Camping in Norfolk - 8th to11th May 2010

We started the Norfolk break on Saturday 8th May with some trepidation, in the rain with a forecast not brilliant! Not to be downhearted, we headed for the Manor Farm Campsite at East Runton, determined to make the most of what was thrown at us. Peter and I, with Katie, our Greyhound, met up with Val and her nephew, Charlie, and Gill with her dog, Serena, in a pub in West Runton for lunch. At least it was warm and dry in there! We bravely decided to go for a short walk along West Runton beach - after all, we are an Outdoor Group! It was blowing a gale on the cliffs but the beach was more sheltered and there was only a drizzle - or was that the spray from the rough sea? On to the campsite to set up. Thankfully the rain stopped long enough to get our tent up. Val had arrived earlier, and sensibly found a sheltered corner of the campsite out of the wind. No sea-view from the tents from there, but better than camping in a gale! There was only one problem - we had forgotten to bring a club tent for Gill.  No worries - our tent is large, so can easily take 3, plus 2 dogs!

Ann and Duncan eventually joined us after visiting some gardens en route. We drove into Sheringham in the evening for a pub meal, and back to the campsite for a good night’s sleep. Some hopes! The rain battered on the tents during the night, Serena decided she wanted to give me a kiss in the early hours and shoved her wet nose into the back of my head, some of us needed a trip to the loo at daybreak (thankfully the rain had stopped by then), probably after too much wine and coffee the night before, and just as we thought we could get a couple more hours sleep, the dawn chorus had started! A very pretty song coming from a tree near our tents from a Chaffinch (identified the following morning), but I did need more sleep!

The weather had improved by the morning, and after breakfast, we set off for a walk to Sheringham, through woods and along the cliff tops, about 4 miles. It was quite cold and windy, but at least the sun was out! We found a lovely café in Sheringham which allowed the dogs in, and had home-made soup to warm us up. On the walk back, we stopped at the Priory Gardens where some looked at the plants for sale, and a couple of us had coffee and cake, reclining on the comfortable armchairs in the sun in the secluded garden. Did Duncan really want to take an enormous olive tree in a pot home for Copped Hall? (Or was it for home?) Thankfully he thought better of it as he would have needed a crane and lorry to get it back (and £2,000!). When we got back to the campsite we put the kettle on! Gill and Serena had to leave that day, and young Charlie was picked up to get back for his SATs tomorrow. He looked really upset to be leaving. Camping was obviously preferable to exams! The remainder of us drove back into Sheringham for another nice pub meal. The night was rather like the previous one, but without the dog-kissing episode as Serena (and Gill) had gone home! If the rain only fell at night, that was O.K.!

On the Monday we decided to visit the National Trust Sheringham Gardens. We had a lovely walk through rhododendrons, but unfortunately, due to our long winter, everything was late this year. Many were out in flower and looked beautiful, but the majority were late coming out. The bluebells looked lovely, too, and we went up a couple of towers to see the views. We left there and walked through some woods to a small café set in pretty gardens - called “Pretty Corner”. We sat outside in the sun in a really peaceful and sheltered garden setting. Val had to leave us to get home. Down to 4 and 1 dog now! We decided to go back to Sheringham Gardens and do the tree walk this time. Back to the campsite and to give Katie a run on East Runton beach, where the previous day we had watched a couple of surfers braving the cold sea. They obviously thought better of it today, and we went back to Sheringham for the evening meal. Duncan had been updating us on the election fiasco after listening to news on his car radio - Nick Clegg was going with Labour, or was he going with the Conservatives? I was just grateful we were away until it was all sorted!

The night was much the same, except for one difference - there were hailstones all round our tents in the morning! Was it really that cold? This is May! At least it was quite warm in our tent. After an egg and bacon sandwich breakfast, which tastes much nicer cooked on a stove in a tent, we decided to go to Holkham beach which has a gorgeous long stretch of sand, but a long walk across it to get to the sea. It was ideal to give Katie a race round which she loves, but after 3 tiring days, she was not as enthusiastic as normal! After lunch at the café at Holkham Hall, we went to Morston Quay for a boat-trip to see the seals. Katie had to be carried across one boat to the boat we were going on, which didn’t do much for her dignity, but she immediately settled down on the floor of the boat to recover! Last year the seals were sitting on a sandbank and swimming round the boat, almost laughing at the idiots who come out to see them, but this year they had a different tactic. Hide and seek was the game! There was only one on a sandbank - the others were teasing us, popping up here and there out of the water, and back down again. “I’m over here. No I’m not, I’m over here now.” Apparently there have been fewer seals this year, and we only saw Grey Seals, and none of the prettier Common Seals. We then went close to a sandbank covered with nesting and flying seabirds - hundreds of them. The seal trip made a fitting end to a lovely few days in Norfolk, which turned out to be much better than we had expected, weather-wise! At least the days were dry and mainly sunny, but perhaps we should have gone in the warmer weather we had in April!

Maz.    13th May 2010