Leaving Norfolk

We woke to another lovely morning and by 8am we had emptied the boat of all our stuff.

We just had to return the lifejackets and wait for the chap to come and check how much fuel we'd used - we got a refund of £62 from the £100 deposit everyone has to pay! I went off for a wander around the boatyard as Jamie had texted me the names of a few boats he was interested in hiring next year. I could only find one of them and it looked quite nice but the galley was very small. I'm sure we'll find something though and I think we'll be back in May.

After saying our goodbyes to a few friends we'd made from the Norfolk Broads Forum we headed off to Potter Heigham for breakfast. Since holidaying with the boys it has become a regular thing to end the week with breakfast at the cafe by the bridge. I bought a lovely little book about the history of the Thurne bungalows ...

Apparently the first bungalow was built about 1892 and by the early 1900's there were several houseboats and bungalows along the riverside and all used for family holidays on the Broads. After breks we took a last walk up to the 'railway bridge' and could see that America was still moored. We'll never know if they managed to get her through for the hire booking tomorrow.

So it was back to the RV and the start of the trek to Hampshire, passing over Wroxham bridge for the last time ...

Potter Heigham to Stalham

What a beautiful morning!

The bridge looks fantastic and the sun is just coming up from behind the boatsheds ...


This is the hire yacht America and apparently she is stuck above the bridge. The Pilot who took us through on Tuesday told us it was most embarrassing as they'd got her upstream but couldn't get her back! She's due out on hire on Saturday so they'll be calling in lots of people to sit on her and weigh her down in the hopes that she'll pass under on the next low tide.

The first boat came through and it was oh so close!

The yacht that came through with us is also returning today ...

Hamish is patiently waiting for our turn ...

and then we're through and moored waiting to fill up with water ...

Once filled we said goodbye to Potter Heigham ...

and made our way back down the River Thurne passing chalets of all shapes and sizes ...


We passed a cute little narrow boat called James ...

and then caught up with the yacht we've been seeing quite regularly ...

At least the river wasn't filled with racing yachts today as we passed Thurne Dyke ...

A lovely little dyke with a windmill ...

and a swan flying ahead of us ...

The cows were by the river as we approached St Benet's Abbey ...

We moored here for coffee ...

and who should come along but a chap who'd been on holiday in Portreath during the summer and had stayed in the holiday let right behind us! He's a volunteer for the Broads Authority and we had a good old chinwag about Cornwall and Norfolk. It was such a lovely day that there were several yachts on the water ...



We left the mooring with everything lowered on the boat ready for Ludham Bridge and in no time at all were motoring up the River Ant past all the work that's going on ...


Then the bridge was ahead of us ...

and we were under it and away ...

As it was lovely weather there was no rush to get the windscreen back up so we kept moving until we reached How Hill where we moored for lunch. Hamish was settled ...

and the windmill was looking as good as ever ...

After a sandwich we took Hamish for a walk up to How Hill house and gardens which were looking particularly good today ...


We're just over there on the river ...

Unfortunately Toad Hole Cottage was closed today so we just walked out onto the riverside ...

and made our way back to the boat ...

We moved on upriver ...

into Irstead ...

and then onto Barton Broad ...

We took the route to Barton Turf where Crocus came from ...

and then headed back out to the main river ...

I was watching the undergrowth at the side of the river because on our trip down I'd seen two kingfishers. Suddenly one appeared and I took this photo. He's in the square. Can you see him?

Sadly we were now back at Richardsons yard ...

and found a mooring on Kingfisher Quay ...

Mike got the RV out of store and we began to sort out and pack our stuff. We treated ourselves to a meal at The Swan in Stalham as it was dog-friendly and so now we have one more night onboard and then we're off to Hampshire tomorrow.

Horsey to Potter Heigham

We were awake early again after a night when we'd had some rain and I found my book floating in a pool of water on the shelf beside me! Luckily it wasn't a library book and my phone and watch were elsewhere. We set off at 8.45am heading back down Meadow Dyke and turning right at the end of it.


This took us to Hickling Broad ...


and after passing an anchored yacht which reminded us of home ...

we moored up on the end of the dyke by the Pleasure Boat Inn ...

Behind us we had some houseboats on one side ...

and the Sailing Club on the other ...

with a little sandy beach between us and the Club which was full of geese ...

Naturally the bread came out and I had to feed them ...

As the morning progressed the weather improved and what better setting to have a snooze ...


It was then time to take Hamish for a walk and we passed these lovely cottages in very traditional Norfolk flint ...

returning to the boat for bacon and eggs - yummy!

After lunch we motored off and at one stage we had the company of two black swans ...

It had been very quiet above Potter Heigham as so few boats can get under the bridge but we did see the occasional yacht ...

We were heading for a mooring at Potter again so that we'd be ready for the low tide in the morning and on the way down we saw various boats ...



a lovely wherry weather vane ...

and when we reached our mooring a little steam launch went past ...

There wasn't a lot of room under the bridge this evening but hopefully the tide would be low enough in the morning for us to get back to the other side ...