A Week in St. Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales
I started writing this blog the week after getting home and somehow completely forgot about it. A week away camping in St. Davids, which is located in the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast, Wales during the summer holidays.
This was my first trip where I had to drive myself over 40minutes...so this was a big deal. An hour and a half drive with 2 kids and what seemed like my whole airing cupboard with all the quilts, cushions, pillows, blankets, and clothes, not to mention the body boards we stuffed in.
Luckily for my little Terios, my mum had the tent and all the kitchen, foodstuff, and air beds. She had made her way down earlier in the morning...because getting my kids out the house before 10 not on a school day is pretty unheard of!
We pulled up after driving on more back roads than needed and a one way that the sat nav blatantly didn't register, expecting to see the tent up. However, the wind had been awful so my mum was still battling to get it up. So it was the best daughter to the rescue!
My brother, sister in law and nephew were also down and had this luxury dome tent with a blow-up bed, that was bigger than my actual bed back home! I would definatley get one of those next time.
I was sharing a room in the tent with my youngest, Matthew & we had a bit of a bumpy start to our first night. I woke up with anxiety, struggling to catch my breath & before I had a cuppa in my hand I was crying. I didn't know why. My mum however knows me so well she figured out it was the driving down. The build-up of it all and the thought of driving again that day to the trampoline park had triggered the anxiety.
Our Daily Outings
Luckily for me, my brother drove my car & the kids had a blast. I decided not to jump & just chill with my ipad & design some of my new oracle deck.
St. Davids Cathedral, oh my, this was just absolutely divine, so much so I went back again in the week and happened to be there as they were playing the organ. How can I even describe such a powerful experience? It was truly incredible. If you know me or follow me, you will know that I love sound healing. It is some powerful shit and that is what it felt like sitting in that glorious space.
Here is just a small snippet of what I was able to experience.
The husband came down for the day with little Dixie Moo (the dog), he doesn't do camping which is why he didn't come for the week. We decided to head out to the blue lagoon for most of the day.
It really was beautiful but my gosh was it a cold, windy and slightly drizzly day. We followed the coastal path as it was just so beautiful and we spotted a seal, which excited me so much, however I was too slow getting my camera out and missed the shot.
As we continued to walk (with a super stroppy son in tow) we could see another beach (Traeth Llyfn) further along so we just kept on walking. We had to carry the dog down the super steep steps but she loved it once we finally made it back to solid ground.
We had a cheecky little picnic as we tried to hide from the wind and watch the brave people jumping into the sea!
Once we got back to the car the kids were desperate to get into the sea after watching everyone else. So they doned their wetsuits...well Matthew did. Isabelle didn't have one but insisted she'd be fine! They grabbed their body boards and ran straight into the sea while Lee and I watched from the shore.
We spent a whole day at this beach, it was glorious. We took the body boards and lived our best lives. When I say we, I mean me and my brother mostly as we were in the water more than kids, trying our hardest to catch some waves. I bloody loved it.
The beach had toilets (you had to pay for) and a cafe/shop which was a god send when you trying to warm up, you just can't beat a hot chocolate or a good old cuppa to get your insides back to their normal temperature.
Porthclais National Park - Harbour
This was one of our favourite places to venture to at some point in the day. I loved the chai lattes and the kids loved the ice cream.
There was a little cafe there and we bought some crabbing nets for the kids. I didn't expect much from this but thought it would be fun for the kids...I can confidently say both kids and adults fully enjoyed! There were just so many crabs...it was brilliant. They really do love bacon!
I took the kids to watch the sunset one night, which I loved, however, the kids found it a bit boring! Who finds sunsets boring! I feel this needs rectifying desperatly!
A lovely elderly couple took a picture of the 3 of us and I am so grateful for this.
Coastal Walks
From Porthclais you could walk one way towards Whitesands or the other way towards St.Davids. My mum and brother walk to Whitesands and said it was glorious. See picture taken by my brother...
On another day me, mum and the kids walked the other way towards St. Davids via St. Non's Chapel. Now, this was another divine little place. The peace that washed over me was just so deep, I could have sat there for hours. I came here twice as I felt such a beautiful connection wash over me.
There is also a wishing well and the old chapel ruins you can walk to.
On a rainy day, we travelled into Haverfordwest to go to the cinema. It was such a perfect thing to do to keep the kids busy.
We took an ipad with some films and series downloaded so when the kids got bored when it either raining or we were making food they just chilled in the tent. I joined them myself for a bit of Jumanji.
St David's Town,
Well actually it is a city due to having a Cathedral.
We spent a day exploring the shops and on that day it happened to be Market day, so there was even more awesomenss to explore. I even found a buddha bell in a local shop and I just couldn't resist and I now use it all the time when starting my meditations.
Places to Eat
There are a few places to eat in St. Davids. Here are the places we went...
We had quite a few meals here. All of them were lovely, which is why we kept going back. The staff were really helpful and had great an inviting energy.
We weren't able to sit inside here due to covid so we sat outside, luckily it was dry, just a bit windy. Also, if you are not a fan of big pub meals I suggest ordering off the child's menu, it was plenty for me and mum with our cod bites!
I recommend getting there early to order as the queue was down the road some days. We managed to get there early-ish and I have to say it was bloody lovely and well worth the wait.
The Veg Patch
If you looking for a sandwich or an organic food shop then this is the place.
Bakery
If you're looking for a quick bite to eat then there is a great little bakery.
THE CAMPSITE
We stayed at Porthclais Farm Campsite, I had no idea what to expect as I hadn't been camping since being a kid. The showers were so much better than I expected and was exactly what you needed to warm up some days.
Even though the weather was mostly dry but because we were up on cliff the wind could get rough and by the early evening we were all layered up, which in my case included fleecey p.j's, about 3 tops, a hoody and a coat and some thick socks. And we stayed here in early August.
View from the tent
Let me know if you have visted St. David's and what your favourite things to do were. If you haven't been let me know if this place calls to you.
Much Love
Katie Rose x