Rain and wind all night and most of the morning but by lunchtime we decided to brave it and go out on the bikes.

We started in Pembrey Country Park where there are lots of warnings to stay out of the woodland. Beware of falling trees! This park from the WWI to the fifties was a huge armaments factory. It was repurposed and opened in 1980.

Our first stop is the beach where we have to brave a sand storm to get on it. At the narrow entrance to the beach the sand is soft and blowing so hard its difficult to see. We are thoroughly sand blasted by the time we make it down onto the thankfully damp sandy beach.

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The beach is beautiful, empty and golden and immense. Its on the Pembrey Peninsula. It’s known as an ‘Atlantic storm beach’ as it faces southwest directly into the prevailing wind. The tide is far out and we can see a lone kite surfer in the distance, whipping from side to side with huge leaps into the air.

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We cycle around the park and eventually find our way to the Welsh National Closed Road Circuit and cycle the route once ourselves. It’s a pretty tarmac route through lovely woodland which we speculate is used for sprint time trials.

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Next stop is the coastal path along the Pembrey Peninsula. It’s wonderful to be on a decent path with no cars and only a few walkers. We are right next to the beach and estuary, the path is literally on top of the sea wall defences.

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Eventually we arrive at Burry Port Harbour and find ourselves a pub.

The Portobello Inn is busy, friendly with unusual decor, ie full size motorbikes and the beer is incredibly cheap. We chat with the locals and meet a couple of cute cockapoos called Mable and Reg. Not as cute as Nala obviously! By now it’s peeing down again outside so we have another drink.

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Heading back once the rain stops we take the canal path route and only get slightly lost.

Evening in the van watching the first Lord of the Rings film and breaking out the chocolate.