Circumnavigating Mersea - Saturday 10th March

Which way should we go, Ken?As those of you who have been on one of Ken's walks before well know, he has a mysterious knack of providing good weather.  So it was when Group members met for a bit of island hopping, over the causeway to Mersea Island recently.  Even though it was the middle of March, the sun shone, coats were shed and more than a few faces were a shade pinker at the end than at the beginning!

We set off through the pretty village of West Mersea, past the houseboats, fishing boats and oyster farms, out on to the sea wall, travelling clockwise towards the seaward side of the island.  Shortly after lunch though, we discovered that Ken is not quite perfect - he can order up the sunshine but he cannot hold back the tide!

The end of the walk by the pretty beach hutsCrossing a small beach wildlife area (where we were told to beware of snakes) the previously accessible strip of sand was flooded by the incoming tide.  All was not lost, however, we had to circumnavigate a caravan park full of not so friendly natives (except for the brave few who sneaked through while the natives were on their mobile phones) and resumed the path on the far side.

The tide went out almost as fast as it came in and we were able to beach-comb back to town past the jolly coloured huts for a tea stop before making our way back to the mainland as the sun began to set on another lovely day.

Sue. March 2012