Day 1 Norfolk Coastal Path Friday 26th July to Brancaster Staite

After 350 mile train and 2 bus trips yesterday, I arrived in Hunstanton. The train flew through cropping areas and villages so quickly that they began to blur into each other. I am beginning to understand where the 70 million people live

I am walking the Norfolk Coastal Path and will finish in Cromer, which is close to my cousin Donna’s home. I will spend a few days with her and her family.

Hunstanton is a seaside holiday town complete with Penny Arcades, little shops selling brightly coloured  buckets and spades and swim rings. Gift shops overflowed with trinkets,  magnets, and postcards, all probably made in Vietnam.

Chairs and tables outside cafes with families tucking into plates of  fish and chips that must have cost a fortune.

Fairy floss and balloon stalls. I keep thinking that again, this is just like the English story books I read as a kid; just the donkey rides were missing. Oh, and the sun! Although it was warm, the sky was grey.

I wandered down to the Tesco and found a cheap salad and an avocado for my dinner back in my room at the Stoke and Wash Hotel. 

I am not sure what they stoke, but the sheets had been washed well.

Amanda told me about the cliffs so I checked the tides and realised I needed to be leaving at 6am to keep my feet dry.

So off at 6 am to see the cliffs. Unfortunately, my memory of geography is not so good, so I took the photo of the information board for you.

I only had about 11km to walk so I took the time to chat to  lots of people and their dogs along the way.  I met a man who was a long  distance walker, like myself.  We had a great chat, and he has Te Araroa on the top of his list, as soon as money allows.

I walked along the coast then headed inland through a farming area, then back along the coast.

The tides are huge and there is marshy areas that become the sea at high tide.  I walked along the top of dykes that help keep the sea out of the villages ( most of the time)

The day was hot and I had plenty of time so I found a nice spot in a churchyard and brewed a cuppa and read my book for an hour.

I hadn’t booked any accommodation so was pleased to get a pitch w big camp ground at Brancaster Staithe. It was huge with 95 powered sites and even more tent sites. It was filling up with the school holidays and warmer weather.

Camped near me was a family of 4 walking the Norfolk Coastal Path in the opposite direction to me. The parents had hitched around New Zealand 20 years ago and were planning to take their two teenagers over there next year. We agreed that it would probably be a different trip this time.

There were lots of couples with their campervans, and most people had a dog or two. I was a bit of a rarity. Just me and my little tent.

I had stopped for a crab roll at about 2pm today as  nearly every I had met  told me that it was compulsory.   So dinner was garlic bread and a can of beer by my tent.