Off To The Beaches… Well Maybe?

Day 1 18th July 2023

Today I am going to the beach. The wife isn’t coming with me. She wants to stay home and do a couple of things. But we are going out together tomorrow.

So earlier, I invited my brother along, and he seemed happy about it.

We are going to a couple of beaches and see what the big deal is about them. Grays Beach has a bad reputation for just being a bit crap. It has a children’s sand pit and climbing frame area, but that’s pretty much it.

I met my brother at the bus station and rode to the beach car park, where I was charged £1.75 for 2 hours.

National Geographic states a beach is: “A beach is a narrow strip of land separating a body of water from inland areas. Beaches are usually made of sand, tiny grains of rocks and minerals that have been worn down by constant pounding by wind and waves.”

Grays Beach is not a beach. Let me show you:

This place may have been a beach a very long time ago. But as soon as you placed a concrete barrier on the front of it. It ceases to be a beach.

A little more evidence to prove the non-beachness of Grays Beach.

Now don’t get me wrong. The place is a pleasant scenic area. A little overgrown in places and not well maintained apart from maybe a mow once in a while. But the area; is nice and clean. I don’t know the exact length of it. I would say about less than a quarter of a mile.

£1.50 Per Can

After walking and looking around on the way back, We decided to pop into the cafe and get a drink.

I did my best not to be that guy when taking pictures around the children’s area. We headed to the cafe and charged a stupid amount for a couple of cans.

Walking back to Tiffany: I had a quick butcher at the little harbour.

All in all, it’s a nice little area for a walk and relax for a while. Am I in a hurry to return? Not really. Could I return? Anything is possible… On to the next.

Rainbow Beach

I put in directions to Rainbow Beach on my google maps. Then we made our way to the destination.

We never made it. We nearly did, but the first attempt took us to a dumping ground next to an industrial estate. I wasn’t going to ride any further, in fear of damaging my tyres. We could see the beach but no safe access to it.

So we got back on the bike. Believing I could find a safer route. But that was rubbish as well.

I checked with Google again, and it said it was less than a mile away. So we thought we would give it a go. The further we walked, Google decided and kept deciding to change its mind that it was going to take longer and longer to get there. Until it was impossible to get there unless we wanted to go for a swim. So we stopped and rested for a few minutes.

We gave up continuing to go on. So we decided to go home. Stanford Marshes was a nice place. Not what I was looking for. But nice. Would I come back again? Unless there was a really good reason. No. But, to put it another way. Once in a while, I don’t mind a long stroll or walk. But I am not going on a hike for a hike’s sake. On this occasion, I was kind of propelled into it. But that is okay.

I dropped my brother off at the shop near his home. So he could go to the chippy. Then I made my way home.

Change of Plans

After spending some time at home, the wife decided she didn’t want to go where we had planned. So we swapped it for something we had planned for another day.

On the positive side, we won’t be wiping sand off ourselves. Now that our destination has changed.