Messing about on the river (or Broads as the case may be!)
Luckily a boating holiday doesn't rely on having excellent weather for the entire week, although we did have some fabulously sunny days!
I would do this holiday again in a heartbeat. It was the most fun, surprisingly educational and made you appreciate a hairdryer!!
My husband and I had decided that we were going to get the train to Norwich then a connection to Wroxham, followed finally by a taxi to Horning where we were to meet the other 2 couples, who were driving down. It was all part of the holiday!
On arrival at Horning Marina we checked in and were taken to our home for the week - whom we nicknamed Bertha. It was a very funny moment when the deckhand explained that we wouldn't be able to use hair straighteners on the boat as it would blow the fuse! Our faces must have been a picture!!
We collected Bertha on the Friday evening at about 4pm and were promptly taken out on a 'training' sail. We all had a go at steering and quickly decided on a Captain! Once we returned to the Marina we were able to set off on our Norfolk Broads Adventure.
Due to the time we only made it about 30 minutes down river where we (luckily) found a mooring just outside a rather nice pub. After a beautiful dinner and several beverages we all tootled back to Bertha (all of about 10 steps!). This was all followed by an excellent nights sleep.... sleeping on water is very calming.
We awoke the next morning to lovely sunshine so headed off to a local delicatessen to buy supplies and set off on our journey. I have to say that cooking bacon butties as you are travelling along the most beautiful broads was something I'll never forget.
We spent the most part of the day sailing, stopping off for a little barbecue in a remote spot to give our four-legged passenger a well earned walk, arriving in Great Yarmouth by about 3pm. Went for a walk into the town and to the beach so we could have an obligatory ice cream as we were at the seaside! Then took a stroll back to Bertha.
We had to be up at the crack of dawn the following morning to make sure that we hit Breydon Water at the right tide which we navigated with ease arriving into a little village called Reedham by mid-morning. It had a couple of lovely little pubs and a cake shop so it would have been rude not to have sampled the delights! I can highly recommend the Victoria Sponge and they were all homemade. Spent the evening in the pub that we were moored in front of and saw the most amazing singer who kept us entertained for the entire evening.
The next morning we set off for Norwich, having been woken up by some locals (the ducks) trotting around on the roof! The weather was very wet that day which was perfect for exploring the stunning city of Norwich. After some retail therapy and a coffee stop we headed back to Bertha. We found a lovely riverside pub in a village called Surlingham where we chose to spend the evening. The food was out of this world.... didn't even have room for pud!
We'd enjoyed our time in Reedham so much the first time round that we returned on the way back to base where we spent another excellent night with a different cake this time!
We were into our final few days and stopped off for afternoon tea in Ludham, which we liked so much we spent the night. It was a lovely little Marina and with other boaters around it was lovely to swap stories and enjoy a drink or two with them.
Our final night was spent back where we started at the lovely pub in Horning.
All in all it had to be the ONLY way to see the Norfolk Broads and we will be doing it again!