Day 14. Everything changed on Saturday morning: the sky was blue once more, and we knew that we only had to walk to Tintern Abbey, where we would meet Lindsey and Yolanda. Our plan said that we should get to Monmouth, but we both needed a rest, and the girls would not have appreciated us walking all day and coming back too tired to do anything! Now that we are discovering our actual capabilities, the route plan is having to change as our bodies are simply not capable of walking over 20 miles on hills, with packs, day after day. We have been reviewing our objectives and these are:
1. Succeed in getting to John O'Groats
2. Do it by the first week in June
3. Use a route that avoids main roads and is as interesting and attractive as possible.
We have already had to modify our original plans to make the route easier - we were planning to do a loop taking in The Cheddar Gorge, but went for a less interesting, but easier route. We will also not be able to follow all of the Offa's Dyke route, some of which has a lot of climb, but will sometimes take a more direct road route. If we had no time limits, it could be otherwise.
Chepstow is in a great position and in lovely hilly countryside, but the town has been rather spoiled by badly planned development and has lost much of its charm. However, there are still some nice buildings and the castle and old walls. There was a cold northerly breeze, but a bright blue sky, and it was very clear and we decided to take the Wye Valley Walk route out of Chestow, this being more direct and following the river more closely than the Offas Dyke route. The route, as it turned out, had been diverted because of renovation work, and we were sent through the race course, which was rather nice with great swathes of green turf and parkland and good views back to the Severn Bridge. The path keeps to the top of the Wye valley, winding parallel to the river through forests which are rich in flora of all kinds. There were carpets of wood anenomes and bluebells, ferns, and a great variety of trees, many covered in blossom, so it was delightful walking. There was a further diversion that took us through some attractive farmland, apart from one uphill slog across a ploughed field, before we returned to the Wye Valley forests again. There was a long descent down a path that seemed to have been a raging torrent at some time recently as it was stripped down to the rock with boulders strewn across the way. The path narrowed once more, and Tintern Abbey came into view through the trees and we were soon standing by the road looking down on it, with the river behind. We walked on through the village which is strewn for a mile or more along the A466 that runs right alongside the river, finding our guest house at the north end. We left our bags, and as LIndsey told us she would be arriving early, we went to The Moon and Sixpence pub that overlooks the river nearby and ordered a beer. No more walking today.
We spent the rest of the day being lazy and getting some badly needed rest, and enjoying being united with LIndsey and Yo again.
Our absences are not at all easy for the girls, and as the walking is hard for us, the venture seems rather quixotic. Now that we have committed to it, we must see it through in the best way possible. However, with all of this to consider, planning does become a balancing act and far from easy.
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