Mr B Reports:
Day 16 - getting closer! Frank, Ciarin and I had a very nice meal at the hotel in Mundesley, starter, main and dessert all polished off despite rather immense portions! That and breakfast in the morning set is up nicely for the walk ahead. The walk was a 28 miler for me with Frank and Ciarin doing 25 miles where they would depart at Great Yarmouth station. After cutting a little off yesterday I was determined to do the whole thing as mapped today which would leave me some miles in hand for the remaining legs as I knew that there were going to be some tough to walk roads involved around the Maldon area so I need to do some planning to see what I can cut out.
We set off at 9:20 and immediately hit the beach as advised by Coastal Guy. When he did it the tide was out and had been able to follow the beach most of the way down but he'd warned that some parts would not be possible at high tide which is pretty much what we had. We set off along the beach to start as there was no obvious trail on the cliff, a seawall developed so we used this for a while but eventually had to drop to the sand when it ran out. There was a tidal guard running along the beach and we stayed on the sea side of this where possible as the sand was harder and therefore easier to walk on. We did have to cross over sometimes though where the tide was further in and our progress was much slower on the softer sand (so soft at one stage that Ciarin sunk in and got a trainer full of sludge!). Along this way we saw a seal cub, I knew they were about but this was the first one I'd seen. It didn't seem bothered by Ciarin but when Frank came past it quickly scuttled into the sea. We saw another one further along the route which looked pretty forlorn. Unfortunately we suspected that they had been separated from their mum, hence being on the shore. Fingers crossed they would be ok!
Eventually we reached a point where we could go no further due to the cliff jutting into the sea which was marked by a curious wooden stair structure that didn't actually lead anywhere. Fortunately we'd noticed some steps in the cliff a few hundred yards back so went back and ascended them with the help of a rope as they were pretty steep! Once up we followed the coastal path to Happsburgh where we had a break and Ciarin changed his socks. The path continued through Eccles and onto Sea Palling where we stopped for a drinks break, the muggy day was taking its toll on our drink supplies! From here we rejoined the beach where the tide had diminished allowing us to make good progress along the easier to walk hard sand, though after a few miles the sand took its toll on Frank and we headed back up the bank (luckily the cliffs had finished by this stage) and found a path to continue on. This took us all the way to Winterton-on-Sea where we had another stop for drinks, I think the shopkeeper was quite surprised at the sheer volume of liquid we bought between us!
From here the path was pretty simple and basically took as all the way to Yarmouth via the village of California (no Pammy or Hoff in sight on the beach) and through a huge Havens holiday camp. The sheer volume of static caravans in Norfolk is amazing! You can't get far without seeing a caravan park, big or small. We cut through the Havens camp (despite trespass warnings!) and this led us onto the main road into Great Yarmouth. I'd been here a number of times in my youth with my dad and was wondering if I'd recognise the seafront but I didn't get the chance to find out as the main promenade is the other side of the river that runs into the town and I didn't want to make the same mistake I made in Hartlepool and have to double back as the bridge across was further North. Plus Frank and Ciarin needed to go to the train station so we cut across and once we reached the main roundabout I bid them farewell. It was great having them there today, everyone kept the pace up well and if anything it meant I probably got the leg done quicker than if I'd been on my own. Whilst we did chat everyone was happy to just concentrate on walking even if we did occasionally stretch out from each other. I think Frank must have sweat about three litres worth and it sounds like Ciarin has a rather epic blister but hopefully they both enjoyed themselves.
After they departed I headed down the other side of the river to Gorleston. I'd been suffering some nasty twangs of pain from my left foot in the previous few miles and my legs really were the last ones but I wanted to get the full 28 done and arrived at the hotel, got my room and collapsed! The chafing is really kicking in now, feeling rather sore in some delicate areas and also the back of my foot above the heel is really starting to rub. But with 4 days left I can cope with that, my only worry is that my calf and thigh muscles are really starting to feel like they could cramp up at any moment so I need to manage the remaining walks t make sure they can get through them. I think I will try to do the full 32 mile leg tomorrow by leaving early and giving myself plenty of time for breaks and then this should allow me to cut sections out of the last three which are the only ones that come away from the coast and I'm therefore at the mercy of unpathed roads again, albeit the sections through Ipswich and Colchester (spit) should be straightforward.
Guest house I'm staying at stopped food at half 7 which I was too late for once I'd made various calls home so I popped round the corner to another hotel for some food and to watch the Everton v Utd game (which as I type Everton are winning!). Unfortunately I got stitched with my meal, Potato Gnocchi Verde with Pesto made me think of Gnocchi and spinach. Alas their version of Verde was peas and beans with the odd bit of Gnocchi thrown in for good measure. As everyone knows peas are the devils food so I picked out the bits of Gnocchi and ordered a sweet chilli panini, couldn't go wrong with that.
So it's a long walks down to Leiston tomorrow where another tiny guesthouse awaits. I will pass Hopton where 14 of us crammed into a 3 bedroom caravan last October on a family trip! After Lowestoft the route is pretty barren so I will make sure I'm stocked up with supplies. I do get the excitement of passing Sizewell Power Station though!
4 days to go! I can almost smell home (actually, most of the time all I can smell is my boots which are reaching dangerous levels of toxicity!!!).
Day 16 - getting closer! Frank, Ciarin and I had a very nice meal at the hotel in Mundesley, starter, main and dessert all polished off despite rather immense portions! That and breakfast in the morning set is up nicely for the walk ahead. The walk was a 28 miler for me with Frank and Ciarin doing 25 miles where they would depart at Great Yarmouth station. After cutting a little off yesterday I was determined to do the whole thing as mapped today which would leave me some miles in hand for the remaining legs as I knew that there were going to be some tough to walk roads involved around the Maldon area so I need to do some planning to see what I can cut out.
We set off at 9:20 and immediately hit the beach as advised by Coastal Guy. When he did it the tide was out and had been able to follow the beach most of the way down but he'd warned that some parts would not be possible at high tide which is pretty much what we had. We set off along the beach to start as there was no obvious trail on the cliff, a seawall developed so we used this for a while but eventually had to drop to the sand when it ran out. There was a tidal guard running along the beach and we stayed on the sea side of this where possible as the sand was harder and therefore easier to walk on. We did have to cross over sometimes though where the tide was further in and our progress was much slower on the softer sand (so soft at one stage that Ciarin sunk in and got a trainer full of sludge!). Along this way we saw a seal cub, I knew they were about but this was the first one I'd seen. It didn't seem bothered by Ciarin but when Frank came past it quickly scuttled into the sea. We saw another one further along the route which looked pretty forlorn. Unfortunately we suspected that they had been separated from their mum, hence being on the shore. Fingers crossed they would be ok!
Eventually we reached a point where we could go no further due to the cliff jutting into the sea which was marked by a curious wooden stair structure that didn't actually lead anywhere. Fortunately we'd noticed some steps in the cliff a few hundred yards back so went back and ascended them with the help of a rope as they were pretty steep! Once up we followed the coastal path to Happsburgh where we had a break and Ciarin changed his socks. The path continued through Eccles and onto Sea Palling where we stopped for a drinks break, the muggy day was taking its toll on our drink supplies! From here we rejoined the beach where the tide had diminished allowing us to make good progress along the easier to walk hard sand, though after a few miles the sand took its toll on Frank and we headed back up the bank (luckily the cliffs had finished by this stage) and found a path to continue on. This took us all the way to Winterton-on-Sea where we had another stop for drinks, I think the shopkeeper was quite surprised at the sheer volume of liquid we bought between us!
From here the path was pretty simple and basically took as all the way to Yarmouth via the village of California (no Pammy or Hoff in sight on the beach) and through a huge Havens holiday camp. The sheer volume of static caravans in Norfolk is amazing! You can't get far without seeing a caravan park, big or small. We cut through the Havens camp (despite trespass warnings!) and this led us onto the main road into Great Yarmouth. I'd been here a number of times in my youth with my dad and was wondering if I'd recognise the seafront but I didn't get the chance to find out as the main promenade is the other side of the river that runs into the town and I didn't want to make the same mistake I made in Hartlepool and have to double back as the bridge across was further North. Plus Frank and Ciarin needed to go to the train station so we cut across and once we reached the main roundabout I bid them farewell. It was great having them there today, everyone kept the pace up well and if anything it meant I probably got the leg done quicker than if I'd been on my own. Whilst we did chat everyone was happy to just concentrate on walking even if we did occasionally stretch out from each other. I think Frank must have sweat about three litres worth and it sounds like Ciarin has a rather epic blister but hopefully they both enjoyed themselves.
After they departed I headed down the other side of the river to Gorleston. I'd been suffering some nasty twangs of pain from my left foot in the previous few miles and my legs really were the last ones but I wanted to get the full 28 done and arrived at the hotel, got my room and collapsed! The chafing is really kicking in now, feeling rather sore in some delicate areas and also the back of my foot above the heel is really starting to rub. But with 4 days left I can cope with that, my only worry is that my calf and thigh muscles are really starting to feel like they could cramp up at any moment so I need to manage the remaining walks t make sure they can get through them. I think I will try to do the full 32 mile leg tomorrow by leaving early and giving myself plenty of time for breaks and then this should allow me to cut sections out of the last three which are the only ones that come away from the coast and I'm therefore at the mercy of unpathed roads again, albeit the sections through Ipswich and Colchester (spit) should be straightforward.
Guest house I'm staying at stopped food at half 7 which I was too late for once I'd made various calls home so I popped round the corner to another hotel for some food and to watch the Everton v Utd game (which as I type Everton are winning!). Unfortunately I got stitched with my meal, Potato Gnocchi Verde with Pesto made me think of Gnocchi and spinach. Alas their version of Verde was peas and beans with the odd bit of Gnocchi thrown in for good measure. As everyone knows peas are the devils food so I picked out the bits of Gnocchi and ordered a sweet chilli panini, couldn't go wrong with that.
So it's a long walks down to Leiston tomorrow where another tiny guesthouse awaits. I will pass Hopton where 14 of us crammed into a 3 bedroom caravan last October on a family trip! After Lowestoft the route is pretty barren so I will make sure I'm stocked up with supplies. I do get the excitement of passing Sizewell Power Station though!
4 days to go! I can almost smell home (actually, most of the time all I can smell is my boots which are reaching dangerous levels of toxicity!!!).
