Made it!
In swirling mist and a chilly NW wind,
we waved a fond final farewell to what we could see of Snowdon and then struggled through a tangle of roads, to reach and cross
the Menai Bridge on to Anglesey, there to touch the water of the Irish Sea as we had that of the Atlantic on day 0 (qv).
BIRDS seen on this trip:
| Mallard |
| Pheasant H |
| Grey Heron |
| Buzzard |
| Red Kite |
| Sparrowhawk |
| Kestral |
| Moorhen |
| Coot |
| Black Headed Gull |
| Herring Gull |
| Lesser Black backed Gull |
| Rock Dove |
| Woodpigeon |
| Swift |
| Skylark |
| Swallow |
| House Martin |
| Pied Wagtail |
| Meadow Pipit |
| Wren |
| Dunnock |
| Robin |
| Redstart |
| Stonechat |
| Wheatear |
| Blackbird |
| Great tit |
| Blue tit |
| Magpie |
| Jackdaw |
| Raven |
| Rook |
| Crow |
| Goldfinch |
| Chaffinch |
| Greenfinch |
| Linnet |
| Mute Swan |
| Coal tit |
| Redshank H |
| Oyster Catcher H |
| Greater Black Backed Gull |
| Cormorant |
Some important messages.
We are indebted to Christo for an extraordinary degree of planning, that provided us all with a lot more exercise than we’d expected and a wonderful introduction to inner Wales. We’re glad to report that Ben’s leg wound is healing nicely, which is just as well, as he plans to sail across the Atlantic in November (as you do). Our trip has been beautifully supervised, supported and encouraged by Glynis, whom we likened to a genie for her uncanny capacity to materialize exactly where and when we needed her, and we didn’t even need to rub a bottle. Liz has proved the value of e-biking as a means of silent, inexpensive, non-polluting, traffic-passing, uphill bike-beating, open-air exercise. Malcolm disgraced himself again by falling from vertical to horizontal among astonished shoppers near Holyhead: in attempting to dismount, his shorts snagged the saddle, and rider and steed toppled over as one. No paving stones or bones broken. Peg must have the last word. She out-rode all non-e bikers and out-climbed all non-e walkers; and she will soon be back in Mozambique, grateful for the generosity of all who have contributed – or may yet do so – to the community health programme in which LAHOW has been privileged to play a small part.
A fond farewell to all our readers! And a big Thanks for your patience.
For more about the Mozambique work and needs, or to donate, go to:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lahow
and heads off up the Pyg track
– Well, it is there, but shrouded in cloud behind the nearer peak on the right. Will it be clear for tomorrow’s (now today’s) climb? We are about to find out, after a night in a roadside pub call Pen Y Gwryd, ‘a classic mountaineers lodge where Hillary and Tenzing trained for the conquest of Mount Everest.’ (No, not that Hillary). We’ll be in their footsteps (not in hers).
On the e-bike, you get no power-support unless you pedal – and then only if you ask for it (for the p-s that is). LIZ has done the whole journey, except for those 2km, either free-wheeling downhill, or pedalling without power, or pedalling with power-help (which comes in 4 strengths). Her maximum recorded speed on the downhill glides is 39.9 MPH (64 kph). This is even faster than she used to walk up the long corridors of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi, but doubtless the effort devoted to the latter made her ready for this. At every lunch or coffee spot we visit (very few of course), we charge the battery, and it has never run out of power. Malcolm took the e-bike up the 11-arrow hill, sacrificing generously his opportunity to prove he could ride up on the ordinary bike. ‘It’s no doddle, is it?’ said Liz. In fact it was very hard work, and at the steepest point he had to get off and push.
