Day 44
Oxwich to The Mumbles: 13 miles
Most Beautiful View in Wales: Three Cliffs Bay from our tent
Reason: Just look at the pictures and tell me I'm wrong.
Three Cliffs Bay
So this morning we said goodbye to MEl and E, off to Croatia (incidentally, nowhere near Wales) on their whirlwind trip of Europe. We in turn, moved into the place that my Cool Camping Guide said had 'the best view in Wales' - a campsite over Three Cliffs Bay.
While P drove there to set up the tent, I hiked across the rest of the vast sands of Oxwich, a long beach that ends at giant cliffs. It was Monday, and the beach, unlike yesterday when it was packed to the gills, was practically empty. I even saw a gray heron before I crossed the footbridge over the small river and the trail left all vestiges of the beach for the sharply sloping woods behind them.
There, by a rope swing, I met P, who told me we couldn't check in to the campsite until noon. So we went up and down and up and down, and down down down down until we got to Three Cliffs Bay together. And the first glimpse - just like all the others - was beautiful. Lined on both sides by uneven ridges and a few small cone shaped hills, the beach in between is overlooked by a castle, cut through by a tidal channel, and backed by a steep cliff.
Unfortunately, it was this cliff we had to climb up to to get our tent set up, and so I left the views behind to straggle slowly up a very steep path. But when we finally got to our campsite it was worth it. Basically we were given a front-row seat to the views - the tiny space for our tent, although set at a very-daunting-for-sleeping-properly-and-not-rolling-out-of-the-tent angle, was basically on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the beauty spot.
Unfortunately I had to be off rather than spend more time savoring it, so I climbed all the way back down, and then back up the other side - through such daunting natural obstacles as really thick sand and giant herds of hill cows. I met P on the other side in the parking lot of Southgate, and we made plans to meet again somewhere between there and Caswell Bay. The only issue would be that there were high and low tide paths, so I told P if we didn't meet up I'd be at the car.
Not the best way to end day
Somehow, I started making remarkable time, and actually got to Caswell Bay in just over an hour. Unfortunately I hadn't run into P. And he wasn't at the beach. And the car was of course locked. I assumed this was because I'd missed one turnoff I'd meant to take because there was a new fence put in, and sat down at the lovely beach to wait for him to come back shortly - as I said if we didn't cross paths I'd be at the car. Besides, it was a lovely day and sitting at Caswell didn't seem like an awful time, and I was ready to walk more but a break wouldn't hurt.
Two hours later, I'd changed my mind. It had gotten cold, really, really windy and now my legs felt tired. Also I had no money and the public payphone was only good for emergency calls. I was more than a little pissed.
P finally came back more than 2 hours after I'd gotten there. He'd left pretty much when I got to Caswell Bay, and clearly had taken the low tide route when I was on the high tide one. Rather than turn around halfway, he'd actually walked the entire hike, then come back - which took more than two hours. I was more than a little . . .annoyed.
Grabbing my sweatshirt (finally, I was so cold) from the back of the car, I basically ran off without a word and told P to meet me Limeslade, by the Mumbles Head lighthouse. Even more angering, my camera, despite charging it, still wasn't working so I was just running along at full speed and don't even really remember what I saw.
When I got to Limeslade, P had picked a place to eat in the Mumbles, and so I walked to meet him there. When we finished, unfortunately it was already 9pm. By the time we'd gotten back to the campsite and I'd showered, there wasn't much of our fantastic view left to see.
It was, um, frustrating, and if you ever get a chance to go to Three Cliffs Bay - I might recommend spending more than one night. Luckily there was still the morning to be had, but I do wish I'd had a chance of seeing a bit more of it in relaxing daylight hours. I mean, just look at the pictures - so would you!
