Hello everyone,
We are now counting down the days until spring break! Though we have quite a bit of work due this week, that has not stopped us from squeezing in a bit of fun this past weekend. A bunch of us(Jackie, Kristie, Margaret, John, John Dow, and I) went hiking along the Pembrokeshire coastal path on the western coast of Wales just north of Swansea for those who know their Welsh geography. We set out on friday night, and no journey would be complete without a few travel mishaps. Ours happened to be a very late bus. Since we had a lot of connections, this did not bode well, but luckily, we made it to Haverfordwest basically on schedule. The only problem was the last bus from Haverfordwest to Fishguard, the town we were staying in, had already left.
I digress from the current story to tell you all something that I have come to realize about Wales: everyone is incredibly nice. I don't really know what it is, but people in Wales, especially in the countryside, are incredibly kindhearted and will go out of their way to help. This has happened to me on several occasions already, and it only continued this weekend, several times. Jackie had called our hostel earlier to tell the owner that we would be late, and he offered to come pick us up and drive us to the hostel! We could barely believe our luck, but sure enough, the hostel owner, Steve, came and picked us up and drove us the 20 minutes to Fishguard, which would have been an expensive cab ride. We arrived at the hostel with take out chinese food in tow, and were absolutely delighted to see that the hostel was practically a house that we had all to ourselves. It consisted of a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and three bedrooms, all for just the six of us. It was like we had rented a house. We pigged out on chinese food, went over our route for the next day, then played a rousing game of Cranium where Margaret demonstrated her ability to draw with her eyes closed, and no one could figure out that I was humming "I can't get no satisfaction."
The next day, we arose bright and early and set off on our 13 mile hike from Fishguard to Newport. The first part of the walk was easy and along paved road, with spectacular views. Soon the terrain got much more difficult, but the views remained beautiful. We passed by an old fort built outside of Fishguard to fight of pirates. This was just the first of many stories we would hear about the mysterious Pembrokeshire coast's rich history. The coastal path itself was truly beautiful. It took us very close to the sheer faces of the cliffs so that we could look over the edge at our own peril. The trail brought us down next to the water, then up very steep climbs to soaring views of the ocean. By the time we reached our lunch spot, we were tired already. We rested at a cute little cafe that seemed to have been built for tired hikers like us.
We set off again, climbing up a gradual slope to the highest point, Dinas Head, on the Dinas peninsula. We reached the highest point and had a beautiful view of the entire surrounding coast. It was truly awe inspiring, and we sat for awhile enjoying the ocean breeze before setting out on solo hikes. My solo hike was very lovely; I passed a couple with an adorable young puppy, and then got to talk to an elderly couple for ten minutes as I waited for the rest of the group. They were very friendly and told me all about the area, like the massive storm that wiped out an entire town, and a drug bust that occurred in Fishguard when smugglers bragged about hiding their wares in the caves around the town. When the rest of the group joined me, we continued on our walk and were delighted when we passed a field of horses. The horses were young and playful, and frolicked around following us as we walked. It gave us the energy for the last few miles when we finally trudged into Newport. We wandered around the town for a bit, then hopped on a bus back to Fishguard.
We all took turns taking hot showers, then went to the local pub that was apparently the site of the signing of the last treaty ending the British invasion way back in the day. We ate a ton and went to bed early, completely exhausted from a long but satisfying day of hiking.
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