To the Sunshine Coast! ..,.on Friday morning. We were both free for the remainder of the day. The weather was set fair and we had kms in our legs to walk off.
We weren’t alone in our thinking. Quite randomly we were joined on the short train journey by C and J, and their charming and very well-behaved granddaughter. It was a pleasant ride in as the choo choo made its way through the rolling golden fields of north Essex.
Destination Walton on the Naze was reached. The plan was there was no plan, apart from buy CDs and then bugger off back home.
But how about a little bit of walking first? Ahh, but which direction?
We had two broad options: Heading towards the Naze, or the opposite direction, Frinton on Sea bound.
Frinton bound is where the main CD action is. Guess which option I preferred.
A rogue third option soon came into play. There was brave talk of heading towards Clacton to see what kind of crap was happening with the shitty by-election.
We decided to give that one a swerve when, as soon as we left Walton Station, a couple of Reform dickheads doing the door knocking thing walked past us. It’s a shame they didn’t ask me for my opinion on an election I have absolutely no chance of voting in.
The first stop was the Walton On The Naze record shop. This is bloody impressive. It never seems that busy but they have a fantastic stock of both vinyl and CDs.
I never really had any intention of buying anything, which always makes it awkward. The prices are very competitive but the CDs are packaged away with a plastic wrapper. This makes browsing a little tricky. We lingered around for about five minutes and then said our thank yous and departed.
“Do you want to go into The Cave?”
…asked my walking partner. The Cave seemed to be a glorified second-hand shop. I was kind of interested, and then I noticed the proprietor of The Cave poke his head out of the door and pulled a greenie on the pavement. The dirty dog. I think we’ll give The Cave a swerve this time.
The beach at Walton-on-the-Naze was already starting to get busy with holidaying young families. There was even a very enthusiastic barbecue taking place shortly after 11 am. I’m not quite sure if that is allowed with the bylaws.
The weather was a little fresher by the coast. There was still plenty of bare flesh on offer. One fella in particular had a massive anarchy sign tattooed all the way across his chest. I’m a big fan of black ink but I won’t be making a mental note to ask my tattoo man to repeat this styling.
We headed out towards the Naze Tower. This involved the glorious stretch where I get to have Art Deco house envy. One was actually up for sale. A quick google, and yep it’s way out of my price range.
We reached our favourite cliffside café. Tea and cake were taken. I was quite content. I could quite happily have then turned back and headed back to base.
There was ambitious talk of heading up the Naze Tower. A local art exhibition was taking place. The £4.50 price tag put off the tight arse within.
We then walked all the way back through Walton and headed over towards Frinton on Sea. I had just enough time before the train departed again to spend half an hour or so in my favourite second-hand record shop.
There wasn’t a great deal of action with new stock. I did manage, however to pick up a Leonard Cohen CD as well as a Mike Oldfield, all for £4, all in.
A decent jolly’s day out.
