Adventures in Kent: The Isle of Grain

So the bf took me to The Isle of Grain (the old English word for gravel) where he used to mess about when he was a young teenager.  He was worried that I'd be disappointed because there really is nothing there.  Growing up in a very large city, I didn't really know what to expect but being a on massive exploration mission at the moment, it seemed like a cool idea.

The drive up wasn't particularly impressive.  A few better looking houses than the squished up Maidstone terrace houses, and lots of greenery to be seen.  There were a few bunnies here and there and lots of wetland birds which Grain is apparently a haven for. Mostly though, the power station dominates the horizon.

My first impression on arrival was a bit like a ghost town tucked away in the middle of no where - a place that the world has forgotten.  The Google machine tells me the population is less than 1700 people which explains the absent feel.   

Other than the massive power station, a pub, a primary school and a coffee shop, it was completely empty and I found myself wondering where on earth those people shop for groceries.

Parking was easy as it was right next to the beach.   I didn't see parking anywhere else but then went early so there wasn't another soul about other than a few dog walkers.

The first thing that struck me was the huge hilly greenery.  It pretty much surrounds the coast and we went climbing over big hills and banks to get a good view of the water.  Of course we could have just used the path near the parking but what fun would that be?

Standing on top of the hills provided some awesome views.

Beach view with the Isle of Sheppey in the distance.

A very gray day but it was at least warm and not too windy.

The tide was way out in the sea!

All along the beach front are these pill boxes from past wars.  They been trashed by folk over time and add to the whole creepiness of the place.

This is the best thing about Grain.  It's called the Grain Tower and was built in 1855.  It is an old military fort in the middle of the sea.  There is a stone pathway from the shoreline all the way to the tower which you can walk when the tide is out.

We began walking towards it but the tide had already come in considerably which meant that the pathway was slightly submerged.  I wasn't about to let that stop me and continued to walk in the mud - until it swallowed my favourite trainers and I had to wrestle the mud like mad to get my shoe back! The sand is so soft it is almost like sinking sand and after almost losing my shoe I decided we'd have to purchase welly boots and go back again fully armed and ready!

Apparently it was sold to a private company so if you are planning to make a trip out to see it, you'd better not wait too long!

Before deciding to walk to the tower, we consulted the internet to find out what time the tide would come back in as we did not want to get stranded.  It was around midday and the website said the tide was expected to be back in close to 2pm.  Full of confidence and wonder, I was sure we'd make it back on time.  After the shoe incident forcing us to turn back, we realised with horror that had we not gone back when we did, we would have been stuck because the time on the website was when the whole tide was back to the shoreline and not to the tower - duh!  Below is a photo of how far out to sea the tower is and how much the tide had come in within the hour! That was close.

The power station cooling pipes. 

 

 When walking around the wetlands you have to be very careful because you don't see the random patches of lake and river in between the long grass. 

 
 The main battery tower in among the wetlands.

Views from the main battery tower.

A very steep staircase leading from the main battery tower to the grass below.  I'd hate to fall down those guys!

The battery tower is very secluded and scary and I fully expected to get attacked by some throwback super mutant from the power station.

Inside the biggest of the broken buildings, there is a burnt out carcass of which I'm told was once a caravan.  I have no idea how it ever got in there.

 We climbed over some barbed wire and went into the battery tower. It was on top of a hill and offered some cool views.  Check out those thorns though - ouch!  

A super spiky weed.  He looked quite angry, I thought.

 Broken power lines and other beach junk adds to the creepy feel of the place.

You can see here how much the tide was out.  This boat was on dry land when we walked past it but on our return it was floating upside down in the water.

This power station is massive.  We walked over 3 miles and didn't get to the end of it. This was our route  http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/1084041556

How can they honestly put signs up like this with absolutely no fence or any other physical barrier to keep people out and then expect us not to go any further? It's like a BIG RED BUTTON!  Nevertheless, we behaved and stopped at this point - mainly because I didn't want to get some gross form of radiation poisoning or something from the power station and end up with a melted face!

 There's a fair bit of junk lying around the beach. 

Adventures in Kent: Whitstable

Every summer I promise myself that I'm going to spend a lot more time on the beach and yet every winter I kick myself for not doing so.

Those of you that live in England will know that it's a shameful waste to shy away from summery stuff as we only get about three months outside before it's piss cold again and we must retreat back to the safety of our central heating.

Anyway, at the end of April when the sun began to shine, I took my first opportunity to rush off to the beach.  I awoke at 6.30am to see the sun streaming happily through my windows and that was all it took.  I kicked the bf out of bed and we were off. It was so lovely that I vowed I'd make an effort to go to the beach at least once a fortnight throughout the sunny days in Spring and Summer.

I decided I'd go to the beach early on Saturday mornings to run.  This got me wondering if there are beaches any closer to Maidstone.  I found a website that confirmed there are in fact 4 beaches less than 40 minutes away.   http://www.nearestbeach.co.uk

The rest is history.  I have spent every Saturday or Sunday since that weekend exploring a new piece of the Kent coast.  Growing up in South Africa, these beaches are not exactly what I'd call 'stunning' nor are they always sunny, but they've all been fascinating in their own special way.

This one is the little town of Whitstable.

Every town has an Elm Street ... erm, I mean a Wetherspoons! The absolute best for a coastal breakfast.  Cheap and cheerful.  This is the Peter Cushing.

 Inside the Peter Cushing.
https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/england/kent/the-peter-cushing-whitstable

Whistable has such a quaint little high street.  They have some seriously cute things to look at.

We figured this must be an ashtray? Took us a while to figure it out. The locals must have thought us quite strange.

How cool is this window display?

Have you ever even seen tomatoes this shape? And look at the colour of those aubergines!

The what now? 'I'm just going to pop into Jojo Maman Bebe.  BRB!' :P

We thought this should be our motto at home.  Of course the point is to actually buy it but we took a photo instead.

More cool window displays.

Interesting high street.

Whitstable castle (which is actually a coffee shop).  We only had a coffee but apparently they've started doing afternoon teas.
Menu and pricing here http://whitstablecastle.co.uk/afternoon-tea-at-the-castle

The botanical gardens surrounding the castle.

... and how could I forget? Some actual pictures of the beach!

Blurred Lines

Okay.  So is it just me? 

There I was, drinking my Saturday morning coffee, having a lovely lie in, scrolling through social media all chilled and tranquil. 

BAM! First thing I see is Kanye West talking about and I quote 'a finger up his ass'.  

Annoyed at the unnecessary vulgarity, I ignore this and continue scrolling.  I land straight onto an article titled "Eating a vagina cures cancer ..." - along with all the lame and predictable 'free offers' in the top comments.  

Trying not to spit my coffee out in disgust, I move my eyes down the screen and literally the very next post down I come face to face with the rehashed-a-million-times 'Swallowing the truth: the many benefits of semen ..." article.

*names of friends have been cropped out for their privacy

Maybe I'm being a super prude but for a girl with an over active imagination, being mentally assaulted with images of West's butt hole, and then being forced to think of intimate dealings with a vagina is not the nicest way for me to start the weekend (did I mention that I'm straight? :P) .

I feel like a fish out of water.  I mean, is this just what getting old is, or have I suddenly just developed some weirdly different set of morals to everyone else? If so, how did this even happen? 

It's all too much for me. I thought social media was about connecting with folk, learning interesting things about the world around us, and keeping in contact with friends - not being force fed sexual acts that I assumed were only meant to be discussed on porn sites.

Is it really necessary to wake up to a full sensory sexual assault in the early hours of a Saturday morning? I like to think that as a species we are capable of more than Maslov's physiological level!

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not a total prude and am known to have my mind in the gutter as often as the next person, but jeepers, like where is the actual line these days?

Yesterday was no different.  I opened up my Cosmo magazine on a Friday night after a long week at school, and straight away find myself face to face with a semi naked photograph of some or other male celebrity with the quote line reading, "Doggy style is my preferred position".  What the actual hell?! Has the world gone mad? Am I the only person who is seeing this stuff? 

I'd be horrified if all the details of my sex life were on topic for the whole world to discuss - think about mom and dad!

Perhaps the rise of internet porn had blurred the boundaries of what is socially acceptable to discuss in public?  I don't mind dirty jokes and the odd awkward sexual encounter story, but when scrolling through an apparently family friendly social media platform becomes a dodging the c*mshot exercise, I feel like I'm being force fed sexual fantasy that quite frankly, I don't want to know about.

There are sites for that sort of thing, right?  Lots and lots of sites.  And if the need so took me, I would know where to look, but is it really okay to just have these things thrust in our faces? 

What do you guys think? Am I just getting old, or should we respect each other's mutual space by keeping these things in places where you want to see them?

#grossedout

#itsalltoomuchforme