Gower challenge

With my hiking boots on hand (thanks to my folks who brought them over for me!), I headed to Wales over the past weekend. With 11 others from my firm, I went on a charity hike along a 36km stretch of the Gower peninsula. The fact we had brilliant weather was a definite bonus and made the trip all the more enjoyable. I am more than happy to test my wet weather gear another time.

It was pretty hard to become “geographically embarrassed” on this hike – all you had to do was ensure that the sea was on your left! The only problem with the one way walking is that we were burnt only on one side of our faces. Can spot the token Aussie in the group photo?? It’s not just because of my socks… I was the only one who brought a hat!

Anyway, walking along the Welsh coastline was fantastic, with various terrains to test the leg muscles. It is a popular walk for silver DOE hikes. With the sensational weather there were plenty of people (& dogs) out and about making the most of the sunshine. Our trek started at Mumbles, just west of Swansea. We weaved around the coastline crossing several beaches including Oxwich beach which in itself was a long 2.5 miles in length. Some sections of the the trek were pretty dramatic with the sheer cliff drops. We passed many rock climbers who were clambering the various rock faces. We camped next to the beach at Carreglwyd, following our well deserved dinner of fish & chips.

After a good night sleep in our pop-up tents and further strolling along the countryside, we arrived at our final destination, Rhossili Bay. We rested at the pub with grand views of the three mile beach and Worm’s Head which is accessible during low tide. As we waited for our ride we treated ourselves to the local ice cream and randomly watched four planes practicing their aerobatics in the skies above.