Wednesday July 12th 2017 - Part 2 - Porth Dinllaen

A couple of minutes drive along the main road from Nefyn took me to the village of Morfa Nefyn. Just off the beginning of the lane leading to the golf course was a National Trust car park so I left the van there and headed up the lane towards the clubhouse. Since my accidental discovery of Porth Dinllaen a couple of years ago I'd found out that if I stayed on the path across the golf course instead of going down to the little hamlet I would come to a lifeboat house and a small beach, and another path from there would lead me round the base of the cliff back to the hamlet; from there I could go along the beach back to the car park and the whole route would make a good circular walk.

On the cliff top above the lifeboat house was a 'bench with a view' and I spent several minutes just taking it all in - the hills across the bay standing out clearly and the little hamlet of Porth Dinllaen nestling below the cliff over on my right. A wide block paving path led from the cliff top down behind the boat house and onto the small beach and at the far side a series of shallow steps took me round the base of the cliff. The path from there was quite narrow, and though I had several opportunities to stop and take photos some of those chances were unfortunately scuppered by people coming the other way and wanting to get past.

Eventually I came to a white weatherboarded house with a small corner garden set against the foot of the cliff, and here the path became even more tricky than before - it went across the top of the retaining sea wall and was only just wide enough for one person to walk along. Several people were coming the other way so I had to wait a few minutes before I could go, though while I was waiting I managed to get a shot of some lovely vibrant flowers in the garden.

At the far side of the sea wall the path widened out a bit and another few minutes walking took me behind a couple of cottages, through a small courtyard and right onto Porth Dinllaen beach. Just by the cottage on the corner was a raised flower bed full of brightly coloured blooms - with the white walls and blue cottage door it looked very Mediterranean-like and was worth a photo.

Even though it was the middle of the week and not yet school holidays the main part of the beach was quite busy, though once I'd got past the cottages built out over the rocks I found the next beach was completely empty. Past another house on its own set at the base of the cliff and the next beach, Morfa Nevyn, was long and wide, sweeping for quite a distance round the curve of the bay. About halfway along a wide concrete slope took me up onto a short pleasant road of private houses and bungalows and this in turn led me back to the car park where I'd left the van.

Just across from the car park entrance was the Porth Dinllaen cafe; it had a very pleasant outside seating area and as the afternoon was getting on I decided to treat myself to a meal, however I soon abandoned that idea. There were no menus on the outside tables and when I went inside the only menus I could find on the counter were for sandwiches, snacks and cakes rather than proper meals; all the items listed had some sort of strange code number against them rather than a proper price but I managed to work out that a sandwich would cost me £5.50. That was just a ridiculous price and no way would I pay it so I went back outside, unhitched the dogs from the bench seat where I'd left them and went back to the van - I could make my own meal when I got back to the camp site.

The drive back in the late afternoon sunshine was really pleasant and as I headed along the B4417 not far from its junction with the A449 I came across a view on my right that I really had to stop and take a photo of. Luckily there was a convenient lay-by to hand so I pulled in and crossed the road; I could see right across the Llyn peninsula to the beaches of Harlech and Shell Island on the far side of Tremadog bay, with the hills and mountains of Snowdonia National Park rising up behind. Beyond the road in front of me the view was of hills and a patchwork of fields dotted with houses, farms and animals - it was the sort of view that I could happily spend the rest of my life staring at. 

Back at the camp site I finally made myself a long-awaited meal then settled in to watch a dvd. It was when I was ready for taking the dogs for their last walk at 10pm that I noticed the sky over the far side of the camp site - it was ablaze with colour left behind by the setting sun. Definitely a photo not to be missed, and the perfect end to an almost perfect day.