I had booked a couple of nights in a Premier Inn in Swansea for early September but something cropped up and I pushed it out until October; there was a bonus, the room was a few pounds cheaper. I still wasn't particularly looking forward to it but i did a bit pf pre-planning and decided that my first point of call would be the so called "Waterfall Country" north of Merthyr Tydfil. Given my love of waterfalls it's a bit of a shock that I haven't been here before (although I have visited the outlying Henrhyd Falls).
When I said "my first point of call" I wasn't strictly correct as, of course, I had to find a Greggs en route and, once again, Monmouth Services came up trumps. Remembering that 2 sausage baps were a tad too much on a previous visit I curtailed my order at 1 bap and a coffee...and a sausage roll...not forgetting a Belgian Bun for lunch.
Suitably refreshed I headed for the village of Pontneddfechan where the waterfalls trail start from near to the Angel pub. I duly arrived after a minor detour due to "operator error" and set off through the metal gates emblazoned "Waterfall Country"; unfortunately the small Visitor Centre has closed down.
It is about a 30 minute walk to Sgwd Gwladus (Lady Falls) and I took several images here together with some along the river on the way there and back; none were particularly memorable. There are other waterfalls in the area but, on this occasion, I gave them a miss and headed for an old haunt, Worms Head and Rhossili Beach.
I parked in the National Trust Car Park (it's always nice to get free parking) and spent a couple of hours wandering around and taking a lot of images, but again, none were particularly inspiring. By about 4pm I set of for Swansea and the Premier Inn. Neither my evening meal nor breakfast in the adjacent Brewers Fayre were particularly memorable; I gave them a miss on day 2.
I wasn't sure where to head to on Day 2 but my trusty Fotovue Photographing South Wales book pointed me in the direction of Amroth, a small seaside village to the east of Saundersfoot. The approach road was very narrow, but it was worth it, the beach was almost empty and there were lots of opportunities for different types of image and the sky was "ever-changing", I even managed to get a few that were worthy of further editing!
I then moved onto Tenby where, in the absence of any free parking spaces, I parked in the car park near to the beach and walked along the sand and up into the harbour. I also had a walk around the headland which I had not done before. I then ventured into the town and, alighting on a small bakers shop, thought that it would be rude not to indulge in a pastie and a Bakewell tart, I did, however, baulk at the price of their drinks and bought a cheap flavoured water from the Savers store across the road.
I decided to return via Laugharne, home of Dylan Thomas, although his old haunts were closed by the time I arrived. I took a few images but again nothing of note and returned to Swansea. Given that the Brewers Fayre was out of favour I called in at the Asda store near to the Premier Inn for petrol and a "dine-in" dinner (sandwiches and a desert) and then called in at the Costa Coffee where I was pleased to find that I had enough points on my Costa Card for a free coffee (luckily they had sold out of rocky roads).
The next day I set off early for Banbury, made the obligatory stop at Greggs at Monmouth services and arrived home around lunch-time. Not my most memorable trip but then again they can't all be!!