CAISTER AND CROMER

20th July

We left the Van Love festival at Elvington airfield on Sunday 20th July and drove to the little campsite where Sue stayed a few nights ago on the way to the festival at Melbourne grange. ///dodging.entitles.allows

We parked up and Andy got on with emptying the toilet cassette and the grey waste and Sue got the van ready and comfy so that we could relax for the day.

We put the £16 in the envelope and popped it into the box by the elsan point and then chilled for the rest of the day.

21st July

We left the campsite refreshed and ready for the next phase of our adventure. 

Today we decided to head for a CAMpRA Aire at the east Kirkby aviation heritage site ///august.attend.streetcar thinking to stay for one night (£10) but on discovering that the Avro Lancaster Mk V11, NX611 which was based there was going to be taxiing tomorrow we decided to make it two nights so, we set the van up, backing it into one of the motorhome parking bays and.....relaxed.

22nd July

We had a walk around the gated area where the Lancaster would be taxiing and got some great shots of it sitting there waiting to go. It was due to start up shortly but we had time for breakfast in the cafe and it was a bacon roll and a mocha each which kept up going for the next few hours.

It was time for the Lancaster to start up and here are some video's of the next hour or so!

That was very special and we were glad we chose to stop here to see it!

Once the Lancaster had been returned to it's hangar we had a walk 'round and marvelled at the displays of WWII paraphernalia. There was some restoration work taking place in the hangar, hence the noise on the following videos.

What an eye opener! It brings it home to you when you think what these pilots and air crew went through!

23rd July

We left the Aviation Aire and headed for a little Certified Site (CS ) called Shrublands ///caps.daredevil.darkens which we had found on 'Search4sites' and had phoned ahead to book one night at £18.

The showers were nice and hot and the site had emptying and filling facilities including EHU (which we didn't use).

We parked at the bottom of the hill and took a short walk to The Foundary arms for a couple of pints before returning to the van to sit in the sunshine and settle down for the rest of the day and evening.

Tomorrow we will move on to Caister to meet a couple of great friends, Julie and Aaron, who we will be spending a couple of days with before continuing our travels.

24th July

In the morning we phoned The California Tavern ///judges.fingertip.question which was an advertised pub stop to book a pitch and drove from Shrublands camp site down to Caister and pulled into the nearly empty car park.

Usually you have to use the pub for a drink or meal to be allowed to stay overnight and so we thought that we would have scampi and chips whilst we waited for Julie and Aaron to meet us there.

Julie and Aaron arrived and we all had a drink together before walking back to their place via the beach.

We played a strategy game (Can't remember the name) involving different shaped 'tiles' which you put in place on a board to block your opponents moves. Aaron won!

It was time to get back to the van and the pub where we had a drink before bed.

25th July

Julie had booked us all on a boat trip on the Norfolk broads for £11.50 each so we all met up and Aaron drove to the set off point which was right next to The Swan Inn so we had a pint whilst we waited for our slot.

We soon boarded the 'Southern comfort' and sat ourselves down and waited for the 'cruise' to begin.

The Southern comfort set off and cruised up and down the river Bure and the captain gave us all a running guide of the buildings and some of the inhabitants along the way.

Andy and Aaron went downstairs to the bar and got some drinks for the journey, a bottle of bubbly for Julie and Aaron! A beer and wine for Andy and Sue respectively.

We really enjoyed the cruise and when we got back to the Swan Inn we went....in 😊

A non alcoholic drink for Aaron, our designated driver and then back to the van to relax before the quiz night in the California tavern later this evening!

The quiz was great fun and after that there was another game based on the 'Play your cards right' TV show which was on TV in the '80's.

When it was Andy's turn his first card was a two so, of course he chose HIGHER and the next bloody card was an Ace. (Lower than a two!) Just his luck...that game didn't last long!

We said goodnight to our lovely friends and 'hit the sack', we will move on tomorrow.

26th July

The family holiday.

Today we are going to Cromer and will stay at Northrepps airfield and campsite, ///existence.excellence.presumes.We had booked our pitch months ago and Kevin had sent us the gate code but when we got there it was open.

We set up camp as we would be here for a week and watched the planes come and go whilst we relaxed with a nice brunch.

Later we got on the ebikes and cycled into Cromer, getting soaked in the rain, to meet Sue's family,Jean, Jemma, Scarlett and Stanley and Harley the dog who were staying at a cottage near the pier for the week. 

Julie and Tom were helping them settle in and we helped with some bags and then left them to it deciding to hunker down in Huckleberry's cafe to dry off with a mocha and a cake each before cycling back to the van for a hot shower and a curry before bed.

27th July

We loaded the bike trailer up with the laundry and cycled into town to the Morrisons ///whips.counters.strapping where there were Revolution washer driers, now called 'Wash me'. Andy's bike lost all power at the bottom of the hill approaching Morrison's and he had the trailer attached too so it was a struggle for the last few hundred metres!

Whilst Sue got the washing on Andy stripped the electrics out of the bike, they were wet, and left them drying in the sun hoping that that would cure the fault.

After the washing was done Andy's bike was working but we didn't want to trust it back to the van so we cycled to the cottage and retrieved our Mokka which we had lent to Jemma for the journey to Cromer, put Andy's bike in the boot and Sue drove back to the van whilst Andy rode Sue's bike back.

Andy tested his bike at the van and it worked fine, must have been the wet electrics!

Joe arrived and we all drove to meet the family at the cottage. Andy went to the Kings head pub and watched the Lionesses win the Euro's!

Joe slept in the van with us tonight, there was no room in the snug little cottage!

28th July

Not many planes about today, we got up and got ready for a beach day.

Andy's bike refused to go, electrics again! So we loaded the mokka up and headed into town to meet the family. We parked in the allocated space that came with the cottage and walked the trailer, loaded up with belly boards, wet suits and chairs down to the beach and settled down for a full day of larking about in the sea, which was surprisingly warm!

We all had a great day belly boarding and swimming in the sea but Joe had to get back today so we said goodbye to him and then we packed up and headed back to the car thinking that we would use the lift to get up the hill to the car park. We pressed the button and the doors shut and then the lights went out and the lift stayed where it was!

We tried all of the buttons and eventually pressed the alarm button and we explained that we were stuck in the lift. We were told that someone would be along shortly but it was pitch black in there and it didn't feel nice so Andy forced the doors open and found that the lift hadn't moved from the ground floor so we left the lift and walked up the hill after all! That was fun...NOT!

We got back to the van, showered and sat out watching the sunset followed by stars and satellites.

29th July

Up at 9 this morning! We must have been tired from all of that swimming!

Andy fixed his bike, removing the electrics again and cleaning it thoroughly and it worked, meanwhile we watched the aircraft come and go.

We cycled to the cottage and then walked to the beach where we had a Bar B Q.

Another great day of swimming and belly boarding and Scarlett and Julie were in the sea until 10pm!

We cycled back to the van and went straight to bed!

30th July

Today is the day that the recovery team were coming to drag the Piper 28 plane out of the bushes at the end of runway 0-4. It has crashed a few days before we had arrived, apparently the pilot had tried to land a couple of times and had 'gone around' and on the final time he didn't get the plane down on the ground earlier enough and it ran off the end of the runway! He and his passenger were shaken but not injured badly apparently.

We spent the day relaxing at the van and later lit the fire pit and watched the satellites again.

31st July

It's pay day today!

We drove down and met Julie, Scarlett and Jean at Felbrigg hall National trust this morning and walked around the grounds, had mochas and a bite to eat and then had a look inside the hall. 

The outside eating areas were invaded by wasps and Andy had to be a bit careful not to get stung!

Later that day we all went to the beach again. Belly boards were out and it was great fun trying to stay in control as the strong, crashing waves were hitting us with such force it was hard to stand up. The rip tide was making us all work really hard but it was great fun. The new wet suits really helped

After the beach Sue and Andy headed for The King Edward for a couple of pints before walking around to the pizza place near Julies flat. We took the pizzas back to the van and watched the new War of the worlds film. (Strange).

1st Aug

We awoke to strong winds and heavy rain but the sun came out eventually and we had a slow morning getting over yesterdays bashing that we had in the sea.

Later we met the family and went to the Shire horse sanctuary where we spent a couple of hours wandering around looking at the various animals and trying out the little cafe.

We handed back the Mokka to Gemma so that she could load it up for their trip home tomorrow. It's been a lovely week and everyone enjoyed themselves, especially the beach days on the belly boards.

2nd Aug

We are staying at Northrepps for a couple more days and today we biked it into Cromer and had chips and gravy, (well Andy did) and then walked along the prom before heading to the Wellington pub where we sat and watched the cricket and racing on the TV...!

Back to the van eventually and two other vans had turned up. We made the most of the rest of the evening but sloped off to bed once the fresh air and activities caught up with us. 

3rd Aug

A nice start to the day, no rain and the wind had died down so we had a cuppa outside before getting on the bikes and heading back into Cromer and the museum for an hour and then popped into the church.

The museum was on the site of five tiny workers cottages. It was eye opening to see the way people lived in the old days.

We have been to Cromer a few times before but had never been in the church!

Of course the day wouldn't be complete without a visit to The Kings Head where Andy had a Norfolk nibbler, lovely!

Back to the van for our last night in Cromer, tomorrow we hit the road.....