One of the things I love about the sea is exploring the shoreline and the rock pools and seeing what you can find. As a child I loved being outdoors, I had a very active childhood and my siblings and I were always climbing trees and rocks. We spent every Sunday out somewhere, usually near water as my Dad was a keen fisherman.

The highlight of our year was our two week caravan holiday in Somerset where we would build elaborate sand creations, examine the rock pools for exciting creatures, and go crabbing from the pier. I love it and still get that sense of excitement now whenever I am near a beach.

My walk the other way along the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path took me along the gorgeous Castle and South beaches, and all the way to the end of the stunning Giltar Point. The views from the point were amazing, I could see over to Caldey Island and all the way round the coastline with the most amazing cliffs.

There was so much to see as there were lots of boats going to and from the island. There were also, sadly, many dead jellyfish. I think I counted at least 8, all of the same variety and a similar size. They are fascinating creatures to watch and it was awful to see so many lying on the beach.

A couple of days later I went over on a boat trip to Caldey, the island has a Cistercian monastery and some brilliant walks where you can see more of these amazing beaches and cliffs. I also saw my first ever pair of black swans on the old abbey pond.

The following day I went on a seal cruise back to the island, it was quite choppy and it was only a small boat so there was a free roller coaster ride included! We saw lots of basking female seals, it was difficult to get pictures but trust me that is a seal bobbing up and down in the second picture.

Some truly wonderful experiences, I am so lucky to be able to have done this trip and have the life that I now have. It still doesn’t seem real yet, even after all the years of planning it. I am still very much still in holiday mode here, and still have many practical things to sort out, so have not really got into a normal routine yet. I have started learning Spanish though, I can get by in many situations but wanted to learn it in a more structured way. Luckily 20 years of teaching English grammar and basic linguistics is helpful for understanding how other languages work.

We are off on a very exciting trip this weekend as we are going to visit my brother and sister in law, Ben and Amanda, at their cave house in the mountains near Granada! They have owned the house for about 4 years, but due to the fact that they mainly come to Spain outside the school holidays, and I have not been able to do that, I have never seen it. We were going to meet up there in June last year but we all know what happened to plans in 2020!

So I will be back with you next week and may post about that before I continue with the UK tour posts. I hope that you all have a good rest of the week and the weekend. I am off to a friend’s pool this afternoon, and the beach tomorrow as it is still very hot here. I know, it’s a tough life 😉

Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.