Sutton Hoo & The Final Evening of The East Anglia Trip - 29th Aug ‘19

Up and out a bit quicker today. Breakfast at Morrisons was cheap, convenient and pretty gruesome. I’ve tried meat and I’ve tried veggie.. either way, it leaves you wanting less!

We travelled the 40 miles to a National Trust Site, Sutton Hoo near Woodbridge. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sutton-hoo  It was s beautiful setting and was really interesting being up close and personal to my fave era of history ... Anglo Saxon England. The boys were very good except Harry kept telling us that we shouldn’t say die as daddy said it was rude. It made explaining what had gone on at Sutton Hoo 1400 years ago quite a challenge!

The tour guide would have been nice but somethings are not meant to be with Twinnies. They were all great fun as there were some things for them to do in the exhibition, lawn Jenga, a zip wire, trees to climb and, of course, ice cream!

We called in at Aldeburgh to buy 2 more stuffed seals- the Twinnies have taken a liking to the one that Kim got last week. We tried to find a t shirt for Charlie but that didn’t prove quite so easy!

Back home to Brunnehilda to pack up Isabella to facilitate a quick getaway tomorrow morning. The damp smell is still with us - we are a bit worried it might be Isabella her self that wiffs. Not something that is easy to tell a lady so the juries remains out!

Once all packed up we took the boys back to Lowestoft to play in the water fountain. This time though, as the wind was quite a chilly one, there was no one else there! It didn’t stop the 3 of them having a great time and this time we came prepared with towels and a second set of clothes - no trip to Asda for us tonight!

I’m not normally a fan of Pizza Hut but I gotta say, it was darn nice. Good job Lowestoft Hut! I especially enjoyed the cheesy chips!

We settled down with The Missing Link and tea bracing ourselves for the journey home to Whilton Marina tomorrow morning.

Just to finish off:

White House Beach Club Site Pros and Cons:
Pros:
1) On the beach - less than a 5 minute walk.
2) The owners / wardens were exceptionally friendly and helpful
3) Good washing and cleaning facilities - body and clothes!
Cons:
1) The smell - right next to the sewage works. It seemed a lot worse in the evening?
2) No facilities for kids. Playground was quite poor.
3) No on-site shop

East Anglia trip highlights and lowlights:
- Nicest meal: Fat Teds Sheringham / The Bucket List Cromer
- Favourite town: Aldeburgh
- Best beach: Southwold
- Worst place visited: Lowestoft. The water fountain great but not much else
- Worst meal: Delphines Diner at Aldeburgh
- Nicest memory: Watching kids in the water fountain
- Nicest walk: Dunwich Beach and back via NT walk / Walberswick to Southwold / first night walk from campsite to Cromer
- Prettiest place: Walberswick
- Wow moment: For me, the seal encounter at Aldeburgh
- Biggest pleasant surprise: Halesworth Town and Sizewell Beach
- Biggest surprise: Catching 3 crabs in our second dip!

The MacArthur Boys & Lowestoft - 27th Aug ‘19

The Vikings are here. Their leader has left for home in the only long boat so I guess that’s it!!

You don’t get out and about quickly with Twinnies in tow. To be fair, we’ve been having lots of lazy mornings this week, although to continue the fair theme, this wasn’t a lazy morning but nothing really happened until the afternoon! It would be remiss of me though not to mention a nice BBQd breakfast. Twinnies ordered one of everything from the breakfast griddle and left it all! Charlie did enjoy the halloumi (can’t get close enough even for spell checker to help!!) though.

Laura was leaving at 2 so we stayed fairly close to home. We all walked over the road to Kessingland’s beach for a very pleasant couple of hot hours. Most of which I spent in the sea! We did have time for a few water fights, a couple of bags of crisps, Twinnies swimming and building (and subsequently destroying) a couple of moated sand castles.

We headed into Lowestoft at about 4. We parked at South Beach and waited hangrily for a nice looking eating establishment to open - Iconic. https://www.iconiclowestoft.co.uk/ Bubblegum ice cream kept all but the most severe hunger pains away. Iconic was a bit of a hit- the Twinnies certainly enjoyed it with Finners clearing up a plate of ham and Harry enjoying the chicken goujons.

After the meal the boys had loads of fun in the very impressive water fountains. They had so much fun - the only people having more fun was Kim and I watching them! The crazy golf had shut so I reckoned this was a better (aka cheaper!) alternative. What I hadn’t reckoned for was that they would get so wet and we had no towel, so we had to buy a complete new wardrobe (x3) from the local Asda!?

Cars and DVDs were also on the Asda shopping list. I didn’t know you could spend that much at Asda?! Waitrose yes, but Asda?

We returned to Brunnehilda as it was getting dark. There has been a funny smell detected - a little musty / damp type of smell. Kim thinks it may be Isabella but I think it might be the carpet? That was the only thing that may have been put away damp?

Charlie watched a DVD while the Twinnies played with their new cars. They refused to watch the DVD as they said it was too scary - a cartoon called The Missing Link. I’m not sure the Twinnie X rating was fully justified but they certainly stuck to their guns and refused to even be in the caravan while it was playing! If that’s the way of keeping Twinnies out the van, I’ll be back to Asda tomorrow to buy The Exorcist, Insidious and the Paranormal Activity box set!

A Traumatic Move to Kessingland & the Boys Join Us - 26th Aug ‘19

Another moving day ... another scorcher!

The pack up went quickly and smoothly. The pitch was a bit of a disaster- I think a case of over confidence kicked in? I will expand later...

We left Seacroft Cromer at 11 and arrived at White House Beach Kessingland at about 12.45. Pros and cons of Seacroft will follow but firstly the tale of woh ...
1) I didn’t plan the trip (again!) so the postcode on the sat nav took us to a housing estate! We had to a couple of very tight turns to get out and then climb into the van to get the site book to get the correct directions!
2) We had lots of pitches to chose from but for some unexplained reason I panicked and just took the first one we came to!
3) I tried to back Brunnehilda on, failed dismally so had to motor move her. I had her stuck in the middle of the road with a guy waiting to get by and I couldn’t engage the mover for ages!
4) Once I got her moved, I placed her too close to a tree - Isabella wouldn’t fit in - so I had to put the corner stays back up and move her over a few inches.
5) Turns out I should have moved her over a couple more inches as the porch is now rubbing on a branch and the next door neighbour is going to struggle to get his electric hook up out as Isabella is right on top of his wires!

Laura arrived with the boys at about 6 pm just as I was putting the finishing touches to Isabella - pegging her out and putting down the carpet. Earlier we had to take a break from putting her up in the sizzling heat for me to take dip in the sea to cool down. This site is right on the beach - literally across the road. About 5 mins from door to water.

                         

The beach was very atmospheric - I think the heat was causing a bit of a heat haze effect? The water was about perfect although I would have personally preferred sand than Suffolk pebbles buy hey, you can’t gave everything!

Once we got the beds ready in Isabella, we headed out to Southwold for the evening. I took the Twinnies to the beach while fish and chips were purchased from the same chip shop we went to last week. The Twinnies built up an appetite by pebble chucking. Of course they managed to get their feet wet which grandad got the blame for!?

We ate the chips overlooking the sea with the Southwold lighthouse lightening the sky. Finishing quickly to enable us to get an ice cream from H&J’s before they shut at 9 - and a bloody nice one it was too. Kim had Mango which was very special.

Back to Brunnehilda for the beds up, jarmers on and to bed routine. Kim and I are in Isabella, Laura and Harry in the main bed with Charlie and Finners in the dinette bed.

As promised, pros and cons from Seacroft Club Site, Cromer:
Pros:
1) Great position for walking to Cromer (15 mins) and East Runton beach (10 mins)
2) Superb facilities. Perfect loos and showers and even a swimming pool - although we didn’t use it!
3) Good 4G
Cons:
1) Price - the most expensive one so far
2) Not very friendly folks around us. I have a theory which I will expand on some time soon
3) Busy road to pull out onto - especially if turning right
4) Pitch didn’t allow awning