To the sea!

Woke up to cloud and a bit of drizzle today but it soon cleared.  A short day, as the ferry didn't start till 10.  The ferryman used to work in Chiswick, as I did, and his brother used to own the Applegarth Hotel in Sidford, so we had a lot to talk about on the short crossing.  He recommended an excellent café in Burnham on Crouch for breakfast and elevenses combined.  I went the long way to Manston, enjoying the empty roads and villages which aren't on the way to anywhere else.

Manston is a lovely town with many tempting charity shops but I bravely ignored these and went straight to lunch on the waterside, where several wherries were moored.  Got talking to two older gents who had known each other since they shared an air raid shelter!  It was tempting to linger longer (see what I did there?) but I hit the road for Colchester, which is quite hilly but I still liked it. It seems to be inhabited mainly by students and painted giraffes.

After a short break for tea and cake it was time to head for Clacton, unfortunately with a lot of other traffic.  Clacton was my first contact with the real sea, and it's a proper seaside resort with a pier, funfair, seafront Wetherspoons pub and souvenir shops.  Plus a great cycle path along the shore, which extends about 6 miles along the sea wall towards Frinton.  At intervals there were slopes down to a lower path below the sea wall but the view wasn't as good, so I stayed on top until confronted by a 'no cycling' sign requiring me to go to the lower path - by steps.  No slope in sight.  I guess this is where Clacton ends and Frinton begins.

Frinton seemed upper-crustily understated, so much so that you could miss it.  No pier, shops, or hotels that I noticed. Just nice houses set back from the sea by a grassy strip and NO cycle path.  The roads were called Oxford Road, Eton Road, Winchester Road.

Moving on, I carried on to Walton-on-the-Naze, my destination for the night. Here my approach of not booking anything nearly came unstuck.  None of my 'find accommodation' websites would work: maybe the mobile signal doesn't reach this far East.  I tried a local pub for wi-fi but no luck: the barman said the butcher was delivering some tomorrow, to the amusement of everyone but me.

I eventually found a B&B so don't worry, dear reader.  Went back to the aforementioned pub and had a great pint of Brains' 'le Peloton' - well I had to - and a superb tuna steak.  I'd recommend The Victory if you're ever here.  I'm just trying a second pint to assure the consistency.  So far it's acdths buiofra htdg.