Wales again

29 December 2015 - 1 January 2016

We stayed in Caerllan cottage, a small National Trust cottage in Llandysul, Ceredigion. As this was in mid Wales; the scenery was decidedly different from Pembrokeshire in the south which I visited on a school trip in 2013, especially in winter. There weren't many animals to see in winter except birds, sheep and ponies. We thought we could catch a glimpse of some dolphins but found none. There were, however, a fathomless multitude of stars which was great because I'd just upgraded my camera to the star-shooting D610.

f/3.5, 20 s, ISO 5000, 24-85@24 mm, Nikon D610

Getting to the cottage was an adventure. Luckily, our rental car had a good GPS that carefully mapped out the web of narrow, winding dirt paths we had to drive through. Still, as the night set in early, we got lost a couple of times and had to ask the villagers for directions. It was a really remote area; there were no telco signals whatsoever. When we arrived, we followed the instructions given by National Trust to find the key to the gates in a recess in one of the walls, which was genuinely exciting.

We went on the Ceredigion coastal path despite the light rain. The sea foam was slightly brown; I think this had something to do with the season because Welsh coastal waters are known for being very blue. The spray made nice shapes. I wonder what made the headland rock collapse in this way:

f/16, 1/100 s, ISO 100, 24-85@85 mm, Nikon D610

I'm not very good with speeds:

f/16, 1/100 s, ISO 100, 24-85@85 mm, Nikon D610

The waves broke in three layers which was pretty cool:

f/10, 1/200 s, ISO 100, 24-85@85 mm, Nikon D610

And we saw a rainbow:

f/10, 1/100 s, ISO 100, 24-85@24 mm, Nikon D610

Here's the full rainbow, barely visible:

f/10, 1/100 s, ISO 100, 24-85@24 mm, Nikon D610

Here's the full beach:

f/10, 1/100 s, ISO 100, 24-85@85 mm, Nikon D610

Further up the coast, we saw a robin. It was sweet hearing its song in winter:

f/4.5, 1/100 s, ISO 100, 24-85@85 mm, Nikon D610

Then, as if on impulse, the weather took a sudden turn for destruction. It started hailing really hard, slashing my poncho into a wreck. The gusts were strong enough to blow me off my tracks, eventually shoving me into the mud. There were no windbreaks such as trees in the landscape as succession in the British country tended to be halted artificially, either by grazing or excessively large populations of rabbits. But this was also what made the horizon so magnificently unobstructed.

Anyway, we got back just in time before our clothes got shredded by the hail and spent the rest of the day trying to clean our shoes, throwing everything else into the washing machine.

We headed out to another area of the coast on a brighter day and crossed paths with the Dylan Thomas trail:

And Welsh Army CCF quarters:

Here's the beach we found. I forgot it's name but there were supposed to be lots of dolphins. I suppose not in winter, though:

f/4.5, 1/100 s, ISO 100, 24-85@24 mm, Nikon D610

The shore was interesting; the sand had been cut away like dough by a narrow stream:

f/8, 1/100 s, ISO 250, 24-85@24 mm, Nikon D610

Then we visited Llanerchaeron, a Georgian villa in the Aeron valley preserved by the National Trust, complete with a huge private garden and farm that makes it self-sufficient. Excavations beneath the estate revealed that people have settled here since the Stone Age, 8000 years ago.

We took a stroll around the gardens. There was a cool mushroom:

f/4.5, 1/100 s, ISO 100, 24-85@85 mm, Nikon D610

And some geese:

The garden included a lake. It reminded me of the scene in Hamlet where Ophelia drowned - There is a willow grows aslant the brook...

f/5, 1/100 s, ISO 320, 24-85@24 mm, Nikon D610

Night fell quickly after sunset so there was nothing much to do in the evening except watch the stars. Winter may not bring much wildlife but it does bring lots of stars, which were plastered across the sky each night. I took my tripod out on a clear night and accidentally caught the milky way! What a neat surprise:

f/3.5, 25 s, ISO 5000, 24-85@24 mm, Nikon D610

 f/3.5, 20 s, ISO 5000, 24-85@24 mm, Nikon D610

After I got used to the dark, I could see the milky way with my naked eyes. It was a magical moment.

 f/3.5, 25 s, ISO 5000, 24-85@24 mm, Nikon D610

 f/3.5, 20 s, ISO 5000, 24-85@24 mm, Nikon D610

In taking these, one of the hinges on my tripod froze and broke off. Well, it came with my first camera free of charge so I guess I should never have trusted it that much.

Anyway, this was a great trip, if only for the night sky and wholesome Welsh air.