Worms Eye view - Gower 16 June 2008

This has been a week for new toys for the boys. I have a new shiny waterproof camera and Neil has collected his shiny new boat. A sea trip was always on the cards so that we could try out the new toys.
We planned to paddle out from Port Eynon and down to Worms Head on the ebb tide.
I reckoned that if we planned it right we could then ride the flood tide back to Three Cliffs Bay for a late lunch, do a spot of sun bathing and then take the evening ebb back to Port Eynon. This way we would avoid the Swansea traffic and alleviate the need for a shuttle. We might even get a play in the overfalls off Oxwich Point.
As it turned out we arrived at Port Eynon a bit late and did not get on the water until 10 15.


Neil enjoys his new boat off Port Eynon.




Despite the late start we still made good time down to Worms Head. We kept off shore in order to save the sight seeing for the return trip when the pressure of the tide times was off us.



Worms Head was quite impressive and so was the current coming out of Carmarthen Bay around the Head. There were lots of Shearwaters flying about which was good to see as they normally keep out to sea during the day.



We had not intended to paddle round the Head but I think this would have proved quite difficult anyway. At the point that Steve said his GPS was showing us heading out to sea at 1.5 knots we decided enough was enough and headed back.




The views of Rhossili Down were superb. We have ridden over the Down many times on the Gower Loop so it was interesting to view it from the sea.




We had a short stop in Fall Bay for a leg stretch. A few climbers were up on the cliffs. This is the place of the highest and most difficult climbs on Gower.


We kept close in shore and had a good look at the coast line which is riddled with caves and little inlets.












We eventually came to Paviland Cave the most famous cave of the 95 that exist on Gower.It is misnamed on the OS map because it is actually Goats Hole at Paviland. It is the site of one of the oldest discovered burial sites in the world. It was first discovered in 1822 when a local curate discovered animal bones in the cave. An Archealogical dig proper was carried out a year later and the body of a young male was discovered in the cave. The body was covered in red ochre and buried with numerous artifacts. It was also wrongly stated the the body was female and said to be a Roman prostitute. This was proven to be quite wrong but the name of 'The Red Lady of Paviland' still stuck. Latest techniques have shown the body to have been over 26000 years old and was it was buried when the ice of the last ice age was no more than an hours walk away.




This is Neil in front of Goats Hole Paviland, the shot is crap but the cave is too famous to omit it.





Once we came out of the lee of the cliffs the wind had picked up to a good F5 from the North and would have given us an unpleasant paddle back from Three Cliffs. We all agreed the trip had been good up to that point so we opted to cut it short and have a cup of tea at the camper.
Three Cliffs and Oxwich will still be there next week.

Comments

eurion said…
Sounds and looks like a great trip, sorry I couldn't make it. Next time :)
James Murray said…
You were missed my friend.
onfire said…
Hi Guys,

I have just bought my first sea kayak and am still doing gentle forays around the coast like Caswell to Pwll Du.

You certainly seem to have had some great trips - perhaps there is room for me to join your team on the odd paddle?? I am a BCU level 2 kayak coach and have my own kit - plus 10 years experience.

My email is heytimmi @ hotmail com

thanks
Tim
James Murray said…
Hi Tim,

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.
You have mail.

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