It absolutely poured down last night. Sometimes the rain was so loud that it woke me up. The weather forecast for today was very grim with heavy rain and wind speeds of over 30 miles an hour with gusts up to 55 miles an hour. I decided to modify my route taking in more road walking than coastal walking.
Up early again and we set off at just after 7:30 am as the sun was rising. Mary and Lulu accompanied me on the 1st mile or so getting me beyond the dual carriageway and onto a side road. We said our goodbyes just as the rain was starting.
I took very few photographs today because of the wind and rain. I only took out my phone for navigation purposes. I even resorted to standing in an abandoned telephone box so that I could take my rucksack off and get a drink and a snack  without being blown over.
Most of the morning was spent with my head down walking into the wind and rain. I only saw a couple of hardy souls all day. A lady walking a black labrador and a man called Derek in shorts and a kagoule who was running a 4 mile loop.
I walked on the road all day today because every time I came to the coastal path, it looked like a quagmire.
I was very happy to arrive in the village of Llansteffan but wasn’t in the mood to admire the castle. I was more excited when I found a café that was open, the Village Store. I entered the café dripping wet and soaked right through to my undies. The lady told me to pop my jacket on the radiator to dry. I had a cup of tea and a rock cake made with bits of Mars bars.
I was the only person in the café to start with, but then several lovely local people started to arrive. We had a really good chat about what I was doing and I gave out lots of hearts.
Then I was back out into the rain once more. At one point I was walking up a steep hill and the rainwater was running like a torrent back down it. The wind was howling really loud and the trees were swaying. I was very conscious of the fact that there were many fallen trees on my route today and so I was glad when I finally got away from that section.
I must admit that there were times when I was a little afraid today. The road walking was at times a little sketchy as some cars didn’t allow me much room and certainly didn’t slow down. This was exacerbated by the weather conditions and huge puddles of water and spray. Then of course, there was a real possibility of trees or branches falling in my path and hitting me.
However, I arrived at my destination in Carmarthen in one piece and way ahead of schedule and amazingly reasonably dry as the rain had baited for the last hour.
Maurice came to pick me up in his campervan. I had a lovely soak in the bath and then we went out for dinner. Then it was time for a quick debrief with Mary and Maurice.
Back in Priscilla for the evening I did a quick scout around in readiness for departure early tomorrow morning.
Best bits: finding the village store in Llansteffan
Worst bits: weather conditions
Distance: 16 miles
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