Saturday September 16th 2017 - Even more rain, and a drive to How Hill

Although it was fine when I woke that morning it wasn't long before the wet stuff started falling again so after the first dog walk it meant another few hours spent in the van. I needed to go to the bank at some point though so about 2pm I drove down into Yarmouth, parked at Asda and walked the few minutes into town. With my business sorted I had a quick look round the shops then decided to go for a very late lunch; the Pop-In Cafe in one of the shopping arcades looked okay so I went in there and ordered scrambled eggs on toast and a milky coffee, and I have to say that I was well pleased. The coffee was good and the toast was thick, topped with lots of delicious scrambled egg; the price was very reasonable too so that's definitely a place I'll return to another time.

When I came out of the arcade the rain had stopped and the sky was clearing, and by the time I got back to the van the sun was trying to put in an appearance. I didn't really want to go straight back to the camp site so in an effort to try and salvage something from the wet day I drove out to How Hill, a place I'd been to a few years ago. How Hill House is used as a study and residential field course centre and its surrounding gardens are only open to the public on certain days but I was able to walk across the nearby field, past the tiny museum of Toad Hole Cottage and down to the River Ant where several holiday cruisers were moored up. In the late afternoon, and with grey clouds overshadowing the sun, the light wasn't exactly the best for taking photos but I managed to get a few and at least the dogs had a reasonable walk.

Back at the camp site I made a brew and watched an hour or so of tv then went out to see my ex-partner's sister and brother-in-law, Jean and John, who live just a mile or so from the site. I'd forgotten that I'd left the half-full kettle on the floor in the middle of the van though, and as I went round a corner the inevitable happened - it up-ended. Luckily the water went down onto the side step, and when I got out of the van outside Jean and John's house it was running out from under the side door and there was a trail all along the road, but at least it hadn't gone all over the carpet like the coffee did.

Jean was in on her own and John was out with the dogs but it wasn't long before he came back and that's when I had a bit of a surprise - they had a new dog. Previously they'd had two Border Collies, Pepsi and Zak - Zak was the older one but sadly they'd lost him to an illness earlier in the year. Not wanting Pepsi to be an only dog they'd searched various local rescue places and three months ago finally found a lovely little dog rescued from Romania. She's a 2-year old cross breed (though what crossed with what it's not easy to tell) and she was originally called Selina, though once they'd adopted her they changed her name to Poppy, which really seems to suit her. She's mainly white but with a big ginger patch on her back and sides, and she's got the sweetest little face; unfortunately I never thought to get the camera from the van and take a photo of her but she really is adorable and I know she'll have a long and happy life with Jean and John. 

With a couple of hours spent in good company it was time to say my goodbyes for this year and go back to the camp site. For once it was a lovely clear evening and I had a very pleasant dog walk round the site before settling into the van for the rest of the night - and with only two more full days of the holiday left I had my fingers well and truly crossed that one of them would at least turn out to be nice.

Friday September 15th 2017 - A walk to Hemsby and yet more rain

I woke that morning to blue sky, sunshine, and no sign of any of the rain which I'd heard during the night. Looking north from the edge of the field I could see that the sky was clear for miles so I decided to forgo the early dog walk, have breakfast first then go for my favourite walk up to Hemsby and back afterwards; the dogs were quite happy to stay in their beds for a while longer but they were equally happy to come out of them once breakfast was over.

Just down the lane from the site entrance a gravel-surfaced private road took me past a long row of bungalows to what could loosely be called the main road through the village and halfway along was Lands End, a small privately-owned grassy area on the cliff top. In the past I'd often seen lots of rabbits on there and I got into the habit of looking for them every time I went that way but it seems they must have gone living somewhere else as I haven't seen any there for a few years. The view was good though and I got a decent shot overlooking the beach.

A bit further on from Lands End the road turned sharply inland and on the bend was an attractive row of red-roofed cottages. A hundred yards or so along from there was The Promenade, a long gravelled and pot-holed track heading northwards along the cliff top. The properties along there have always fascinated me and I've seen many changes over the years; at one time most of them were small timber-built single storey dwellings looking more like holiday chalets than proper bungalows but the addition of various brick-built extensions and upper floors has gradually turned a lot of them into proper family houses with long front gardens. With a pleasant grassy area running along the cliff top and a great view of the sea The Promenade looks like a really nice place to live.

After a few minutes walking The Promenade became The Esplanade although it was still the same track with the same quirky properties. Near the edge of the cliff someone had set up what I first thought was beach casting equipment but when I got closer I wasn't so sure - the line didn't go out across the beach and I hadn't a clue what the other tripod thing was but it made a good photo.

Eventually The Esplanade came to an end, narrowing into a footpath which led to the road through the dunes, and set back in a quiet corner was a couple of rows of what were once fishermens' cottages. It's not so long ago that the road through the dunes was lined with small holiday homes and timber-built chalets, with the ones on the right nestling in hollows on the cliff top, but most of those have gone now. In early December 2013 the biggest tidal surge for 60 years eroded the cliff, washing three homes into the sea and severely damaging four others which were eventually demolished. There are still a few homes left but the road is now mainly an empty stretch of concrete leading to the village.

At the end of the road I came to the commercial part of Hemsby village, a long stretch with amusements, cafes, shops and a couple of holiday sites on both sides of the road. I've often referred to it as a mini Blackpool but in reality it's nothing like the northern resort - commercial it may be but brash it certainly isn't, and though you wouldn't get me within a mile of Blackpool I do like going to Hemsby. There's a lovely small bakery along there too but having given up eating cake back in May I wasn't tempted, and with just a few shots taken I headed back to the dunes and the beach.

Walking along the beach I could see the remaining holiday homes set back behind the dunes but further along, and nearly four years after the disaster, it was almost impossible to tell which part of the cliff had eroded and where the other homes had been. As I got further away from Hemsby I also got further away from other people until finally I had the whole beach to myself, and it was like that all the way back to the camp site.

Back at the van I made a mid-morning brew then set out to visit East Ruston Old Vicarage Gardens not far from Stalham. I'd been there last year and though I'd initially been under the impression that the place was only small I discovered it was much bigger than I'd thought, and it was only after I'd got home that I found I'd missed seeing some sections of it so a return visit was on the cards.

Unfortunately the garden visit turned out to be very much a non-event. The place didn't open until 1pm and I arrived a bit early so I parked in the tree-shaded car park and waited, but I hadn't been there long when the glorious blue sky and sunshine disappeared, the grey clouds came over and it hammered down with rain once again - it was unbelievable how quickly and suddenly the weather changed. I stayed there for a while in the hope that things would change again just as quickly but there was no sign of the rain stopping so eventually I gave up and drove all the way back to California.

The rain had eased off by the time I got back to the camp site but there was no sign of it stopping completely so I resigned myself to spending yet more hours in the van. Actually that wasn't too much of a hardship; apart from the loo I had everything I needed in there so the three of us were quite cosy and comfortable, and even though the garden visit hadn't happened we had at least had a lovely sunny walk that morning.