What is it with the English obsession with going to the seaside in all weathers and seasons? Well on a day like this, what else? But with the warm 12 degrees and the blue sky that lasted almost 2 hours. If you notice in the photo album how many of the photos taken on the same walk along Burnham beach do not have blue sky.

Pippa and I were off to Clovelly, but as money is tight we decided to leave Clovelly for another time and go to Burnham-on-Sea, which was much closer. It was a really good choice as the beach was wide and the tide was out so Anouk had a huge area to run on. Her first attempt to run to the waters edge proved a disaster. She sank into the mud up to her mid leg and was struggling to free herself. Pippa and I pointed out to her that the warning signs say clearly DO NOT try and walk across the beach to the headland, you will sink. But does Anouk ever read?

The rest of the walk for Anouk was fun and the running she did was exhausting to watch. Pippa and I did however find a fish and chip shop that was open and ordered large chips with salt, vinegar and a gherkin. Another English thing I will have to get use to is the Gherkins, Pickled Onions and Boiled Picked Eggs that are available with your fish and chips. However there is only the occasional pineapple fritter and never a banana fritter.

After lunch we walked back to the north end of the beach near Berrow. Then decided to go to Western-Super-Mare which I think has the coolest name for a town. However Western was a disappointment. There is heaps of construction going on trying to get the old Pavilion ready for a re-opening in summer. The first one burnt down in 2008. There is a huge restoration project going on as it was a bit of a centre piece for the town. But this meant road works, fenced areas and no parking. So we drove back towards Burnham to try a walk up Brean Down.

A Down is up here in England. I.e. a down is a hill. Brean Down projects out into the ocean south of Western-Super-Mare and north of Burnham-on-Sea. It is very steep sided and the warning is not about the mud, but about not letting your dogs off lead as they chase the goats and have been known to fall off the cliffs doing so. Pippa and I decided that as Anouk was having a bad day reading the signs, we would take responsibility for her.

There is a Zig Zag staircase up the steep cliff to the fairly narrow ridge along the top. There is a 2 1/2 hour round trip walk to the Brean Fort at the western end, but as it was already 4 pm, we decided to cut across to the views of Western-Super-Mare and round the eastern end. Great views across the Somerset levels.

The Somerset levels run from Burnham to Glastonbury and use to flood in olden times. It is the area that legend associates with Avalon and Merlin. There are several hills and downs rising up that would have once been islands during the high tide. Glastonbury Tor is one and the centre of the legend. Like a few days ago we walked on Cadbury Castle also near the levels that were thought to be the site of Camelot.

I love all the Arthurian legend in this part of the country. It gives all the castles, hill forts and older places an extra interest. Today Pippa and I are going to Nunnery castle near Bristol then to Mary overnight as all our stuff arrives from Australia tomorrow morning at 9am.

Mary has promised us a pub dinner and as I know she reads this blog I can type it here and hold her to it, just as she knew of the chocolates from Dunster. Speaking of Chocolates, Mary has also infected my taste buds with Gu, and it is the chocolatiest pudding on the planet, apart from the Gu mousse that Pippa found a few weeks back. Thank you to both Pippa and Mary who know my tastes so well.