Boating on the Broads COMPLETED 5/19 - Page 25 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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It's worth investigating, but in the end not much use on a waterway where many, if not most of those navigating are short-term rentals. Everyone needs to know the rules in order for them to be useful!
We made our way back to the main river, which was a lot quieter, although my goodness, you could feel the wind and the tide now. I did ask Mark if he wanted to go a bit further the other way, but all he wanted to was to head back to Acle and moor up for the night, and I couldn’t blame him. It had been a long day of sailing for him.
We saw these guys on the way…
Then Mark spotted these bovine buddies, just waiting to see hello to me! I had to duck outside and oblige and take their photo.
Just a bit further along, more joy for me, as we found these lovelies!
And yes that is a bird in this shot flying past them!
I was in cow heaven by now. I suspect the boat that past us as I was taking these photos thought I was nuts. Let’s just say I could tell by the music coming from it that it was a party boat, and I don’t think cows formed part of their party plans…
On that note, I really cannot believe how many hen and stag parties come to the Norfolk Broads. It really is not the first thing I’d think of for either type of party. It’s quite a bit of hard work, and when you mix in drink, well surely you have a recipe for disaster?
Mark thought this looked like a Dalek, and I could certainly see a resemblance…
Then a bit further along the river, a few more cows, but a bit further away. They look as if they’re in the mist in these shots, don’t they?
We were once again on our own, and the light was beautiful again, with the sun trying to peek through. My phone told me that it was in the low 60s, and perhaps without the wind today, it might’ve been, but I suspect that was a little hopeful…
We carried on, getting closer and closer to Acle, and for me, getting more and more tense, as I knew that would mean mooring up. The place was pretty busy, but we carried on past the bridge, and we spotted a mooring literally right outside the restaurant, so we decided to give it a go. It was tight, but Mark absolutely nailed in, and we got straight in.
I realised that it was the front that needed pulling in from the bank, and of course I was at the back. Just as I was thinking that I needed to get to the front, I realised Mark was way ahead of me, and was already on the bank. With the help of a guy, who helped me to pull the boat in, we were safely moored up, and it seemed in time, as this was obviously a popular spot. I dread to think what a nightmare mooring is around the Broads in the middle of the school holidays in the summer.
The guy came to collect our Ł5 mooring fee about half an hour after we pulled up, but that’s fine, because it’s refundable with dinner, which we’re booked in for later.
I have to be honest, as we sat there, we realised that it’s definitely a bit bumpier down here, with the wind. It was even worse every time a boat went past, but at least we won’t have that to contend with tonight, as no rental boats are allowed out after dark. The fact we’re next to a main road isn’t great, as the bridge carrying the road is right by us, but fingers crossed that won’t be too busy either and we’ll sleep Ok.
We spent the next couple of hours just relaxing on board, then just before 7:30pm, we set off on the long walk (not ) over to the Acle Bridge Inn. I realised that it looked like there was a beautiful sunset, but you couldn’t see it from this side of the bridge, so I wandered down to the other side to get some photos of it. It truly was stunning!
I even managed to sneak a shot in from the entrance to the pub…
We were quickly taken to our seats, and I was very glad we had booked, as it sounded as if they’d been very busy all day. This is quite a unique place…
We had a lovely view over the garden by the river…
What you can’t see from these photos is that they also had an amusement arcade, and mini-golf outside, and in the centre of the garden was a pool table. It wasn’t warm outside in the wind, but there were some hardy (young!) souls who ventured out to sample all three forms of entertainment during the meal.
Talking of entertainment, they were playing music in the background, as a lot of restaurants tend to do. I don’t know if you know the song, but Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder came on. No issue with that, but someone (I’m not quite sure who, as I couldn’t see, but I could guess from the direction of the noise) started to sing along to it! Mark and I were desperately trying not to laugh too loudly, as it was just really weird.
Mark started off with the garlic breaded mushrooms. I pinched one of his, and it was very pleasant, but nothing spectacular…
I wasn’t that hungry, so I scoured the menu for something a bit lighter, and eventually opted for the Atlantic prawns salad, with mixed leaves, tomato, cucumber, red onions, coleslaw, cous cous and fruit. I did without the red onion, as I’m not a fan of it, and had to ask for the apple to be left off, as that was one of the fruit on offer (the other was grape) and I’m allergic to apple. When it came out, the plate was massive!
I’m glad I didn’t go for anything more substantial than this. While it was very nice, with the prawns and the grapes, it was very sweet, and unfortunately the mixed leaves were a bit peppery, which didn’t go with the sweetness of the rest of the dish.
Mark had the steak of the day, which wasn’t exactly small either!
After eating all that, amazingly, we still had some room for dessert, so I went for the homemade banoffee pie with ice cream. It was beautiful banoffee pie, but the caramel sauce was a little too sweet and a bit too much for me.
Mark had the sticky toffee pudding, and I tried a bit of it, and that was good.
All in all, it was a very good meal, and we were down quickly enough – I think we were in and out in an hour, which worked for me, as we didn’t want a long, lingering meal.
Acle Bridge Inn
Appetiser N/A 7
Entrée 8˝ 8˝
Dessert 8˝ 8˝
Service 8˝ 8˝
Atmosphere 8 8
Value for money 9 9˝
Average score: 8.41
We headed back to the boat, and put the engine on, so wee could have some heating. As we weren’t interested in anything on terrestrial TV tonight, Mark kindly found Hawaii Five O on Sky, so that I could sit there (as I do every week) and point at it and say “been there”!
The weather today was dry and sunny with a bit of rain very first thing and temperatures in the mid 50s. The best thing today was going around Ranworth Broad The worst thing today was the debacle at Ludham Bridge. The funniest thing today was the singing along to Ebony and Ivory at dinner. Today we tried going to Stalham And the result was we saw some lovely scenery on the way, even if Ludham Bridge got on the way…. The most magical moment today was seeing my bovine buddies on the way back to Acle!
Well you learn something every day. Who knew boating like this would be Partyville? Interesting.....
You found a Dalek, yikes!!
Marks luck with parking spots continues..... Dinner did look pretty darn good though.
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I have slowly caught myself back up. There is just too much to remember and comment on, but once again I am enjoying the read and all the pictures. And the baby ducks are just too cute.
All those people partying, drinking, and then operating the boats? Not a good thing!! I don't know why people who would never think of driving a car drunk see nothing wrong with boating in that condition. I'm glad they have the rule about rental boats not traveling at night.
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Yikes, partying, drinking, and driving a boat definitely sounds like a bad combination. Your dinners looked lovely, especially Mark's onion rings and those two yummy desserts!
All those people partying, drinking, and then operating the boats? Not a good thing!! I don't know why people who would never think of driving a car drunk see nothing wrong with boating in that condition. I'm glad they have the rule about rental boats not traveling at night.
Monday 21 April – part one: so… option one or option two?
Ironically, considering all the concerns I had last night about the wind buffeting us around a bit in the water, and the nearby road bridge, I think I had the best night’s sleep out of all three nights on the boat! We didn’t even wake up until nearly 7:00am, probably something to do with not having the swan/geese dawn chorus today. It was a beautiful day…
Once I was up, I started packing. Thankfully, having brought food and drink with us, we’re taking away less than we came with, and of course, it really doesn’t matter if it’s in 15 different bags etc., as all we need to do is tote it back to the car with us. So much easier than flying!
By the time we’d had breakfast, and were all packed up, it was about 8:25am. The boat needed to be returned to the boatyard in an hour’s time, so we had two choices. Either we could just sit here, potentially dropping off some bits and pieces at the car during the next hour, or we could set out and see a bit more of the Broads, south of Acle. Which one do you think we opted to do?
You got it, we went for option two. Heck, we might as well make the most of the boat while we’ve got the thing. Getting out of the mooring wasn’t as simple as we’d hoped. The wind from last night had died down, so there was nothing pushing us out on to the river. Eventually we nudged the mooring, and that finally gave us the push we needed, and we were off!
We were about the only ones out this early in the morning. Obviously this is the time to cruise the Norfolk Broads, if you want to be out on the water on your own.
We saw a heron in flight…
… and once again the sun was casting some beautiful colours on the water…
As we cruised along, we found a field full of sheep and lambs!
Soon we were coming into Stokesby, the next village along, which was supposed to take us 40 minutes to get to. I think their timings must be really out, as it only took us 20 minutes, and to the best of my knowledge, I don’t think we were speeding at any point…
Nice to see a little Disney touch…
We went a little further along, then captain Mark masterfully turned the boat around…
… and we were on our way back to the boatyard, passing everything we’d seen a little bit earlier this morning on the way.
The lambs were even more obliging for photos on the way back!
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Totally hear you there!!! I think I say that almost every day.
Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. 
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all he wanted to was to head back to Acle and moor up for the night, and I couldn’t blame him. It had been a long day of sailing for him. 
I had to duck outside and oblige and take their photo. 
The place was pretty busy, but we carried on past the bridge, and we spotted a mooring literally right outside the restaurant, so we decided to give it a go. It was tight, but Mark absolutely nailed in, and we got straight in. 
While it was very nice, with the prawns and the grapes, it was very sweet, and unfortunately the mixed leaves were a bit peppery, which didn’t go with the sweetness of the rest of the dish. 
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