Despite the reserve’s concerns, native plant life here seemed plentiful. We stopped to admire lilies, cuckooflowers, ragged-robin and campion among many, many others species. The yellow gorse whirled up a coconut fragrance into the air. Sue was the first to spot an orchid, her infectious excitement spread through the group. As the day continued, a game of ‘spot the orchid’ seemed to unofficially break out. "Found one!", someone would exclaim.
Anglesey is fairly well known for its beaches, and as we approached the first beach of our walk, a full car park warned us it might be a busy one. However, the 5.7-kilometre-long Llanddwyn Beach (or Newborough Beach) was sparsely dotted with figures as we stepped out onto the enormous stretch of honeycomb sand. Backed by the dunes and forest, and with Snowdonia’s silhouette lying on the horizon, this had to be one of the most beautiful British beaches I'd ever come across.
Connected to the beach is Ynys Llanddwyn. This tiny island is sometimes unreachable due to rising tides, but Sue had planned our itinerary so we’d be able to make the crossing. “Ynys Llanddwyn is best known for its connection with Saint Dwynwen, the Welsh Patron Saint of Lovers – basically, the female version of St Valentines.” She continued to tell us the tell us the enchanting yet sad story of the saint, and how a water well on the island became a place of pilgrimage after her death. “It was believed the eels in the well would be able to predict the future of lovers – although, I’ve not yet been able to find it to test it out myself”.