We wake early, too early even for the 6:30 alarm. We're hundreds of kilometers south of Dublin, and our flight home leaves at 3pm today. …

We first see ponies grazing on the cliffs of the Dale Peninsula. There is a white one and a brown one, another white further towards the cliff edge. They see us, with little interest. Their heads rarely rise from the low grass they're nipping. I don't think they're wild, but…

Today is Tuesday, an exciting day for us because in general the buses don’t run on Sundays or bank holidays (Monday was one). We’ve had to take taxis the last couple of days in order to get to our trailheads. The cost of yesterday’s 20 minute taxi ride was comparable…

In the morning, Eileen and I unpick the stitches we've used to turn our duvets into half-sleeping bags. We consolidate the groceries and retract our belongings from various nooks of the rental van, returning to our backpacker forms. …

Legend has it that Saint Govan was pursued by pirates here — they used to chase missionaries for stolen gold — when he sailed into these cliffs and they opened and closed around him until the pirates passed. …

Foot travel is contemplative, all the points connecting. Driving, it's easy to miss things; they slip by. We are conscious to make the drive a road trip, to carve off slivers of experience before re-embarking. A morning visit to the Glaslyn ospreys opens a birdwatching world, eager volunteers relating the…

"Look," Eileen says, pointing at the map. "You can walk the beach all the way to Pwllheli if the tide is out." We're standing on the beach of Abersoch, the main surf town of the Llyn Peninsula. We've treated ourselves to breakfast out, so now we're feeling ambitious. We can…

"No way." Foam blocks, 39x22x3” are right there on the bottom shelf of the home goods store. This is a huge score. It was Eileen's idea to rent a van and sleep in it. We had already committed to the premise of not bringing sleeping bags, so instead we confirmed…

Tonight is the last of our six nights at the Pen Y Pass Youth Hostel. It's nice to have a long stay in the middle of a trip, enough time to settle in. …