Luton to Broadlands

It’s the last long haul to Norfolk today and we left Luton at 10.45am.  Everything went very smoothly and we finally stopped for lunch once I’d got past the nasty bit at Thetford.  We then had just 21 miles to go to Norwich so I knew I was nearly there.  When Mike drove we’d always go round the inner ring road to Wroxham but I really didn’t fancy that route and took us along the A47 towards Great Yarmouth.  At Acle we leave the main road and make for Potter Heigham which is then a short drive to Ludham Bridge.  The Broadlands Caravan Club site is just before the bridge and we pulled in at 2.50pm.  We chose pitch number 3 because I know that I can get online at this end of the site!!  My 3 dongle is brilliant.

It wasn’t long before the heavens opened, we had thunder and lightning and Hamish made himself sick as he absolutely hates thunder.  Joy!!  Thankfully the bad weather has passed now and he’s settled down.
Tomorrow we take over Broadland Mars from Richardsons at Stalham and so you’ll need to visit my Broadland Blog for the reports on our holiday.  I won’t be able to blog until we come off the boat so don’t expect anything for at least a week!  Hope to see you over there.

Devizes to Luton

Today I’ve got to get us to Junction 12 of the M4 where we’re meeting Phill who’ll be driving us round the M25 and M1 to Luton.  He’s at work during the day and the earliest he can get there is about 6.30pm.  Units are supposed to be off site by 12 noon but while chatting to the Warden he offered us a stay until 2pm if we’d like it.  This was brilliant as it meant we could stay here rather than driving around and finding somewhere to stop and kill time.  Most of the morning it rained and the local ducks were enjoying the ever increasing puddle …

It finally stopped raining and although it wasn’t quite time to leave the site I decided to get on the road.  I was pretty nervous about driving the M4  and sitting around was making it worse!  The weather could have been kinder as it was raining once again but I had no choice – I had to get us there and I did!  We spent a couple of hours at Membury Services and got to Reading Sainsburys just after 5pm.  Phill was keeping in touch and letting us know how his journey was going which was great to start with but not so good once he got in a cab at Reading!!  The traffic was dire and it took ages for him to do the four miles from the station to us.  Hamish kept watch for him …

and eventually I got a call to say he had arrived and could see us.  It was really nice to be able to sit in the passenger seat while he drove us to Luton.  Thank you so much Phill for helping me on that horrible leg of the trip x

Odds and Sods

I’ve gathered a few photos lately which don’t really deserve a post of their own so I’m putting them all on this one.

Firstly when travelling on the Park and Ride from Threemilestone to Truro I saw that the Graffiti Grannys (Cornish yarnbombers) had been hard at work and it all looked very pretty …

When we had the short spell of warm weather I managed to get a bit of painting done to the garage wall.  It’s not finished yet but I’ve made a start!

Coffee break time with Hamish …

A mini with eyelashes parked at Tesco last week …

Blossom in the village …

A rainbow a couple of days ago …

and last but not least my two boys fast asleep together …

Snow at Last!

Portreath seems to be in a little world of its own because while listening to the radio and hearing about all the school closures and problems on the roads in Cornwall we have seen no white stuff - until this morning! I couldn't believe it when the curtains were pulled back and there it was covering the harbour ...

It seemed to thaw a bit but then the sky went dark and we had an almighty hailstorm ...

It then snowed on and off during the morning but it didn't stop Hamish going for his morning walk and leaving his footprints ...

We really needed to get to Tesco at Redruth so after lunch when the sun was shining and the roads were wet we set off and there was no trouble getting there. It was very quiet in the store and I was pleasantly surprised that the shelves were full as I was expecting that deliveries would have been hampered by the weather. Someone had been having some fun in the snow on the car park ...

On the way home we had to leave the main road and go to Illogan to collect a prescription from the surgery and this bit of the journey was a bit dodgy. We had a slide going up one hill but luckily made it to the top and then parked ...


It was pretty straightforward from here as it's either level roads or downhill and so we made it back home all in one piece thankfully.

Short Hop Home

Another sunny morning for the last day of our holiday and after breakfast we walked down the road to the harbour at Newton Ferrers. It was a lovely walk and the view was breathtaking ...


Harbour photos ...



There is a ferry across to Noss Mayo ...

We returned via the footpath/quiet road so Hamish could run free and he met another Westie called Magnus ...

There were some really pretty cottages ...

and looking down to the river it was such a lovely colour ...

We arrived back at the Dolphin where we'd eaten the night before ...

and then it was a steep hill up to the church ...

before reaching the campsite. After saying our farewells we got on the road for the short hop to Cornwall. We crossed the Tamar in brilliant sunshine ...

and made the decision to stop at Trago Mills for a quick shop and pasty lunch. The best laid plans!! The weather ahead was looking decidedly unfriendly ...

and at the end of the Dobwalls by-pass we found the A38 was closed so we had to take the A390 to St Austell. Each time we passed a road that went down to the A38 there were police there and road closed signs. The traffic was horrendous - very slow and nose to tail. We were pretty fed up by now so decided to keep going and stop at St Austell Tesco and have a sandwich! While there we ate to the accompaniment of thunder, lightning and rain hammering down! Lovely! My last photo of our holiday shows what we had just driven through ...

Portreath of course was looking great when we got home and I ended the day with a lovely Pilates class with Mel and the rest of the girls. It's good to be back in Cornwall - just wish I hadn't brought a rotten cold back with me!

Rainbow

Walking up Battery Hill this morning we saw this wonderful rainbow ...

I only had my mobile on me but took a couple of shots ...

Rainbow

Looking out this morning it was the turn of a rainbow ...

Super Saturday!

We woke this morning to find a dry day and the deer resting in the field just behind us ...

All looking good so far! Jo, Paul and Fred were happy in their tent ...

and then our mobile beeped to say we had a message. This was a very exciting moment for us! While in Norfolk on holiday we'd spotted a Broads River Cruiser called Crocus (on our Broadland Blog) that was for sale and we'd been in touch with her owner hoping to buy her. Mike now had to ring and see if our offer had been accepted - it wasn't! We upped it a little and unbelievably we are now the proud owners of our own yacht on the Norfolk Broads! This is something we've dreamed of since our first sailing holiday in 1971!! We were on Cloud 9! It is Super Saturday and we'll never forget this day!

However it was now time to start thinking about the Show so we loaded all the gear into Paul's car and set off to find the Stand. Everything was set up and we had five cars all in different colours which looked great ...

It wasn't long though before the rain began. Not too bad to begin with - just a short shower so we were able to shelter under the gazebo ...

Unfortunately one shower led to another and the wind decided to increase so in the end we had to take down the gazebo, which by now had a broken leg, and most people abandoned to their cars. In between the showers we went for a wander around the stalls where we found a new companion for Hamish - his name is Jack ...

and we looked at the vehicles on display. Here are a selection ...

By early afternoon we had all had enough of the rain which seemed to be set in for the rest of the day so we packed up and went back to the camping field for a brew. It was such a shame as so much effort goes into an event like this and people had travelled from all over to bring their classic vehicles to the Showground. At least we were cosy in our motorhome and enjoyed a glass or two with our meal!

Hail Stones!

As I sit here this afternoon writing this there is blue sky and sunshine outside but this morning we had a very sudden and quite short-lived hailstorm. As snow is a very rare occurrence this is the nearest thing to it for us!