Lulu

Thank you. We have never really been on board in peak season and we thought this would be the best way to tackle it, plus we wanted to be totally lazy. It worked for us!

We found exactly the same. It was lovely to chat to people and everyone kept a respectable distance from each other. The two pubs we went to were very organised with signage and the couple of shops we visited, customers all kept to the required spacing. I dont like stern mooring in normal times but we made a point not to go anywhere where we had to stern moor apart from Salhouse. Our neighbours there chose to have their boat slightly further away than normal. Boating is definitely one of the easiest holidays to social distance including travelling to and from home. The thought of airports and being on a plane .....ugh

Tuesday 21st July 2020 We didnt get a lot of sleep. The geese decided to have a party at 2.30pm which continued on and off for the rest of the night. After disposing our rubbish, we left Salhouse at 8.15. We turned left and went down to Wroxham Broad where I could practice some manoeuvring. Selsie always does the mooring and I always helm but i need to get some confidence to be able to do the more tricky stuff. The weather was, as it had been so far, warm and sunny. We felt incredibly lucky. We didn't go into Wroxham knowing there would be nowhere to moor and we haven’t yet had the courage to go under the bridge. We took a slow cruise to St Benets. Again, as we were out and about so early the rivers were quiet. By the time we got to St Benets at 10.30, boats were leaving to start their day and that was the end of our cruising for the day! We were loving this routine. Selsie hadnt been to the abbey before so we went and had a look around then walked to the cross. We had some lunch and the river then got very busy. After our disturbed night I went for an afternoon nap, lulled to sleep by the continuous sound of the boats passing by. I was hoping for another good sunset. I walked back to the abbey in the evening where there were quite a few others poised with cameras. It wasnt as spectacular as the night we were at Stokesby but still a lovely light.

Monday 20th July 2020 After another night of wonderfully restful sleep we awoke to a beautiful blue fluffy cloudy sky. It reminded me of the intro to the Simpsons cartoon. We left Stokesby at 7.30 and yet again had the river to ourselves. We arrived at Acle at 8.00 to get water and a pump out. We moored at the water point on the Pedros side and were told that we would have to wait for the guy to arrive as he takes the hosepipe away. It was a hard life waiting in glorious sunshine. We then saw Bridgecraft opening up at 9.00 so we reversed Luna onto the Bridgecraft side and got the water and pump out done there instead. We left Acle at 9.45 and proceeded up the river. A little way along we witnessed aerial combat between a gull who had an eel in his beak and a heron who was in hot pursuit. This went on for quite a while and couldn’t believe how agile the heron was. Finally the gull dropped the eel and the heron claimed his prize. Unfortunately I couldn’t capture this as it was all too fast. We decided Salhouse was our next destination. It was still pretty quiet, although a bit busier as we went through Horning. We arrived at Salhouse at 12.15 and got an end spot so I could have an uninterrupted view later. We went for a walk then as usual, boat watched, gradually watching the moorings fill up well into the evening. It was lovely having one side with a clear view. I think we were asleep by 9.30

That’s great news Carole! It would be good to meet up again out on the rivers x

Warm welcome to the forum. :)

Thank you Swan. Ive never slept so well as I did that week. Now I’m home and back to work, its the usual waking every few hours.

Been great following your diary and so good to catch up with you when we were on holiday. Have a great time on Water Rail :)

Sunday 19th July 2020 We woke up to a family row at 6.15am . Never heard anything like it on a Sunday morning, disgraceful behaviour! Gulls were screaming and squawking above us, then I realised they were actually running around on our canopy having their domestic. I shooed them away and went back to bed. Stokesby was our aim today. Another first or as we say, ‘another tick’. We wanted to have a look at the shop that everyone is raving about. After a quick breakfast of toast and marmalade, we left Thurne Dyke at 8.10 and also left a brand new rhond anchor so someone will have been able to claim a nice shiney new one dammit. (When we bought Luna we couldn’t find any rhond anchors, so bought a new pair. We later discovered in the depths of a locker, 6 other rhond anchors! We had a chat and said we can give a few away. After leaving one at Thurne Dyke, we will keep all our spares as no doubt it will happen again...) We arrived at Stokesby at 10.10. It was a lovely cruise, hardly anyone about. We of course had to visit the shop. Oh the cakes! Selsie got a scotch egg and I got a brownie. Anyone who knows me, knows I love chocolate. That brownie beat me! it was so rich and umptious that I could only eat half (obviously i ate the other half later). Selsie said the scotch egg was the best he had tasted. As before, we spent the rest of the day just sitting boat watching in the sunshine. This was to be the routine for the week, short, early cruises, moor up for the rest of the day, do nothing. After a while, we saw boat after boat going by, all heading south. It was like the M25 at times. We were very happy as maybe it would mean the northern broads would be quiet We ordered a takeaway from the Ferry Inn, fish and chips this time which were perfectly cooked. Again, easy and efficient system. The pub was busy all day and evening which was great to see and glad we could help support the pubs, although this ended up being the last pub we visited. I was also singing the praises of the cakes to others and i believe I helped with sales that day! After dinner, we watched a bit of tv then watched the sunset. It was so magical and people were coming out of their boats to watch. An amazing end to a fantastic day. We retired to bed again at 10.00.

One was too much for me. I probably ate just over half which seemed such a waste!

17th July 2020 After all these weeks, with a few day trips once we were allowed, a much needed week off arrived where we could actually stay on board! I clock watched the whole day at work until 4.00pm when I literally bolted out of the door. We set off for Norfolk and got stuck at every roundabout on the A11. It took 2 hours instead of 1 hr 15, but we didn’t care. We got to the marina, unpacked and had dinner then fitted our new mooring lines. Luna is starting to look a bit smarter. We had her anti-fouled a few weeks ago, bought some new fenders so they now all match. Still got work to do repainting the deck and more varnishing on the screens but we will get there. We had made the decision that this holiday we would do no maintenance and just relax. We have bought a Planar heater and some other plumbing thing that needs to be done but those jobs could wait. We stayed in the marina overnight, ready to leave early. I think I was asleep the moment my head hit the pillow at 10.00pm. 18th July We woke at 7.00. 9 hours solid sleep! All during lockdown, Ive barely got 5 hours sleep a night and most of the time I wake up a few times in the night. We left Stalham at 8.10 and decided to go Barton Turf to fill up with water. The staithe was full so we went to Gayes Staithe instead. We hadnt been there before and it seemed so much smaller than I remembered from the boating vlogs Ive watched. We met some lovely people there, one person mentioned Nipper and had the most stunning drawing of Nipper ready to give to Doug. Lo and behold we saw Nipper as we went down the Ant. Mission today, Thurne Dyke. We arrived at 10.30 and moored by the mill. 11.00am, the Thurne Regatta began which made for very pleasant viewing for the rest of the day. It looks such hard work battling with the flappy stuff. We are way too lazy. We saw Cerise Lady and Trixie pass by. We walked down to The Lion to order a take away for the evening. Easy and efficient ordering system. We boat watched some more,cleaned the boat a bit and had showers then collected our pizzas. Yumm they were so good. Tired but very happy we retired to bed at 10.00, already beginning to wind down. Bliss

Its one of my favourite stretches of river but then i guess it helps that with our boat, if i sit on my ‘perch’ I can see over the reeds.

Ouch!

And very comfortable they are too Polly. I wear one every day, all day at work sitting at my desk.

This week we have had takeaway from The Lion at Thurne and from the Ferry Inn at Stokesby. Both excellent.

Are you tracking us Grendel? We are at Paddy’s Lane too lol

We assume this is original to Luna

It was great seeing you yesterday Grendel and good to catch up :) We left Womack Dyke early this morning to get water down at Acle.

Since we lost Lindy Lulu some weeks ago we are trying to find a little dog, suitable for boat life. As fast as suitable one comes into the rescue centres, they are reserved and we keep missing out. There are quite a few older dogs available but having lost both our dogs in under a year , we don’t want to go for an older one and have to go through the Inevitable sadness again sooner. I’ve sort of started to look down the puppy route but as you say Griff the prices are crazy and how do you know if the breeder is a good one.

We watched Cerise Lady and Trixie pass us when we were moored at the top of Thurne Dyke, I took a few pics and will post when we are back home :)

It was an absolute honour to accompany you to find that very important purchase

Have a fantastic week both of you. :)

Barnes camera is definitely up and running. We have just been watching the boats all queued up to go under the bridge

Would also be interested. We have just ordered one.