Destination: Walton and Frinton-on-Sea
Sculptures visited: 13
Dogs who thought I was a chew toy: 3
New skills mastered: So many!
Well, what amazing fun I’ve had so far this week – maybe you’ve seen that I’ve been wandering in Walton and fizzing in Frinton, spreading the word of the Octopus Ahoy! project, helping people download the app, and visiting all my sculpture buddies! The residents made me feel so welcome, and so did some of their pets… who would have thought that a fluffy octopus like me could be mistaken for a dog toy? I don’t even squeak!
We ducked in early doors see our friends at Walton-on-the-Naze Lifestyles, where the water made me feel right at home! Resisting the urge to dive in, we gave a quick hello to small sculpture ‘Hidden Gems’, before squeezing in a quick workout – these limbs don’t stay super-strong on their own!
Have you visited Walton Pier? ‘Eight of Spades’ cuts a fantastic figurehead just outside by the sea and the sights and sounds in the pier itself really blew my 9 minds! The team there are harbouring three of our dinky sculptures as well as offering a bubbling reward for app users – a ride on the carousel! Being the local celeb I am, they let me try it out (who could say ‘nay’?); as it happens, horses on land are very different to seahorses, which I know ‘first-hands’ do not like it when you try to ride them.
Onward… we chugged on over to the train station to meet the passengers arriving from Colchester on the Bucket and Spade Train. Let’s just say sometimes it comes in handy having 8 limbs… there were so many children to wave at! The friendliest ones shared some octopus jokes with me – I’ll be recycling those to my friends back home.
By the time we’d finished a romp around town (shout out to my new biker friends at Revved Up), a trip to the Naze Tower – which my sea-living friends can even see from the ocean as it’s so tall – and a spell as a skipper at Walton-on-the-Naze’s Wildlife Boat Trips (it was nice to see a boat from above rather than below for once), we floated on air along the coast to Frinton-on-Sea.
Nature-loving ‘Holly’ is blending in beautifully amongst the trees near Frinton Golf Club, and the club itself was tee-riffic! I went down like a hole-in-one there – the members insisted I stop to take tea, but being such a sporty sort, I wanted to get into the swing of the sport itself! My skills have improved but I need to brush up on the lingo; when they offered me a sand wedge, it really took the wind out of my sails to find it was a type of golf club…
To town! Connaught Avenue is the place to be and is home to some small sculptures – we stopped at the iconic telephone box (keeping ‘Facebook Felines’ company) to put in some calls to spread the word. Some of my Frinton faves – whipping into The Olde Sweet Shop for a Whippy (buy-one-get-one-free if you unlocked their app reward!), bouncing into Boyden’s Coastal Branch, clocking up time as a barista in Costa, and checking out the contents of Caxton Books – giving love to the staff and sculptures as we went. No visit to Frinton would be complete without us popping our heads in to say hello to our beloved Octopus Patrons, Ellisons Solicitors, too!
Now… while I’m known for being humble and low-key (despite what the Octopus Ahoy! team say) I felt in my 3 hearts that it was finally time for my 15 minutes of fame. Cue the team, following directions to nearby Frinton Summer Theatre where I finally made my long-awaiting stage debut! Here’s me in the spotlight, centre stage, enjoying thunderous applause… I can still hear the cries of ‘encore’ ringing again and again in my mind.
The First Mate Crew said I’d gone overboard, called me a ‘land luvvie’ and insisted I took a time out… so (after some shushing, whoops) we had some quiet in Frinton Library to close this chapter of our adventures. When you’re visiting and unlocking ‘Perseverance’ make sure to check out the amazing Octopus Ahoy! display; a selfie with that would be almost as good as one with me!
A big thank you again to all of our new shipmates in Walton and Frinton for a wonderful welcome, we can’t wait to come back soon. Did you see me out adventuring? Share your snaps and tag the team,, because we love to see them, using @octopusahoy and #octopusahoy
What other visits around Tendring are in the offing? Keep an eye on social media for updates about where we will surface next… CJ x