Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde

That was what the weather was like for our first two days in Pembrokeshire.

Friday - An Easy Start 

The sun was shining from a clear blue sky in the morning, very much as promised.What a nice start. Left the hotel just before 10am and walked up and down the high street which was a bit busier now. Saw some nice little crafts shops but we were merely window shopping. Instead we picked up some coffees and headed over to St. Dogmaels first. Found the coast path easily and soon got rid of or jackets, walking only in our baselayers from then on.What a glorious day! Views got nicer when we headed uphill over some slightly boggy fields. Visited the impressive ruins of the abbey in St.Dogmaels and having a thirst for some fresh alcoholic beverage, we finally found a hotel with an open bar after passing two very cosy looking but sadly closed country pubs. It was just about mid-day, but for us high time for a pint. Sitting outside in the sun, enjoying our drinks and the view of the broadening Teifi river we finally felt like HOLIDAAAAY!!! Had a bit of a chat with a guy who just stopped by. We watched him first trying to get a phone signal before he talked about living in Cambodia, water skiing and offering us a pint should we make it to The Crown in Oxford. What a random and fun meeting.   Picking up our path again we briefly stopped at the official start of the Pembrokeshire Coast which is marked by a map on a pillar.   Arrived at the campsite as early as 2:30pm despite not rushing it at all. Pitched, had some food and walked a bit ahead on the path taking in some fantastic views in the afternoon sun. Tomorrow the weather is going to turn so we took what we could, haha. "Turn" as in heavy rain and strong winds all day. Yay...

Saturday - The Toughest Weather for the Toughest Bit 

Somehow we thought that it might not be as bad as we feared. The forecast promised heavy rain pretty much all day long and strong winds with gusts of up to 35mph. Well, I can say now: it was bang on what was out there. At first we only had the rain going from a steady drizzle to heavy and back. Not so bad. We were still snug. But reaching the first of countless little climbs we said hello to the wind for today. Holy shit. Horizontal from varying directions but mostly into our face or trying to push us off one of the cliffs. There were indeed quite a few no-slip zones, where a mistake would've been certain death. So we passed extra carefully while getting soaked more and more. With no shelter whatsoever anywhere on the trail we had no choice but to plough on through the lashing rain...   6.5 hours we fought the elements without a pause, before we finally reached Newport, traipsing our feet. Completely drenched we had also managed 3300ft of elevation gain. I'm was wet and thus a bit cold but otherwise only my feet were a bit knackered. Rich however was shot. Fair play to him, he's not a hiker and this day was as challenging as it can get. Well done!!!   Slumping on our chairs at the lively and cosy Golden Lion pub in Newport - the first one we had come across - we gulfed down a coffee and destroyed a bag of crisps in seconds. The plan had been to camp here, but soaked to the bone we badly wanted a B&B instead. We asked at the bar if there were any rooms available cause we really liked the place. Unfortunately,  it was completely booked, but the guy offered us to phone a few places. Wow, how nice!!! Long story short, half an hour later we were booked for the night at the Salutation Inn 3 miles up the road. Result and once more proof of don't-ask-don't-get. Brilliant! !! Ordered a taxi and chatted a bit to a few locals who saw our big rucksacks and were curious of where we had walked today. When we told them, their eyes grew big for respect and maybe even admiration for what we had done. Someone said this was the toughest bit of the path, someone else had done it in good weather and found it very hard. We got loads of virtual pats on our backs. Short taxi ride late we found ourselves at the nice quiet counrty pub that is The Salutation Inn. Had a well deserved hot shower and it was simply awesome to get some fresh dry clothes on. Had a great and filling meal there as well, washing it down with Thatchers on tap. Doesn't get better than that.