Every day so far the weather forecast has said to expect rain, and yet we have not really seen any at all. So we should probably not be surprised that with the forecast last night predicting a sunny day today, we woke up to a torrential downpour.
After yet another fried breakfast (we were both restrained today and stopped at scrambled eggs and bacon, without any sausages), we put on our waterproofs and headed out into the rain. We had to catch a bus down from Pembroke back to Castlemartin, which was our starting point for today, and after a brief failed search for a walking stick for James, we sheltered along with some walkers outside Somerfield in Pembroke until we got picked up by the the grumpiest bus driver in the world. He spent most of hid time shouting at foreigners and old men, so we avoided most of the abuse...although he did tell us off for sitting at the back of the bus laughing at him.
Dan spent the first half of the bus journey struggling to change into waterproofs...which had the desired effect that by the time we were dropped off at our destination of Castlemartin, the rain had stopped completely. After a brief stroll along country lanes, it was a relief to re-join the coast path proper at Freshwater West - a beautiful sandy beach that was made even better by the fact that we were there quite early in the morning and was totally deserted apart from us.
The next 6 miles or so from Freshwater West to Angle provided a welcome return to great cliff top views, but also some of the steepest ups and downs that we have encountered so far. However, whether it was due to the fact that our fitness levels are picking up or the excessive amount of energy pills that we were popping, we didn't struggle as much as we have done in previous days.
After stopping for sandwiches on a bridge at the bottom of a typically steep ravine, we climbed the cliff at the other side to see 'our support team' rounding a corner ahead. And this time it was an extended group - mum/Sheila, Ben and Cindie were joined by Craft family friends Lorna, Sunil and Kavi.
From this point onwards the terrain became less challenging, and we soon arrived at West Angle Beach, before rounding the Angle peninsula, and walking the final 4 miles to our final destination of Angle village. One place of note that we passed during this final stretch was Thorne Island, which looked very similar to Fort Boyard, and according to our guidebook was once the venue for the world hopscotch championships! Random...
Due to the weather, we again decided to ditch the tents and stayed for the night at The Old Point House - a small, cosy pub, which looked very welcoming, and definitely didn't disappoint! Sheila and Ben unfortunately had to leave earlier, but Sunil, Lorna and Kavi stayed and joined us for a drink, and then left to take a number of the heavier items from our bags onto Hazelbeach, which was our final destination for the next day. Given the 16 miles that we had ahead of us, this really was a godsend, and much appreciated - cheers guys!
After some good food, we got chatting to a number of very friendly locals over a few pints (to be honest, a few too many pints, which is why today's blog entry is a day late!), whilst doing our best to shut out the blah blah blah of some pompous officers-to-be from Sandhurst, who were visiting the local army base.
A big thank you to the physiotherapists who declined our request for a massage for our aching limbs, but did put £10 each into the sponsorship pot. Much appreciated!
Another act of huge kindness came the next morning when given that we were raising money for RNLI, pub landlord Rob refused any payment for the room that we had stayed in (or for the hearty breakfast that he had cooked us). A great gesture, and one that once again really was appreciated.
A good day's walking, and a great evening. We could get used to this! Tomorrow unfortunately brings our first encounter with the oil refinery in Pembroke however, so we shall see what that brings...
- Dan and James
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Location:Milford Haven,United Kingdom
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