Cycling The Coast to Coast (C2C) - Self-Supported Way

17-21 September 2017

Once I've tasted cycle touring on my first ever overnight trip in August I decided to do a slightly longer self-supported tour and 'Coast to Coast (C2C) or rather 'Sea to Sea' route became an obvious choice. There are several different C2Cs but I went for what I think is one of the classic ones i.e. one that starts in Whitehaven and ends in Tynemouth. Cycle touring can be conducted in many different ways but I would go for self-supported type i.e. I would carry all the stuff like a tent and other camping equipment with me.

I would use the same (unsuitable) cheap Giant Escape M1 hybrid bike as last time but I would reduce the weight of some of the kit. Aluminium cooking set from GoOutdoors gets replaced with single Alpkit 650ml titanium pot. Vango gas stove gets replaced with tiny Alpkit Kraku. Two-person Vango Mirage 200 gives way to Terra Nova Southern Cross 1. Based on my exhausting overnighter in Peak District I assumed that I would need more than standard three days so I booked a week off.

This time I would have to think about logistics as I would have to drive to the starting point, park the car and then come back to the car by train. What I ended up doing was to drive to Whitehaven from Barnsley on Saturday 17th September, stay in Summergrove Halls overnight and then set off on Sunday morning. As long as you stay at least one night at Summergrove Halls they allow you to park the car for the duration of the trip. I would come back a few days later by Newcastle-Whitehaven train.

On the way to Whitehaven, I popped into Keswick and bought a few pieces of clothing made out of merino wool so that I wouldn't smell too bad on a train after cycling in the same set of clothes for a few days.

Summergrove Halls appeared pretty much empty. I honestly felt as if I was the only person staying there even though there were a few cars at the car park. Well, maybe they simply belonged to other people doing C2C?

Since I arrived in Whitehaven relatively early I decided to cycle to the official start of C2C route from the hotel on the same evening. This could be treated like cheating as on Sunday I would be setting off directly from the hotel but does it really make any difference? If anything I added 5km to my mini-adventure as this is the distance between the hotel and the metal sculpture on the seaport slipway. I managed to dip my hand in the water but I would advise against it as the slipway is very, very slippery.

It was already dark when I was coming back to the hotel and my cheap basic front light from Decathlon wasn't bright enough. Another item got added to the list of improvements required.

There is a shared kitchen in the hotel so I prepared a meal and wandered around the place only to reinforce my conviction that I was the only guest.

I got up early on Sunday and around 8 am I was already packed and ready to set off and enjoy crisp autumn air.

For navigation, I was using my Samsung smartphone with Viewranger app. C2C is quite clearly signposted but I found a few places on the way where my sat nav app became useful.

Alongside the planned route I marked a few campsite locations and the first one was just to the west of Keswick. I would only have to cycle 50km to get there but at a time of planning, I didn't know if I would be able to cover more than this.

Surprisingly crossing Lake District isn't as demanding as it might seem. The only challenge between Whitehaven and Keswick is Whinlatter Pass which requires you to climb 230m in 3.3km. Still, as I'm a poor climber I ended up getting off my bike and pushing it during steeper sections.

Despite this to my surprise, I reached the campsite around noon and decided it's way too early to stop and carried on. Well, I had a meal first in The Chalet restaurant in Portinscale Village just before Keswick. Being convinced that bigger meal means more strength I actually ordered two meals which only resulted in feeling too heavy later on. The lesson is that if you have an opportunity to get food go for it but do not overdo it. Shortly after that I came across Kat's Kitchen of Keswick vegetarian restaurant and made a mental note to visit it sometime in the future.

It was strangely pleasant and liberating to cycle through the centre of Keswick where I was shopping just a day before. Emerging out of Keswick I cycled past Castlerigg Stone Circle which was one of the first locations I visited in the Lake District a good few years back. Again I already felt some sense of accomplishment just because I was travelling on a bicycle rather than by car this time. The weather was still good, dry and sunny. For quite some time I could admire Blencathra on the left. With my pace being slow it was hard to believe I would ever leave this impressive mountain behind me.

At this point, my focus switched to reaching Bank House Farm campsite located in the village called Little Salkeld about 10km after passing Penrith.

I ended up covering 88km on that day which I didn't think I was able to do. My bum was sore from an unsuitable saddle, my bike was making creaking noises I was unable to identify but my adventure was happening.

I was the only person staying at the campsite. When you google C2C you are immediately given the impression it's a very popular route but certainly not at the end of September. I had a few freeze-dried meals with me and one of them became useful as there was no shop nearby and I failed to buy anything in Penrith.

I was to sleep under Terra Nova Southern Cross 1 for the first time. The tent seemed to be solidly made and kept me dry during the night but some things started annoying me even after this first night in it. One of them was lack of space. Of course, I knew it was one man tent when I was buying it but I wasn't able to sit down in it without touching side walls with my head or shoulders. Nevertheless, the tent kept me dry and warm during a wet and chilly night.

I knew that on Monday I would be climbing to Hartside Pass which would be harder than Whinlatter Pass and I was hoping it wouldn't rain. I set off from about 100m above sea level and would be reaching 580m elevation. Climbing was slow and involved pushing again. Luckily enough there was no rain, just clouds. I was one of the lucky ones who got rewarded at the top of the pass i.e. I got a chance to visit the Hartside Cafe which would burn only half a year after my visit. I celebrated reaching the pass with a big veggie meal of course.

Descending to Alston was exhilarating. I stopped only once to put on some extra clothing as the wind chill factor kicked in.

The rain was forecast for the afternoon but after this following days would be dry and sunny. This contributed to a sensible decision of cutting the day short and waiting out the rain. The suitable campsite called Haggs Bank Bunkhouse and Campsite was located not far before Nenthead. So after cycling and partly walking only 33km, I was putting up my tent.

The rain did come and since Nenthead is England's highest village it became also adequately cold.

Again I was the only guest at the campsite. Crowds of people cycling C2C where are you? Do you really only cycle in July and August?

The campsite owners were busy tidying up after some kind of event they hosted during the weekend.

They gave me a lift to Nenthead so that I could pop into the North Pennine Cycles shop. I wanted somebody to have a look at my bike which was making faint but annoying clanking noises. Sadly we didn't manage to locate the source of clanking but the owner made a few adjustments that I even failed to notice were required. In the evening I was driven to a nearby hotel where I had a meal and read a book on my Kindle. Walking back to the campsite helped to prepare me for the cold night to come. The temperature must have dropped close to 0°C at night. There was quite a lot of condensation in the tent and when it's almost impossible to move inside without touching the walls it is easy to get your sleeping bag wet.

Wanting to make best out of fine weather on Tuesday I got up early when it was still dark. It's so unpleasant to get out of the tent when it's cold and damp. Air temperature quickly rose though and sunny weather brought optimism.

Around 9 am I reached Northumberland and took advantage of dry conditions and dried my tent. I was simply standing and holding it on the side of the road allowing the breeze to do the job.

I had my second breakfast (porridge being the first one) in The Hemmel Cafe in Allenheads village. It was pleasant to sit outside in the sun even though morning chill had not quite gone away. To my surprise, they were serving vegetarian breakfast despite being involved in gamekeeping. Riding through North Pennines was probably the best part of the trip. I liked the open space and the lack of traffic.

In Rookhope there is a choice of routes: offroad which would bypass Stanhope and single file road leading to Stanhope. I went for the tarmac. The initial climb was hard but the views were rewarding. On the way up I spoke to one of a very few cyclists I saw during this trip. It was some older, scruffy looking but friendly guy. He wasn't on a tour though, just taking a day trip.

Getting out of Stanhope was hard work again. Progress up Crawleyside Bank was very slow but finally, I found myself back in the hills. This was to be the last climb of any significance on C2C.

The route I prepared in ViewRanger would lead me to Consett. I opted for stopping in Edmondbyers for the night instead which sadly meant I bypassed apparently gorgeous railway path crossing the moors. This diversion from the official C2C route happened mainly because I thought the campsite in Edmondbyers would be better than the one in Consett. I stayed in the campsite provided by Lowhouse Haven Hostel which also has its own bar called The Baa. I don't know what I expected but I was the only person sleeping in a tent that night. No sign of any cyclists.

At least there were a few people in the pub. I finished pitching my tent around 4 pm so had enough time to make an excursion to the shop in Blanchland village. The hint as to where the nearest shop was located was on the door of the closed shop in Edmondbyers. After cycling 7km to the historic village what I found was another closed shop.

At least I was cycling without my panniers. Hungry, I came back to Edmondbyers and had a meal in a pub after which I stayed up until late reading a book.

Wednesday would be a varied day as I would have to first complete the C2C then cycle to Newcastle train station, catch a train to Whitehaven and then drive back home. In result, I was up early and on the road around 6 am when it was still dark.

Edmondbyers detour meant a couple of extra climbs before I could join the main C2C route that would now run only downhill. Well marked roads and cycle paths including Keelman's Way took me to the River Tyne where environment became industrial.

The choice is then between cycling on the northern or southern side of the river. I went for the southern part and was planning to use the northern side when cycling back to the Newcastle train station. I didn't expect that one could cycle for such a long time through Tyneside conurbation.

I was planning to cross the river via Tyne Pedestrian Tunnel but it turned out it was closed. Luckily enough there was a bus replacement service provided.

The bus driver must have been the grumpiest man I had ever met. The bike ended up on a trailer and there was a bit of waiting but I crossed the river. The bike was still there, with the rear mudguard bent but usable.

Now, it was the case of quickly cycling to Tynemouth. Sweaty and tired I arrived to King Edward's Bay. For some reason, I decided this was the end of the route. Only now, writing this blog entry two years after the event I've realized that I was supposed to cycle to Whitley Bay! Well, instead I pushed my bike across the beach in King Edward's Bay and dipped my hand in the North Sea.

I'm happy enough about this. I added a vegetarian burger in Crusoe's to my celebration and started about 15km long cycle to Newcastle train station. After a bit of confusion in finding an entrance to the station, I managed to buy a ticket and cycling part of my mini-adventure ended.

Thinking about taking the bicycle on a train for the first time was stressful but there was no need to be worried. Everything went smoothly. It could have been because there were no other cyclists and therefore there was space for my bicycle on a train. Closer to Whitehaven I was getting the more clouds would gather. Eventually, it started raining and the Irish Sea looked really rough.

I cycled from Whitehaven station to the hotel car park in the dark, put my bike at the back of the car and set off home.

Looking back at that trip, it gave me confidence that I definitely could cycle on a loaded bicycle for more than 40km a day. It also resulted in a list of improvements to the set of equipment including a need to purchase a proper touring bicycle. Terra Nova Southern Cross 1 tent did not stay with me for very long after the trip.

Summary:

Day 1: Driving from Barnsley to Whitehaven, cycling from Summergrove Halls to C2C start and back, 10km, altitude gain 240m

Day 2: Cycling from Summergrove Halls to Bank House Farm campsite, 88km, altitude gain 1606m

Day 3: Cycling from Bank House Farm campsite to Haggs Bank Bunkhouse and Campsite, 33km, altitude gain 820m

Day 4: Cycling from Haggs Bank Bunkhouse and Campsite to Lowhouse Haven campsite, 42km, altitude gain 970m, cycling from campsite to Blanchland and back, 15km, altitude gain 220m

Day 5: Cycling from Lowhouse Haven campsite to Tynemouth, 55km, altitude gain 752m, cycling from Tynemouth to Newcastle train station, 20km, altitude gain 298m, cycling from Whitehaven train station to Summergrove Halls, 4.8km, altitude gain 117m, driving from Whitehaven to Barnsley

Distance in total: 268km

Altitude gain in total: 5023m

MSR Hubba NX Footprints Confusion

After years of using Vango and more recently Naturehike tents, I have bought myself MSR Hubba NX Solo tent. It's not the latest model (called Shield in Europe) but it's brand new and purchased in 2019. It came with MSR universal footprint (the red one).

MSR Hubba is an inner pitch first tent which deterred me from it for a long time but I have discovered recently that by using a footprint it is possible to pitch the tent in the outer first order. The footprint with its grommets (one in each corner) essentially holds the poles in place allowing for attaching the inner first.

I was greatly disappointed when my new Hubba arrived and I quickly discovered that included, the universal footprint is missing grommets! Further investigation revealed that all youtube reviews I saw prior to purchase were showing a previous (green) version of the footprint and not the latest variation.

Well, I became determined to get hold of the old green footprint and get rid of the new useless one. There were still a few online shops selling old footprint and after forking out another £45 I've become a happy owner of a sheet of green material with four alloy grommets. I've purchased mine from Taunton Leisure as they have good customer support and replied quickly and correctly to my enquiry.

Why would MSR make the lives of their customers more difficult? The answer is very easy. They want people to buy more of their products namely Fast & Light Body for pitching the outer on its own. There is nothing wrong about trying to sell more products but does it really have to be done in this way? Is that a really good idea when they have competitors like Naturehike selling equivalent products more than 50% cheaper than American originals? And yes, Naturehike tents come with footprints and they have grommets.

It is worth mentioning that the old footprint is slightly smaller than the new universal one. I don't think it really matters and I am intending to use it with my new Hubba.

Don't get me wrong, I like my new Hubba NX and I'm going to keep it in favour of Naturehike Cloud UP 1 but all this footprint business has been an unnecessary distraction.

My First Cycle Touring Trip

Bank Holiday Weekend, 27-28 August 2017

I have been researching about bicycle touring for the last few months. What's strange is that I even didn't know this type of activity existed until recently. I discovered it when I was recovering from my knee injury. This involved going through a boring exercising routine at home every day and I started watching YouTube videos from Bicycle Touring Pro to take my mind away. At this point, I pretty much knew that mountaineering was off the table for me due to state of my knees and suddenly bicycle touring looked like something to look forward to. Something that could offer adventures.

I quickly discovered that cycle tourers use these expensive bikes designed purposely to allow them to cover long distances and carry heavy loads. Do I need to buy one straight away without knowing if this type of activity is even right thing for me? To start with I decided to utilize what I already had i.e. cheap seven year old Giant Escape hybrid bike. Writing this almost two years later I know this bike was not really suitable for touring but thanks to my lack of knowledge at a time I simply went for it. I worked out that as a minimum I need to buy a rear rack, panniers and sleeping mat that fits inside the pannier. This led to purchasing the Topeak Super Tourist DX rear rack, two blue Crosso 30l panniers and Exped SynMat HL Winter sleeping mat. As for all the other equipment I was planning to use whatever camping items I already had in my possession. It wasn't the expensive lightweight stuff but it had to be enough for my first, test mini tour.

Having sorted equipment out I started looking for a route. The obvious one in England is the coast to coast. Well, one of them to be strict as there is lots of coast in the UK. At a time this looked quite ambitious to me. I was full of anxiety. Will my bicycle survive? What do I do when it brakes down? Where do I sleep? How do I get to the starting point and how do I get back home?

The opportunity to gain some initial experience and put some of these worries to bed came with the August Bank Holiday. The weather was supposed to be warm and sunny so I plotted a route in Viewranger which was starting from my house and ending at the Crowden campsite in Peak District. Actually, I was hoping to wild camp somewhere but the campsite was my backup plan. I packed everything and set off on Saturday afternoon. The distance I was planning to cover was about 45km so I expected to manage it in a few afternoon hours. Most of the route was to follow Trans Pennine Trail so I would be avoiding roads which is always good news to me.

All the load was placed at the back of the bike which isn't great from a weight distribution point of view but I was managing somehow and budget Alex rims didn't collapse. I was also carrying a small rucksack and I would learn quickly it's not the best idea.

It is certainly harder to pedal on a laden bike and I was struggling uphill on Goddard Lane from Dunford Bridge. Yes, some pushing was involved. Once near Bleaklow I started looking around for a suitable camping spot but couldn't imagine camping anywhere near busy Woodhead Pass and pushing the bike high enough so that I would feel comfortable looked like way too much work. When hill walking in Peak District wild camping isn't a problem to me but being limited as to where I can go on my bike made a difference. Campsite it is, then. I had to find a way of crossing busy A628 from Longdendale Trail without being hit by HGV and managed to do it by walking across the dam between Woodhead and Torside reservoirs.  It involved conquering some steep steps with overgrown bushes on either side. My brand new panniers gained their first scratches. This allowed me to minimize my presence on A628 to only about 100m long stretch.

Being a bank holiday weekend the campsite was busy but I learned for the first time that there is always space for cycle tourers. I put up my Mirage 200 tent which is not the lightest but sturdy and prepared myself a meal. It was simply the case of boiling water actually and adding it to the bag as I brought freeze dried meal from Go Outdoors. A minimalist and lazy approach really. I resisted the temptation of ordering pizza from the campsite reception as this wouldn't be an option if I was to wild camp. The campsite has trees and my spot was surrounded by them. This brought back a memory of Spanish campsites.

Close to my lovely location was pitched another Mirage 200 which was probably the first time that happened to me. There is always lots of Vango tents at every campsite I go to but not Mirage. The night was very cold. I woke up in the middle of the night and had to put on all the clothes I had with me. I think it's because of the campsite location and cold air settling at the bottom of the valley. This was also the first time I was using my inflatable mat. It was easy enough to inflate but I found it a bit too small for me i.e. my arms were falling down the sides of the mat and getting cold. I quickly concluded I would probably need to replace it with a size bigger than medium.

There is something absolutely exceptional I found about this campsite, specifically showers. They had shelves for placing my shower get on! Excellent. Why cannot it be like this in other campsites?

I woke up early as I always do whilst camping and tested another dehydrated meal for breakfast this time it was the scrambled eggs. The meal wasn't too bad but it was too salty so I didn't feel that well afterwards. I'm still struggling to find a good solution for breakfast. I obviously tried porridge but I find it so tasteless that usually only manage to go through half of it. Adding things like nuts and raising doesn't really help.

The morning air was crisp and refreshing. I packed my things and set off west instead of east as I was hoping to find a better place to cross A628 than a day before. The path brought me to the dam between Torside and Rhodeswood reservoirs. I had to manage two sets of steps this time as well but at least didn't have to lift my bike over a locked gate which happened the previous evening.

Once on the other side of the dam, I joined the Longdendale Trail and quickly overtook DofE group that camped at the same campsite. They must have set off even earlier. I was riding now on a section of Kinder Loop route and even though mountain bike would probably be more suitable my Schwalbe Land Cruiser tyres saved me.

The weather was excellent and I wasn't in a hurry but quickly started feeling hungry.

The opportunity to remedy this problem arose after cycling only 28km when I was passing the Travellers Inn pub near Oxpring. Being only 11:30 they weren't quite open yet but they agreed to serve me food. I sat outside in the sun waiting for my chips and a veggie sandwich and managed to read a few pages on my Kindle. What more could I want? This was something I would miss on rainy cold winter days.

The meal, together with a pint of ale as nice as it was made me feel sluggish and my pedalling became even slower. I could feel the weight of my packed panniers and my tent making all the difference. This was easier to notice because I cycled this part of the route before carrying just bottle of water and some snacks. I finally reached home at about 2pm and remember being totally exhausted. Sitting in the garden I remember saying to Magda that I would never do it again. Having rested a bit I started thinking how I could lighten the load and where I would go next...

South Wales Cycling and Walking Holiday

06-13 August 2017

It might sound weird but the closer it was getting to the end of summer 2017 the more pressure I felt that I need to go on holiday. Not that I didn't want to go but I don't really like organizing anything and Magda had still not fully recovered from her illness. Also for the last few years, it was quite simple: we went somewhere where there were mountains and hiked but now, what do I do if my knees are falling apart? Cycling has always been a second choice outdoor activity for me but now I have decided to cycle more to strengthen my leg muscles without putting so much pressure on the joints. I had roof bars installed on our old Skoda, bought myself roof mounted bike carriers and this opened the door to new possibilities. Suddenly we were able to cycle in any location we wanted. So where do we go? South Wales! There is no sarcasm there at all. Well, maybe a little because I can see that not many people from England would rank this destination highly. They would rather go somewhere more exotic I guess. For me, Great Britain is still exciting enough and most of the places locals would consider boring for me are worth consideration.

We have been to Snowdonia many times before but never anywhere in the south of Wales so it was high time we rectified this. I decided to split the week between two locations: Talybont Reservoir in the Brecon Beacons and Manorbier in Pembrokeshire. I was initially hoping to try cycle touring and maybe even throw in some wild camping but I wasn't ready for it yet and didn't feel it would be ok to put Magda through this. In result we camped near two hostels as they offered bike storage. We drove to YHA Brecon Beacons Danywenallt on Sunday. The day was overcast and by the time we got to Talybont Reservoir, it started to drizzle. We weren't put off, found a good camping spot under a tree and had a barbecue.

Following day (Monday) the weather looked more promising and we cycled to Brecon along Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. Red-brown colour of the water looked odd to me and until now I am not sure where it is coming from. Is it from mudstone or from old red sandstone, or from both?

On the way back we stayed on country roads and I was happy to confirm that this location was a good choice for cycling. Not much traffic, lots of narrow, undulated, tarmacked roads suitable for different types of bicycles.

One of the minor roads on the way from Brecon to Talybont-on-Usk

30km trip wasn't enough for us and after dinner, we cycled clockwise around Talybont Reservoir which added only 16km but included a decent climb.

Talybont Reservoir during a late summer evening

On Tuesday morning as we were waiting for the clouds to clear we weren't in a hurry and postponed climbing Pen y Fan until afternoon. The problem was when it came to starting the car it wouldn't start. This was a bit of a surprise because our old trusty Skoda until this point was, well...trusty. I ended up calling RAC and having to pay for a new battery. We still caught some sun that day standing on the dam waiting for RAC van to arrive. Car back in order allowed us to drive to the nearby waterfalls in the evening.

We topped the day with a short walk beside the reservoir and picked some wild mushrooms. I know this is not something very popular in the UK but I can recognize a few edible varieties and it was hard to resist. Mushrooms were to be consumed for breakfast the following day.

Indeed on Wednesday morning, we had scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms. Since I'm still alive writing this more than a year after the event I must have recognized them correctly.

After breakfast, we drove to the small car park near Torpantau station where we actually saw a group of passengers getting off the train. For them, this was the end of the trip but for us only the beginning. The aim was to walk to the top of Pen y Fan more or less following the Pen y Fan Horseshoe walk description from www.gps-routes.co.uk but ideally to include Fan y Big as well and do it anticlockwise.

Taf Fechan Forest

I would class the walk as relatively easy but long. This is obviously in good weather. Everything would change completely if it was windy and raining. Since it wasn't we enjoyed the day.

First glimpse of Corn Du, Pen y Fan and Cribyn

The walk must not have been as easy actually because I can remember now that we certainly didn't go to Fan y Big and bypassed the summit of Cribyn. I was simply predicting it would be too tiring to include these two summits and I was thinking about my knees. The summit of Pen y Fan was fairly busy but this was kind of expected. I noticed that most of the people used an easier, shorter route so there was some satisfaction coming from the fact that we made it a little bit more challenging for ourselves.

Summit of Corn Du with Pen Y Fan in the background

As much as I enjoy going up I dislike going down. The inevitability of descent is the reason I'm starting to think about bikepacking as all the weight would be on my bike and not my back. Of course, I would not be able to cycle everywhere but I reckon there should be enough interesting locations available.

After Pen Y Fan and Corn Du summits, we continued walking south-east on the Craig Fan Ddu ridge and spotted a gliding red kite. At some point, we started climbing down towards the Neuadd Reservoir. Path sides were covered with some kind of white mesh which from the distance looked like snow. I'm guessing its purpose is to slow down erosion.

View towards Neuadd Reservoir

The path leading down towards the reservoir is fairly steep to start with and we took a couple of short breaks to sit down and enjoy the surroundings. From the reservoir, there was still about 3km to the car park but it's on the flat.
We topped off the day with a tasty meal and a pint in Gurkha Corner restaurant in Brecon.

On Thursday we were relocating to Manorbier. Since driving from Talybont-on-Usk to Manorbier, in theory, takes only about 2.5 hours and the weather was excellent we went for a ride first. We set off from the car park near Brecon Interchange and rode west pretty much along the River Tarell. The day was humid and hot which I think weakened Magda. This resulted in only 17km covered but we enjoyed the views of the Brecon Beacons range from the north side. Again we used narrow country roads and there was very little traffic.

I ignored part of the route calculated by my sat nav and instead of going for the quickest A40 option we stayed in the Brecon Beacons National Park for a bit longer in order to drive through the Black Mountain area. The Black Mountain should not be confused with the Black Mountains range we left behind in the east but of course, it is confusing to me. Originally I was considering staying in the YHA Brecon Beacons which would be a good base for exploring the western part of the park. I also wanted to cycle in the Usk Reservoir area but this will have to wait until we go there next time. On this occasion, we only stopped near the main dam for lunch and listened to the heavy machinery as there was some construction work in progress.

YHA Manorbier felt more modern than the previous hostel. Our bikes got placed in the storage room in the main building rather than the shed. The kitchen was bigger and despite the summer school holiday, we didn't have a problem finding enough space for us. After pitching our tent and unpacking we walked to the Church Dove Cove which is located only a few hundred yards away from the hostel. We immediately liked the place with its small beach and dramatic rock formations resembling doorways of a church.

Skrinkle Haven beach and Church Door Cove

On Friday we walked from the hostel to Tenby and back along the coast. One of a few highlights of the walk was crossing a firing range located near the Penally village. Luckily enough on this day, it was not in use and we were allowed to cross it (one would assume safely). We could see the Caldey Island which is only 1km off the coast and I was wondering if Trappist monks living there are actually brewing Trappist beer which I remembered well from visiting Belgium. Wikipedia doesn't mention it unfortunately which caused great disappointment.

Pembrokeshire Coast Path near Manorbier

We also came across lots of kitesurfers near Tenby South Beach. I've never seen any from that close and we spent a good deal of time watching them flying past. After walking around Tenby for a while we turned back. The wind was picking up and drizzle started as we were getting closer to the hostel. The distance was about 10km each way so it was a decent walk. The day was overcast but we remained dry for most the time.

Sunny Saturday became cycling Saturday. The 40km loop included Manorbier, Freshwater East, Stackpole and Pembroke.

Magda looking towards Manorbier Bay

An abundance of blackberries on the sides of the roads slowed down the progress but yet again we were not in rush. The very simple lesson I learned was that riding along the coastline inevitably means having to work harder because of constant ups and downs. This was to be confirmed following year in Scotland on my short touring trip. After reaching Pembroke we headed towards the castle, stopped for a pint of ale in a nearby pub and busked in the sunshine. We didn't go inside the castle for two reasons. I didn't know what to do with the bikes and I remember that after visiting even the most famous ones like the Sterling Castle I was always a bit disappointed.
I remembered that day as hot and sunny and it ended on the Church Dove beach.

Steps leading to Church Dove beach

August 12th was the Perseid meteor shower night. In my ignorance I didn't know that and went to sleep relatively early, thinking about driving back home on Sunday. I was greatly surprised to see bright objects whizzing across the night sky when I woke up for a pee in the middle of a night!

We had a safe journey back home on Sunday and I will remember South Wales as a great place for cycling and walking holiday.