200 mile round trip day out

P's off this week and, ever since Katie's horse riding beach day in the summer, he's be on and on about visiting Holkham Bay in North Norfolk. Headed off there yesterday in the cold autumn sun. It was mild at home but by the sea the wind chilled right through all the warm layers we were wearing. In the summer (as long as the sun shone of course) I can imagine Holkham Bay to be an absolutely brilliant day out. As the tide was out we walked about a 1/2 mile to reach the water's edge - it was worth it. The creeks, mini streams and pretty wind swept patterns in the sand, ending up with a clear unspoilt panoramic view of sea and long stretches of sand were great. Not many horse riders today, but those that were there seemed to be ignoring the cold and having a good time. In fact the place was pretty busy with families bracing themselves against the wind to enjoy a stroll on the beach. Hot cuppa and warm pizza picnic lunch afterwards went down a treat! Want to go back and explore further as there's more to Holkham than it's beach with craft shops, tea rooms and beautiful Holkham Hall to explore too. In the summer, it seems, the Household Cavalry use the beach to exercise all their horses - must be a fabulous site.



Lovely patterns caused by wind and tide.

Drifting sands like in the desert!

Only one without wellies and wearing an ageing pair of boots, P "had" to carry me over the creek in order to keep my feet dry!

... sorry got stuck into reading the Holkham Hall website and dreaming. Check out the Christmas and New Year's Eve packages - wow, what a way to spend the festive season.

So, after Holkham we thought we'd head off to Redwings Horse Sanctuary near Great Yarmouth. Katie visited a Redwings when she stayed with my parents in the summer and really enjoyed it. We didn't realise it would be another 78 miles from Holkham round to the Caldecott Centre, but we managed to see a couple of P's work haunts on the journey and get stuck in traffic for a while due to a car accident and then the sat nav decided to take us "round the houses" as we watched the time tick away. Anyway, we got there at 3.30ish (it closed at 5) and wandered round all the paddocks to see some of the horses. Unfortunately, due to the fact that it was feeding time, most of the horses could only be seen from a distance. A bundle of hay is far more interesting than visitors! Some did venture up to the fence for a quick fuss before returning to their evening meal. Nice place, but I don't think it was worth the 78 miles to be honest!

It was touching on darkness by the time we left and we stopped off for grub enroute to home. It was lovely to be home (always is after a day out), lighting the fire (thanks to the heating not working!) to warm us all up, although the only really warm place was bed with a hot water bottle!