Pembrokeshire or broke
Pat heads to Pembrokeshire in the mild hybrid 2021 Range Rover Vogue SE
THE final weekend of the month of May has been one of the best of my life, it just happened to coincide with the start of some decent summer weather. Great weather alone does not automatically guarantee the making of the mother of all weekends. I had a Range Rover Vogue SE on test and decided to treat it like I would my old 1998 Defender 110 CSW. This mild hybrid 3.0-litre Range Rover starts from £96,285 on the road but ours has a few extras such as Carpathian Grey Premium Metallic Paint (£865), lovely smelling vintage tan seats (no cost), black exterior pack (£1000), 360 surround camera (£755), electrically deployable tow bar (£1295), privacy glass (£475) and 22” 9012 gloss black wheels (£2425). This pushes the price to well in excess of £100,000 or in Pat-speak that
is 20 Land Rover Defender 2.8is.
Our plan of attack for a weekend-long assault on Wales was simple, pack lightly and only bring the essentials. Easier said than done as Harry Shipton and I are used to using our old Defender 110s, which are always expedition-ready with their rooftop tents, fridges and drawer systems.
Plus we had to fit three stand-up paddle boards (deflated and bagged) into the back as Harry’s brother Charlie is joining us. With a simple push of a button near the tailgate five seats suddenly became three and we had more space.
After adding the BBQ, three big board bags, chairs and Dometic fridge we load our personal bags. It just fits, how I miss my Front Runner roof rack.
Despite the congestion mayhem on the roads our Range Rover does not disappoint. It’s like a graceful tank and stops at nothing except a service station toilet. The 3.0-litre engine purrs at less than 2000 rpm while the speedo says we are doing 70 mph.
While the drive to the bit of the Pembrokeshire coastline that we want to visit is about 300 miles away, we decide to take a detour to Worms Head on the Gower Peninsula. I once watched a TV programme about the hike to Worms Head, and the scenery just blew me away, plus the fact that you can only do the hike to the head either
side of low tide. Get it wrong and the sea will sweep you away, many have lost their lives here due to tide ignorance.
The full National Trust car park (we find a spot in the overflow carpark) is a sign that suggests many others watched that same programme as me. Who can blame them? The sun is finally out and Boris wants us to invade the UK and the tourism industry certainly needs our support.
It takes us less than two hours to complete the five-mile hike and if I have to admit it I was overwhelmed by the incredibly long Rossilli Bay beach below us and the beauty of landscape we found ourselves scrambling across. It perfectly set the tone for the weekend.
We don’t dawdle about as it’s already late afternoon, and our next stop is the north Pembrokeshire coastline and a beach called Pwllgwaelod. Harry’s family have a cottage there and he used to come here for school holidays.
The cottage is currently under construction so we park up opposite the Old Sailors where the locals store their boats. The pub is closed but the landlord kindly gets us a drink. After a second drink he says we can camp in the pub garden for the weekend, as long as we clear up before they open up in the morning. We park the Range Rover on the beach for some sunset photos.
We spend the next 48 hours at Pwllgwaelod and they are without a doubt my best 48 hours of 2021 (and probably 2020 too). We keep it simple, buy lobsters from the local fisherman, cook on a fire on the beach, take to the water on our paddle boards and explore the coastline, the sea is like glass. We paddle over hundreds of jellyfish and meet loads of interesting characters and we spend hours sitting on the Range Rover tailgate just watching the world go by.
We chat to fellow Land Rover owners, one from New Zealand and another from France. We exchange numbers and plan future adventures together.
Before departing for England we take a walk around the Ynys Dinas peninsula. It takes us about two hours as we go via the beautiful and packed beach at Cwm yr Eglwys. It reminds me of Africa and home, the sea is cold, the people welcoming and the view’s to die for. We buy some fresh baguettes, cheese and ham for lunch at a local store and have one final tailgate party before hitting the road.
When I finally pull into my driveway I check the fuel consumption, it’s 32.1mpg. Not bad for such a big beast. We’ve done over 600 miles in some serious style. The Pembrokeshire coastline is my new favourite place in Wales.