Thumbs up Swansea

I had some time to kill while I was waiting for the Russian Visa to come through so I decided to hitch to Swansea after being inspired by a show called Thumbs Up . Thumbs up follows two Americans hitching from LA to the east coast in the first series and LA to Alaska in the second,the premise alone should make for some entertaining viewing but when you throw in their personalty’s it makes you sit down and watch 1 series at a time and things like eating and showering don't become so important anymore . Anyhow I had all my kit packed and made for the local bus station and took the bus to Chiswick High Street where the M4 starts and camped out on the slip road after the Esso petrol station . To my amazement after 30 seconds of holding my cerialbox turned sign a woman in a Saab pulled over but then realised that she won't be able to help as she was going south . Next a gentleman going to Heathrow airport stopped but that wasn't going to work out either . About 40 minutes later I got picked up by a Pole named Dominic who worked for Honda delivering customers cars and he said he could take me to junction 5 which would have been solid progress indeed. Unfortunately there were no services at junction 5 and Dominic was kind enough to drive a further 18 miles to the services and dropped me off .Shortly after 2 Australian girls and their Mother who were going to a music festival picked me up and dropped me in the services between Bath and Swindon . Next was Nikki who put me slightly off course and dropped my on the m5 when I was picked up by Mike who dropped me back at the same services that Nikki picked me up from ! . The final ride to Swansea was Simon who although dressed in smart business artier had hitched all across Europe in his youth and was kind enough to drop me off at Tescos in downtown Swansea were I could meet my Couchsurfing host Liz .

Liz studies at Swansea University and works at a resturant with her flatmate in the weekends so she didn't have much time to show me around during the day but took me out to sample the pubs and the nightlife . The next day when Liz went to work I cought the bus out to Rhossili and spent the day in the Gower region . The main attraction at Rhossili is the Wormshead which is a small peninsula that you can walk across when the tide is low enough . Unfortunately for me the tide was in and I had to view the Atlantic further back than I would have liked . The tide was still low enough to walk along the rock formations on the sure and see what the numerous fisherman had caught . I was back on the bus to 3 cliff bay but there is no route that goes directly to the bay so the bus driver dropped me off where he thought the road was on the right . After about 15 minutes of dodging cars and a few surprised looks later I made the road and wandered down through a motorcamp onto the burrows side of the bay . The scenery was really something and reminded me of Northland or Nelson Bays back home (apart from the clifftop Castle) . Trying to get back to the bus proved more difficult than I expected . When I bought the day pass in the morning the bus driver claimed that it would work with all the buses in the Gower however this did not turnout to be the case . I had to walk down a track to get to my bus and wait a hour luckily there was a pub right next to the bus stop which helped pass the time . Liz worked late so when I got back I read a book and called it a night

The next morning I walked into town and spent time walking around the marina ,wine st and the castle . There was a Outback(Aussie theme pub) on wine street so I stopped to watch the rugby then making my way on up to the remains on Swansea Castle and spent some time milling around the city centre then catching the bus out to Mumbles point and Oysterly Castle . Oysterly Castle was more complete than other Castles I had seen in the Gower and Swansea but the Castle itself was shut when I arrived in the evening . Mumbles is a really nice spot to have a bit to eat ,you can climb the rocks on very easily and watch the waves crash against the cliffs below while also overlooking the pier and lighthouse from that same point while munching on subway .

Next morning Liz and her flatmate dropped me off next to a petrol station so that my cousins who were making their way from New Milton could pick me up and we would catch the ferry to Ireland and onto County Limerick but that story is for another day

...As I write this I am watching trains go by from a hostel in Dublin and can't help but feel I am behind in my posting, I will try to catch up soon and finish the visa section...promise !

Anyway here are the token snaps from the Gower and Swansea and more can be found here