Day 6 New Quay to Aberporth

Day 6 Saturday 14th February
New Quay to Aberporth

Walk distance 21.5km
Height 1035m
7 hours
Bus from Aberporth to New Quay

Total coastal distance walked  21.5
Running coastal total distance  80.75km
Running coastal total height 2224m

 After a huge cooked breakfast I drove to Aberporth and caught a bus to New Quay. This little village is quite pleasant. Once again I commenced walk in fine weather. It even felt warm. Today was to be a bit of a route march if I was to get to Aberporth before dusk. Consequently I may have missed the illusive dolphins. There are adverts for dolphin watching trips and on almost ever interpretation board are pictures of what to look out for. Over the weekend I didn’t see one and even every seal sighting turned out to be a buoy as I focused upon small objects in the sea. Of mammals I did see a badger just five minutes into the walk. But this was dead and on a path which seemed rather unnatural. The views along the coastline were stunning. I did not see many birds from the old coast guard look out at bird rock. Passed Castell Bach an island hill fort.

Most notable was the little bay at Cymtdu and then the very dramatic path contouring high cliffs. The exposure was breathtaking. Following a landslide a new path had also just been cut. The lack of footprints suggested I was perhaps the first walker to use this new path. I would not have wanted to be the mini digger driver working on this. Certainly wouldn't walk this way in high winds.

Llangranog

After 4 hours and another hill fort I reached the delightful colourful hamlet of Llangranog with the rock stack of Carreg Bica.

Penbryn was attractive, especially so because of the impressive fern clad woodland.

With the tide high I had to follow the cliff top path to Tresaith. Besides snowdrops seen in the churchyard at St Inna the day before I saw the first s spring flowers. This was the reptilian yellow topped flower of coltsfoot growing on a path that had just been re sculpted.
I was so glad to have a coffee. The next section of path became muddier and more slippery.
Aberporth was initially a rather disappointing destination, mainly because I missed my bus.  From the wrong side of the small river I saw it leave. Whilst the beach was pretty the village was dominated by many houses, holiday homes and caravans. On the plus side some old railway carriage homes had survived.

Id love to stay in one of those. During the day id seen surprisingly few birds besides the normal gulls and cormorants. At Aberporth though I saw a large group of oystercatchers. Its possible I saw a merlin on the cliffs, but it flew off too fast.  Other highlights were dunnock and stonechat singing on top of gorse. After a wait in a café I caught a later bus.  On the bus on the way back a guy got on to cardigan carrying two bunches of valentine roses. His wife was sending his gift back as they were not in the best condition. Ate chicken stir fry at a Chinese restaurant which was great.