Life in a Motorhome for a Year - Week 13 - Wells By Sea - Cley Next the Sea - Blakeney Point - Sheringham - East Anglia

 TUESDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 2014 Week 13

We started off in Cley Next the Sea, and I must say it was a thoroughly cute little village. It was very cosy and quaint, with all the old cottages made from locally sourced beach pebbles.

Close by was Blakeney Point, where we were going to embrace some of the wildlife of the Norfolk coast, and we decided we’d go on a boat trip to see some seals and a bird sanctuary. Got to the boat tour jetty in plenty of time and waited… and waited… and waited! Finally, I had the sense to ring the two numbers on the advertisement board… No answer, but we did get given a voicemail message to ring another number in an emergency. I was cold and fed up of waiting… it was an emergency! (picture: This is the consolation seal I got to meet!)

The lady on the other end said, “I’m sorry we’re not running today. We didn’t have enough interest.”

Me: “Well, there seems to be plenty of interest. You’ve got six people waiting by the jetty, lots of people sitting in cars (no doubt keeping warm), and more milling about,” (probably waiting to see if a boat turns up)!

Lady: “Well, no one rang to book.”

Me: “To be fair, your advertisement says it’s ‘advisable to book during summer periods’. It’s winter, and it doesn’t say ‘booking essential’!!! So are you sending someone?”

Lady: “No.”

Well, I can see them going out of business to their competitors any time soon! I'm a bit gutted, really, because I wanted to do something a bit different, and we weren’t going to be there the next day when the other seal boat company was running a trip. Hey, ho, such is life.

So, instead, we had a little trip around Sheringham. A cute little fishing village with lots of art painted on the beach walls and a steam train that wasn't working. (spot the real person in the photo)

After almost getting stuck in the mud again, Del decided I deserved a treat. We stayed in a cosy country lodge hotel in Old Hunstanton for the evening, enjoying a few wines and a roaring fire… lovely!

We travelled slightly by land to Barney (between Fakenham and Holt) because quite a bit of the Norfolk coastline is made up of large blots of marshland. As a result, there are very few caravan parks, and even fewer that are still open in November. 

Anyhoo, The Brick Kilns was a delightful park surrounded by woodlands, all changing colour for the autumn. I love this time of year when the countryside takes on a new glow of burnt reds, oranges, and browns, a slight nip in the air that gives you that pleasurable when you get back into the warmth with a steaming cup of tea. Mmmm!

We had a day trip to Wells By Sea and came across this odd-looking apartment. Yes, that green box on stilts is someone's home! It reminded me of Aunt Josephine's house hanging from the edge of the cliff in the Lemony Snickets Movie (above) and the Ostler's house (below), which I think has to be the smallest and most crooked house in East Anglia (if not England). It's so cute!!

I’ve been to Norfolk a few times and worked around here, too, but I haven't quite looked at it in the same way as I have this week. The area seems to be made up of small villages surrounding large, sprawling farming estates (like Sandringham or Holkham Hall, which seem to have their own little micro economy going on, which is very quaint and British) with the odd market town dotted about to buy essentials and little boutique gift shops. I actually quite like the Norfolk coast. 

We also got our first feel of Christmas festivities. We were directed to Thursford, a converted farm that I think is usually used as a museum, quaint gift shopping area and wedding venue. But when we arrived, it was decked out as a winter wonderland. It was great, and I felt like an excited kid again.

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And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

Life Touring the UK in a Motorhome - Cromer - East Runton - Great Yarmouth - Week 12

 TUESDAY, 18 NOVEMBER 2014 Week 12

It’s been another fun pack-filled week of travelling. First, we went to Cromer and discovered a lovely seaside town. So lovely, in fact, that the BBC TV film crew agreed and chose the quiet little traditional town as the venue for a new Agatha Christie drama.

We walked past a field commandeered by the film crew and lots of the vast, white make-up trailers and I was convinced it was the secret film location for Mission Impossible 4 because Tom Cruise had been making surprise appearances around East Anglia at the same time. We walked to the pier, and it had been cleverly refurbished to look like we’d stepped into a mini wormhole and travelled back to the 1930s. On asking around, we discovered it wasn’t Mission Impossible, but we can say we’ve been on a film set and can’t wait to see the programme just so we can sit there and say, “Ooh look, Cromer Pier, Hotel de Paris, we saw that!”

We were going to head up the road to East Runton, until we arrived at the next camping park. It was all grass and the receptionists only thought to persuade us to stay was “We’ve got a tractor to pull you out!” I don’t think so, deary.

We headed back down the coast to Belton, Great Yarmouth, where we had a social event to attend that weekend. We film fest and went to the movies to see Interstellar. I don’t usually live in space films as I have a fear of asphyxiation (underwater or in space, you always know at least one character is going cop it in a horrible ‘can’t breathe’ kind of way. 

But I did enjoy it because it challenged Einstein’s theory of relativity and time travel. A sort of Human Dr Who! Well, that’s how I saw it. My only gripe was the horrendous background music played over crucial moments in the film where crucial revelations were made. Apparently, there have been many complaints about that. All in all, it's a good film and worth a recommendation from Moi! The weekend was smashing. 

We stayed with friends near Pakefield and attended a Lions Club International event; New Century Lions Club EA were holding their 13^th charter and celebrating becoming a teenager the theme was spots! Great food, meeting old friends and making new ones and a bit of a boogie, although Wigfield ‘Saturday Night’ killed my calves and thighs… The lovely Taylor family (Including Charlie the Mad Lab!) put us up this weekend. And so, tired
but happy, it’s back up to Norfolk and Cley Nest the Sea.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

A Year in a Motorhome - Travelling UK Coastline - Hemsby - North Walsham - Sea Palling - Norfolk -Week 11

 TUESDAY, 11 NOVEMBER 2014 Week 11

This week we've stayed at Clippesby Hall, close to Hemsby, which if everything had been open, it would've been a perfect park. We also stayed at Two Mills Park, at North Walsham. The town was quaint and olde worlde, but again with us hitting the end of season brick wall, it was very quiet.

We went for a day out to Hemsby Beach and on to Walcott, where we witnessed first-hand the devastation of the tidal surge last December, some people obviously hadn't been able to fix their homes and had deserted them just as they were. Some houses still had furniture in there, just left as it was. It made me think of the devastation of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, where entire residential areas are still inhabitable.

We also saw on the news that a humpback whale comes to the Norfolk coastline at this time of year, we stopped off at Sea Palling, the cutest little holiday seaside village EVER and we found all the whale watchers. My binoculars  were not powerful enough, nor was my camera. So I took a picture of the whale watchers watching a whale!

We did come across the best fish and chip shop I have tasted in the world... Kingfishers in Walcott, Fish was hot and cooked to perfection, the chips were amazingly crispy like when they're cooked three times and the curry sauce was to die for. Because of this gastronomic seaside delight I have decided whilst on my travels I'm going in search of the best chippy, the best Chinese, Indian, Thai and Italian.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

UK Coatline Tour in a Motorhome - 10 Years on - Great Yarmouth - Goth Weekend Whitby - Week 10

 TUESDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2014 Week 10

Great Yarmouth was a lovely, traditional seaside town, at one end the majestic Victorian hotels and guest houses and at the other side of the pier all the amusements a cheap tat gift shops. We had a great time on the pier, playing in the arcades and feeling like a kid again, but as we’re getting to the end of the season shops and the pier shut down earlier and now the clocks have gone back too, it’s dark by five, yet weirdly it still fills like eight or nine at night.

One night we went to watch Northern Soul at the local cinema. Great Yarmouth doesn’t appear to have these big all singing all dancing, Imax, super, duper, surround-sound, Dolby-screen, ultimate, movie experience – you get the idea. We had a cinema and chairs like something from the 1980s and there was just 5 of us in the auditorium, which was quaint and great! I don’t think Great Yarmouthians like the flicks much! 

We moved on to Whitby for a bit of a detour for Halloween and the Whitby Goth weekend, which was amazing and very atmospheric. We walked up the 199 steps to the Abbey where I saw someone dressed up like Vampire Lestat and had a baby vampire following him around! We then went to the Abbey itself, where they had organised an outdoor play of Bram Stokers Dracula.

There were just three actors who played all the characters and their interaction with the crowd was very funny. I love watching live performances as you feel your part of the show, even if you are just watching, but the crowd’s interaction and the actor’s ab-libs made the show very funny and entertaining indeed. We watched the last performance of the day and so got the opportunity to watch them put the Abbey lights on, which they were doing for Halloween only.

We then did a ghost walk, which I still love, even if I think the person taking me on the ghost walk isn’t that fantastic because you still get a sense of local myths and legends and to walk through the small winding, cobbled streets in the dark is always atmosphere, especially at Halloween.

On Halloween itself, we walked around Robin Hoods Bay, which was rife with smugglers in its day. The best way to describe the place is a miniature fishing village on a very, very steep hill. I can see why smugglers like the place. Back in its time, unless you lived there you probably wouldn’t have bothered to negotiate the steep hills, cliffs and tight winding streets. The place is very quaint though.

In the evening we went back into Whitby and it was bonkers! There were goths and Steampunkers dressed to impress. Tourists like myself and Del who wanted to join in and dress up a little bit and be a part of the scene, then there were the people who just came to watch the shenanigans. There were some amazing outfits and then there were some really creepy ones, like the clown IT from Steven Kings film, there was even a guy whose makeup looked like he had reptile skin under his human face, like ‘V’! Very good and very creepy. Naturally the place was bursting at the seams with people, but we managed to stay out until midnight. (Not a big crowd person)

We also went for a walk up onto West Cliff by the Pavillion where the music festival was being hosted (not sure what Heaven 17 has to do with goths though) The amount of pimped out hearses parked up there was amazing, and I guess some people just love living the whole undead lifestyle for real, for me though I’m quite happy to just write about it. The place was so atmospheric, I was even inspired by a new horror story, thanks to Derek! That’s all I’m going to say for now…. Mwah Hahaha!

Heading back to East Anglia exhausted but happily spooked for another year.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales