I arrived at Sheerness approx 90 minutes later. I think having to change trains twice made it feel less tedious than a non stop 90 minutes would have been. I exited the station into warm sunshine, and that sunshine was with me for most, but not all of my almost 2 hours of walking. It was quite windy near the sea, and that made it feel cooler, although "fresher" would probably be a better description than "cooler" because it did feel very nice.
 
    One of the things I was not expecting was that the shuttle that runs between Sittingbourne and Sheerness was a 3 car "coast train" - a class 375 train complete with first class and two toilets. I assume this was chosen because it gives a better chance of "social distancing" than the usual 2 car class 466 that I have always seen in the past.
  To all those strident social media, self appointed policeman, take note that on this warm day this beach was not crammed with sun seekers ignoring social distancing rules. Some parts of "the beach" were more crowded. In parts people were reduced to just a 10 to 20 metre spacing ! I put beach in inverted commas because I am not sure if muddy gravel and shingle can be called "a beach".
  I was going to say that this was better proof of it being the seaside, but this huge ship would probably be heading up The Thames towards Tilbury, or that other big new port whose name escapes me for the moment.
  Yesterday was the first time I positively identified Southend's Pier from across the river and/or estuary. Having been to the end of that pier it always seemed that it stuck out over halfway to the other side, and that it should be easy to spot, but it's not unless you have very good eyesight or binoculars. The pier can be seen in this photo as the small serrations slightly to the left of centre of the picture. How can such a huge thing, it's 1.3 miles long, look so small and insignificant ?
  I keep meaning to look back at my previous pictures, but I can't recall seeing these huge great towers, with their red and white tops, near the entrance of Sheerness docks. I can't imagine what they can be for....but a bit of research shows that they are on an oil drilling ship ! https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sheerness/news/giant-drilling-rig-becomes-unexpected-tourist-attraction-227322/
  This is the second time I have snapped this sign, and I still think it prohibits not only people, but the rocks too. Maybe a bit of punctuation would make it clearer.
  Some of the easiest to see remains of defences guarding the entrance to the river, and Sheerness docks. Some were built to keep out Napoleon, and some Hitler, plus any other scallywags who would cause mayhem.
  I always associated swans with fresh water, but these two seem quite happy in sea water.
  I am unsure if this is a clam or oyster (probably oyster), and I have no idea if this one was dead or alive. I did see people collecting them near the waters edge in some parts - mainly where the low tide revealed rock pools and shingle banks. Once upon a time, say mid 1960s, most shellfish would be contaminated by all the crap flowing down the Thames from London, but now the water meets Euro standards of cleanliness, and presumably the shellfish are now safe to eat.
  This was as far as I walked towards the east (or towards Minster). The nice wide concrete path finishes here, and the continuing path disappears under shingle a bit further on. Walking on shingle is hard work, and my feet were getting quite sore as well. On top of that I could see a lot of caravans parked up on the shingle in the distance. I didn't fancy walking through what might have been a traveller encampment.

  It was a painful walk back to the station, and a painful journey home. I had worn a lightweight pair of slip on plimsolls. In the past they were a pleasure to use for walks such as this, but over the years my toes have distorted on my right foot, and I didn't realise it until I got home that I had rubbed a lot of skin off both the top and bottom of one toe. The right shoe was welded to my foot by dry blood when I got home.

  While standing still, or sitting on the train, the pain from that toe, plus a few much more minor bits of rubbing, were not that bothersome, but it left me feeling a bit edgy. By the time I had heard "from Monday 15th you must wear a face mask to use our services" 56 times I was ready to commit hari kari or something. That, and the posters on the trains turned what should have been a nice day out into something almost hateful. My mood was not improved when I saw there was a big queue outside the Sainsbury's Local shop by Catford station. I wanted to get a few things from there as I was passing, but I had to abandon the idea.





  This poster angered me. Apart from the general annoyance that only dirty or sinister people wear masks, and many I see look filthy and full of germs and viruses, there is also the annoyance that what is shown is a mouth and nose mask, and not a face mask. You can still see half the face, and in real life it is usually an ugly face.











  This poster was weird. Why are they trying to keep extreme chastity of trains ? It is almost as if the trains are going Islamic or Judaic - keeping the sexes apart in public and during worship. I can only imagine that statistics show too many unplanned pregnancies happened on trains - although why that should be of any concern to the railway companies is a mystery to me.







   There were two particular reasons I wanted to go into Sainsbury's by the station. One was to get the new edition of New Scientist, and the other was to reward myself for the long walk (to which an extra mile could be added for the walk from home to the station, and back again), the pain, and for being in the sun for a long time. That reward was to be a tub of their low(ish) calorie/ low(ish) sugar ice cream. I never did get anything to equal that pleasure.

  On the other hand I did have something that was close to it, and much healthier too - grilled salmon on a bed of salad leaves with tomatoes. Maybe it was just the right thing for just the right minute, but it was delicious. Apart from a handful of peanuts, and a chunk of cheese, I don't think I ate anything else yesterday. I didn't even eat the complimentary slice of chocolate cake that came with my takeaway a few days back. For some reason I didn't even consider eating it. I also had one can of semi strong beer, and a couple of whiskies.

  I was in bed fairly early last night - it had been a tiring day ! I seemed to get quite a good sleep, although there were times when I seemed to be awake for short periods. This morning I felt a bit hungry, and I have since eaten a bacon breakfast. Since sitting here, typing on my PC, my right knee has started getting sore, but it didn't bother me at all yesterday, nor through the night.

  My main weakness is my right foot, and mostly just one toe. Once I have had a shower, and cleaned it up, I will have to see if there is any way I can protect the raw skin with sticking plasters. Aside from the pain, one other annoyance of this latest damage is that it happened just after another bit of damage on the side of my foot, and slightly under it, has only just finished a long healing process. While it has had many positive effects, all these long walks are taking their toll on my feet - maybe only if I don't wear my hiking boots. Now they are wearing in they seem to be staying almost comfortable for even 4 miles or more.

  Other bits of me are doing quite well. My blood glucose is still slowly edging downwards. I must admit I expected it to be a fair bit less this morning, but for whatever reason it would still be better if it was lower. Much better news is that my weight is almost down to where it was a week ago (maybe a few more days than that) after a long walk that involved being very dehydrated. I suppose getting close to it first thing in the morning, when I haven't been sweating under a hot sun for hours, is probably almost worthy of (careful) celebration.

  I was originally thinking of one more trip to the seaside today before the travel ban comes in tomorrow, when the masked travel rule reduces my horizon to that of an 18th century peasant - I can go as far as I can walk, and no more. My sore feet is a fair reason not to go out too far today, and the constant announcements about masks on stations, and in trains, would probably drive me to suicide.

  Never mind, I had stuff to do here. I probably will have another go at getting in Sainsbury's to buy New Scientist, and a bottle or two of pop. If I do manage to buy New Scientist I can spend a few hours today reading that, although I have several books lined up to read (plus one I am only about three quarters of the way through). I need to do a little housework - emptying a few bins being the most important bit. I have flowers to water - eve if it rains, and it looks like it could, the window boxes don't catch much rain. The latest weather forecast revision reckons there is a 10% chance of rain early this afternoon, but I'll probably have to get the hose out. There are plenty of other things I could do if I could raise the enthusiasm. Maybe I'll be OK to walk a few miles on Monday.