„Take warm
sweaters. It’s always cold in Wales“, Helen had advised us. We packed all the
raingear, warm underwear, and gloves, expecting the worst.
At 17
degrees and a hint of light rain, we shiver, lamenting that we didn’t bring our
woollen hats for the day trip to Blaenavon. But the woman with the shopping bag
waiting for the bus next to us smiles: “Lovely day, innit? So sunny!”
“Lovely
day!” It’s a standard greeting among the walkers, and indeed the cliffs shine
in bright sunlight, there is no cloud to be seen.
Manorbier beach is full of
holiday makers sitting in folding chairs. Children build sandcastles with
specialised buckets in turret shape. We wouldn’t think of dipping into the
ice-cold water, as some do. But the British vacationers, we noticed, have
sensibly brought their wet-suits.
After a
week of walking along the Pembrokeshire coast, the sunny weather still holds. “Lovely
day,” we smile at the day trippers. “Isn’t it – it’s not so hot today!,” an
elderly woman in a pink summer dress replies.
In a café in
Solva, one of the customers nods understandingly at our backpacks. “Strenuous
stretch from Newgale, isn’t it.” She then recounts that the weather was fine,
too, when she walked the Coast Path a few years ago. “It doesn’t really rain as
much here as most people believe,” a shopkeeper insists: “We’ve hardly any rain
for weeks!”
For two
weeks, we walk in sunshine and a pleasant breeze. Perhaps the Welsh bad weather
is just a rumour, or we were just lucky – admittedly, it did rain the day after
we had finished our walk. The only drawback was a heavy backpack full of gear
we didn’t need.
