Monday, 12 July. Hooray for Satnav and the introduction of the Woolly Bear.

Weather : Sunny and warm.

Traffic: Light

Distance Travelled: 175 miles

Well, as we haven't yet been dragged into the twentieth century, Bridget will be sending me messages and pictures which I'll be transferring onto this blog so please bear with me.

Armed with reams of written directions and a road atlas, the satnav kindly provided by Martin and Mel was originally going to be used only as an emergency measure. Our first detour came in Newport when the written details failed us and we ended up in a "developing" area of the docks. It became apparent that stopping every five minutes or at every junction wasn't going to be practical so I suggested we try the satnav as the primary means of avoiding dodgy areas. We put in the postcode of Brambles Lodge and set off. Much to our delight, the route coincided hugely with the written directions right through to Port Talbot via Cardiff Bay, Barry Island (pictured above) and Ogmore By Sea (pictured left).
Our level of technical ability became apparent though when we were routed up onto the M4 towards LLanelli. We found the button that said "Avoid Motorways" and the original route was rejoined.

The going was steady, with plenty to see and occasional stops for tea including this one at Kidwelly, when the Woolly Bear demanded to be photographed.

And a brief stop to soak up the scenery at Laugharne.

Faith in the Satnav faltered when, just outside Tenby, we were sent down a lane aptly named "Slippery Back" which had obviously just been turned into a bridlepath. I went on ahead, saying to Bridget that if the bollards had been set widely enough for a horse, then her bike laden with panniers would most likely fit too. When I got to the end she was nowhere to be seen. After about ten minutes my phone rang and she was soon describing a texaco station and a railway arch which was where she now was, having decided against the Slippery Back option. A passing Coastguard helped us the rest of the way, and a good night's sleep was had after a bag of pork scratchings at the local pub.