A glorious day in Wells-next-the-Sea

Today was beautifully sunny but with a cool breeze. We went for a long walk, out along the harbour wall to the new haven cut for the wind farm boats, then out onto the sands to see the entrance channel at low water. I took lots of pictures, and picked up shells. Julian found a wonderful golden translucent shell remnant which he gave me.

We then walked along the beach for a long way, on firm golden sand with amazing cross ripple mosaics. There were some slightly lower areas, where water still lay, baring easy access to the water's edge where the waves broke with a crash of spray. We walked back behind the remnants of sand dunes topped with marram grass. The sea obviously cuts them off as islands at spring tides; the sand was firm but dry, held flat by a thin layer of fine mud left when the last of the tide evaporated rather than running back to the sea.

We stopped and talked to some other tourists who we overheard wondering about the tides and how far from the water's edge the beach huts looked. Turns out to be an English couple showing their Australian friends that England has beaches too.

We ate lunch sitting in Robinetta's cockpit. Bread, cheese, and salami with beer for Julian and mineral water for me. It feels like a huge privilege to be able to sit there, part of the scene, rather than just an observer of the picturesque. And it was a lovely picnic! We finished it with an ice-cream from a shop on the quay, that we ate while walking round the town.

 A cup of tea was calling me, so we went back to Robinetta to put the kettle on. Julian suggested we take the harbour boat trip. Excellent idea! We took our mugs of tea with us, and were out for an hour and a half with an ex-whelk fisherman turned boat builder, who was able to tell us interesting facts about the whelk fishery. Turns out they are caught in traps, like lobsters and crabs, I had thought they were picked like cockles.

We saw Little Terns, with have just started to nest in the area by the new haven, and Golden Plover (might be ringed, I need to check), plus had a look at the wind farm boats coming through the entrance.

We ate dinner at the restaurant attached to the Edinburgh Pub. Odd set up; the waitress will not bring you any drinks, you have to go to the bar and buy them. Well cooked lamb shank on mustard mash for Julian, slightly stodgy vegetable lasagne for me, but a good bottle of Rioja, that inspired me to look at the desert menu. Hazelnut meringue with cream and hot chocolate sauce appealed, so I succumbed and shared with Julian. HUGE meringue sitting on a bed of softly whipped cream, with a pot of hot chocolate sauce beside it. Excellent serving idea as the sauce stayed hot.

Back on board Robinetta we drank tea, and booked our train tickets home from Bridlington for Saturday at 5pm. Now we just need to get there!