Heather, harebells, blackberries, butterflies and two dead sheep all made for an interesting walk along the edge of the Gower Peninsula. We were in search of the Worms Head, a big one, the one at the end of Rhossili Beach. To start the walk we needed to get down to Port Eynon Beach and then pick up the ‘Wales Coast Path’, but after finding the first sign, we then got a bit lost trying to find the next one, so we probably walked further than we needed to. But once we were up and over Port Eynon Point, we were on our way.
On a narrow stretch of footpath, we stumbled on a peacock butterfly, which I haven’t seen for decades. We tried to get a photo, but it quickly fluttered away before we could get the shot; such a shame as it was so beautiful. We meandered up and down, looking out over beautiful headlands and the shimmering sea and after three hours found a lovely spot for a picnic looking down on The Knave and Deborah’s Hole.
It was a long ramble and I was starting to get sore heels from my well used old trainers, but Rodney came to the rescue with something brilliant that we learnt in New Zealand. He rummaged around in the brambles and gathered a bundle of sheep’s wool which we shoved into my shoes, hey presto, it really helps! It was quite a warm day and thankfully it did stay cloudy while we were out and about, or I think we would have overheated. Four and a half hours in to the expedition, we finally reached Worms Head; it’s a beautiful stretch of coastline and definitely was worth the long walk.
It was 4pm by the time we reached the village of Rhossili and there was no way we were going to be walking back to the campsite, so first item on the agenda was to find a bus stop and timetable. Joy of joys, we discovered there was a bus going to Port Eynon in less than an hour’s time, so we wandered back to a café for a cream tea which we thoroughly enjoyed while looking down the length of Rhossili Beach, a beach which ‘Trip Advisor’ apparently voted as ‘Britain’s Best Beach’ and tenth in the World…! We have to agree, it is pretty impressive.
The lovely bus driver only charged us for a ride as far as Scurlage, but kindly took us past the village and dropped us as close as he could to the turning to our campsite. We were very grateful for the one and a half kilometres saved and it meant we only had about another kilometre to walk down to Eileen. After having plodded for about sixteen kilometres, my sore feet and creaky back could not have walked any further; in fact it was a big effort just to walk up to the bathrooms for a much needed shower.
English smoked bacon can’t be beaten, especially when placed on the same plate as fried eggs, tomatoes and potatoes. I love it when Rodney rustles up a cooked breakfast, although on Thursday it was more like brunch by the time we sat down to eat it. We spent most of the day looking through our photos, catching up on the news and then in the afternoon we dived in to the campsite swimming pool for a bit of exercise and a good body stretch in the nice warm water. The temperatures dropped quickly and by 4:30pm we needed to don our jumpers for a wander down through Horton Village to Port Eynon Bay. It was a lovely walk on the sand and in the sea, along to the far end of the beach.
In the village we read about the local smugglers and the WWII American soldiers training on the beach for the D Day Landings and then we staggered back up the hill and across the fields to Eileen. Only four kilometres walked that day, but it was enough to build up an appetite for a couple of drinks and dinner in the campsite pub.
