Last day on Offa’s Dyke – 13 days 285km

This was definitely  our easiest day with us arriving before 2 pm for the first time, so    we managed to finish on a high. Highlights for the day were:

A squirrel (dead) but I was never quick enough to get a photo of a live one
Crossing a motorway meaning we were close to then end
Final breakfast
Cliffs we didn’t have to climb
Arriving at Prestatyn beach
People enjoying the beach
Our luxurious room for 3 nights.
Grocery shopping – so many choices

I have now walked the length of Wales  -285 km in 13 days.

Final thoughts on this walk.

We both agreed that we hadn’t really enjoyed this walk. It is supposed to be one of the tougher long walks in the UK, and my lack of fitness at the start didn’t help with my enjoyment score.

However, both Kay and I have many long walks to compare it with, most of them much more challenging paths than this one.  We both feel we can honestly say it was a bit boring and not very exciting. Walking over sheep farms doesn’t really do it for us.

One day we met a couple of local men  when we were sheltering from the wind and resting from the relentless hills.

They asked us how we were enjoying the Offa’s Dyke and we both replied that we were not really liking it that much. Their snarky reply was that we should have just gone for a walk around Liverpool.

We didn’t think that was appropriate but weren’t quick enough with a retort. Later we discussed how we have both walked 3,000km the length of New Zealand, walked all the Great Walks of New Zealand, and many more tracks there. Add in 1,000km Bibbulmun Track and 6 weeks in Patagonia, Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea and a number of European Caminos between us. We reckon we have plenty to compare Offa’s Dyke  with. Quite frankly, it is has come out quite low on our scale.

Never the less I did enjoy the little villages, the funny looking livestock, the friendly people who all had a NZ connection, the views of the  patchwork fields, and the canals.  The cheesy chips and full English Breakfasts were yummy too.

About 5kg lighter so that target has been met

5 thoughts on “Last day on Offa’s Dyke – 13 days 285km

  • You forgot to mention Nepal! in your summary of treks. I would hope Nepal would rate much higher also but ????? . Well done anyway completing that bit. On to the next then? Yeah. Hope it turns out a bit better, at least you will be battle hardened now and a few kilos lighter will surely help too so maybe that will help with finding more to be happy about. All the best from Takaka

  • I am intrigued by your beach photo with only two people in sun chairs on entire beach ?????
    It’s clear the Welsh are not into the beach thing or is there another reason.

  • Congratulations to you both. Even though you didn’t enjoy this walk as much, it made great reading and the photos were fab. If only those snarky locals knew where you have been!
    Hope you are planning a quiet break now, at least for a while. Its been a pretty desperate way to lose weight Karen!
    Maybe it’s time to write a book!?

Let me know what you think and leave me some encouragement.