Day 20 –Fishguard Bus ride

 

Date: Saturday 20^th June    Distance: None

 

We had a good night except for the rowdy Australians arriving back at 12.05 and making a lot of noise till 1. It was the most delicious breakfast. To start we had a huge plate each covered in different prepared fruits, melon, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, kiwi etc all in a creative pattern. The cooked breakfast was good too and

we were encouraged to eat their home-made jams and lemon curd and croissants too.

We had done our washing in their machine and hung it out to dry then collected the tandem from the cycle shop. A new chain and sprocket and fitting cost £57 and Bob thought it well worth it.

 

We stuck to our day off though and took a bus to St. Davids. It was 1 hour and 20 minutes down hairy scary lanes, especially at Strumble Head,when the bus went into reverse at the cliff edge. This was called the Strumble Shuttle ( there was also the Celtic Coaster and Poppit Rocket) There were many glorious sea views and we stopped at all the little villages on route.

 

We caught a Celtic Coaster to St Justinians where we hoped to catch a boat round one of the islands. We were the only passengers and our driver gave us the low down on some of the local inhabitants showing us where they lived. He had rather a bee in his bonnet about an octogenarian who lived on his own on a run down farm of lots of good agricultural land. From this farm sea views were extensive and he believed the National trust to be the beneficiaries when he dies. Meanwhile it all goes to wrack and ruin.

 

The boat had just gone – a little harbour literally in the middle of nowhere- but the men on shore offered to call it back. We took one look at the shallow sided craft and the waves and declined.

 

It wasn’t long till the next Celtic Coaster and we took it back to see the Cathedral at St Davids. Standing at the back of a wedding ceremony Pat was able to sing with the congregation- Guide me o thou great redeemer. “Cwm Rhondda” - We were truly in Wales! The girls choir was fantastic. There are 3 in all. Many people gathered outside to wish the couple well. It was a lovely hot sunny day and the stream, between cathedral and the ruin of the bishop’s house, was visited by many iridescent, turquoise-blue damselflies. They were mesmerising.

 

As with a lot of Wales so far there were missed opportunities for tourism. Cafes were closed at 4 or not open at all (We had to have a drink in a pub instead!) There were not many shops to look at either though Pat did buy a second hand St Trinian’s book.

The infrequent bus came at 5 and it was belt up for the kamacarsi journey back to Fishguard. The lanes were just big enough for the bus sometimes and we did have a near miss – even the locals exclaimed!