16^th April 2014

So when I last left you I had just spent the evening chatting with harry the grumpy bugger in the toby carvery. Well I didn't think anything else would really happen for a while. Ha! I was soooo wrong. So I hiked to the end of Clacton on Sea and set up camp on top of the cliffs just before Frinton. The following morning was gorgeous. It was hot and I mean really hot. I'd overslept and many dog walkers had passed me by. As I was getting myself ready a cyclist stopped for a chat especially interested in my tent. She was an avid hiker and often took her dog with her on little adventures and was most interested in the small pack the tent fitted in. I let hrt know though the only place you were now likely to find one was on Amazon or ebay. After she went on I packed up and headed for Frinton to find a coffee shop and charge up my phone. On the way I passed essex smallest church, a tiny little chapel with norman foundations. The door was always left open so that anyone could go in and seek refuge and a quiet place to reflect. The inside was quaint with lovely stained glass windows and it had a nice calm feeling. I sat for a moment to ponder before moving on.

The main high street was small and was home to two cafés. I obviously stopped in the first one i came across, had a full English and coffee but before i left I couldn't resist taking a double scoop choc mint chip and toffee fudge ice cream cone  it was delicious to say the least. Before I left Frinton though I had noticed that the large church opposite was open with a man outside sipping a cup of tea. A sign outside said "the free church" never heard of that before, so I was intrigued. I stood outside the church eating my ice cream and reading the inscriptions on some large stones embedded in the wall. The church had been built in 1935. Once I finished my ice cream I approached the man who was now standing and asked what "the free church" was. He replied "we don't charge people to come in" (lol) he obviously had a sense of humour! Apparently it was a baptist Christian church and I like a good religious debate. I'd had one the day before with a crazy jehova witness lady dressed in a long white cotton frock, dull pink satin jacket, black tinsulate woolen hat and blue slippers. She was convinced the world would end within her life time and the new age was about to start. The final prophecy was that all the churches would be closed so when I asked her if her church was open she replied"only on a Tuesday and Thursday" well the end was definitely coming she had convinced me whole heartedly!  so I told the man with the sense of humour about my encounter and was taken inside the church where I was given a cup of coffee by his wife who also brought out a small bag of biscuits for me to take with me. I must admit they had great taste when it came to the biscuits and no expense was spared. I continued my religious debate trying to understand their beliefs. We chatted for quite some time. Eventually I felt I had taken up enough of their time and asked if they knew where I could get a small Bible to read as I had very little to do in the evening and I had never really read the book from cover to cover. The gentleman I had been chatting to got up and fetched a bible from the shelf. It was the size of a breeze block and weighed about 1kg. Hmm some thing else to carry, I had hoped to get something more pocket sized but I thanked them all the same packed it into my bag and headed off towards walton on the naze.

Just so we are clear I still do not believe in any religion and still only have faith in my self!

Anyway not much else happened that day until I found myself near naze tower when I got a text from Beth Read reminding me to pop in a say hello to ted, the owner of naze tower. He was a lovely man and although he was just closing up the tower invited me in for a coffee and we discussed the history of the 300 year old tower and how he and his daughter had restored it and created a tea room and art gallery. I eventually had to leave as it was getting dark and I wanted to be near where I was hoping to cross to Harwich the following morning. I set of across from the tower and down into the woods taking a mental note of potential camp spots along the way. At the edge of the woods I found myself at a cliff that had recently collapsed and at the base another dead dolphine. I dropped my bag a climbed down to take a close look. Yes it was most definitely lifeless so I climbed back up and headed towards the beach I was to launch from the following day. I found a nice grassy spot behind the sea defence wall watched the sun go down and settled in for the night.