Touring Norfolk in a motorhome

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Day 13: the weather changes and we do a morning tour

Route: following the a149 coastal road driving through Cley-on-sea, Blakeney, Morston, Brancaster stopping at Blakeney and Morston national trust car parks

Distance: approximately 40-mile round trip

Expenditure: breakfast at bakery in Blakeney £12.00; Diesel top up at Brancaster £60

 

The weather has changed significantly. Today was rain, a 13C temperature drop and what we down in the south west would call murky mizzle. The wind was up, thunderstorms promised and we decided against cycling. Such wussy wimps!

Blakeney is delightful. A quayside with all manner of odd boats tied up and access walks out onto the marshes. The national trust car park charges £10 for motorhomes (free to us as NT members – this card has so paid for itself on this trip). There is plenty of space for motorhomes but be aware the car park is liable to flooding so check the tides!! The bakery directly across from the entrance does the most extraordinary breakfast pastries. The almond slice and cinnamon whirl we had this morning were, in our humble opinions, the very best we have ever tasted. The coffee was pretty good too – freshly ground.

With motorhome locks on, we strolled against the wind and murk down along the footpath bordering the marsh creek, passing anchored boats and salt marsh foliage. The car park attendant cleared up the mystery that had bugged me all morning, the chalk board warned of 7.3m high tide at midday yet claimed the car park wouldn’t be flooded. Growing up in an area with 13m high tides and coming from Plymouth with tides regularly reaching 5m, I couldn’t understand how the car park and surrounding marshes and quayside weren’t going to be under at least a metre of water. Apparently, the board showed the high tides based on Hull! Mystery solved and no need to add floatation to the motorhome. Phew. For a moment we had visions of the newly fitted air suspension being tested in ways it was not designed for! One word of warning the approach road into the quayside is narrow down past the Spa shop – we met a lorry coming the other way and with mirrors folded in we cleared each other with about 4 inches either side (a house wall on one side, lorry on other). Breathing in and holding your breath does NOT lead to the motorhome doing likewise! (Meeting the bus at Stiffkey on the main road brought about the same response as well).

The car park at Morston is also national trust and has ample space for motorhomes. Be aware that the approach road has big speed humps and we have added several new battle scars to our low-slung exhaust exit pipe as a result.

From these two quaysides you can book boat tours to go and see the seals. The three main players are Beans Boats, Temple Boats and Ptarmigan Boats. £20 per adult for a one-hour trip seems the common price. Again, book in advance. We were lucky to get a trip at short notice but only just!  There is a small national trust kiosk café at Morston.

The afternoon was spent back at the site catching up on blog writing and reading.