We rose fairly early to a bright sunny morning, although the grass and tents were quite wet from the heavy dew. We slowly got everything packed as the day began to warm up a little and were just at the point of heaving our packs on when the site owner drew up and asked if we wanted a lift back to the coast as she was heading for Beaumaris. A moment of indecision followed – rather than backtracking to visit Beaumaris for a third time we’d planned to head more towards Penmon and rejoin the route a couple of miles further along so a lift to Beaumaris wouldn’t really help. But when we thanked her for the offer and explained she gave us a lift almost to Penmon anyway, chatting about walking and life on the Island on the way. A very kind and friendly lady and we were certainly grateful we didn’t have to start the day with yet more off-route road walking!

The priory and church of St Seiriol, Penmon

We’d only actually skipped a couple of miles of the path and it made up a bit for the extra mileage of the previous evening so we didn’t feel too guilty! The first feature of the day was the 13th century Priory remains and the associated 12th century church of St Seiriol. There is also a much newer (but still old – c1600) and very solid looking stone dovecot built to house 1000 birds.

Puffin Island and the Penmon Lighthouse. Another stretch of treacherous Anglesey coast looking beautiful and benign on a calm spring morning!

The next feature was just a short walk from the priory; we sat on the rocky shore at the sharp end of the headland to eat our breakfast cereal bars and watched the gulls wheeling around Puffin Island (we didn’t see any puffins!) while the bell in the nearby automatic lighthouse issued a plaintive single clang every couple of minutes.

Sunshine, sea views and the sweet coconut aroma of the ubiquitous gorse

When breakfast was over (and we’d checked again that the cafe wasn’t open yet for ice creams) we cut slightly inland across this corner of the island as there is no coastal path here to follow. The route is still very pleasant – through lush farmland and quiet roads passing scattered clusters of houses with the sea still visible for most of the way. On approaching the coast again at the western end of this section a view across the vast Red Wharf Bay opens up, making the bench seat we found there an irresistible lunch stop.

A breathtaking viewpoint complete with a bench seat. Time for lunch!

We then had the choice of following the official route all the way around the back of the bay or, as the tide was right out, taking what appeared to be a nicer and shorter option straight across the beach directly to Benllech on the distant opposite side.

The beach at Red Wharf Bay leading to Benllech is well over two miles wide and takes quite a while to walk across

It was lovely taking a ‘shortcut’ across the enormous expanse of wrinkly sand next to the lapping waves – it would have been great to walk barefoot but getting our boots back on afterwards would have been more trouble than it was worth. In fact the beach walk was nice enough to make up for having to double back when we reached the river at the far side and realised the only way across was via the bridge near the car park right at the very back of the bay – so we ended up walking a good mile further than if we’d just followed the proper route in the first place! Strange – you’d think we would have learnt when we made the same mistake at Rhosneigr four days previously!

This bit of the beach must be where all the worms go for their holidays

The last couple of hundred yards at the back of the beach were a mixture of mud and sand but surprisingly firm underfoot. There were thousands of worm casts and holes on the surface creating a very weird texture.

Not the biggest of rivers - had we really just walked an extra mile to get across it?

We reached the car park at last and turned right along the road and over the bridge, back on the official route once more. The river looked very small and shallow from the bridge – how come it was so deep and wide down by the sea where we originally wanted to cross it?

The path along the intertidal zone was very picturesque and looked like it could be 'challenging' at high tide on a rough day!

The terrain as we walked along the edge of the bay towards Benllech had changed from the wide expanse of sand on the other side of the river to a stretch of reedy grass, salt marsh, scattered rocks and intertidal mud. Still very picturesque though – the sort of scene that must have attracted many an artist with easel and paints over the centuries. We reached firm ground and tarmac again by the Ship Inn; a very tempting looking pub with quite a few people sitting drinking on benches outside.  Then after following a long path around the back of a large holiday park and another generous stretch of sandy beach, we eventually reached the town and were surprised to find that the big sea-front bucket and spade shop was all closed up. A shame as Mel had been hoping to buy a sea-side hat to stop the unexpected sunshine burning the top of her head (she had several suitable hats at home but had forgotten to bring one on the walk).

We couldn't have wished for a better place to camp on a sunny day - what a view!

We turned up the main street and plodded up to the top of the hill then headed right at the crossroads and soon reached our intended campsite – the Golden Sunset Holidays touring site (we’d just passed their static caravan site in the town). It is comprised of a big, open, informal collection of grassy fields with adequate but definitely not luxurious facilities! It was fine in good weather though and in a very beautiful location, sloping down towards the sea and actually leading down to the cliff top coastal path! If we’d known we could have just stayed on the path and gone straight to the site but it was useful getting a look at the town first as we then knew where to go for food in the evening. Or so we thought. It actually took us a while and a bit of walking around to find a suitable place as once again the nearest and most obvious pub, in this case ‘The Benllech’ wasn’t serving food on that particular day. In the end we asked for suggestions at the Tesco Express supermarket and were directed to the Breeze Hill Hotel which was perfect – comfortable and welcoming with nice beer and a good selection of bar meals. We called in at the Tesco Express again on the way back to stock up with provisions for the following day.

When we returned to our tents we found a couple setting up a trailer tent at the end of the field we were in but apart from them and a few caravans back at the top of the hill the site was still pretty empty. Walking before the main holiday season does have some problems but overcrowding is never one of them! There was a constant stiff breeze where we were pitched which, along with the strong late afternoon sunshine, had quickly dried our washed clothes and towels earlier when we draped them over the bare hawthorn hedge. Now as the evening drew on it was getting decidedly chilly and we were glad to retire early to our sleeping bags to listen to a bit of music. At least that was the intention – I tuned my walkman radio in to something but was asleep before I’d even worked out what channel it was!

Day 5 | Introduction | Day 7