Some Favourite Things: Walking Offa's Dyke Path: Bodfari to Prestatyn

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Walking Offa's Dyke Path: Bodfari to Prestatyn

Today was sunny and wonderful. The Irish Sea was in the distance, closer and closer as the day went on. The beauty was impossible to capture with an iPhone, but I tried anyway.

In the photo below you can see the pedestrian bridge I crossed an hour or so earlier.

Some of the stiles today were old/unusual like this one below.

Looking south from near the sea in Prestatyn. That ridge in the back is the one the Path comes up and over, then down into Prestatyn. For some reason, I wasn't expecting it and with the sunny hot weather and my knapsack feeling very heavy, I confess to a few curse words on the uphill.

The Path goes right through the heart of Prestatyn, past Plas Ifan, a converted chapel which was my B and B for the last night.

North of Plas Ifan was the shopping district and the train station with a bridge to go over the tracks, then another stretch to the coastline. I passed this sign.

Finally arrived at the marker indicating the start/finish of Offa's Dyke Path.

Of course, there was an information panel:

After hanging around on the coast admiring the permanent trophy for a while, I headed back up the street past the train station and the shops to Plas Ifan, another completely charming Welsh B and B. If you ever go there, stay at Plas Ifan. Malcolm and Swan are the welcoming hosts.

Their back garden was so relaxing. Malcolm very kindly brought me a tall glass of cold water to help cool me off. There were friendly chickens scratching about and lots of places to sit and Swan's gardens to admire as well as other guests to chat with.

My room was just inside the front door at ground level (yay!!). There were two beds and a small but functional bathroom.

Breakfast (fresh eggs!) the next morning was served in this charming space, with views from the indoor garden to the outdoor garden. I could have happily moved in permanently!

But alas, the walk was over and it was time to reflect on the journey just finished and think ahead to the next journey (home). Malcolm gave me a lift back to the train station, which was very kind of him - maybe he could sense my exhaustion?

I caught the train to London Euston, transferred to the Underground and diddled around on that with one change to get to Paddington Underground, found Paddington Train Station and the Heathrow Express to Terminal 2, found the Hoppa Hotel bus that went to the Holiday Inn that Don had arranged for me on points and crashed for the night, ready for a 5 am trip back to Heathrow for my 7:30 am flight home to Toronto. When I thought about all of this during my trip planning last winter, I found it all a little complicated and overwhelming, but it's really only a matter of reading the signs and I'm starting to improve in that area!

So Offa's Dyke Path: completed (less the day I opted not to walk thanks to thunderstorms)

Approximately 182 miles or 280 km, with more for missing turns, doing unexpected tours of farmers' fields, being lost in the fog and getting to and from B and B's.

Approximately 30,000 ft. of elevation, comparable to Mount Everest.

It was AWESOME!!!