1) My phone alarm woke me at 6:45.
Last night was colder so we had put Brody in the kitchen, and were
woken by him pacing around on the hard floor more than once. He will
be back on the patio tonight.
2) There was no hot water. A check
light had appeared on the boiler. I allowed some extra water into
the system – it works on the one at home, and this is very similar.
It didn't have the desired effect. The Heating and Water setting
worked, but the Hot Water setting didn't. I turned that temperature
of the heating down and left the boiler on. Eventually we got a hot
shower.
Oxwich bay has a long beach where dogs
are allowed on the whole beach. We had a walk from the TI around
Oxwich point, it is 4.5 miles over some rough terrain. Initially
there is a flight of stairs which my app – Runkeeper reported our
progress at 55 minutes per mile. On flatter ground the pace
improved. We enjoyed stunning views of the bay followed by open
grassland near the sea. For most of the walk all that could be heard
was the sea on the left, birds on the right and a panting dog behind.
Although once or twice he made a break for the water we managed to
coax him back. At the point at which we were due to depart the
coastal path the path was diverted due to erosion. There are lots of
places along the path that have been repaired and in one place a
small bypass has been made with two new gates and some additional
fencing, but here the diversion is dramatic. It happens to go along
the Gower Walks path that we were meant to take, so we followed it
for a few yards and then turned right away from the coast and inland.
Over the hill, though a caravan site and under some trees we had to
stop. Dog exhaustion prevented him taking another step, he laid down
and was encouraged to drink about half a litre of water, after which
he revived a little and progress resumed. It was not our first water
stop, but it was the most significant. Through the farm and follow
the road past the castle and back into Oxwich. Straight on to the
café where we had baguettes for lunch and Brody consumed another 1.5
litres of water, with a small amount of milk to encourage him
further.
The day continued badly: I had noticed
that the nearside left looked flat, it was down to 20psi. I pumped
it up, we will get it checked tomorrow.
After lunch we went for a stroll along
the beach, the bay is wide and nearly flat, the tide was almost at
its lowest and there was a long walk to proper sea water. We played
with Brody for half an hour. I was marking the water line with
shells so that when we turned back we could see whether the tide was
still going out or had turned. It was still going out. Back at the
beach there was nowhere to bath Brody, so he came home and was washed
by having buckets of water tipped over him. There is an outside tap,
but only a washing machine hose attached to it and that is too short
to get off the patio.
After a rest we followed the new route
into town that we had worked out last night. It is all along roads
and suitable for a push chair – but only just. Still, it is better
than going across the Nature Reserve. We were looking for the
Mermaid Bar and Restaurant which we had spotted a couple of days ago.
It has a sign out side offering dogs a free drink, treat and the
opportunity to bring their owners inside. Brody enjoyed some water,
did a double take at the bowl of treats and gobbled as many as he
could manage. The owners were very pleased with the food that was
served to them as well. One of them was heard to comment “we'll
come back here”, but then she wasn't paying the bill.
The day ended badly too: On starting up
the laptop, the dongle reports that “You've run out of data” and
will not allow connection to the internet.
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