Time Arrived: 4.10pm
Distance: 26kms
Cumulative Distance: 285kms
Percentage Completed: 100%
Ascents and Descents: 950m
Cumulative Ascents and Descents: 6815m
Weather: Overcast, rain, windy - Max 13
Accommodation: Oriel Milgi B&B
Feelings: Neil - Good, Henk - Prepared, Di - Apprehensive and Excited, John - Good
We did it! Today, we completed our longest daily distance at 26kms, climbed the highest ascent at 176m and completed the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, a distance of 285kms. Our guide book said this last day was the toughest section of the entire walk. It was a big day!
We organised breakfast for 7.30am and when we left the B&B at 8.00am Henk realised that he hadn't downloaded the day's maps. So John, Neil and I headed off to the Newport Spa to buy lunch supplies while Henk downloaded the day's walk. We finally left Newport at 8.30am crossing the iron bridge and walking along the northern side of the long estuary.
We were soon on top of the cliffs again and there was some strenuous peaks and steep descents one after the other.
Our first break was at the nine kilometre mark and we were feeling strong. We only stopped for fifteen minutes because we began to get very cold. Our strategy then was to walk another eight kilometres to the 17kms point and have lunch. When we arrived at 17kms it was at the bottom of a very steep climb. We had to climb it before lunch as we were limbered up and it would have been too difficult to climb after lunch when we were cold. Luckily we found a rare place below the cliff path where we could shelter from the strong, cold wind.
We only rested for twenty minutes as we could feel we were being chilled to the bone. We had to put on our rain gear at 13kms and had to keep it on until we arrived at our B&B.
In the lead up to lunch we had some very steep, slippery descents and some very steep climbs. After lunch we had nine kilometres left and we continued to feel strong despite the difficult terrain. Thankfully, the strong wind when it came was on our backs and at times pushed us along.
The cliffs today were high, dramatic and often barren. Many of the cliffs had layers of folded rock.
After we rounded the final headland, Cemaes Head, we had views through the rain to the long, wide estuary leading up to St Dogmael. We thought it would be downhill all the way but it wasn't the case and the path threw a few more ascents until we reached the finish line.
As we had made such good time we had a twenty minute break at the warm cafe at Poppit Sands which was two kilometres from the end and three kilometres from our B&B. It was good to have a cuppa before launching ourselves back into the rain and cold.
At the finish line we took photos of each other in the rain as there was no one around to ask to take a photo of us as a group.
When we arrived at our B&B Anne gave us a wonderfully warm welcome. We soon had our dripping outer gear and boots off and Anne served cups of tea with Welsh tea cakes. It was good to be inside in a warm house and dry. We all had hot showers so we could raise our core temperature.
Anne booked us into a local pub, The white Hart which specialises in seafood. It was a delicious meal and to celebrate we had dessert as well.
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path is a lovely walk. We saw it at its best with mostly sunny and dry weather with spectacular wild flowers. We enjoyed the contrast of the sandy beaches, the little harbours, the estuaries, the tiny villages and the high cliffs. We didn't climb the equivalent of Mt Everest as the guide book suggested we would but there were certainly some taxing areas.
Tomorrow morning we all catch a taxi back to Fishguard. John is hiring a car to return to Manchester for his flight home, Neil is catching a train to London to go onto Iceland and Henk and I are taking a ferry to Ireland. Despite being four very different people we made a cohesive group and enjoyed each other's company.
This is the last posting for the Pembrokeshire Coast Path blog.
Max height 176m
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