My friends! In this series of DOG FRIENDLY BRITAIN, I, Rocky the traveling bull terrier, will take you on journeys around the United Kingdom and show you adventures that you can take your dog in!
On this latest adventure I revisit a small little piece of Essex that I had first seen back in 2016. Here’s a few cool snaps from that visit from three years ago.
Now flash forward to now in 2019 and Danny and I found ourselves staying with our friend in Colchester for several days while traveling throughout the UK. Naturally, we had to come and revisit this little gem, despite the gray weather!
The road to Mersea Island and some background
Driving to Mersea Island is quite an adventure in itself as you might experience the high tide on the road to the island (the road is called the Strood – always check the tide before you drive as it could be impossible to cross sometimes, unless you drive one of those cars that turns into a boat!).
On the Strood you’ll also get to see an amazing tribute to the fallen soldiers of World War I in the form of some silhouettes. Keep an eye out for that!
The island itself has quite the rich history having been inhabited since pre-Roman times.
Our friend had told us that fishing is a huge industry here, particularly, oysters and crabbing is also very popular here. As you’ll see later, I pay a small tribute to crabs!
When we go on our boat ride you’ll see that Mersea Island has several small islands located off the coast. One of them is Packing Shed Island which has an old oyster packing shed on it. Now I personally wouldn’t mind moving to one of these islands and eat oysters all day!
Our walk to the harbour
On this particular visit, we began our little walk in the small town of West Mersea as we made our way to the harbour. There were so many boats. I wondered what the sea life would be like for me. Could we live in a houseboat someday in the near future? Who knows? I don’t know how to fish – heck I can barely swim!
Our walk took us all the way to the marina!
Once we arrived, I did my very own version of crabbing with an upside down crab walk dance!
All in all, it was a quiet day at Mersea Island, maybe because it’s not yet quite yet the right season but we actually like how peaceful it was. Once we reached the marina we saw a little boat hanging about that offered boat rides and discovered that it was called Lady Grace and she does lots of boat trips.
Only £3 each person and dogs are allowed free of charge! That’s right: dogs are allowed and FREE!
The only thing is they cannot climb on the seats due to safety reasons of course. Bummer! But I guess you can’t have it all!
A colorful beach!
After our boat ride we headed off to the beach in search of the colorful huts that I had seen three years ago!
Visiting the same spot from three years ago really makes us think about how time flies!
Now as for the beach itself, Mersea Island is quite dog friendly and goes by the motto of live and let live so that means dogs are allowed year-round on the beaches as long as they are on a leash! (Or lead if you’re British!)
There were plenty of dogs around Mersea Island so you’ll pleased to know that overall, it’s very friendly to four-legged pals!
Check out our entire boat ride and adventure at Mersea Island below. While you’re there, consider subscribing to keep up to date with more of our adventures! Thanks my friends!
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