Caldicot to Newport Wetlands

Walk 4 – and having checked train times and wind direction we decided to walk from Caldicot (the end of our very first walk) to Newport Wetlands. This is one and a bit walks from our book and about 12 miles in total,but very flat. We chose to walk with the cold north easterly wind behind us rather than in our faces – a wise choice.

So off we set at 10.30 with a frantic run to Newport station for the train to Caldicot – £11.20 for 11 minutes on the train!!! – I need to get into this train driving lark.

And at exactly the spot the train stopped was the post which marked the end of Walk 1 for those of you following our tale:

Our first dilemma – Sharon was certain we needed to turn left – I was equally certain it was right (given that was the direction the Newport train had come from) – eventually I won, but I could sense that Sharon thought we would be turning round in a while.

The first part of the walk was quite noisy, alongside the M4 on country lanes, but eventually we crossed over the M4 (legally) and headed for the coast:

And when we reached the coast we could see the Severn bridge off to our left and Newport to our right:

Look left

Look right

So having concluded we were going the right way we set off along the coast. It was a cool but bright day and in the sunshine it was quite warm – our pace was good at between 10 and 11 minutes per km in walking boots, and soon we made it to our lunch rock.

Lunch stop

Why do cows get their own road?

Stopping, as always, was a mistake and we were quite cold and a bit slower after the lunch break, but we continued along the coastal ridge, all the way past Redwick and on to Goldcliff.

There is a famous pink house with equally famous angry occupants along the way, so we obeyed the sign – apart from the photos bit and carried on our way.

At GoldCliff we were met by a nice surprise – The Seawall tearooms, where we sampled the hot chocolate and a piece of carrot cake and a piece of lemon cake – the cake was delicious, and Wendy, the owner was very welcoming and friendly – well worth a stop if ever you hit this bit of the coast. Cleo even got some doggie biscuits

We then headed inland a bit as we started across the wetlands, past the Farmers arms (a pub) through countless gates, and besides some bird spotting hides:

The pace slowed as the old war wounds of 2 weeks ago surfaced, but we made it on to the wetlands site and round to the lighthouse for the end of walk 4:

Just time for a selfie before calling for Mum taxi to pick us up and take us back to our car – 12 miles in total in just under 4 hours, and a walk well worth doing if you find yourself in this area. 43.5 miles done, 826.5 miles to go!!