The line-up;
SusieJ, Alewife and MrAlewife, Madmax, Southdowns and Mrs Southdowns, and appearing for the day on Saturday; PistonPete, MrJ and the kids, Amanda (my friend and forum meet lurker) and some of her family.
For some reason I had decided to camp on Friday night even though I only live 25 minutes away, this decision heralded the worst weather I have ever seen on the Gower; I arrived at the campsite in lashing rain. I pitched my tent (very quickly) and waited for my fellow campers to arrive...and waited...as it started to get dark and my texts went unanswered I headed for the pub. What would usually be a gentle stroll along a country lane turned into 1.8 miles of horizontal driving rain in the pitch black, peppered with terror as motorists sped towards me, missing me narrowly as I waved my torch around!
I got to the pub totally soaked to the skin but in one piece. I then spent the next hour and a half examining every single man who came into the pub wondering if it was madmax, I came close to asking one bloke, but then his girlfriend appeared so I retreated hastily. At last Alewife and Mr Alewife arrived having just missed the last food orders so there was nothing else to do but drink. We pondered the fate of madmax and thought that if he'd had any sense he would have booked into the Worms Head hotel along with SouthDowns and Mandy (well, not
with them but you know what I mean...)
Back at the campsite a little extra excitement was wrought as the gate was locked but all Alewife's bedding was still in the car, and the rain, if anything had got harder so a frantic relay ensued with me driving my car to one side of the gate, pass the bedding into it and drive it over to the other tent. At last I was able to get into my tent and for the first time in hours was warm and dry.
The next morning we awoke to overcast but dry skies and having discovered madmax at the tap, things were looking up and only half an hour late we met up with Southdowns and his wife Mandy at the cafe in Llangennith and off we set up the hill onto Rhossili Down.
The first hill is pretty steep and there was a fair amount of huffing and puffing (from me anyway...)
Ray (Mr Alewife) and Mandy (Mrs Southdowns) starting to wonder why they signed up for this madness
As we get to the top the skies start to clear and we can start to appreciate the views
Madmax checking out the Worm in the distance
WW2 Radar Station (something of a do-er up-er)
The top
Although the rain had stopped there was still something of a breeze up here, and Southdowns had to do battle with his orange waterproof ...not sure who won...
Looking down into the village of Rhossil with the Worm in the background
We met up with Steve (MrJ) and the kids and headed off over the causeway which was now exposed as the tide receded. PistonPete was nowhere to be seen but we'd heard rumours that he was in the principality (they like to keep a check at border control)
As we sat eating our sandwiches in the middle of the path getting in the way of our fellow walkers we were discovered by Amanda (Forum meet lurker) and a small fraction of her family (husband,2 kids and the dog)
We took the lower path round the Worm towards the head wondering where-oh-where was PistonPete? (Amanda claimed to have spotted him in the carpark so we knew he was close) We stopped to check out the sea below us and lo andbehold; having a tremendous time in the sea was a small groupof seals.
Eldest son, looking to see if there was anything in the sea...
Amanda's family, SouthDowns and Mandy headed off across the rocks to go off to the top of the Head, Amanda, madmax and I stayed to watch (and film) some seals getting frisky in the surf.
We watched them progress and eventually appear on the top, where they seemed to stay for an age as we were clock- watching eager not to miss the tides.
Southdowns and Mandy are right there in the middle....it's a bit like Where's Wally?...
Southdowns and Mandy appear on the other side of the expanse of rocks..
For those of you with good eyesight you can see on the top Amanda's 3 and on the right SouthDowns and Mandy (looking forward to seeing their pictures from there)
We headed back onto the mainland, still not managing to find PistonPete, waved goodbye to the day guests and headed to the Worms Head hotel for a cream tea (Ok, OK, it wasnt a Devon cream tea as madmax was keen to point out...but it hit the spot)
Left to Right
Alewife, Mr Alewife (Ray), madmax (the Devon one, not the Welsh one in case you think he's had rather dramatic cosmetic surgery) SouthDowns, and Mrs SouthDowns (Mandy)
A longer- than-it-looks walk back across the beach took us past the remains of the Helvetia (OK, OK it's not a Devon shipwreck, as madmax was keen to point to out...but it has been there since 1887) where there was a bride and groom having their photo taken as the sunset
We finished the day back in the pub...all present and correct having had a beautiful day...we never did find PistonPete, according to Border Control he was forced back to Swindon at gunpoint by 2 under 10's...
....to be continued....
