Shoeburyness Sunday 26.9.10

Last night I left my little computer on charge and uploading three photos.

This morning an orange light greeted me; no charge and no photos had been uploaded! FLASH somehtingorother had crashed. I shut it off and found this

Oh no!!

NOT THE PENGUINS!!!! : ()

I turned off the internet and put it straight back on

PHEW, time for brekky.

Lovely brekky, whatever you want, cooked as you want it. What more can you want?

We ate, we paid, we put on the roof rack 

and took a shot of the hotel.

Then we went to buy the Sea Kayak. Oooops, after travelling all this way, it's not really right. I felt sorry for the vendor, but there you are. It is a NORDCAP HUNTSMAN, an old boat and one that once needed a rudder, which has been removed and the holes sealed up. We need a manoeuvrable boat each and don't want the bovver of a rudder; they can go wrong. We don't want to put our lives on the line, because a rudder line snaps.

We left the boat and it's disappointed owner and headed for SHOBURYNESS. It looked good on G.EARTH, mudflats and the like.

First thing we have to do when we get there is to take off the roof rack, as there is a height barrier to prevent all those scummy, motor home owners staying over night and spending money in their town. Clearly their local council is VERY FAR SIGHTED. If we'd come to paddle we couldn't have got under the barrier either....probably......

It is a lovely spot, in a bleak way.

Perfect for KITE SURFERS

who must love having the area to themselves.

They walked in, away from the receded tide, making a pleasing subject for us to film.

A tall ship motored across the horizon as the weather quietly closed around us.

We beachcombed as we strolled along,picking up beach glass as we listened to the Terns screeching like monkeys.

Maybe the sound of the Terns influenced me, because I came across this old post peeping out of the ground and looking like a monkeys face. Now I keep seeing other faces in it. It's like a psychological test. 

What do you see in the wood?

Driving a bit further around the headland, we fell into a MILITARY RANGE that was open today. No photography was allowed!! I left the camera behind to save temptation and we walked on top of the sea defence. There was no one here, except us and the birds.

Perfect.

Heading back to Southend On Sea we passed through this perfect little place.

and stopped to have a little look around.

Very CHOCOLATE BOX.

We stopped for TAPAS and TEA at a beach cafe.

It was so good we eventually ate every scrap. 

That's what SEA AIR does to you!

It was raining when we came out of the cafe, which we took as our queue to head home.

The weather improved as we headed west into a fantastic sunset at ASTON DOWN, just 15 minutes from home.