The weather is forecast to be exuberant over the next few days, with a mixture of extremely sunny and extremely wet conditions, but neither will not stop us from enjoying either the walking or the fact of finally reaching Wales from our start point at Montrose in Scotland.
The profile for today's walk is mainly flat, with only a couple of gentle rises on both sides of the old Severn Bridge. There are routes marked on both sides of the river with the Severn Way taking us from Severn Beach up to the Severn Bridge and, on the other side of the bridge we meet up with the start (or end) of the Wales Coast Path coming down from Chepstow.
This last section had been a pleasant meander along a seawall, blighted only by the intense sun. Making good time in the fine walking conditions, we fleetingly considered walking all the way to Newport. Common sense prevailed, however, informed by the hot afternoon sun and the threat of thunderstorms and we ended our first day at the train station at Caldicot, from where we travelled to Newport. We stopped for lunch at a lovely little Italian cafe in Newport, before heading for our accommodation in the town. As we walked the rain started.