Just back from a few days in Burnham Deepdale - dropped our son off at cub camp at Sandringham and had a few days to ourselves to do the tourist trail and visit Norwich's surrounding countryside. It's less than an hour's drive from Norwich, but it's the first chance I've had to do the walk from Wells to Holkham and it was brilliant!
I was supposed to meet my husband for lunch back at Wells but carried on walking to Burnham Overy. We were lucky with the beautiful weather, with the clear blue sky, but even on a rainy day, this ranks as one of my favourite walks.
This part of Norfolk is as good on a sunny day as anywhere I've been abroad, with the tree lined paths, reeds and meadows on one side, tantalising glimpses of the beach between the fir trees, and a wealth of wildlife.
I'm not a bird watcher, but stopped briefly at the bird hide to watch the Marsh Harriers and at the same time glimpsed a stoat carrying off a rabbit into the undergrowth, then further on, I heard a cuckoo in a glade, its voice echoing around the trees in this natural ampitheatre.
But the best bit was sitting in the sun on the bench overlooking Holkham Bay, listening to the wind in the trees and thinking how lucky we are to have such a beautiful coastline in Norfolk.
The last bit of the walk was harder going - along the sea defence at Burnham Overy Staithe. I had intended carrying on the whole way back to Deepdale but, not having planned such a long walk, I was starting to get blisters from the heat and sand by that point.
I was about to stop for a rest at the pub at Burnham Overy, and there at the bus stop was the bus back to Wells. I hopped on, just in time to meet Chris for a sandwich from my favourite Deli in Wells.
If I had planned it that way, my walk would have been spoilt by worrying about whether I was going to get there in time for the bus (some people got on who had been waiting an hour and a half!)
Sometimes it's nice just to see where your feet take you.
