vanessan

I was rather amused by this ‘drop off point’ issue. Southern Comfort arrived at the 24 hour moorings about 2pm, a big sign saying ‘drop off point’ was on the bank right at the abbey end and the paddle steamer duly pulled up there and disgorged its passengers. There it stayed until the service was over and they all got back on again. Bear in mind the service was at 3.30pm so it was probably 4.30-5.00pm before it got away again. That’s a long drop off!

I have read a lot of good things about Bridgestones at Potter and have finally been able to sample it for myself. Visited Potter by car on Sunday and decided to rehydrate so ended up in Bridgestones about 12.30pm. As you would expect for an August Sunday, Potter was heaving but with the turnover in the cafe it looks as if you can usually get a table quite easily. I was surprised at the number of tables there are anyway. It has a good, varied menu and the food was well presented and very tasty. Service was quite quick bearing in mind the number of diners and the staff, although very busy and very hot, were all brilliant and friendly. The air conditioning was an absolute boon with the outside temperature around 30 degrees! We enjoyed the experience so much we returned again late yesterday afternoon for another bash (and another cooling off) and I have no hesitation in recommending it. Potter has certainly benefited from Bridgestones. I haven’t seen much about Norada yet, what used to be the Broadshaven. Looking at it from the outside, it is not exactly inviting. Anyone experienced it yet? I know you should never judge a book by its cover!

Funny how a short break write up, even a trip by car, can be as good as a tale from a week’s boating holiday! Winterton Church sounds very interesting and well worth a visit. We’ve been past many times in the car when taking the dogs to Winterton beach but never stopped. Lovely photos too. What is Wroxham Barns like these days? Worth a visit or not?

That was a very interesting read Wildfuzz, thank you. I’m feeling really sorry for wasps now! We do seem to be forever trying to encourage them to leave the boat as they worry the dogs who try and snap at them, not a good idea! I got stung a couple of weeks ago, I moved my arm just as one had settled on it. The only things we actually kill are mosquitoes, everything else gets sucked up into the spider catcher and waved away back into the open air. So if you see someone madly waving a long tube like thing, it will probably be us!

No, next to the white elephant with a pink parasol.

Looks like a mouldy prawn to me!

We always appreciate it when flappy helmsmen give us directions as to where they would like us to go. Could I just ask though, what does one finger (usually the middle one) mean when it points skywards?

Thanks for sharing your tale, look forward to next year’s now.

A roll of string might come in handy so you can retrace your steps, the route is not exactly a straight one! A torch would be useful too.

Have you never seen a parrot in disguise??

Ps - don’t let her see the chicken in a can thread.

Is that an African Grey? Does it talk? Sorry if that is a silly question, my knowledge of parrots is zilch!

I don’t recall enjoying a holiday tale (plus associated bits and pieces) as much as yours Jono. I suppose because it goes back to a good era, you and I are very similar in age but now please forget I told you that! It always seems to me that things were more simple then, probably mainly to do with the lack of technology. We got a tremendous kick out of trying new things in those days didn’t we? As Vaughan said, ‘please tell us more’!

The Cobb is certainly a great bbq for boating. If you use the cobblestone for fuel, you can start cooking in 5 minutes. They are not cheap, the Cobbs or the cobblestones, but worth every penny imo.

Not to worry folks, JP is meeting with NR so it will all be sorted........................

That is so true. I am also inclined to agree with you that fb groups may well die before the forum does. There is so much good and useful information readily available on here that I believe makes the forum the ‘go to’ for help. Younger members may disagree but there will (I think) always be the older element looking for guidance/help/information. That is partly because many hirers buy their own vessel when they retire or are getting near to it and that’s when the nitty gritty questions arise and help is needed. Also older hirers may well be in a position to holiday more than once a year on the Broads. The forum is easy to use and answers to questions never seem to be very long in appearing. All in all I think the forum has a long future ahead of it.

Which waterway were you on with Conway Castle Jono?

to the forum Jono. An interesting story, particularly the ‘listing of boat choice and getting what you were given’! I somehow can’t imagine that working these days! I vaguely remember that system of booking myself. You have certainly hired a great number of boats, your list includes 3 we had in our hiring days (we now have our own boat). I think the GL2s are now all in private hands. Do tell us more about your past trips (good or not so good experiences) and definitely come back and let us know about the cottage and day boat and your trip on Serenade.

They are probably including pubs that closed briefly before being taken over and reopened. Broadshaven, Beauchamp Arms and Thurne Lion come to mind immediately. Just a way of making news of ‘non news’ I reckon!

I do wish they could find a nice picture of a broad or river to head the briefing, rather than keep trotting out that one of JP trying to look like JR!

Good thing it’s not your problem then, you’ve just given grendel a headache too! Just take a couple of aspirin and go for a lie down.

That can only be a good thing but, if the moderators are as strict on fb as they are on here, there could be an exodus of users from the NBN group. It seems at the moment that almost anything goes on fb in general, bad language, trolling, verbal abuse etc etc. The mods are really going to have to be on the ball every minute of every day. If there is an exodus of users due to strict moderation, the content of fb will eventually mirror that of the forum won’t it? Or am I looking at it all wrong?

I feel pretty sure there is a sign somewhere saying ‘wait until the ferry has docked before proceeding’ or similar.

No problem for me, I’m not allowed out at night.

I bet it took you ages to put that post together!!