Lound Lakes and a stormy coast at Caister on Sea

What a stormy night! What is with us an having natural hazards on holiday! First thing I was looking at the Environment Agency website at the flood maps which are excellent. High tide and storms make a dangerous combination. We first visited Lound Lakes which aren’t the easiest to find and I’m not sure we actually found the lakes, but had a lovely walk following the blue signs. The footpath took us through lots on terrain, on boardwalks over the water, through woodland, through empty fields and then through a hide which was pitch black which was a little scary. Not the longest of walks, but it started raining so we had a brisk walk back to the car.

We drove further up the coast to Caister on Sea but alas couldn’t walk on the beach, the waves were huge and it was a little dangerous. I took notice of the Environment Agency warnings!

Sailor and Penny’s first visit to a Roman Fort!

 

We’ve only seen windmills from a distance so this mornings mission was to see a windmill and Thurne windmill was a corker. The bright white walls and black sky was a great contrast. We walked along the dyke for a bit, got confused by the sign that was ‘this is not a car park, it’s a staithe’. What’s one of those! It says it’s for planting corn and for manure, by the local residents….an order from parliament. We parked there anyway. We then went onto Horsely but unfortunately the road was closed to by chance, we stopped at Sea Palling instead. What an amazing fluke! A huge sand beach that didn’t have people on it! We walked through the big sea wall onto the beach, Sailor definitely prefers sand beaches to pebble. We walked up to the dunes, got our feet wet when we were all running in the surf. Definitely our favourite beach to date.

After lunch and naps, we visited Burgh Castle, a roman fort. We aren’t big history lovers, but it was really good on a bright We walked around the ruin, it was much bigger than it looks on the web. It’s free to visit and the car park is free too, bargain. What did trouble us was that the opening times stated ‘until reasonable’….what’s reasonable?

An afternoon at the beach

We are getting into quite a routine now, lie in, cook breakfast and out we go. Today we visited Carlton and Oulton Marshes in Suffolk which are lovely. We walked along the track to a small footpath through the marsh which was single file. The map on arrival was very welcome and other dog owners put their dogs on leads which was much better. As opposed to Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Suffolk Wildlife Trust allow dogs on their reserves. On we drive to Kessingland to the beach, Penny was oblivious to the pebbles but Sailor walked slower and slower. He definitely doesn’t like the sea on his tootsies either while Penny just stood in the sea wondering why it’s wet. Kessingland also has Sailors Home, a fish and chip shop, so we had the obligatory photo. You can tell we are in the holiday spirit, we came home for a 2 hour afternoon nap.

Sailor and Penny’s first time on a ferry

Oh Sailor is loving the cats too much, every morning Ali is woken by Sailor barking at the cats. We drove to Reedham and parked at the chain bridge car park for £1.50 and travelled over the River Yare by the car ferry (50p). Sailor and Penny’s first time on a car ferry, Sailor didn’t bat an eyelid, Penny had her tail between her legs. On the other side, we walked along the river to Reedham, through the village to the swing bridge and back again. It was really warm and sunny, like a summers day. We passed a renovated windmill which looked like a space ship with a doughnut glass room around it’s middle and through a small section with an electric fence which isn’t too good for you to walk with a greyhound, but we got through.

Following afternoon naps and lunch we tried to visit a wood nearby called Sisland Carr, a Woodland Trust site. However, we couldn’t find it and there weren’t any signs so we carried on to visit Loddon. We parked at Pye Cross and walked through a cow field to the village. The tiny cottages are quaint and I’m loving all of the village signs in Norfolk, they are so innate.

Withlingham Country Park – a joy to be in on an autumn day

Oh I do love the four poster bed, the duvet is so opulent too, must have been, I didn’t get up until 8am!. Improvement on 5:30 yesterday. I took pictures around the other buildings, in my PJ’s. Of course I had to see someone else walking around, they didn’t seem to mind. I saw the swimming pool, which is a little small but perfectly formed.

Our first visit was to Withlingham Country Park in South East Norwich. We drove past lots and lots of yellow and green shirts, Ali asked why there were so many people in high viz. I don’t know much about football but I can tell the shirts of Norwich City football club J £2 for three hours parking at the country park, then we started the walk. Alas we took a wrong turn and kept walking through a ‘no unauthorised persons’ driveway up to the boathouse. Luckily we rejoined the path we were supposed to be on. It was an absolutely glorious walk in perfect October sunshine, if anything, a little too warm! We were baking!

After lunchtime naps, we drove to Gorleston beach, south of Great Yarmouth, an extra wide beach with bright yellow sand. Dogs are allowed on the beach from October, perfect. Not so perfect was the amount of dogs off the lead, wanting to attack Penny. It was Penny’s first visit to the beach and she loved it, although didn’t want to get her toes wet. On the way back to the cottage, we passed Haddiscoe and saw the Environment Agency sign. Of course we had to have a picture.

At night, we had some very very tired doggies.

Greyhounds, greyhounds everywhere.

Our morning started cooking in the country kitchen, then onto Buckenham, a recommendation by Ali’s dad. It’s gorgeous, one of my favourite RSPB reserves, it’s quirky. You cross over the railway line to get to the marshes, then follow the river. While walking through the marshes, the boats looked like they were going through the field. It’s also a bit disconcerting that the boats are actually higher than you. We walked past a herd of cows, reached the leaning pumping station and wandered back. The only improvement would be if it was a circular walk. Sailor and Penny definitely enjoyed it, 5 poo bags!

After lunchtime naps, we drove to Beccles, a very quaint village with lots of buildings with name plaques on them. It was a lovely walk from the Puddingmoor free carp park to the Quay, the only downside was the amount of traffic and the motorbikes, but seeing the Bell Tower and church were lovely. Something we have noticed is the amount of greyhounds, they are everywhere!

Not the best of arrivals

Here starteth Penny’s first holiday, Sailors second and our second doggy holiday. This time we chose the Norfolk Broads and staying in the outbuildings in Hellington Hall. The buttery is a 2 bed cottage with cobble floors, country kitchen, four poster bed, dark furniture. It’s not our usual modern style. However, the holiday did not start well, before we even got in the cottage, the owners dogs attacked penny, pushed her to the floor and was biting her neck! Going outside isn’t something we relish now. Big shame to the start of a holiday.