I was in no hurry to leave in the morning as I had plenty of time today.
The path was opened in 1986 and covers the North Norfolk Coast AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The vast salt marshes flood daily with the tides and long dykes have been built to contain and control the water. There has been considerable investment in the area to conserve the wildlife . Here is a link to more information if you are interested.
I basically walked along the dykes that wind through the marsh land for most of the day, coming across coastal fishing and recreational areas swarming with people and watercraft of all sorts.
I was a bit concerned about seeing cattle pooping in the water but then came across an information board that explained the benefits to the ecosystem.
The tides here are huge and not everyone takes notice of the warnings.
I could see way ahead dog walkers and bird watchers and also a group of hikers who would have been a kilometre away when I first spotted them. They were obvious because of their plodding walk and big back packs. So, I was on a mission to catch up with them. It probably took me an hour to meet the five men out for the weekend together. I chatted for a bit, finding out that they were headed to the same place as me, although I was planning to take a detour to Holkham Hall. So we parted company.
I walked with a shirtless birdwatcher for a while, and he knew more about New Zealand birds than I do. He sent me on a shortcut that would get me to Holckham Hall quicker.
I then came across a well-dressed walker with a shirt on. He didn’t know much about birds but knew about opera singing. He had been performing his opera at Holkham Hall the previous evening. He told me that he made a good living with his voice. I told him that my family was sadly lacking in musical genes, but there was hope for us because my grand daughter, Hope, is engaged to a very musical young man.
Holkham Hall was a real live place complete with a cricket match and music and deer grazing. I had some lunch and a good look around before heading back to the trail.
By now I had walked about 20km in the heat and still had about 6 to go, so I put my thumb out on the road out of the estate. The second car stopped guessing I was New Zealander. A couple about my age they said the last time they had seen a hitchhiker was when they hitched around NZ in the 1980s. They were happy to drop me at Wells-next-the-Sea (Not to be mixed up with Wells that is not next to the sea).
I then only had about 3km to walk to my campground at Stiffkey. There are funny names in the country.
I had my tent up and a had a shower before the 5 blokes arrived, looking absolutely knackered, which perked me up no end.
They invited me to join them for dinner at the local pub, but I had a can of sardines and some instant mashed spud to eat, so I just had a beer with them. Three had been on trips to New Zealand.
