Wednesday was our last day, and so it dawned warm and sunny, with a clear blue sky, and the forecast promised more of the same for the next few days – when we would be back at work. We had planned a walk on one of the Snowdon routes, but Chantal’s knee was still sore from yesterday’s fall, and so instead we headed for Barmouth, where we caught a train across the estuary, explored the footpaths and woods on the far side, and then walked back over the bridge, along the wooden pedestrian deck that runs alongside the rail track.

We had lunch in Davy Jones’ Locker, a small dog-friendly bar with outside seating overlooking the estuary. The sun was warm, the food and beer good, and we just sat and relaxed for a couple of hours, people-watching, and chatting to some locals on the table next to ours, who came to say hello to the dogs. It was a certainly more relaxed than a mountain walk, a nice end to the holiday.

After our extended lunch we walked the dogs on the dogs-permitted part of the beach, and then out into the estuary along a concrete pier, photographing fishermen and boats on the incoming tide. We spotted a heron that posed for a while before flapping off to a sandbank in the estuary.

It was after we had walked back over the beach that Chantal realised that her prescription sunglasses were no longer on her head. We slowly retraced our steps to the end of the pier, where I had photographed Chantal earlier, complete with sunspecs. No sign of them, and so walked back along the pier to the beach, where, to her relief, Chantal spotted them, sticking out of the sand, complete with a footprint between the “arms” – Chantal suggested that it was a distinct possibility that it was my footprint made during our previous sweep of the beach. I denied it.

And that was it – back to the cottage to pack, ready to return home on Thursday. It was just a shame that the summer sun had been too shy to emerge until the end of the week.

Posted: Sunday, May 18th, 2014
Category: News and Views from the Oakstump
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