A week on Bronze Emblem - 30 July 2015 to 7th August 2015

[Biscuiteer]

Thursday 30 July 2015

With it being peak season and therefore busy, we were planning on spending most of the week in the Southern Broads. As we love Wroxham and couldn't get there this time, we decided to book in to the newly refurbished Kings Head over night on the Thursday.

We arrived about 5pm and first impressions of our room were that they were making an effort with the hotel side of the business. It was nicely decorated and we had a lovely view of the river. We got chatting to the manager who is renovating the outhouse in to more rooms which is positive.

After a bit of settling in, we headed for our first beer of the holiday. We aren't normally fans of the Hotel Wroxham but we sat outside as the weather was lovely and it was very pleasant.

If you have read our holiday blogs before you will know that we normally come to the Broads out of season. We aren't big fans of hot weather, it is much quieter and you get much more for your money out of season. But we had a week free so decided to go for it anyway. My first observation of a holiday during the summer was insects. We were being hounded by wasps and insects in general. Sounds obvious but we have never experienced it before!

Anyway, wasps aside, we had a lovely couple of beers outside Hotel Wroxham, watching the boats go by and the days boats returning which can be entertaining! We relaxed immediately. We find Wroxham always has that impact on us.

We then moved to sit outside the Kings Head which was also lovely. After the 100th wasp attack we admitted defeat and sat indoors. The refurb in the pub is also nicely done.

So then on to the Star of India. It was good to see it busy and we received the usual warm welcome and lovely food. Very nice.

And so back to the Kings Head for a night cap (or two) and then to bed.

[deebee29]

Great start Biscuiteer. Looking forward to reading how your holiday develops

[BroadScot]

Pesky Wasps..... I hate them!!! Grrrr 

 

 

 

Iain

[Hockham Admiral]

What a lovely way to start a holiday! Looking forward to the next installment already!   :clap

[Biscuiteer]

Friday 31 July

Definitely one night cap too many!! After a lie in we headed to Roy's to stock up for the week. The plan was to get the shopping sorted and then get a taxi to Horning. Roy's was pleasant as ever and so we were on our way to pick up the boat.

We have been looking at Bronze Emblem for a while. It is an older boat but luxurious in terms of space. It has a good comfy walk around bed, has been modernised inside and has shore power. It is really very spacious. The one major downside we found was that the bathroom is at the other end of the boat to the bedroom. We knew this but it is a bit annoying. But it is a lovely boat, really clean and Ferry were really helpful and efficient, as always.

And so we were on our way by 2:30. Destination Acle. We were planning on heading South the next day and so were trying to make some progress today. We couldn't believe how busy it was!! It is great to see so many people enjoying the Broads but wow, it was a shock compared with our other holidays.

We had decided to stay at the Hermitage moorings as we thought they would be relatively quiet and thankfully they were. We moored up safely and noticed straight away how overgrown the path from the moorings is. We were only there in April and it was fine. It is passable but I wouldn't like to try it in the dark. I hope they sort it out as it is a great restaurant.

Anyway, after too many beers the night before we wanted a quiet night in. We settled down, unpacked some more and cooked on the boat. We watched a DVD and had an early night.

[SwanR]

We've thought about this boat before as well but like you, had spotted that the bathroom was at the opposite end of the boat to the bedroom. Will be interested to hear more of how you got on.

[Biscuiteer]

Saturday 1 August

Another lovely day in Norfolk. The weather has been perfect so far. We don't like really hot weather but so far it has been around 20 degrees and sunny each day which is ideal.

And so we headed for Great Yarmouth where we moored up for a couple of hours. We stocked up on some provisions and then headed across Breydon Water which was very calm except for some private boat owners testing how fast their boats can go which caused some pretty big waves against our relatively small boat!! It looked like good fun though!

Our destination for the night was Waveney River Centre after a good night there on our last holiday.

We were cruising on the approach to WRC and a private boat sped past us at a ridiculous speed. We were doing the speed limit which we track on an app on our phone. After overtaking us, the boat then proceeded to stop pretty much in front of us and right by the turn off to WRC. I wondered with some annoyance why they were rushing only to then stop and obstruct us. We signalled to them that we were turning right in to the WRC at which point the person driving hung out of his window and shouted some obscenities at us for over taking on the right (which we weren't doing)! We were polite in response and carried on, unaffected by this behaviour, but there are plenty that wouldn't have been so polite!

And so on with our evening. After mooring up (for free as we were on a Ferry boat) we headed off to the pub. I wrote last time about how nice the pub is now, they have done a great job with the refurbishment and the outside area in particular is lovely when the sun is out.

We had a small meal as we had had a big lunch and a few beers to wash it down. Another really nice evening in the WRC. We will definitely be back soon.

[Biscuiteer]

Sunday 2 August

We were up early, WRC tends to be quite noisy in the morning but it gave us an early start. We set off, destination Beccles. It really is a lovely cruise to Beccles, very scenic. We moored up at the Yacht station and headed in to Beccles for a wander around and some lunch. It is a lovely place. We stocked up on Tesco and then headed back to the boat for a much needed nap after an early start.

We had a lovely Chinese takeaway which delivered to the yacht station and watched a film.

Very pleasant.

[Biscuiteer]

Monday 3 August

And so to the highlight of our holiday. We had picked Bronze Emblem and designed our route so that we could get under Beccles Bridge and go to Geldeston. We had room to spare under the bridge and made our way to Geldeston for the first time. It has seemed that each time we have been to Beccles in the past we haven't been in a suitable boat.

Wow, what lovely scenery. So remote. As beautiful as the cruise to Neatishead but felt more remote to me.

We decided on the Locks and moored up after a lovely cruise. So peaceful. We were pleased to see the ferry from Beccles to Geldeston doing a good trade.

And so we headed to the pub to check it out as we planned to stay for the evening. It really is a lovely pub. Large beer garden, full of character indoors and popular for food.

So we settled down for the afternoon to enjoy the scenery and the peace and quiet. There were a couple of other boats moored but it wasn't full.

We headed to the pub in the evening. We sat outside first of all as the sun was out. We then had the bad news after a couple of drinks that they had run out of all lager. Now I don't like ale and the only alternative was cider which was pretty strong. So the end of the night is a bit blurry but I can remember the seating area in the pub has no electricity so is lit by candle light which was really atmospheric, the burgers were excellent including "bacon jam" which was new to us and by the end of the night my cider was the nicest drink I've ever had!

And so back to the boat after a fantastic night.

[Biscuiteer]

Tuesday 4 August

Sore head for me! As we looked outside we realised we were the only boat moored up. What a treat. Straight outside for me to get some fresh air!

The plan for today was to head back to Beccles and take it from there. We enjoyed the cruise back and started to moor up at the Yacht Station when strong winds seemed to come out of nowhere and made it impossible. Stern on in strong winds isn't good with no bow thruster. Thankfully a nice gentlemen helped us out and we eventually moored up.

We spent a quiet day on the boat and decided to stay for the night and head out in to Beccles for the evening. We headed to the Swan Hotel for a drink as we hadn't been there before and then to the Wine Vault which we have always enjoyed.

We then had a reservation at Pizza Piatto which we hadn't been to before. It was really busy so would definitely recommend booking. It had a good atmosphere although not quite top food in our view, still very nice.

And so back to the boat after a lovely evening.

[SwanR]

Enjoying your tale Biscuiteer.

Incidentally when stern on mooring in strong winds a bow thruster makes no difference at all. We had a similar challenge at Beccles back in June. Got one rope on and tried to straighten up using the bow thruster but the wind was winning. Someone helped hubby pull us round a bit with the rope - job done.