Saturday, 31st May Taffs Well to Saundersfoot

Robyn writes: Today, as usual for Saturday, was moving day so we were up around 7 to pack and organise ourselves before bidding a fond farewell to Rob, our landlord. The family's Newfoundland dog (well, not much more than a puppy - she's only 18 months old!), Beryl, was padding around. She is the BIGGEST dog we've ever seen - Newfoundlands are basically like black St Bernards, in that they were bred to be rescue dogs in extremely cold conditions. Beryl is a huge and exhuberant puppy - I'd hate to make her mad though!

That's not a bear, that's a dog named Beryl!

We left around quarter to 10, and were soon on the road towards the Gower Peninsula - an area we really wanted to see but hadn't had the chance during the week. Being able to go along the motorway (M4) made this really quick and easy - we love the motorways! We headed for Swansea and the Mumbles area at the top of the bay Swansea was in. It was a lovely seaside area (not a sand beach - might be better described as "billy boulder" beach!) and we found a park, then walked to the pier at the end. We stopped at "Verdi's" to have Welsh cakes and tea then walked right to end of the jetty where the lifesaving building was. It was very hazy and overcast but no rain, and a pleasant 16 degrees, so a nice little break. It was a shame we couldn't really see Swansea across the bay, though.

 Morning tea at The Mumbles, looking back towards Swansea

Then we headed further south to Rhossili Bay, at the end of the Gower. Unfortunately this was nowhere near as quick as it was along several 'B' roads - winding lanes not much bigger than a footpath where you meet campervans hurtling towards you...the usual sort of thing! Anyway, due to Lex's skilful driving we reached Rhossili in one piece. This is a stunning area with the biggest sand beach we've seen in the UK, amazing cliffs and a huge stone outcrop at the water's edge known as the "Worm's Head". There is a stone causeway across to the Worm, and you can only cross at low tide - many people have drowned being caught when the tide comes back in, or have been stranded on the 'head' overnight waiting for it to go back down! We didn't have time to cross, of course, but walked right to the edge of the cliffs to see it. By this stage it was starting to clear quite a bit and warming up to an incredible 25 degrees. I was wishing I'd worn something cooler!

 Rhossili Bay - I'm sure that this house overlooking the bay was the inspiration for "Oxmoon" in Susan Howatch's novel "Wheel of Fortune"

 Overlooking the bay - stunning scenery and beaches

 The "Worm's Head"

 The slipway across to the Worm's Head

 I've wanted to visit the Worm's Head for years, as it's featured in Susan Howatch's novel "Wheel of Fortune" as the site of two murders in the book. It all seemed quite reasonable reading the book, but having visited it, I'd have to say if an enemy of mine was suggesting we meet up for a friendly chat on the Worm, I'd run a mile!

We spent a few hours at Rhossili but really had to leave to get on the way to Pembrokeshire. I would really, really love to go back and cross right over the slipway to the Worm, but looking at this week's weather forecast, I don't know if we will get there - wet weather would be not enjoyable and possibly dangerous on those rocks. Anyway, we had a nice lunch at the Worm's Head Hotel (Welsh Rarebit, salad and an amazing chutney which we think comprised beetroot, red onion and raspberries!) and set off again. We retraced our path almost back to Swansea then headed up to the M4 and had nice major roads again almost all of the way here, and we arrived at 4pm.

"Suedois", our apartment this week, is a mile from the seaside village of Saundersfoot. It's a self-contained unit built at the front of a family house, so we have our own lay-by to park in out the front and our own front door - the family go around to the back of the house! Drew and Nicky, our hosts, are really nice, and Nicky even put on a load of washing for us as last week's flat didn't have a washing machine and we thought we'd have to find a laundromat. It's now all hung out and as it's only now starting to get dark (9.44 pm) I'm hoping it will dry tomorrow before it rains again! The layout of the unit is unusual - it's basically a bedsit but has a mezzanine level above the bed with a sofa and the TV is up there! Quite spacious really.

 Saundersfoot Harbour in the afternoon sun

We went down to Saundersfoot to get some groceries - we just had to follow the street we're on which leads us straight there along another narrow, winding country lane (what else?!) We had a bit of a walk around the harbour area - lovely in the afternoon sunshine. Then we came back to cook tea and unpack as much as we can (living out of ports is a bit difficult, so we try to unpack on the first day) and get ourselves organised. Tomorrow is supposed to be another nice day so hopefully we'll get to see some more spectacular Welsh coastal scenery!