Back to boating on the Broads TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 6/5
About This Page:

**chezp** · 05-30-2015, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by disney_duke

Classic Britain is what I see in those village pics. Just how I'd picture it! Except I'd picture a pub for lunch, not a Japanese place.

I'm sure there were plenty of traditional British pubs, but as we can easily have lunch at those whenever we want

we figured we'd go for something that isn't that common over here!

SuperDave · 05-30-2015, 02:12 PM

Fell way behind, but all caught up now!

Same beautiful scenery along the broads as well well as in the towns! The weather seems to have cooperated for you the last couple of days!

Norwich, seems like quite a beautiful town and enjoyed the cathedral.

The Shiki looked like a good meal and funny that you should show this as I'm going out for sushi later today!

There is a place by the same name just about a mile from me that is very good and is also has Hibachi tables as well!

I'm actually going to another eatery later.

Glad your keeping your boys in tow on this trip!

**Cam22** · 05-30-2015, 09:51 PM

The Japanese restaurant looked very nice as did your meals. I'm with you on what did I do before all these apps.

**chezp** · 05-31-2015, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam22

The Japanese restaurant looked very nice as did your meals. I'm with you on what did I do before all these apps.

More scarily, what will the next generation do in the future if something goes wrong with their phones?

At least we knew life before apps, they don't really...

**chezp** · 05-31-2015, 03:23 AM

Monday 4 May – part eight: exploring the historic centre

While we were having lunch, I found out where Elm Hill was, as I knew that this was the historic part of Norwich, and it turned out that it was literally just a couple of minutes’ walk from the restaurant, so of course as soon as we were done in there, we headed that way. The walk over there was pretty impressive….

… but things got even better when we got to Elm Hill itself. I loved the fact that the shops here were all one-off merchants, which seemed appropriate. After all, you don’t want high street chain shops in somewhere this unique.

We were both very impressed with the teddy bear shop…

While wandering along here, I decided to ring the Water’s Edge at Bramerton, which is where we were planning to dock, to book us in for dinner. They had no problem getting us in, although the girl I spoke to said that the mooring outside the pub was already booked out. Ok, so we’ll be staying in the free mooring a bit further down the river then. That’s not an issue, and at least the walk (which didn’t look too bad – fingers crossed on that one!

) will hopefully help us to work up an appetite!

We started to make our way back to the boat, and saw even more of Norwich’s history, some of which we had seen earlier in fairness, as we were now retracing some of our footsteps.

Once we got back to this junction…

… we were at the main road that would take us back to the river and where the yacht station was. I have to say that there was nothing remotely photographic about this road. It was packed with restaurants, take away place and nightclubs, although interestingly, very little was open at this time of the day. As Mark said, you’d have thought more would’ve been open on a holiday, but obviously not. You can certainly see that Norwich is home to a massive student population, given all these lovely places to go for a night out.

Eventually, we were back at the river, and it was looking a bit more busy at the yacht station now…

We both went to use the restrooms, which is something you do on a boat, you use every land based restroom you come across.

We then topped the water up, and I have to say this took a lot longer than I’d anticipated. I didn’t realise how much we’d used, although in fairness, as Mark said, there’s no guarantee that it was 100% full when they gave us the boat, which is a fair point.

Once that was done, we untied all the ropes, and once again, the front end of the boat swung out gracefully from its moorings, making setting off exceptionally easy.

I’m really glad we got to see Norwich, as it is a lovely city with a lot for visitors to see and do. We made our way back through its suburbs again, and already we could see the difference a few hours make, as a lot of places were now a lot busier.

Next: are we going to find a mooring for the night?

disney_duke · 05-31-2015, 08:38 AM

Elm Hill as adorable! Maybe not the right word, but it's just such a classic looking area. The whole town is, but that area is just perfect looking.

**chezp** · 05-31-2015, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by disney_duke

Elm Hill as adorable! Maybe not the right word, but it's just such a classic looking area. The whole town is, but that area is just perfect looking.

I know what you mean when you say it's adorable. To me, it's like something out of a picture book, just absolutely perfect.

SuperDave · 05-31-2015, 01:14 PM

The Elm Hill area is so beautiful and you captured it well!

The buildings are so classic looking as is the landscaping here and on the walk to!

Don't like the sound of that teaser!

**chezp** · 05-31-2015, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperDave

The Elm Hill area is so beautiful and you captured it well!

The buildings are so classic looking as is the landscaping here and on the walk to!

Don't like the sound of that teaser!

Details coming up in the morning....

cubfancolleen · 05-31-2015, 05:56 PM

Is Elm Hill a pedestrian only area? Looks so deserted, with no cars(or foot traffic).

**Cam22** · 05-31-2015, 09:19 PM

Norwich is quite lovely! Great photos of Elm Hill!

**chezp** · 06-01-2015, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

Is Elm Hill a pedestrian only area? Looks so deserted, with no cars(or foot traffic).

it's not - I think it was just deserted as it was a Bank Holiday Monday, so a lot of people who'd usually be in work had the day off.

**chezp** · 06-01-2015, 01:16 AM

Monday 4 May – part nine: are we going to find a mooring for the night?

As we made our way out of Norwich, we saw a couple of trains go past us, which is still a surreal experience when you’re on a boat.

Soon we were approaching the viaduct again, with cars criss crossing high above us, as we headed underneath.

We headed for Bramerton, which is where we’d booked dinner, but we were completely out of luck with mooring. Everyone of the free mooring spots was already taken, and sadly the last one that was left was snagged by the boat in front of us.

We did go back past a couple of times, but no-one was showing any signs of moving, and they all looked like they’d settled in for the day, so we were completely out of luck.

I guess I’d jinxed us by calling the restaurant to book. I won’t make that mistake again.

We carried on, and at least I had another cow sighting, so that was something.

We did moor up a little further up, just outside Brundall, but to be honest, it was a bit in the middle of nowhere. There was no cell phone signal and no Wi-Fi either, and although some people who’d moored up there told us that there was a pub along a path from the mooring area, by the sounds of their description, and the best guess I could make from Google, I figured it was probably at least a 20 minute walk. Not something I want to be doing later this evening!

This guy was at least here to welcome us!

We eventually set off again, still looking for moorings, and preferably near a pub, but nothing presented itself as we went through Brundall, so we decided to head for Rockland Broad, which was where we were due to stay last night. Hopefully there’d be something there, otherwise we really would be stuck…

This is the aspect to boating I really do not like. Even with driving, usually if you’re going to a place, you can find parking somewhere. Ok, so it may be quite a walk away, but there’s usually something you can get. On a boat, not so much…

When we got to the other side of Brundall, I was a bit stressed about finding somewhere to moor for the night, but at least I was able to photographer this amazing wake boarder… that is the right description for this, isn’t it?

We made our way into Rockland Broad…

… and on the way, we spotted some furballs….

We were both a bit unsure at the end of the broad, as suddenly it got very narrow, but

we were going the right way.

When we got to the end of the broad, thankfully there were still moorings, and free at that.

However, they were all stern on, but Mark did an admirable job at steering us in on the first attempt.

Once he’d completed that, we had a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate, and then sampled the bath – the first time for Mark. I was insistent that, given how important it had been for me this trip – he had to try it out.

Next: is that mooing?