Breakfast on the beach on a very misty morning

And when the tide goes out in Southend...the tide really goes out!

Southend boasts the longest pleasure pier in the world!

And it's one very long walk to the end...all 2,158 m of it!

But worth it on arrival

Remains of a fire on my birthday in 2005 which destroyed much of the end of the pier

The obligatory ride back on the train

This guy took it upon himself to remove my fear of birds. Although I was fairly OK with this little one, I don't think he really succeeded!

However, they were very well behaved birds and help the man collect donations for a children's hospital