Carried Away By A Moonlight Shadow...

[Tempest]

We have never moored here either, but will definitely give it a go

Just watched the video on the website and the aerial shot of the river looks a bit like Moonlight Shadow passing as she heads up river

[YnysMon]

Well, we have arrived home, having agreed to leave Moonlight Shadow half a day earlier than planned so that the engineers could get on with installing a new inverter. We didn't come straight home though...you'll have to wait until the end of the tale to see where we went. 

Now that we are home, I can start to post up the account I've been writing up over the fortnight.

Slight recap...Saturday 19th, our pick-up day, we ended up returning to our home mooring at Brooms, Brundall, having gone down river almost as far as Beauchamp before turning back. Following morning...

Sunday 20th September

Although we didn’t get up until almost 6.30 this morning, we did manage to get on our way by 7am. The river was lovely and quiet.

A narrow boat had passed us whilst we preparing to get underway. We saw this narrow boat several times on our August Bank Holiday jaunt on Water Rail too. Although I've seen various narrow boats (and widebeams) moored up in various places across the Broads, I don't recall seeing many out and about. Given the (relative) dearth of YouTube videos of the Broads, I've taken to watching several canal based narrowboat vlogs, mostly continuous cruisers who post up videos at least weekly.

There was a fair amount of condensation on the windows, mostly outside, but the morning was fairly mild. No need to put the heating on as yet.

Pootling slowly through Brundall shortly after dawn.

Beauchamp Arms.

The fairly vague plan this morning was to go down to Reedham and through the New Cut. Low tide in Reedham was forecast for around 8am, so by the time we turned onto the New Cut we had the help of the incoming tide. The morning was beautifully sunny, but as we got near Cantley the wind really picked up. It wasn’t cold though.

The New Cut.

On the Waveney.

One we got past Waveney River Centre it was a lot more sheltered. There was a stream of day boats leaving. They did look busy.

We were still doing our usual debate of where to aim for. Should we phone Beccles to book a mooring or try for a spot on North Cove or Worlingham? North Cove looked fairly full (though Water Rail would have fitted in the remaining space quite nicely) but there was a space just big enough for MS at Worlingham, alongside another boat.

We have finally got around to buying an NBN burgee, so that was flying on our stern alongside the Ddraig (=Dragon=Welsh flag) and our Friends of Hunter's Yard burgee. 

We sat around in the sun for a while, before having a sandwich lunch.

(See what I mean about weeney wine glasses!)

After lunch our neighbouring boat left. We then we set out on a walk with Seren following the path along the bank going north. Seren loved it. The ideal Seren walk, with no risk of coming across any cars. She did try to lose her ball in the river a few times, but Graham managed to rescue it.

Just past North Cove there were views across the marshes toward Lowestoft for a while, until belts of trees got in the way.

Walking along the river bank gives a completely different appreciation of the surrounding countryside, unless of course you are on a boat with a really high air-draft.

We got as far as the ferry crossing point to Waveney River Centre before turning back.

This is Peto's Marsh, opposite Waveney RC.

Judging by the distances on the sign posts it must have been a seven mile walk, or thereabouts. As we returned past North Cove we were surprised to see that all but one of the boats had left, and also surprised that no other boat had moored up at Worlingham, so we had the mooring to ourselves.

Seren was tired out this evening. (I was too!)

This evening we had vegetarian haggis with neeps, tallies and onion gravy. It took quite a while to cook as I had to cook the haggis in its casing in the oven for over an hour, given I couldn’t use the microwave (sigh...no inverter). Then we had another early and very peaceful night.

[SwanR]

Great start to your tale Helen. Interesting to see that you had a view right across to Lowestoft. Worlingham and North Cove are a nice change to mooring overnight at Beccles. 

[Broads01]

3 hours ago, YnysMon said:

having agreed to leave Moonlight Shadow half a day earlier than planned so that the engineers could get on with installing a new inverter.

You're too nice, Helen, I couldn't have agreed to that, to be honest. Why couldn't it have been done before the next owners boarded tomorrow? 

 

3 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Given the (relative) dearth of YouTube videos of the Broads,

Blimey, your search function isn't working properly, there's thousands! 

Looking forward to the rest of your tale. 

[YnysMon]

Yes, but!
The engineers thought it could take up to 5 hours to do the rewiring and installation, so more than half a day’s work. Also, as a syndicate owner you just get a different perspective.
We want the inverter to be installed as soon as possible. If we had the normal week’s allocation we might not have been so accommodating. However, given we have been fortunate enough to have had a fortnight on MS, and we were intending to leave late Friday afternoon/evening anyway (Seren has agility classes Saturdays, so Graham didn’t want to miss three weeks), it seemed sensible for us to take the hit of the installation time, rather than the next week’s allocation.
We feel very fortunate that we’ve had this fortnight. We originally were allocated a week in June that we swapped. So, given that we wouldn’t have been able to use a June week, this fortnight has felt like a bonus, despite the weather.

[YnysMon]

Also...

Yes, there are lots of Broads vids around, and I regularly search for them, but haven’t found any regular weekly or even twice weekly posts that regular canal vloggers offer.
My favourites currently are:

Foxes Afloat 

Narrowboat Chef

Floating Our Boat

[Gracie]

Lovely tale Helen

You're right, those wine glasses are far too small  x

[SwanR]

7 hours ago, YnysMon said:

haven’t found any regular weekly or even twice weekly posts that regular canal vloggers offer.

I would agree with that and add Well Deck Diaries to your list. They also release a vlog on Friday evenings. And there is a channel called Walk With Me Tim. He has been posting weekly vlogs travelling around east coast seaside places. So if you want a look at some of the areas in driving distance of the Broads it’s worth a watch.

[YnysMon]

Thanks Jean, I’ll check that one out. During our winter allocation weeks it’s quite tempting to stay some of the time on our home mooring, taking advantage of the free lekky, and explore the areas around the Broads.

[YnysMon]

Monday 21st

It started off misty this morning, until it was burnt off by the sun.

I had phoned Beccles yesterday to book a mooring for tonight with electric. Probably didn’t need to, as it wasn’t exactly far to go! We waited until the tide turned around mid-morning before setting off, and then took things at a very gentle pace so that we could hear bird song and had more chance of spotting things, like a passing kingfisher.

We didn’t pass that many boats on the way, but there were quite a few spaces at Beccles when we arrived. We needn’t have booked.

We got to Beccles around 11, just nicely timed for a coffee break. After that I walked up to the town and went to Tesco for a few bits and bobs. We didn’t really need any more food at this stage.

When I got back to the boat Graham was enjoying an ice cream.

As we were plugged into shore power, we took the opportunity to use the microwave to reheat some leftover roasted veg pasta that I’d brought from home for our lunch.

After that we got ready for another walk. We fancied doing the circular walk to Geldeston and back that Dave Whitworth and his family did in one of his recent videos. Before we set off, I checked the state of my feet. I had a couple of minor blisters from yesterday’s walk (having made the mistake of wearing ‘normal’ shoes instead of walking boots), so I applied a couple of blister plasters before we set off, crossing my fingers that I would be able to manage the 5 miles or whatever it is with those and my wearing walking boots.

It was a lovely walk, though it was a little too warm. Yesterday’s brisk wind had gone, so it felt like a very warm (hot!) summer’s day. Wish I had brought shorts with me! The first stretch was mostly along the riverside opposite Beccles up to Geldeston Dyke.

Beautifully clear water.

Swans near Geldeston Dyke.

Once in Geldeston we stopped off for a drink in The Wherry Inn.

They have put extra outside seating in the area near the car park, nicely spread out, and we noticed they were particular about sanitising all the tables after each customer. There was a van near the entrance to the pub car park ‘The Pie and Cheese Man’, selling guess-what. I really fancied one of their pies, but didn’t think it would be wise to buy any as it would take us at least another hour or more to walk back in the heat.

On our way again, we passed The Locks Inn, which appeared to have closed down (gate padlocked anyway)...

...before making our way across the river and up to the Angles Way, which took us back to Beccles.

We passed lots of corn fields, stretching as far down as the river.

By the time we got to Beccles it was almost 5pm.

Graham popped into a B&M type store to get some pegs and some extra cheapo balls for Seren (she keeps losing them). We walked back to the boat down Ravensmere, and I suggested to Graham that we try a takeaway this evening, either from Oakfired Pizza place or the Cod House, virtually next door to each other, and both in reasonable walking distance from the Yacht Station.

Once back on the boat we checked out the menu for Oakfired and phoned in our order. Graham popped to Lidl to pick up a mixed salad on his way to picking up the pizza. The pizzas were very good indeed, if you like the Neapolitan style thin crust (which we do). We had one with goats’ cheese and an Americana with vegan ‘cheese’ (I'm trying to avoid cows milk/cheese). 

After dinner I took out the rubbish and Graham filled MS with water, as we were planning an early start tomorrow. By that time that was done it was almost dark. Time to relax before taking the dog out and then beddy byes.

[SwanR]

Wow! I really need to start walking more to get out and about round these kind of places. 

The year we moored at North Cove I wanted to do Beccles as well. It sometimes feels like a waste to slog down the New Cut and the more tidal area of the Waveney only to go all the way back the next day. So we went from North Cove back up to Oulton Broad and then back down to Beccles. Made a nice cruise. :)

[YnysMon]

Tuesday 22nd

We managed to get on our way shortly after dawn this morning, to take advantage of the outgoing tide, and a really beautiful dawn it was too. The mist was fairly thick to start with but soon thinned as we left Beccles behind.

There was hardly anything else on the river for ages, so the only people we waved at before nearing Waveney were a couple wrapped up in rugs sitting on a wooden jetty in front of the Boathouse Hill Cottages (on the bend downriver from the Sailing Club) watching the dawn. What a lovely place to live!

There was hardly any wind until we were nearing Somerlayton. Such a beautiful morning.

 

It was so quiet, Seren got a bit bored.

As we cruised down the Waveney we came across several reed islands drifting their way on the tide. A heron clearly thought this one was a good perch.

We managed to get to the New Cut as the tide was turning. Although it was the ideal time to cross from the Waveney to the Yare we only passed three boats along the whole stretch of the New Cut.

By the time we were passing through Reedham it was getting a bit too hot, so Graham put the roof down. We turned up the Chet and again went past very few boats. I’m always a bit conflicted going up the Chet. Part of me wants to see boats coming the other way, so to be assured of a mooring, the other part of me prefers not to be passing a lot of boats. However, there was plenty of room for at least three boats when we got to Loddon Staithe, and Pye’s Mill was pretty empty too.

Seren was really naughty as I was stern mooring. She made an awful racket barking really loudly. She doesn’t like it when Graham is on deck, and she’s worse when we are doing a stern mooring than she is for a side-on one. The chap in the boat I was mooring up next to commented he could tell we had a collie on board. He also had a collie – a more sedate one! The neighbouring collie is in the background of this next photo.

Once moored, Graham popped over to Bridge Stores to get £5 of lekky cards. We weren’t desperate, having four left over from last year, but it will be handy to have a good store for our next winter allocation. We were keeping Warren’s account of his first week on MS in mind, when he had difficulty buying lekky cards mid-winter.

We had coffee. Then we relaxed for a while before decided to have a late lunch out. We walked up to The Terrace (located near the church) and sat at one of their well spaced-out outside tables for a light lunch. It was hot again, so we sat in the shade.

Very nice it was too, though I wish I’d chosen something a bit more adventurous that a hot gammon baguette.

After that we took Seren to the field behind the church for a run around. We went as far as Pye’s Mill then walked back along the river bank.

Despite it being so hot, we had a few reminders of autumn.

When we got back to the Staithe it was fairly empty again. I had expected the Staithe to gradually fill up, but actually some people who had been moored there before us left, others arrived and then left again. A lot more toing-and froing than I’d expected.

A lazy dinner this evening. Rice, daal (from a sachet) and hard-boiled eggs with roasted courgette.

Another early night in readiness for an early start – going north tomorrow!

[YnysMon]

Wednesday 23rd

We got on our way from Loddon by 7am this morning. It had rained heavily around 6am but dried off by the time we were making our way down the Chet, so I was able to stick my head outside through the hatch that slides back over the helm position and see lots of wildlife, including several kingfishers. The rain held off and the sun was trying its best to try to break through the clouds, and it wasn’t cold so, all in all, it was a pleasant morning.

We took our time crossing Breydon, as we didn’t really want to go through Yarmouth until at least 9:20.

The tide was just starting to turn as we passed under the Breydon road bridge, and it looked pretty much slack on the Bure all the way up to Acle.

I noticed that the run-down buildings at Marina Quaysp have been demolished. Anything happening with that site? I gather that the planning permission for a development there got turned down.

Seren had been very alert as we passed through Yarmouth, she soon got bored as we slogged up the lower Bure though.

She did perk up after a while, and wanted attention!

See why we have virtually every surface covered!

I had been hoping that the new electric posts would have been installed in Acle but, although the new extended moorings were in use, the electric posts weren’t in place yet. Never mind, we continued up to Potter H.

Luckily a day boat moored opposite Herby Woods (near a lekky post) was just leaving as I started to turn around near the entrance to the Yard basin. Although the turn went okay, and I was able to moor up fine (nice and slow), I now have some inkling why people get into difficulty turning before the bridge and into the HW basin. It was more difficult to turn the boat than usual.

As Graham was sorting out our electric connection, I spotted Robin on Trixie going past us on his way downstream. He must have just left a mooring nearer the bridge. 

Once we were plugged into the electric and settled back on board, a lot of other boats came upstream. For a while there was quite a scrum of boats trying to get in and out of the HW basin. I thought it might have been helpful if the ones that were trying to get out might have allowed those on the river to have priority. Did they? Not always. Thank goodness I wasn’t trying to moor up when that lot turned up!

I made us a brunch. After that, Graham took Seren upriver on the Repps-side bank for a walk whilst I crossed over the bridge and went to La’tharms.

There was a socially distanced queue to get in, but that was good, and it wasn’t too crammed inside. I bought a C*mas toy for Seren, a wooden spoon for the boat and a few other bits and pieces.

On my way back to the boat I was intending to pause to take some photos of the bridge, but could see someone was trying to moor just behind MS and they seemed to be having a bit of difficulty. By the time I got to MS the couple in a boat behind them had helped out though, so that was okay. I got back to the boat just before the heavens opened. No sign of Graham though for another 10-15 minutes. By the time he and Seren got back they looked pretty wet. We have a sort of zip-up towel bag to put Seren in when she gets that wet, so she was okay. Apart from his coat, and his trousers below the knees, Graham was fairly dry too.

We stayed on board the rest of the afternoon and evening as the rain was pretty presistent. I cracked open the wine, checked in on the forum and did some crosswords. Graham was listening to the radio over his headphones (he’s keen to listen to the news, I’m less so) and fell asleep. When he woke up an hour later his excuse was that he fell asleep because he was listening to a speech from Michael Gove. (!)

In the evening (once the scrum had died down) and overnight we thought Potter was a very peaceful mooring.

[Tempest]

56 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

We were keeping Warren’s account of his first week on MS in mind, when he had difficulty buying lekky cards mid-winter.

If you ever need any and you follow us onto MS again let me know as I always have about 20 now!!

Wont get caught out again!!

[Lulu]

57 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

we came across several reed islands

So you saw the porcupine too! 

[Mouldy]

24 minutes ago, Tempest said:

If you ever need any and you follow us onto MS again let me know as I always have about 20 now!!

Wont get caught out again!!

You can order electric cards from The BA direct and they send them out by post.  Really easy to do.

[SwanR]

Great write up and photos Helen. Love those early mornings on the Waveney. Haven’t spent the night at PH yet and am always paranoid about getting turned round before HWs yard when we’re only cruising with no intention to moor, which is most times. 

And Seren is still adorable! 

[YnysMon]

Thursday 24th

We woke to a beautiful sunrise this morning.

It didn’t last though and soon started to rain.

We had been intending to pootle about the Bure today but end up in Thurne Dyke for the evening, having planned to meet up with Malcolm (Mouldy) and Debbie at The Lion. However, when I checked the weather forecast first thing I could see that very strong winds were forecast for tomorrow. My first thought was that Thurne Dyke wouldn’t be a good place to wake up to a strong northerly wind, so to get somewhere more sheltered, possibly up the Ant. I texted Malcolm. He and Debbie were also having second thoughts, but with the air draft of their boat were worried about river levels rising, as they often do when we have strong winds, and they need to get back to Brundall by Sunday at the latest. Malcolm texted back to say they were heading back south. Graham and I had breakfast, then I started thinking about wanting to find somewhere sheltered, but also preferably with shore power (as we don’t have the inverter on board at present). We decided we would be more comfortable back on our home mooring during the stormy weather, so that we could use our electric radiator and fan heater if necessary.

It was well after 8 before we set off. Slack water was supposed to be something like 10:45, but I thought we’d be fine for getting through Yarmouth. If there didnt appear to be much clearance in Yarmouth we could always take down the roof.

As we turned on to the Bure the rain stopped and the sky gradually brightened, with the sun coming out shortly after we passed Stokesby. It was turning out to be a lovely day.

We got to Yarmouth around 11am, just right really, as we could tell from our GPS that the boat slowed down just as we passed Marina Quays as the outgoing tide slackened. We just about had enough clearance under the bridges to get through without taking the roof down, so that was handy.

Breydon was fun. Lots of chop, and a liberal covering of salty spray all over the windscreen.

Graham does helm occasionally (if I ask nicely).

We looked out for Norfolk Lady as we passed through Reedham, as Malcolm had texted to say he was thinking of stopping off there for a short break. We exchanged waves. Graham and I continued on, even though it was getting on for lunchtime.

Passing Beauchamp again. (Oi! Mr Painter! You've missed a bit!)

We stopped off on Fleet Dyke for a while, mainly so that Seren could have a good run before we got back to Brundall.

We also had a light lunch before continuing on to our mooring in Brundall, getting there just before 4pm.

Before settling down for the evening we popped to the Thorpe St Andrew Sainsbury’s to top up on our stocks (wine running low!).

[YnysMon]

P.S. I notice that Malcolm has recently posted his account of the same day on his holiday tales thead 'Norfolk Lady Tales'.

[YnysMon]

Friday 25th

Not much to say about today. A day of very strong wind and unrelenting rain. We stayed put on our mooring. Initially we had the Webasco heating on, so were nice and cosy, but mid-morning we switched to using our little dimplex and fan heater (to save on diesel).

We had started doing an inventory of things in the forward cabins a few days ago. This morning we continued listing things stored below the steps to the cabins and stored under the sofa. I get the impression that everything which is no longer being used has been stored under the sofa, plus some lost property (including a cute little cuddly toy bear).

We had a fry-up brunch and then veg’d out for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Seren was bored stiff.

We did play with her sometimes. Graham had brought a puzzle toy with us, you hide doggy treats in its various compartments, and she has to work out how to get at the treats. 

We didn't want much for dinner this evening, so it was just pasta with vegan pesto sauce.

At least we were nice and cozy all day, and I'm so glad we didn't have to be on the rivers.

[YnysMon]

Saturday 26th

Strong winds again today and still wet, but not the unrelenting rain of yesterday. The river level was very high though, and shortly after we got up it overtopped the quay heading. Not by a lot though. It’s lucky that Graham had brought his wellies.

We did a bit more ‘inventoring’ this morning, finding that there was more storage under the sofa than we’d thought. In the ‘far corners' we found a whole load of mismatched crockery and glasses, the TV that presumably preceded the current one and some children’s fishing rods. We even found a Gilbert and Sullivan CD that had dropped behind drawer.

After lunch, for which I used up the leftover haggis and mash mixed up and fried as a sort of pan-cake, we went out in the car. First we had a flying visit to Roy’s to pick up a essentials (eggs, marmalade, Radio Times) then went back via Acle to check the roads were okay. Water levels in Acle looked very high but the road was fine.

After our Thursday meet-up with Malcolm and Debbie had been put off due to the weather, Malcolm had hatched an alternative plan and had booked us a table and two mooring spaces at the Surlingham Ferry Inn (possibly his favourite pub and one very high on our list too). The high water levels today forced a re-think though, as we were anticipating the Ferry Inn moorings and car park would be awash. As an alternative, we booked a table at the Acle Bridge Inn for early evening. At least that would be easy to get to by car from Brundall.

Graham and I set off for Acle early, so that Graham could take Seren for a walk along the riverbank before our meal. Whilst he was doing that I mooched around the bank, taking some photos of the high water levels. Some photos from Acle.

A crew member of a Ferry Marina boat asked me if they had allowed enough slack on their ropes. I said I thought so, and added that I didn’t think the tide would drop much that evening because of the wind, and in any case they were pinned to the quay heading by the wind. They then said they were hoping to make their way to Norwich (I thought…nooo, don't do it!), so I tried briefly explaining about the low bridges and tides at Yarmouth and suggested they call the Yacht Station for advice. A short while later I got chatting to a lady on a Richardson’s boat moored next to them, they were also worried about where they could go, as they had only just about got under Ludham Bridge. having picked up their boat earlier in the day. They also asked about going downriver. I suggested they only go as far as Stracey Arms and again, if they wanted to go further, to phone the Yarmouth Yacht Station. I also suggested that, if they wanted somewhere sheltered, to go upriver, perhaps to Salhouse. Acle was pretty bleak that evening.

We met up with Malcolm and Debbie in the Bridge Inn car park as planned. We’d had clear instructions to turn up at the front door of the pub at our allotted time to get escorted to our table (wearing masks). The tables in the pub were nicely distanced (especially compared to our pre-Covid visit, when I thought some were a bit too close for comfort) and we were reminded to wear face-masks when visiting the loos. All the serving staff were wearing face masks and there was a laminated sheet pasted up in the ladies listing the latest ‘rules’. It all felt very well thought-out and reassuring.

We very much enjoyed our meal and chat and the evening whizzed by. We weren’t that late leaving, as we were all a bit anxious about the rising tide and possible flooding, so it was only around 9pm or a little after that by the time we got back to MS. Very disappointed to find that we had no shore power when we got back, and a bit puzzled why, as the shore power hadn’t shorted out when the quay heading was flooded this morning, and the river hadn’t yet risen as high.

We put the Webasco on. I decided to head to bed as I was very tired, having had a poor night’s sleet last night (mostly due to bow-slap). Shortly after I went to bed we smelled a sort of exhaust small, similar to that the heating had given off when it broke down during one of our winter weeks. We switched it off, just in case. We dug out our warmer night-gear and the hot water bottles that we found under the sink and settled down for the night. It wasn’t that cold a night anyway.

[Tempest]

Loving the write-up as we plan our next trip in November, which no doubt will depend on tides, the weather and if the new inverter behaves.

We dont like staying on the home mooring as our Newfies do not like stone footpaths or roads as it hurts their pads and Roxy even goes straight to the boardwalk and uses that when she can

I am thinking Whitlingham Country Park and Commissioners Cut (2 places we have not stayed at before) and the run to Beccles and possibly beyond if the tides can be good to us as we intend staying south on our next visit

[YnysMon]

Sunday 27th

River still high this morning.

I tried putting the heating on when I got up shortly before 8 this morning,  but it gave up the ghost before coming up to heat. Worried that we were without shore power, inverter and now the Webasto I emailed our management company, BCBM. I got an almost instant response, with my email being forwarded to Brooms. Meanwhile, Graham had been out with the dog and met our neighbouring liveaboard on his way back, who suggested he check out the trip-switch (and showed Graham where it’s located). Yay! We have electric again! Graham also dragged the bench on the quay heading nearer the boat, so that we could raise up the electical connections.

After breakfast we started on the inventory again, this time starting to work through the contents of the kitchen. Why do we have so much cutlery? 17 knives (and that’s before you count steak knives), 12 forks! You could hold a banquet on MS. Oh! Hang on, you can’t actually fit that many people on board. Also, is a toast rack an essential? (I’ve only come across toast racks in hotels and B&Bs. They seem a good way of cooling your toast.)

Our ‘inventoring’ had a welcome interruption from the arrival of the Brooms engineer, who soon sorted out the heating. It had been a problem caused by low wattage apparently. (Starting up the heating this morning without first powering up the engine or getting re-connected to shore power probably wasn’t a good idea).

After an elevenses coffee break we did a little more inventoring, relaxed, and then I made us a Sunday lunch. It took an hour to cook, so it was a fairly late lunch. We had bought a small 'easy cook' gammon joint with blackberry and apple glaze…, just bung in the oven and add the sauce 10 minutes from the end of cooking time. We had that with some new potatoes and roasted sprouts and courgettes.

After lunch, we left the washing up until later and took Seren out, thinking of making our way to the coast, possibly Happisburgh. However, as we were driving through Wroxham I got a call from son Harry. Although he’d applied for leave for this fortnight, and had been turned down, he had been told today that he has the coming week off. He was thinking of trying to make his way to the Broads to join us. Given we had been on the mooring at Brundall by now for three days, we were keen to get cruising again tomorrow and didn't want to hang around for him to arrive by train or bus, so Graham suggested he drive to MK this evening to pick him up.

We curtailed out trip to the coast and had a detour to Potter H, where Graham took Seren along the northern Repps bank again for a run, whilst I took some photos of ‘The Bridge’ (just over 5’ showing on the gauge). The river was almost overtopping the qua heading on the Repps side, and that was just a couple of hours before supposed ‘low water’. Goodness knows what it will be like tonight.

Why do people leave a load of rubbish under the by-pass bridge (grrr!).

Graham dropped me and Seren off at MS before setting off for MK. I scurried around rearranging things, to clear the stern cabin for Harry (we tend to use the rear cabin to store all our stuff when it’s just to two of us). Once I’d done that it felt very odd…just me and Seren on MS.

Very quiet too (and that’s taking into consideration that Graham is a very quiet person). Athough I posted in 'real time' about Harry joining us, I was a bit wary about mentioning that I would be alone (apart from the dog) on board for the evening. It is an open forum after all.

Graham arrived back with Harry around 10.30’ish. So, by the time we had got Harry settled in and he’d made his bed in the rear cabin, it must have been after 11.30 by the time we got to bed. That’s really late for us when we are on the Broads.

[YnysMon]

12 minutes ago, Tempest said:

I am thinking Whitlingham Country Park and Commissioners Cut (2 places we have not stayed at before) and the run to Beccles and possibly beyond if the tides can be good to us as we intend staying south on our next visit

We love those two moorings. Really handy for dog walkies. Sometime, I would like to try out the local Indian (Merchant's of Spice) as, judging by reviews, in sounds like it might be the best Indian restaurant in the Norwich area. It's within an easy walking distance of the Commissioner's Cut.

[Tempest]

Just now, YnysMon said:

We love those two moorings. Really handy for dog walkies. Sometime, I would like to try out the local Indian (Merchant's of Spice) as, judging by reviews, in sounds like it might be the best Indian restaurant in the Norwich area. It's within an easy walking distance of the Commissioner's Cut.

The dog walks are the biggest draw for us, as we tend to look for places which we can go and stroll with our boy and girl which isnt too tasking, but can get them some good exercise.

Also thanks for the information on the Indian also as we do like a curry every now and then.
 

My next google search will be the Merchants of Spice!!