The First Long Wander begins

 After a long, looong trip of planes and airports and buses and way too much sitting we finally arrived in Tenby in south Wales. We stayed for four nights. Beautiful. Love the colours.

Fishermen's chapel down in the harbour.

The old stone walls of the original walled town still exist in the middle of the town up on the cliff top.

Our first day was a jetlag recovery day, so we took a local bus and a walk to Colby Gardens for a healthy delicious lunch.

Back in Tenby, we chanced upon a free evening performance of a community choir and chamber orchestra in the parish church of St Mary.

DAY 1

The Pembrokeshire Coast Path begins at Amroth, a short bus ride and a 12km walk back to Tenby. We began in a heavy  shower of Welsh rain. Only a few light showers for the rest of the day. This is me at the start sign.

There was a combination of road and esplanade walking through the small seaside towns of Amroth, Wisemans Bridge (a stop for hot chips outside the pub) and Saundersfoot (coffee and cake). Part of the walk was along a high sea wall at the base of a cliff once mined for coal, following the route of a tram-way through three tunnels.

The track became more serious as it rollercoasted through oak forests with sea views and crossed fields where we lost and found the trail. 

A welcome rest on a very long incline that oddly, was paved and had several small 'inspection' manholes for a pipe of some kind.

At Tenby we descended a very long steep flight of steps to walk along the beach at low tide.

DAY 2

A stroll along Tenby's other beach, followed by high headlands and cliffs with a stiff headwind and occasional showers. And a short detour for scones at Bubbleton Farm shop. 

Signs of past industry.

Looking out to Caldey Island and St Margarets Island.

There are a lot of these static caravan holiday  parks in the UK. This was one of the nicer ones and we had to walk through the middle of it.

Steps down to see Church Door. (There are twice as many steps when you go back up)

The Church Door.

More drama. More rain.

Kings Quoit. (Old burial chamber)

When in Wales, castles are inevitable. This one, Manorbrier Castle,  is over 1,000 years old and has royal connections back to Henry I.

One of the round rooms in the towers. Fit for a princess. I think I'll have this one.

Sea views, to see your ships come in, or your enemies.

Mind the steps! 

The chapel. A wedding venue. Beautiful.

Every castle must have a dungeon.

Last day in Tenby

We checked out of The Sleepy Puffin Guesthouse where Debbie had been cooking us the most amazing breakfasts.

Each day we had tried to take the very weather dependent ferry ride to Caldey Island, but it wasn't running, hence our walking and garden visits instead. Our patience was rewarded on our last day at Tenby.

A 20 minute small ferry ride from Tenby, Caldey is an island of sandy beaches, woodland, open fields, cliffs and a Cistercian monastry. 

Tourists are not permitted in the big building and we saw no monks, but apparently they make money from the ferry, a tea room and making chocolate and lavender products. We did visit three churches, all very different.

I found a horse to talk to when we walked to the lighthouse.

After our day on Caldey Island we caught a bus to Manorbier where we stayed overnight to continue our walk the next day. We had an excellent dinner in the pub across the road, the only pub in the village.

The Shoalhaven Ride

This year's big trip began with horseriding and friends, and wonderful horses on the Globetrotting Shoalhaven Ride in NSW.

But first, I had to get to Canberra. I arrived at Launceston airport nice and early at 8.30, expecting to land in Canberra at 1.15 for a relaxed 'arvo of cultcha' in the nation's capital, but no - nature had other ideas. 

The fog was so thick in Launceston that no planes could land. The plane coming from Melbourne to collect me was delayed in the hope the fog would lift. Then they flew to Launceston, they tried to land, twice, but it was too dangerous so they returned to Melbourne. Then they had to wait for a new pilot to try again, finally landing after 3pm. We could only just see the bottom of the hills on the side of the runway, but we left. 

Now, I was too late for my flight from Melbourne to Canberra so they put me on the next and last flight of the day to Canberra. I was very happy to see Deb and Jack waiting for me at 10.45pm! And Loretta who flew from Cairns and had similar delays, arriving just before me. Our texts during the day were hilarious as we shared our details. We had to laugh.

The next four days went without a hitch. Perfect weather. Great friends. Just the four of us as that is their maximum group size, so it was a 'private' ride for Loretta, me, Anne and Deb. It began with our host, Tiff treating us to lunch st a winery.

There were more wineries over the four days wine tastings and meals, as well as fireside stories and scrumptous meals prepared by our hosts Tiff and her parents, Lorraine and Lenny. 

How's this for a lunch spot on our first ride? That's Lorraine setting up high tea on a cliff top overlooking Kangaroo Valley.

But of course the real stars were the horses.

Loretta on Simba, Anne on Phoenix, me on Apache and Deb on Shiloh.

My boy, Apache was a real little gentleman who looked after me and gave me plenty of fun too. He is an Australian Heritage Stockhorse with a pedigree that can be traced back to the 1840s. Pretty special.

Apache didn't like wine, but he did love his treats at the end of each day's ride - carrots, dates and licorice.

Thinking about a splash in the river before lunch.

There were plenty of long trots and canters through the bush and along gravel roads.

We were taken to Bundanon, a beautiful property set up by artist Arthur Boyd which hosts a gallery, art workshops and events and a restaurant on the banks of the Shoalhaven River.

That was on the way to a beach ride on different horses with another trail riding company. 

Everyone loves a canter on the beach. 

And yet another wine tasting after riding, of course.

Two dinners at local reaturants and two at Tiff's home where we stayed. Excellent food and even better company.

I had a room in the house.

The Shoalhaven Ride with Eqwine Escapes (yes, that is the correct spelling!) was a wonderful five days of indulgence, the prefect way to begin my seven weeks of wandering. Here are a few more photos, just for fun.

Loretta enjoying the views.

My first dessert. There were more. Yum!

Great friends.

Splashing in the river. Apache thought it about it for awhile before he joined in.

Relaxing at a winery.

Picnic lunch on the river bank.

Apache, my new best mate.