Day 1 - The Great Orme

 Setting off at 9.30 a.m. we actually walked around The Orme.

There's an Awful Lot of Blackberries:

I find it hard to walk passed a Blackberry or two, or three hundred.  So we picked and ate as we went.

The weather was perfect with calm grey skies and a light shower. Then as we descended, the sun broke out and it was glorious.

For those of you who know about tunnels, the road had markers to let us know how far we had left to walk.

6 kilometres up and down and around the base, we spotted seals coming in with the tide and fishermen in places we thought were dangerously close to the edge and way down below us.

The Orme is famous for it's goats. During the first lockdown they trammelled the streets of Llandudno, eating everything in their path. A rather large, fine fellow jumped out infront of us and ran up the road. Chris remarking about the song 'High on a Hill was a Lonely Goatherd' and how the puppeteers had made exact replica's of them for The Sound Of Music. That song played in my head all day, thanks Chris!

Aroma of goat pervaded the air.

W were hot, sticky and not a bit tired and the other side had a quiet beach with small dunes, so in we paddled, our hot feet relaxing in a calm green sea. I honestly wondered how we were ever going to get our socks and boots on again, so we sat for an hour soaking up the sunshine and chatting to people nearby.

After the chat - the climb! There was a zig-zag path, well it looked like a path or sorts.  A few steps made of rock, some overgrown bits, dangerous bits, brambles (glad I didn't pack shorts), gorse, broken and missing steps and goats! I had my sticks and they came into their own as I heaved myself up the steps, Chris pushing from behind as I wheezed and boiled. Totally exhausted, and I felt so sick and dizzy, we reached the summit. As an achievement it's up there with the best of them. The feeling - after I recovered, was second to non. The height, the view, the bluest of skies. My lungs filled with sea air, and a sit down to appreciate what we'd done. Of course we could have ridden the tram or sat in the ski lift, but we had set our old selves a challenge AND WE DID IT!

 So, home, via the Climb Down, which tbh hurt more than the climb up, but better by far, for my heart.

We ate at a quiet restaurant, recommended to us by two ladies we had met on the train. Sitting outside in a secluded courtyard we had the best steak and ale pie and a glass or two of something very nice, then we walked the rather large and long prom. The weather can only be described as Mediterranean. Promenading couples til gone 10pm and No Coats. Warm, balmy, beautiful evening.