Mini Adventure. Heading South. Day 1 part 1

I had the opportunity to get away for a night again, so decided to try somewhere new. Fancied going a bit further south towards the Pembrokeshire Coast so booked an overnight at Borth and looked forward to exploring the area. Going to split the trip into a few blog posts, otherwise it is going to be way too long.

First stop was Dolgoch Falls. This had been recommended to me by Richard (See photographers to inspire) and it sounded gorgeous. So early start on an absolutely glorious morning and got there 10ish ready to freshen up and go on a hike. Unfortunately there were no facilities (open during "the season" which apparently July 1st isn't) and I didn't have enough change for parking. Again. When will I learn!

Passed the station for the Talyllyn Steam Railway en route so thought I would try there. It is a very quaint narrow guage steam railway and the two lovely ladies working in the tea room couldn't have been more helpful, providing tea and toast and listing all the best places to visit locally.
So suitably refreshed I headed back to Dolgoch. 

The walk follows the river upstream and over a series of gorgeous waterfalls. The way up to the first one is paved and is accessible for all mobilities. Then the path gets a bit more steep and tricky, but no problem for a seasoned hiker in sensible shoes!

The setting was idyllic. It felt almost like a bit of a tropical oasis. You had beams of sunlight shining through the trees and the only sounds were birds and the rushing of the water. It has been suggested that I go into a bit of a dream state on my walks and I think that is sort of true. Because I tend to do these solo I can completely switch off. My mind can wander where it will and its all very Zen. This does probably explain why I get lost so often!

You could cross the stream in a few places and I just loved this bridge.

Apparently there is an abundance of wildlife there but I haven't yet developed the patience needed to wait for it to appear. If they drop into my line of vision when the camera is poised, great. If not, then they have missed their photo opportunity!

It was nice tho to be able to set the tripod up and play around with shutter speeds and change the look of the water. I find waterfalls quite tricky to get a good photo of. Generally they are long and thin and surrounded by an awful lot of green and although spectacular in real life, can be a bit flat in a photo. Took loads and these are probably the best. I find that the camera can never completely replicate the detail that you see with your own eyes. Your brain compensates for the differences in brightness much better than any camera so you are able to see all the contrasting detail. Plus there is nothing like standing there feeling the spray, smelling the freshness in the air and hearing the roaring of the water as it wends its unstoppable way.

There is a picnic area at the top of the falls, but unfortunately the bugs got there first. Now that I have pink hair I think they mistake me for a flower and I am covered in bites which are currently driving me crazy!

Spent a very happy couple of hours here then headed for a castle that my tea ladies had told me about. It is at the end of a very narrow, windy and steep road with a bit of an uphill hike at the end of it. Although there is not an awful lot of castle left, the views are fantastic all around. There are plaques all around showing how the castle would have looked and apparently it was well defended with a series of deep ditches for the invading armies to fall into and then have all sorts of unpleasant stuff poured over them!

End of my first morning and a lot of ground covered.

Lessons Learned: Talk to the locals as they know all the hidden treasures.
Wear bug spray.

Diet Diary: So the extra bit of hiking didn't compensate for the comfort eating last week and I put on 1.5lb! Still feeling determined this week.