With Cardiff checked off of our list of places to see this week, we headed out of the city with Rick navigating through the wacky streets.
“Where the hell is A4?” questioned the driver with Chan his trusty, yet sometimes gappy co-pilot at this side.
Our plan for the day was to head west along the coast passing Carmarthen and Pembroke and, hopefully, reaching Glouchester by night. Rick said the landscape reminded him of New Zealand with flocks of sheep dotted on the hillsides like lice. Once off of the M4, a busier and main through fare, we continued onto A477 which was more connected to the countryside. An abandoned cemetery, forests with lanky moss and ivy covered trucks, stucco houses, the Sporting Chance Pub and Restaurant and then the Olde Mill Cafe which encouraged “Gotta stop at the Cafe. Eh, Rick, eh? in conjunction with a right elbow, elbow and then “Eh, Rick, eh?
After being on the road for just over 2 hours, we pulled over for a stretch. I took a few shots of some very woolly sheep on the side of the hill and Chan slid down the muddy slope to find somewhere private to pee. Ten paper towels to clean off his sneakers and smacks from the driver for getting them so bloody mucky, we were back in business and were aiming for the docks of Pembroke along the A477.
The sign read “Carew Castle ¼ miles” which resulted in “Oh, cool there it is!” from the boy and we all turned our heads and said, “Ooohhhhh!” And to no surprise, Rick noted the free parking lot. We all agreed that we couldn’t pass on this opportunity.
“It’s like a hot chick coming in to kiss you,” Chan explained as Rick parked our car. “And you slap her saying no, not going to happen.” So we filed out of the vehicle with the boys’ analogy pressed in our minds.
I just couldn’t take enough pictures of Carew Castle. It was vacant and a mere skeleton of what it used to be years and years ago, but still captivating and somewhat eerie. Chan stood on a podium in the empty court yard and in a British accent announced, “Today ladies and gentlemen we are going to have a hanging. Not necessarily because anybody did anything bad, just because we’re bored. Do I have any volunteers?” He pointed out into his make believe audience, “You sir, you in the front!” I chuckled and applauded and he jumped down from his stage and carried on with his exploration of the castle. It made me wonder if the ghosts were amused too.
Back on the road, Rick commented on how it felt to drive on the other side. “At first it’s strange and you’re thinking that this just isn’t right,” he explained to us. “But then you say okay, I know what I’m doing and then you have to switch back and it feels strange all over again.” When I asked Rick if he drove in New Zealand, he said he would rent a car once in a while but when he lived in Australia, he would regularly drive his girlfriend’s car. When Chan asked if she was hot, Rick said, “Not particularly. But she was a fabulous person.”
“Better than mom?” Chan quizzed.
“Not nearly,” Rick replied hesitantly.
I tapped my pen on my writing pad as the boys laughed and I commented that it wasn’t exactly a compliment but nor was it a dis either. Nice going, Romeo, I added.
We continued on the A437 and we kept our eyes peeled for the ocean. When it popped into view from behind a knoll, just passed a town called Roch, Chan gasped, “Awesome. Fantastic, Rick.” Despite the fact that the road was so narrow, we still managed to find a place to pull over to get a better look. Chan hugged Rick out of excitement which resulted in Rick telling Chan to watch it, watch it as his left shoulder was sore today.
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