🥾Day 46/50 Walking the @walescoastpath
-Llwybr Arfordir Cymru 🏴
📍Supported by Cicerone @ciceronePress
ℹ️Stats
Date: Friday 3rd June - fast packing
Weather: hot & sunny ☀️
From: Rest Bay, before Porthcrawl
Start time: 7.50am
To: mill lane past Llantwit Major
End time: 5pm
Accommodation: staying with Sarah-Jane @welshbird76 & Gregor & Archie 🐶- bed 🛏.
Terrain: A little bit of road walking to start then almost all along Cliff coastline, a quick river swim, flat green coastal paths, walking beside farmers fields and a number of valleys to cross.
🥾Miles: 20.6
🦶Steps: 42,470
🏔 Ascent: 300 m
📚Guidebook Info:
Stage:Last part of stage 51 and most of stage 52
Pages: 304 - 309
Total miles on the WCP: 795/870
💰Food/snacks £4.48
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 9/10 - great people, great company, great weather.
Fatigue: 3/10 - felt one wave of tiredness before lunch and needed to have a 15 min rest.
Ease of terrain: 1/10 -Today was so different from the previous days more urban walking.
Highlights - walking for 4 miles with Sarah-Jane in the morning.
Meeting up with Ali, Amy & Ollie @themahojos for a few miles on the WCP later on. Super fun to catch up and to see Ollie running about. 🙏
Being collected by Sarah-Jane and her husband Gregor who came down to the path to meet us and cheered us in. having laundry done, an amazing BBQ, playing with Archie 🐶, gin & tonic X2 😋, a hot Epsom salt bath 🛁 with bubbles 🫧 , & Eton mess for dessert 🍨.
Challenges - 🌊swimming across the Ogmore River ( short swim)
If it was a low tide we would have been able to walk across to Ogmore-by-sea. Approx 20 metres to the other side. When it’s high tide there is a 4 mile detour inland.
As luck would have it when we were debating what to do, a person on a SUP offered to take our bags across so we could swim across.
2 mins later we swam across having saved approx 2hrs.
Watch the vlog here: with Ali & Amy from Living Life Differently | Wales Coast Path 46/50
👉Follow along 😀 #ChallengeWithCicerone
ℹ️Visit the Cicerone website now to find your next challenge! Link in bio & below!
Website: - https://www.cicerone.co.uk
🥾Day 47/50 Walking the @walescoastpath
-Llwybr Arfordir Cymru 🏴
📍Supported by Cicerone @ciceronePress
ℹ️Stats
Date: Saturday 4th June
Weather: it looked like it was going to rain. Dark clouds on the horizon. There were a few sprinkles but it kept dry and later on the sun came out. It was still windy though!
From: mill lane just past Llantwit Major
Start time: 7.34am
To: Cardiff Bay
End time: 5.28pm
Accommodation: staying with John a friend of Alex on a boat in the Cardiff Marina ⛵️
Terrain: Mostly cliffs and rugged slopes at first and largely Urban around Barry Island, and Barry docks.
🥾Miles: 24.6
🦶Steps: 50,839
🏔 Ascent:240 m
📚Guidebook Info:
Stage: last of stage 52 and all of stage 53, and most of stage 54
Pages: 309 - 319
Total miles on the WCP: 823/870
💰Food: £22 - resupply done at the big Tesco, snacks, crisps, chocolate, blueberries, innocent smoothie etc enough for the next 2 days.
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 8/10 - good progress being made. Knowing where we were sleeping in the evening.
Fatigue: 4/10 - starting to feel much more tired. Even after a good night sleep.
Ease of terrain: 3/10 - still pretty flat apart from a few sections.
Highlights - Having an amazing packed lunch - Thank you Sarah-Jane @welshbird76 🙏. Staying on a boat and having fish 🐟 cooked on the BBQ 😀.
Reaching the most southern point of wales 🏴
Exploring Barry Island (Gavin & Stacey TV show)
Challenges - there were a lot more stairs than I was expecting and a few steep ups and downs which came out of no where. Plus walking across a pebble beach is hard!
Finding somewhere to pee 💦especially through the more populated parts was tough going. We found 3x public loos and 1 McDonalds.
Watch the vlog here: Friends - Stairs - Ultra Runners - Barry Island - Boats & Wine!!! | Wales Coast Path 47/50
👉Follow along 😀 #ChallengeWithCicerone
Website: - https://www.cicerone.co.uk
🥾Day 48/50 Walking the @walescoastpath
-Llwybr Arfordir Cymru 🏴
📍Supported by Cicerone @ciceronePress
ℹ️Stats
Date: Sunday 5th June - Fast packed.
Weather: stayed dry, but it was a little cold and windy with grey skies. There was some drizzle but not enough to put on the waterproofs.
From: Cardiff Bay Docks
Start time: 7.30am ish
To: Newport - with an extra 1.2 miles to the train station.
End time: 4.25pm (back on the boat)
Accommodation: boat 🛥
Terrain: City roads going through residential and industrial areas of Cardiff before finally returning back to the coast it was then very easy walking along a coastal embankment which overlooked the mouth of the River Severn we then detoured inland towards the more industrial Newport. Which involve more road walking.
🥾Miles: 22.8
🦶Steps: 47,161
🏔 Ascent: 50m
📚Guidebook Info:
Stage: end of stage 54 & all of 55
Pages: 318 - 326
Total miles on the WCP: 841/870
💰Costs: Train Ticket £6.90 (Newport to Cogan)
Food: £5.10 stopped at a cafe 2x hot chocolate (me & Alex) & a slice of chocolate roll.
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 3/10 - not awesome, but not awful. Bit of an average, uninspiring day. I also ripped my @inov_8 stormshell jacket on a nail while walking through a gate. Gutted. 😭
Fatigue: 3/10 - felt ok - but wanted to get back to lie down.
Ease of terrain: 2/10 - the embankment walking was great. Grassy & flat - which meant we could go fast.
Highlights - missing the rain! Making amazing time through the wetlands.
Chatting with @mélissa.pops.12 about her walking challenge.
Challenges - the first half wasn’t the prettiest so much litter.
also a lot of walking by main roads. We lost the WCP signs around the industrial estate so we ended up on the wrong side of the road.
Not being able to stop for breaks due to the weather - we needed to keep moving to keep warm. Hence why we made such good time.
Watch the vlog here: Getting WET in Wales & Meeting Mélissa | Wales Coast Path 48/50
👉Follow along 😀 #ChallengeWithCicerone
ℹ️Visit the Cicerone website now to find your next challenge!
Website: - https://www.cicerone.co.uk
🥾Day 49/50 Walking the @walescoastpath
-Llwybr Arfordir Cymru 🏴
📍Supported by Cicerone @ciceronePress
ℹ️Stats - the penultimate day. 🥳
Date: Monday 6th June - joined by Sophie @sophiecanrun
Weather: not looking good in the am. Dressed in waterproofs to start the day. Lots of drizzle 🌧. By the afternoon the blue skies had come out and the sun was shining 🌤
From: Newport
Start time: on the train to Newport at 7.15am back to end point from yesterday at just before Lysaght Village.
To: Rogiet - by the Severn Tunnel Junction train station.
End time: at the train station for 4.30pm in the hotel by 5.30pm in bed by 6.30pm
Accommodation: Hotel in Chepstow
Terrain: Low level and industrial at first, with some stretches past farms and fields, then mostly coastal, following embankment overlooking salt marshes and mud flats.
🥾Miles: 22.5
🦶Steps: 46,588
🏔 Ascent: 30
📚Guidebook Info:
Stage: Very last bit of stage 55 & all of stage 56
Pages: 325 - 330
Total miles on the WCP: 859/870
💰Costs: 🚂Train to Newport £6.90
🚕Taxi to the end point yesterday 1.2 miles from the station. £2.50 (£5 in total)
🚂Train to Chepstow £4.60
Resupply Tesco £5.73 - 2x cans of gin, cheese puffs, Tesco finest chicken slices
Hair braided £10 + £2 tip
🏨Hotel: My half £34 (room + breakfast £68)
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 7/10 - great meeting Sophie and chatting with the fishermen
Fatigue: 3/10 - embankments were overgrown = tiring
Ease of terrain: 2/10 pretty flat.
Highlights - stopping for some toasted tea cakes & a hot chocolate. Making it to the train station in time for the train. Happy we are getting close to the finish! Getting my hair braided.
Challenges - very industrial parts & walking on the embankment has great views but the grass was knee to waist high - which made the walking super tough going.
Watch the vlog here: Almost at the finish... the penultimate day on the Wales Coast Path 49/50!
👉Follow along 😀 #ChallengeWithCicerone
🥾Day 50/50 Walking the @walescoastpath
-Llwybr Arfordir Cymru 🏴
📍Supported by Cicerone @ciceronePress
ℹ️Stats
Date: Tuesday 7th June - Final Day!!
Weather: we were expecting rain. But got sunshine ☀️
From: Severn Tunnel Junction
Start time: 8.45am
To: Chepstow
End time: 1.30pm
Accommodation: My bed at home 🥳
Terrain: short stretch of estuary coast path, then through fields (no cows 🐄), through Chepstow - mostly downhill with one little uphill section.
🥾Miles: 14.9
🦶Steps: 30,707
🏔 Ascent: 100m
📚Guidebook Info:
Stage: 57
Pages: 331 - 337
Total miles: 870/870 ✅
💰Costs: Train ticket Chepstow to Severn Tunnel Junction £4.60
Train home - booked in Advance £35
Food: £42.50 at pub + £5 tip
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 6/10 - I want it to be 10/10 but I struggled today.
Fatigue: 8/10 - done in.
Ease of terrain: 2/10
Highlights - Great to be joined by @sophiecanrun for the final 11 miles. Ali & Ollie @themahojos came to meet us at the finish 🥳.
Tori @torijameseverest popped by the pub later on. Lovely to meet face to face as we’ve been social media friends for a while 😀.
I wasn’t expecting anything at the finish- But Tricia had arranged for flags to be there and they also presented me with a WCP certificate and gave me a WCP mug, buff & water bottle. I was really touched it was a lovely way to end the walk 😊🙏
Challenges - started the day with the shits 💩 which is never fun. Didn’t think I’d be able to make it off the toilet 🚽 to reach the train - to take us back to where we left the trail yesterday. Feeling rough 🤢
I was not in a great place today - feeling very rough and tired all day.
I knew I was going to finish - it just wasn’t going to be the easiest 5hrs of walking.
My hip flexors are killing me - I’m in a lot of pain - I can’t wait to lie down flat!
Watch the vlog here: Final Day on the Wales Coast Path - reaching Chepstow!!! 870 miles walked in 50 days | WCP 50/50
Missed the beginning of my journey? Catch up here: Day 1-5: Walking the Wales Coast Path
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