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Easy peasy lemon squeezy!!! Well it was only 10 miles with one helluva staircase in the middle. But before that I should give an honourable mention to the Pontoon bar and restaurant in Pwllheli, as it was surely our finest meal so far in quite peculiar and inauspicious surroundings. When I lived in Chester in the early 90s my favourite restaurant was on the bottom floor of a block of flats near Hoole bridge. I went through word of mouth and would never have found it, or indeed gone near it, had I seen it from the outside. It was an Italian restaurant, possibly called Pacino's. I only mention this because we were staying near the seafront at Pwllheli and wanted to eat nearby rather than heading into town. I found Pontoon on Tripadvisor and the reviews were positive. So off we went, through a grey and seemingly endless council estate, miles from the main drag, until we emerged at the end of the southern spur of the harbour. I had been becoming convinced that the online map was wrong, but there it was, the oddest and most casual restaurant I've been in for a long time. The music was great (plenty of reggae), the cocktails were tasty (a mojito for me, a pink something for Jen) and the food was stunning. At the moment there seem to be a lot of people willing to have a go at turning decrepit old buildings into something worthwhile, and this was no different and is definitely to be encouraged. So if you ever find yourself in Pwllheli looking for food, seek it out. Head for the seafront and turn left into the least likely road you come across!
After the best restaurant and the best B&B of the walk we are now both big Pwllheli fans, but it was once again time to move on. All I had to do was stop Jen taking photos of the breakfast table, which wasn't easy. I skimmed through her photos this morning and they are so different to mine: all mirrors, boots at jaunty angles and sandwiches jutting out of their bags!
Today was simple: roughly 5 flat miles to Llanbedrog, 1 mile over the Llanbedrog lump, 3 flat miles to Abersoch and 1 to the Porth Tocyn Hotel. Hopefully that adds up to 10. Today was notable for two things. First the three beaches (yes I know that's already more than two things but I've lumped them together), which were increasingly packed due to non-stop sun. It's a strange sensation walking along a beach in walking boots and carrying a rucksack when everyone else is wearing next to nothing and clearly there for a quite different reason. Unlike the Hafan y Mor experience though I often feel cheated that I wasn't born with the ability to like sunbathing, or able to nurture it during the last 52 years. I'm also not keen on sand in general, though I have enjoyed making mortar with it in the past and I quite like sand timers. Walking on it is ok though (not barefoot of course), so I enjoyed the three beach walks today, as did Jen. And Llanbedrog beach has the fab multi-coloured beach huts.
The other notable feature was the Llanbedrog lump, which I've always thought is the most beautiful bit of the entire Lleyn Peninsula. And especially now when it's covered with heather and gorse flowers. It juts out into the sea far enough and is high enough to give superb views in all directions. It's a tiny bit of a nut to crack though, with many, many steep steps to negotiate before suddenly reaching the viewpoint. Just go there, now!
When it was hot today it was very hot, so we stopped for refreshments at the Llanbedrog beach cafe, for an ice cream on the second beach and in Abersoch for lunch, which gave us another of those "how did we get here" moments, especially when we spotted the 'Aberdaron 12 miles' road sign. We're used to visiting Abersoch at New Year when we usually stay in Aberdaron, so it was odd and quite disconcerting to see it packed. Abersoch always reminds me of high school trips I didn't go on. Teachers would ask us whether we were going and me and my mates would say, "Nah, we're staying in The Port, it's better here." If you've ever been to Ellesmere Port you'll realise what idiots me and my mates were!
It was still heating up so we were relieved to complete the final mile to the Porth Tocyn Hotel by 3:30, leaving plenty of relaxation time, blog tapping time and of course bath time before dinner...
-- Posted from Kev's iPhone
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