5th November, But No Fireworks

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Hi all,

our tale begins, as normal, with the alarm going off at 04,30, and we`re both up and dressed, and finishing off packing the car. I usually pack most of the things the night before, but this time, it`s November and cold, so i made a point of getting ready quickly so i could pack the car in one. With all bags and other accessories for Lightnbing packed aboard, it`s just after 6 and we`re away on time. Being November, it`s dark, and a bitt misty too, but nothing to slow us down, and we`re soon heading along the countless miles of dual carraigeway, which does`nt stop untill we reach Brundall. I know Dual carraigeways can be very tedious, but with them being virtually door to door, it cuts the journey time down dramatically. As some may remember, our journey takes in the A31, then The M27, then the M3, then the M25, then the M11, then the A11, and finally the A47 past Norwich to Brundall. As i said, continual dual carraigeways is tedious, but when you can do around 240 miles, with two comfort stops in 4 hours, they do have their benefits.  However, as usual, we will be stopping off to have lunch with John (Hockham Admiral), and Mary Jane, but seeing as we`re so early, and reach their location before 10am, we decide to carry on to Lightning and unpack, make the bed, and put the heating on to warm her up, and return to meat up with our lunch hosts around noon.  We`re lucky, as Lightning was`nt used for all the previous week, so we could board her early, so everything worked out fine. We returned to meat up with John and Mary Jane, and had as usual, a very fine lunch at the Eagle. If anybody is in their area, it`s a superb friendly pub, with great food being served.  About 3.00pm, we deciced we had better make tracks, as we had to get back to Brundall and get some shopping for the first few days.  We could`nt shop at Budgeons, as it`s closed for renovation, but the new Co op just up the road served us well.  We also needed to get some keys cut, so we also stopped off at the hardware store in Brundall. It`s a great little place, a real aladins cave, which actually is considerably bigger than what you first think.  With the few basics we needed, and some forgotten, it was back to Lightning. It was a good job we did what we did earlier, as it`s now getting cold and a North wind is blowing, so we`re glad we had the heating on. We settle down for the eveing, and have a tea of cheese and biscuits, and Karen watches Strctly come dancing.  The weather is cold wet and windy outside, and we`re just about warm enough, as Lightning was`nt built for out of season cruising, so the heating gets supplimented by a radiator in the cabin, and a fan heater in the salloon and galley. Before long, it`s getting towards 10 oclock, and we`re both struggling to keep our eyes open, and stop yawning, so we hit the sack. Thank goodness we  made the bed much earlier.

Good night all.

 

 

 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Day 2, Sunday, and we wake to raindrops on the roof, and a cold boat, except for our cabin, where we`ve had the oil rad on all night. The first thing i do is to go out and turn the heating on for a set time of 4 hours,, and switch on the fan heater, and put the gas kettle on. We do have an elecric kettle aboard, but with the fan heater on, and the radiator on, it would be asking too much of the shore power hook up, plus, with the gas hob burning, it`s an extra heat source to warm the boat. Afetr i put the kettle on, i jumped back into a nice warm bed.  When the kettle boils i`m up and making the tea. We`ve arranged with my cousin and her husband to come for a run around the Yare, and to one of the pubs for Sunday lunch. We`re up and have breakfast, then off to the berth holders showers, and then back and waiting for our guests. I`m wondering whether they will come, as it`s raining hard, and the wind is cold, but soon the rain stops, and the cloud disappear, and it`s a lovely day. About 11, our guests arrive, and are welcomed aboard, and have a quick guided tour of Lightning, at which they`re very impressed. We sit down for a cuppa and a chat, and within half an hour, we`re under way, and we take the trip up river to the upper entrance to Surlingham broad. A run through the broad, and back out into the Yare via the lower entrance, and then back up towards the Surlingham Ferry house, but will we get in?. We arrive at the Ferry house about half past twelve, and are lucky to get a table. We`ve always heard good reports about the food at the ferry house, and we`re NOT disappointed. We all have the Sunday roast, well what else would you want on a cold November Sunday?.  We finish off with a desert, Karen has ice cream, but me and our guests have the Baileys bread and butter pudding, not wise if like me you`re allergic to alcahol, of which i would pay the price later.  Our guests treat us to dinner, and soon we`re back aboard, and Trevor asks if we can go further up river before returning to our mooring. We end up cruising round to the Waters edge in the rain, and turn around and head back. We arrive at base, and sit down for a cuppa, and our guests have to leave us.  They`ve enjoyed the day tremendously so i tell them, next time bring some bed linen and they can stay for the week, which they like the sound of.  For Karen and i, we take a quick trip back to the Co op, for a few things we`d forgotten the day before, and settle in for the night. The weather is`nt very nice at all now, and we settle down to watch tv. Karen watches the results show for tStrictly come Dancing, and we follow that with a DVD. It`s been a lovely if wet and slightly windy cold day, and as usual, we can hardly keep awake by about 10. I`ve been nursing a headache for the evening, could it have been the sun, what little we had, reflecting off the river, no, it`s that alcahol in the Baileys bread and butter pudding, damn, i knew i should`nt have had it, so i`ve only myself to blame, but tomorrow I`l feel a bit worse.

Good night all.

 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Day 3 Monday,  These days, on our days off from work, we always wake up around 06.00, as it`s about that time we get up for work, and today is no different. I go out and put the heating on and climb back into a nice warm bed. The cabin is nice and warm, but we`ve had the radiator on all night to make sure the cabin stays warm fro the morning.  After a couple of hours or so lie in, we`re up and the kettle on, and the rest of Lightning is now considerably warmer than it was. The weather is much improved, with little wind if any, and a dry morning. After breakfast, we head up to the berth holders showers, and make plans for the days shopping requirements. 

Our first stop is the hardware store in Brundall to get a couple of keys cut so we can both use the berth holders showers at the same time,without having to wait for eachother. When we go into the store, wow, it`s an aladins cave, with all manner of things, AND a garden centre out the back. We`re not in there long, before Karen buys up several garden ornaments, one being a customary penguin, we now have hundreds of penguins of all sorts, china ones, stuffed ones, Christmas ones, you name it, we have a penguin for it. We even have a penguin orchestra.

Back in the car, and we`re off to Norwich for some planned Christmas shopping, but on the way, i decided to pop into Clickers Archery to buy a couple of new strings for my bow, and to say hello to a fried and shooting colleague who works there, having moved up from down here in Dorset. I`ve been there once before, but about 4 years back, and was`nt sure of the new road layout at the east of Thorpe, but all was ok, and i remembered my way perfectly well. However, when we got there, the shop was shut.... BUGGER.   Never mind, after reading their opening hours, i said we`d go back another day.  On our way back, i followed the sign to Norwich, which brought us out at the roundabout past the top of the yacht station, and we`re soon in the mall carpark. As we start our walk around the city, i`m starting to feel a bit unwell, with a headache and getting overheated, and heart starting to pound a little. I remembered how on our last visit, i felt the same, and had taken a tour around the St Georges distilliary just off the A11, on our way up, which i believed was the cause. The i remember the Baileys Bread and butter pudding dessert at the Surligham ferry house the day before, and put it down to that. After an hour or so walking around in the fresh Norfolk air, i felt a lot better, so a note to self,  no more whisky in anything cooked, no matter how tasety it was. After a short while, we decide to have lunch, Karen had fish stew, and i had a special hotddog, with a side of lionaise potatoes. Very nice, and the place we ate at was a quaint little place too, though i won`t mention the name, as later in the evening, i would pay for my choice of food. After lunch, it was back to shopping, and then back to the car and back to Lightning.  We don`t intend leaving the mooring tonight, and will either go downriver tomorrow if the weather is good, or go out in the car to do a bit more Christmas shopping, as Karen is itching to go to Lathams. We settle in for the night, and have some cheese and bisuits for tea, and settle down with a DVD. By now the rain coming down again, and we feel snug and warm with the heating on, and a fan heater to back it up. About 10.00pm, i`m starting to feel a bit strange, and start to get a stomach ache, which i put down to laying awkwardly on the settee. I sit up, but it just gets a bit worse, and soon i`m in some discomfort. Karen is fine, so it must have been something i ate. I remembered what i`d had at the restaurant in Norwich, and put it down to that, and that`s why i won`t mention the name of the place. It may have been a one off, and any bad press could be unwarrated if it`s a one off. W`e`ll go there again, but if the results are the same, i`l be the first to shout.  After the DVD had finished, and things happened to ease my discomfort, we both decide it`s time for bed. It`s been a succesful days shopping in a fine city, that means there`s less to do on the run up to Christmas at home, which will mean we can relax,.............hopefully.

Good night all.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Dat 4 Tuesday,   We wake up early as usual, and i brave the elements, and go out to the salloon and switch on the heating, followed by a rapid return to a nice warm bed.. Lightnings central heating system has a timer, so i set it for 4 hours, that will take us up to around 10 am, and i also put on the fan heater to help.  Being an ex hire boat, and agood one at that, Lightning was never designed or built for out of season, or winter cruising, so we have to adapt our onboard lyfestyle to suit.  A couplr of hours later, and we`re up and having breakfast. With my stomach problems gone, it`s now Karen that is suffering, and worse than i was, so we made the decision to stay put today, and venture out to Lathams at Potter Heigham, Karen loves Lathams, so we had originally planned to go on Friday, but decided to go today, so with Breakfast done, and the water tank filled, it was time for yet more Christmas shopping. At least if we get most of it done up here, there`s little to do back at home on the run up to Christmas, so we can have a much easier time, and take things easier later. One thing we always do when up here is to call in to see Liz at Ramblers, so we phoned to see if she was going to be about, but unfortunately, there was no reply, so it was decided to press on for Potter.   It`s amazing that even in November with very little (if any) river traffic about, Lathams is still packed. We decided to do the shopping first, then back to Bridgestones for lunch.   We filled the car with goodies, something we did last year, and on our return home, there was only room for the both of us in the front seats, yes, we did buy that much. After lunch, we decided to make a move back, as it was very cold, and Karen was still feeling the ill effects of a possible bout of food poisoning. I seem to have a cast iron constitution where food is concerned, but Karen has always been a bit  more delicate.  We decide to take the run round through Ludham, and over the bridge, then through Wroxham, and back to Brundall, but passing through Horning, we decided to take a detour, and look down by the river. When we got there, the place was deserted, but there werestill some shops open, so we stopped and had a browse. We did buy a few more bits to take home, On our way back to Brundall, we  we had to go through Wroxham, but took the country route through the lames, and i suddenly realised it was half past 4, so we took a quick detour back to Clickers Archery in Norwich, , yes, this time it was open, and i got what i wanted,.......... untill i got home and realised they`d supplied me with the wrong things that is.  We get back to Brundall, and call in at the co op for some bits and pieces, and finally get bak to Lightning. It`s cold and dark, so the first thing to do is get the heating on, and put the kettle on using the gas, at least the gas burning will help heat the boat up. We settle in for the evening, with a meal cooked on board. Karen is still feeling the effects of her mild bout of food poisoning, , so we have something light, and settle down with a DVD.   It`s been another fairly busy day Christmas shopping, but enjoyable nonetheless. Tomorrow however, we`ll definately be casting off and heading for Loddon.  

Good night all.

[Matt]

No doubt that slidIng canopy is not designed for winter cruising! Early Easter is our coldest week so I can't complain but when it is draughty we run a mooring rope around the gaps to stop the draught me it works quite well.

 

thunder also has a programmable heater for the Eber so you can set it to come on in the morning  but if we are on shore power we stick the saloon electric heater on a timer

 

I have always fancied Norwich for Christmas shopping but have never yet managed to convience the wife!

 

Keep it coming.

[Broads01]

I like the mooring ropes around the gaps idea Matt,  I can see myself trying that one. 

[Matt]

BuffaloBill gave me that idea!

 

one day I will measure up the gap and buy a rope the right length because at the moment there is about another 5m of extra rope lying around the cabin.....