2nd June day 454

2nd June day 454

The weather forecasts had been right. It was an extremely damp and windy morning. Charlie dropped me off  back at the doctor who are exhibition where we'd met a couple of days earlier.

I didn't realise at the time but i should have known better. I would soon be lost heading away from the coast following roads meeting "no pedestrian" signs having to turn back heading into business parks and along walkways blindly. My efforts were fruitless. A yearning to escape was building deep inside. The city had been designed around a commuter generation.

As time passed by i became more and more disoriented having to refer more and more to the satellite images I cached whilst staying with Charlie. I was clocking up the miles but i wasn't sure if i was actually  making any progress. I did however pick up the coast path again and eventually found myself walking along sea defences reminding me of the mind numbing hikes around Kents coastline. With very little to see other than miles of salt marshed and mud it was all i could do trying to keep my mind occupied.

It was a long and laborious hike but i did eventually reach the transporter bridge at newport. A superb example of 20th century engineering but unfortunately no longer in service. Which was a shame because I'd have loved to go across the river usk on it. The more modern usk road bridge wasn't too far away though and unlike Cardiff i didn't get lost. Having walked across the bridge i had then to make my way back to the coast following the estuary as best as I could. It was getting late as i eventually reached the ses wall and with the light fading and wind picking up to over 30mph i sought a reasonably sheltered junction on what i assume was a bridal way and settled in for the night. The following day i was hoping to reach the mouth of the river Severn, the river that forms a natural boundary between wales and England.