St Justinians to Strumble Head

With Andy at the end of student marking and the need for more outdoors stuff we agreed the period of 18th July to 22 July 2011 to "get out there".  The loose plan was for two days of backpacking and two days of open boating.

The forecast for the Monday was dire and we sat tight, planning our forays onto the Pembrokeshire Coastal path and canoeing on the Cleddau Estuary.

We set off on Tuesday on our agreed plan to drive to Strumble Head and catch buses to St David's and on to St Justinian's and then  walk back.  The cost of the buses was reasonable (free for me as a person of a certain age living in Wales).

St Justinians

At St Justinians there were lots of tourists about with two boats already full for the trips to Ramsay and the surrounding area.  In my younger days we used to kayak out to Ramsay for the even younger guns to play on the whitewater caused by the rocks known as "The Bitches".

We started walking about 1315 and stopped about 15 minutes later for lunch taking in the beautiful scenery.  We soon walked past the hills of Carn Llidi, Carnedd Llethr, Carn Perfedd and Carn Penberry.  From a distance these hills look quite big, but in reality they are not.  Although we did not climb them, they are worth exploring as the views over Ramsey and the coast are fabulous.

Abereiddy

At Abereiddy we watched the brave souls jumping from the disused quarry buildings into the "Blue Lagoon"  I was able to regale Andy with my brave attempts of this pastime, although I recall it was more like Tom and Jerry than a skillful leap.

Blue Lagoon

It was now time to look for a camp spot before reaching Porhgain, which we did on a nice flat space away from the path.  I had my new backpacking tent for its first outing - a Go-Lite Shangri La 1- which was easy to pitch and it withstood some strong winds and a burst of rain.

Camp spot and new toy

We slept well and were away the next day by about 0830.  Unfortunately we arrived at Porthgain before 0930 when the Sloop Inn commenced breakfasts, still we had already eaten our usual breakfast of muesli and coffee.

View on way to Porthgain

Porthgain

On our journey north we met a few fellow walkers who walked on the Monday and the weather was as forecast and they got soaked.

We passed near to Trefin with a refreshment break at Abercastle and lunch on the beach at Abermawr.  From here the coastal path becomes a little wilder and a few more ups and downs.  The lighthouse at Strumble Head could be seen but it was still a long way to go.

Near Trefin

Natural Arch

Abercastle

Almost French

View on way to Abermawr

Abermawr

Stunning rock and steep climb!

Near Pwll Deri

Irish Ferry heading to Wales

For those who use Youth Hostels you need to put the one at Pwll Deri on your list as this has a magnificent situation, right on the coast  with expansive views looking south down the coast.  It cannot be far now to our car?  This last bit hugs the coast and seems to take forever to reach Strumble Head, but I think this was tiredness talking.

Another great two days. I am not sure about longer trips but perhaps with lesser mileage the old body would survive.  Anyway tomorrow we start two days open boat canoeing with the boat carrying our kit and no need to be thinking about "light weight", we can even carry some beer!

Guess who has seen the "light"