Aberporth - May 2006
Ceredigion - Wales

  With the Ducati ST2 recently arrived in our garage, we just had to have a weekend away on. We quite fancied Wales for a change, having been North for the last couple of motorcycle trips. Dave P. had been to Aberporth many years ago and fancied a return visit so a plan was born. Dave B. was up for the trip on his Yamaha Thundercat, accommodation was sorted and the plan was settled. An overnight stop in Ashbourne on Thursday saw us staying at the Green Man Hotel. A few beers in the pubs around the market place, finishing off in Smith's Tavern, saw us getting up rather late for breakfast on Friday and setting off in the rain. The rest of Friday's weather was an interesting mix of warm sun and cold rain, the bike behaved well and we arrived at Aberporth in very welcome sunshine and a friendly greeting at The Highcliffe Hotel.

  There are 2 beaches at Aberporth, along with a couple of sea front shops and cafes. Saturday morning arrived and it was pouring with rain. We hung around to see if stopped, it got heavier. We went to one of the cafes and had something warm and the rain nearly stopped so we decided to walk across the headland to Tresaith to see the spectacular waterfall and visit the Ship Inn.

  The footpath across the headland was overgrown and the rain kept on falling, so we were a bit wet when we got to Tresaith. The landlord turned on the patio heaters and we sat outside under cover of the canopy and dried off slightly, whilst the rain kept on falling. There's a bit of a theme developing here... We never did work out what the guys in the inflatables were trying to do, whatever it was they gave up after a while. However, it was nice to see someone who was wetter than we were.

  We'd picked out two possible places to stay in Aberporth, the one we didn't stay at was the Morlan Hotel. Nothing wrong with it, we just fancied the Highcliffe more. On the walk back from Tresaith, the sun started to shine, it was warm, and we got back to Aberporth with a slight thirst so we popped into the Morlan for a quick beer. It was very nice, good beer, friendly and with a good looking menu. We ended up staying all afternoon, something to do with the football match on TV. We were surrounded by locals cheering a Welsh team who got beaten by a Yorkshire team, luckily we left before the locals found out we came from Yorkshire.

  The Ship Inn in Aberporth was open as we walked past heading for the hotel, so we decided that maybe we could manage a swift half on the terrace, taking in the sunny views over Aberporth beach.

  The top of the beach provides a landing area for local boats. Some of the tractors looked a bit worse for wear though they seemed to work well enough.

  The beach is really nice, lots of sand at low tide and almost completely covered at high tide. It's a popular place and there are great views from all the way around the bay, especially in the mixed sunlight and dark cloud we had during the afternoon.

  The Highcliffe Hotel was a great base for the three nights we spent in Aberporth. Very friendly, good food and nice rooms. We had breakfast and evening meals there every day and it was very good. The sunset view from the car park was pretty spectacular as well. Having spent most of the day in one pub or another, with a short break for a sleep in the early evening, we had an early night and hoped for sunshine the next day.

  Sunday dawned bright and sunny, just what we'd hoped for. Time to get the bikes out and go for a ride along the coast to Aberaeron. Although it was bright and sunny, the wind was cold. The houses of Aberaeron aren't all as colourful as this but it's still a really pretty place, very popular with all visitors to this part of Wales, so it does tend to get a bit crowded.

  On the left, Dave B. and Dave P., trying to keep warm in that cold wind. On the right, Dave B. and Karen, definitely not thinking about going swimming.

  The beach here is nearly all stones rather than sand, great for collecting driftwood but not much use for sandcastles and sunbathing. The harbour is the center of Aberaeron and very picturesque.

  After wandering around Aberaeron for a couple of hours, it was time to move on and get some lunch. We headed back down the coast to Newquay, bought some fish and chips and went to sit on a wall overlooking the harbour. The town was over-run with visitors so after a short walk around the harbour, we headed back to Aberporth to abandon the bikes and go for a paddle on the beach.

  Dave P. and Dave B. trying to be cool. Dave B. was particularly successful, mainly due to the shorts and the cold wind. The beach at Aberporth is really popular, and the rocks around the headland are great for hunting in rockpools. There was a barbeque happening outside the Ship Inn, so we popped in for another swift half, or two...

This dolphin is obviously popular, it's on lots of views of Aberporth, so I just had to take a picture of it.

  Monday morning saw us packing the gear back onto the bikes and heading back across Wales and Northwards back to Yorkshire. The riding was great althouth the weather was largely horrible, cold wet and windy for most of the time. At least the sun came out for the last hour and we arrived home cold but dry. Time to start planning next years trip...

Useful links (all links open in a new window)

Wooler tour 2005	Hawes Tour 2007

Pictures and text are copyright © Dave & Karen Petty- All Rights Reserved, please don't copy anything without our permission. Thanks, D & K.