Day 9: Solva to St Justinian's

Weather: Brilliant sunshine with strong south wester

Distance covered today: 17,3km (10.7)

Last night's B&B: The Coach House

% Complete: Cumulative distance: 67.8%: 195.7km

GPS satellite track of today's route: Day 9 (click!)

Disaster averted!  It’s the long weekend and I have a pile of dirty laundry. The last, remaining laundrette in this part of Pembrokeshire is near St David’s. It’s 4:15, and I’m on the road, not realising how far out of town it is. I get there at 4:30, see a sign saying it closes today at 4:00 and won’t be open for the rest of the weekend. I find the woman who runs it just as she is about to go home. After some persuasion, she offers to wash for me, but not to dry, and for me that won’t do. I plead with her. No dice. I offer her extra money. That does the trick, but in a very strange way. She refuses to take the money, but agrees to do the drying anyway. British principle.

There is some sort of catch in the arrangement, because she still insists she is going, but she says that there’s a girl in the garage up the road who will complete the transaction. So, my job is to sit here and listen to the washing machine behind a locked door, while waiting to see what happens next. At least I can write my blog while history unfolds…..

In a way, I’ve earned this little inconvenience. I’ve had another superb day, in lovely weather.  It has probably been the easiest walk of the trip! I haven’t done the stats yet, but I’m fairly sure it was the shortest and flattest of the coast so far. The only disadvantage was that the hordes have arrived from the urban centres for the long weekend, so my quiet sojourn on the lonely coastal path became something of a procession. It was one of those greetingless days, when one would be lucky to get more than a “Hi!” out of a passer-by.  The older generation, who are the warp and weft of my previous normality have been augmented by a younger, adventure-seeking mob. They have arrived in their droves, carrying all sorts of gear.

The latest craze is “Coasteering”, presumably a play on mountaineering. This involves all sorts of activities along the rugged coastline, the most gentile of which is simple abseiling down and climbing up the coastal cliffs.  There is of course the usual snorkelling and scuba diving, but at the more extreme end comes leaping off the cliffs into the sea below.

I followed one group who did this, and watched them in action. I was impressed at the attention to detail, the safety gear, and the expert instructors.  For sheer adrenalin, it seems hard to beat. Cynically, I noted that all the practitioners were male and their audience was mostly female. It was hard to resist the thought that this is the just the latest form of breast-beating in the mating rituals of the advanced primates. Certainly, there was an element of one-upmanship in the choice of ever higher cliffs! But they are brave…. (I do hope our Anna isn’t reading this…..)

Back on the coastal path, I found it interesting that amongst the hordes of weekenders, certain groups are missing. There are of course the young lovers, happy and childless (for the time being anyway), struggling to walk along the narrow path arm-in-arm, or at least holding hands. Absent are the parents of young kids, for very obvious reasons. Absent also are the teenagers. What could be more boring than walking along a path? The older generation are very much in the majority.
 
Inevitably, there is also the use of inappropriate clothing, such as string sandals or high heels. It baffles me that people do not understand that this is not just uncomfortable, but on steep cliffs could be really dangerous. It was not a generous thought, but I felt that the occupants of the cliffs today were somewhat vacuous; they were clearly not there to gain deep insight. Sensation is all. Yet again, who am I to judge?
 
Eventually, my attention was drawn back to the sea. In the straight between the mainland and Ramsay Island, I observed the amazing phenomenon known as “The Bitches”. I would have thought this politically incorrect nomenclature would by now have been eradicated from popular usage, but there it is in the guidebooks and on the OS map.

It is indeed a strange and spectacular sight.  Apparently it is caused by a dramatic change in the height of the sea-bed and the funnelling effect of the narrow strait between the island and the mainland. For six hours on the flood tide, the water travels northwards at speeds of up to 8 knots, but in the reef, can reach speeds of up to 18 knots. Height differences each side of the reef can be as much as 1.5 metres. On the ebb tide, the process reverses itself, though less spectacularly.  There are standing waves in the sea and kayakers travel from all over to experience them. Ordinary snaps hardly do justice to the phenomenon.  Someone should stick a few turbines out there to harness such an enormous source of energy!

Meanwhile the dryer has completed its cycle, the girl from the garage has appeared to unlock the door and my washing is complete!  What an excellent day!

Veronica's cafe in Solva!

Back up on the clifs in the morning sunshine, looking down on a shining sea

Limestone again, and therefore lovely grassy paths

More atmospheric views into the morning sun

A shipwreck. That's the stern to the left and what could be the engine block on the right! I'm guessing!

Surf around the tilted sedimentary rocks of the coast

This lot were literally posing for a photo for Veronica

A strangely precise current differentiation in the sea; almost a straight line!

Caerfai Bay (pronounced Car-fy)

I couldn't help imagining my little Veronica, all spindly arms and legs, rushing out from a freezing sea and unable to find any warmth to stop the shivers

St Non's chapel. She was St. David's mum

???

Rocks tilted beyond the vertical

More lime kilns at Porth Clais

Fantastic parallel tilted sediments

Leaving glassy, flat surfaces

A curlew in the distance

And a flying human, heading seawards!

Ramsey Island comes into view above the gorse

Vast numbers of exhausted, super-annuated, human fauna resting beneath the cliffs

And a little troop of Welsh Greys welcoming me to their turf!

First sight of the incredible bitches!

An wonderful natural phenomenon

Quiet aquamarine beyond the point

The St Justinian's lifeboat, at the ready for bank holiday madness

Inappropriate footwear on the cliffs!