Distance: 10.50 miles

Max Altitude: 40 m

Min Altitude: 1 m

Height Gain: 155 m

Height Loss: 156 m

Yesterday’s winds turned into today’s gales. Overnight, poor old Clark Tent had been buffeted and blasted by Mother Nature. Packing him up proved no mean feat either. At times I must have looked like a kite boarder rather than a backpacker folding up kit.

With the Coastguard warning people about the high winds, I made the sensible decision to not rejoin the Wales Coast Path on the beach at Talybont but instead to go via road immediately. After a while the WCP joined my route and from up high I could see the crashing waves on the beaches below.

With my phone in my pocket away from the rain and no distractions, I got to Abermaw in good time. The sea front was being smashed by the swell. Pebbles and small rocks had been thrown inland by the waves and sea foam was being churned up and spewed out on to the promenade.

https://instagram.com/p/BJWQ29pByhO/

A few weeks ago, the author Bethan Gwanas had written her Daily Post Column about me. Since then we’ve been tweeting back and forth and today we finally met in person.

She arrived in bright pink on her bike and we proceeded to have tea and raspberry muffin inside the Anchor restaurant (next door to the Isis restaurant….maybe time to change the branding, guys).

Anyway, the world was put to rights and we even debated the evolutionary purpose of horse flies (conclusion: they have no point).

Before she left, Bethan and I visited Tŷ Gwyn, a museum dedicated to one of the most famous shipwrecks in Welsh history, the mysterious Bronze Bell wreck.

The museum uncovers the story of the ship laden with a cargo of precious Italian marble bound for London and destined to be used in the building of St Paul’s Cathedral. But it sailed way off course and ended up meeting a watery end just off the coast of Abermaw. Much of the valuable marble is still lying at the bottom of the sea.

Tŷ Gwyn deals with this subject and is an interesting insight into the town. Gareth the curator is a fascinating man with a wealth of knowledge. Highly recommended.

After another sad goodbye, Bethan and I parted company.

Despite the winds I needed to cross the Mawddach Estuary on the viaduct. I couldn’t possibly have asked for more dramatic weather.

I treaded across the long footbridge, the storms making every step difficult to reach the other side. By now it was raining erratically too. But it was also refreshing and crossing on top of the coastal defences to Fairbourne was exciting in such weather.

I arrived in camp at Ynys Faig in the nick of time, just before the heavens opened for real. Thank you to Theresa for my pitch for the evening.

Heading south, it now truly feels as though I’m on the way home.