A day out at the beach!

As my parents spent the bank holiday weekend away in their caravan at Weeley (near Clacton), my brother and I decided that we would pay them a visit in the sun! So yesterday, we packed our suncream and sun hats and headed off to Weeley for the day! The weather was perfect, bright sunshine with a breeze to keep us cool, and the traffic was kind to us too. We arrived and were treated to lunch by Mum and Dad, and then on to a trip to Walton-on-Naze to see the sea! We drove up and parked at the Naze tower, had an ice cream, and set about climbing down the very steep steps to the beach. Once we we're at the bottom, we had a close inspection of the new sea defences- the cliffs here are falling away at an alarming rate, with the tower slowly becoming ever closer to the cliffs edge. The land here is typical Essex clay, not so sturdy when it becomes exposed to the elements. There are now huge granite boulders along the worst part of the cliff - including the land under the tower. I got some lovely pictures of the colours in the cliffs, but you will see just how bad this erosion has become. Once, the gun turrets that now sit on the beach, were on top of the cliff with land to spare. Now they are covered by sea water each day as they have at some point, slowly made their way down the cliff, landing at an angle. I last went up the tower itself last year in March- it was freezing at the Naze!!! Such a change to the weather now. Here's hoping that the defences save the tower, and this beautiful piece of land for future generations. Only time will tell.
Here's a bunny enjoying the fenced off habitat- pic by my brother:

 The cliffs as they are:

 It's like some alien dessert landscape:

Pillar box turrets on the beach:

 Erosion taking place:

 Some fabulous colours in the soil:

 Small 'humps' forming in the waves:

 The Naze Tower:

 From the top of the cliffs, a little in front of the tower:

 Gull in flight above the cliffs:

The new cliff defences- not pretty, but far better than loosing yet more of our coastline:

All in all, we had a lovely day, came back to the caravan for a BBQ tea, and made our way back home. Shattered today!! Had a nice easy one today in preperation for work again tomorrow :-D

Over and Out,

TLBC xx