fifty cent piece, so either one of us had to go without a shower, or we could hop in together. We chose the second option, as there didn’t seem to be anyone else around at the campsite. Suitably refreshed and clean, we packed up and left Angle (with a 90° turn to the right) and drove up through Penfro (Pembroke), across the toll bridge at Neyland and on to Hwlffordd (Haverfordwest). We were still in Pembrokeshire (which Rodney doesn’t think sounds very Welsh), but we were definitely now in the piggies snout of Britain. We stopped in Haverfordwest to try and replace ‘stuff’ that we had lost or broken (successful on two of three items) and then we headed for Tyddewi (St David’s), Britain’s smallest city.
It’s good being out on the open road, watching the passing Welsh scenery; huge clouds hanging in the blue sky and the sea a beautiful turquoise. But having driven right across the south of Wales, reading all the bi-lingual signs along the way, we’ve decided we’re never going to master the language. We would hoffi (like) to theithio (travel) cy flym (fast) or araf (slowly) to the siopau (shops) near the llan (church) in the mawr ffridd (big wood) to buy some wyau (eggs) and gwin (wine), but perhaps nad heddiw (not today)….. Half the words seem unpronounceable, but I always like a cwtch (hug). Thank goodness everything is also written in English, because we’re really mishandling the Welsh!
We arrived at the Caerfai Bay campsite just one minute ahead of another couple in a campervan. The receptionist was on the phone taking a booking and it sounded like we may have just missed the last spot. Fortunately, she did have one more spot with electricity available for three nights, it’s in the farthest field, but we’re tucked in to a corner and yet again have fabulous views of the ocean and all the islands dotted off the coastline.
Published 10 September 2013