Jumpin' Humpy

3.8 miles. After spending much of the day on or waiting on busses, we finally made it across Menai Strait and began the Isle of Angelesy Coastal Path around 1515. We could have started it much earlier had we realized how close our last bus stop was to the bridge, but instead we waited almost an hour for our fourth bus, which in turn spent twenty-five minutes on a circuitous route only to cross the bridge less than a mile from where we boarded. Ah well, such are the joys of public transportation. So, our final leg has begun. We have 50-60 miles on mostly the eastern and southern shores of Ynys Mon, final stop Holyhead. Our weather should be considerably more seasonal, with temps in the low teens (Celsius), overcast skies, strong winds and intermittent rain – rather like home in the summer!

Though we haven’t yet finished, we’ve already traveled through a vast swath of Wales, over many different ecological zones and through tiny villages and cities alike. We’ve discovered some apparently universal truths about Wales:

• There are 11 million sheep in Wales. We’ve seen most of them.
• Publicans, innkeeps, librarians and bus drivers are uniformly nice & always helpful.
• The hot water is really hot. No, really, like take the skin off your fingers hot – thus the danger signs next to many of the sinks.
• In dry fields sheep shit is less messy than cow shit, but once it starts raining there’s very little difference between the two.

Related Images: