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Travelman

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Travelman last won the day on November 3 2019

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  1. I work in travel and I think there's a silver lining here for tourism to the Broads. Countries around the world have imposed travel restrictions and indeed the UK is imposing a quarantine for people arriving from many countries. This is far too late in my opinion, at a time when we really should have been lifting a quarantine, but nonetheless it is happening from June. What this means is that taking a holiday to most countries will involve a two week quarantine on your return, making travel abroad difficult for many people because of the time off required from work or other commitments. Also, airfares are expected to rise with fewer seats available and airlines looking to recover huge losses. I think many people will look to holiday within the UK later this year, which could mean that some of the business which was lost by establishments on the Broads could be recovered. Of course, there are so many unknowns involved, which is why this pandemic has been so damaging. Things like a treatment, vaccine, and more knowledge about the disease could make all the difference. As an industry, however, we expect domestic tourism to recover first, and that should be a good thing for the Broads on the whole. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  2. We passed Thunder a couple of times during our week on the Broads, once on Monday the 28th on Barton Broad. A nice looking boat indeed. At present a syndicate wouldn't work for us simply because we cannot find the time, as much as we would love to. A week a year is optimistic! I'm sure one say we will get there one day, but for now hiring just makes more sense. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  3. I will certainly keep looking at the forum. I love the Broads and am always thinking about my next trip there. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  4. We definitely intend to keep returning to the Broads. This was our sixth visit and by no means our last. The issue is that we only manage to get there about once every couple of years, the reason being both my wife and I work in the airline/travel industry and we are lucky enough to have many opportunities to travel further afield. But despite the fact that we travel to many of the most exotic places on the planet, the Norfolk Broads is a firm favourite with the whole family. A syndicate which offers school shares is a very definite possibility. Our next visit will be to the south, although tides permitting we will probably do a bit of the north too. I absolutely love the river Ant! Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  5. And finally... Day 8: 2nd November. We had to vacate the boat by 9 am, but being just 10 minutes from the yard we didn't have to rush. We had some breakfast, packed our stuff and got the boat back to Ferry Marina. After handing back the life jackets, it was into the car for an easy 2 hour 40 minute drive home to Surrey, albeit with depressing entertainment for part of the journey (the rugby). I'm already thinking about my next trip to the Broads, although with work, school etc it is difficult for us to get there morecthan once every couple of years, maybe once a year at the most. I did discover while talking to the chaps at Ferry Marina that they have boats available all winter and already have three boats booked over Christmas. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  6. Day 7: 1st November. We left Acle at about 9am and cruised up towards Horning. The gauges on both waste tanks were starting to look quite full and I decided I wasn't going to try and push it for another day. We noticed that the fwd head used alot of water each time we flushed, which filled the tank noticeably faster than the aft one. We detoured into South Walsham Broad for a slow nosey around and then carried on up to the Ferry Marina yard. They had just had many boats back and were very full but managed to get us in quite quickly for a pump out. We then went on to Wroxham and moored in the NBD yard, while we went across to Roy's to buy some food (for lunch when we got home the following day). This accomplished, we cruised back to Horning and moored at The New Inn. It was past 4 pm by the time we got here and I was hoping there would be space... fortunately there were a few spaces so we moored up and plugged in to the electricity before going into the pub and booking a table for later (seeing as it was Friday night). Dinner was delicious, and we got back to the boat for a night cap and an early night. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  7. Day 6: 31st October. Halloween! We had by now realised that Halloween is a big deal in Norfolk. All the pubs had serious decorations, and many boats were decorated too. Fortunately we had brought a costume and a pumpkin for our younger one, and some window stickers for the boat. We had forgotten to bring a battery tea light but the very nice gentleman at the shop at Ranworth had one lying behind the counter and he gave it our son. The pumpkin was carved the night before, and stickers were put up, so we just needed to ensure we ended up at a pub for the evening. We chose the Acle Bridge Inn as it is usually quite busy. This meant backtracking, but we stopped at Womack Staithe and walked to the King's Arms in Ludham for lunch. We also stopped by the butcher there and got some pasties. We then went across to Thurne where we stopped at the windmill and walked up to The Lion. We eventually headed down to Acle and moored up at the pub. The lantern was placed on the boat, our son got into his costume and we wandered into the pub where he got to 'trick or treat' and even got some sweets for his big brother! Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  8. I say I figured it out, but you might have to stand on your head to look at some of them! [emoji848] Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  9. I've just figured out how to upload images from my phone, so here are a few. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  10. Obviously just a coincidence, but it was always boats from the same company. Perhaps we weren't being observant enough and maybe it was the same one every time! Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  11. Day 5: 30th October. This was a special day. I had long ago given up hope of getting a cruiser under PH Bridge, and had also resigned myself to hiring a day boat for this purpose. The sun was shining, so we got an early(ish) start from Stokesby and made our way purposefully up the Thurne to Potter Heigham. An observation I made during the week was that many of the Faircraft Loynes/NBD boats seemed to be in a terrible rush to get wherever it was they were all going. Our boat had a reversing camera, and it's most practical use was to see when one of these boats was a couple of feet off our stern so that we could make way. This happened on the way up the Thurne, so we slowed down and allowed him to rush past as safely as possible. We then arrived ten minutes later at PH to see the same boat performing some sort of turning maneuver near the bridge. Anyway, we moored up opposite Herbert Woods, right by a socket which was handy. The NBD boat then came alongside and attempted to moor up at the next space up from us. The wind was brisk, and blowing away from the moorings, and they were struggling to get alongside so I shouted to them to get as close as they could and throw us lines so we could help them get moored up. Unfortunately they couldn't get close enough, despite having a bow thruster, so they abandoned the idea and went back down the river. So much for all the rushing about. Anyway, we walked up to Phoenix and hired one of their little electric boats, and were soon on our way up the river towards Horsey Mere. There was 5'6" clearance under the bridge and it didn't even look like the Martham boats were getting through. One was moored downstream, near us. We chugged along to Horsey Windpump and tied up the boat, then walked about half an hour to the beach. This was absolutely worth it. The beach was full of seals and with the sun shining it was truly spectacular! We then went round to Hickling Broad and tied up at the Pleasure Boat Inn, where we had a lovely lunch. We got back to PH just after 4 and after stocking up on a bit of food and water we retreated to Jade Emblem for a bit of pumplin carving. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  12. I've fallen behind with my updates, but now that we are (sadly) back home I shall continue... Day 4: 29th October. We got a way from Sutton Staithe at about 8:30 and cruised across to Wayford. The river was remarkably quiet and we even spotted a little water vole frantically swimming across our bow as we glided along. We turned around at Wayford and cruised to Ludham where we stopped for water and to pick up a few things from the shop. We then carried on down the Ant and on to the Bure where we made a stop at St Benet's Abbey. After a look around we headed down to Stracey Arms - my younger son loves the windpump there and also the animals. They said the windpump is due to reopen for visitors next year, which will be nice. After saying hello to Henry the goat we cruised back upstream to Stokesby, where we moored up for the night. The sunset was amazing - unfortunately I can't upload pictures from my phone so will try from the laptop later. We had a couple of drinks in the pub and walked back to the boat for dinner. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  13. Yes I thought it was very good, and the kids found it very interesting to learn about the history of the area. Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  14. Day 3, Monday 28th October. After filling water we set off from Gaye's Staithe at about 9 am and made our way to Stalham. We have never visited the Museum of the Broads before, so after mooring up at the free moorings just outside the Richardson's yard we walked over to the museum, and later popped across to Tesco to stock up on a few bits. We left Stalham at about 1:30 pm and went across to Sutton Staithe, where we moored up for the night. I bought some electricity cards from the boatyard - really friendly bunch of people here - and then we let the boys run around on the green and burn off some energy. We had a drink in the Sutton Staithe Hotel and then it was back to the boat for dinner and bed. Being hooked up we were able to leave the heating on at a low setting through the night, which made getting out of bed the next morning somewhat easier! Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
  15. I'm definitely built more for comfort than speed... Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
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