Our first official day of walking this trip was rather short, just over 6 miles. This is a better plan than having a very long day the first day, on that we both agreed. The day started off with a rain shower in Hunstanton, a few people would come and talk to us like we lived there. It was quite friendly, but we couldn't answer many of their questions, like 'Do we know how long this Cliffside building makeover project has been going on.' I guess we should have done our homework, then again, shouldn't they know; they live so much closer to Hunstaton than we do after all.
The early shower came and went, and the rest of the day was sunny with a breeze that was mostly a tailwind for us. Happy, puffy clouds blew across the skies. The sand dunes were piled up in mounds, they have been there 150 years, brought in by storms perhaps. The very flat beach stretched for miles, and here, at low tide, the sea is out 2.5 miles from where the high tide is marked, so the slope of the sand into the sea is very gentle.
We loved seeing birds today: magpies, crows, seagulls, ducks, hawks, avocets, etc... tomorrow, maybe we'll see more.
She Said:
Adam, our excellent
car service driver, picked us up after breakfast and brought us to the start of
the Norfolk Coast Path. It felt good to
be off and starting our long distance walk.
A few sprinkles,
then bright blue skies.
Some
highlights:
·
Two-tone cliffs – reddish and white
·
Ruins of St. Edmond’s Chapel (built in 1272)
·
St. Edmond was killed by the Vikings and
beheaded; his body was buried separately from his head, (which was buried in an
undisclosed place); his followers looked and looked for his head, and finally found
it being guarded by a giant, gray wolf.
It was a Miracle so they made him a Saint. Those wacky Christians.
·
A Lighthouse built in 1665 – had the First
Parabolic Reflector (whatever that means)
·
A Coastguard Lookout Station – visited by King
George, Queen Elizabeth and the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in 1943, at
the height of WWll (must have been scary)
·
A fire cauldron on a high post – part of the
Fire Over England celebration – July 19, 1988 – 400 cauldrons lit along the
coastline to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the sighting of
the Spanish Armada in 1588
·
Rows and rows of tiny beach cottages – we’ve
seen these along other resort coasts in England – they are each only about 8’ x
10’, freshly painted each year (some in crazy, bright colors) and, if they are
like the others we’ve seen, they are used as day cabanas. They have cots and hotplates (for tea) and
lacy curtains – a quaint and exclusively English tradition, probably handed
down through the generations. These were
still shuttered and locked up as the “season” hasn’t started yet on the Norfolk
Coast.
·
Though this is not scientific, it does appear
that 7 out of 10 Brits own dogs and that the Norfolk Coast is the Land of the
Labrador Retrievers as of those 7 dogs, 5 appear to be Labs. Black Labs, Chocolate Labs, Yellow Labs. Labs everywhere. (The other 2 dogs are some kind of Terrior.)
·
We ate our lunch in the shade of a small pine
wood (finally – most of the Path is in the sun)
We called
Adam to come to pick us up early as we only had a 6 mile walk today (he was
scheduled to get us at 4 and we had him come at 3 instead). We stopped at a Deli and ordered a “Health
Salad” for supper, which we will tart up with some cheese and salami from our
traveling feed bag because, really, how much quinoa can one eat at Happy Hour,
which is stating in our room now (R is just back from the hotel bar with his
Guinness and I’ll pour some of my French Chardonnay and, once again, all will
be right with the world.
Total Miles:
6.4
Photos:
our sink had a problem
The walk today:
Windmills out at sea
Black headed gull and Pied Avocet
A Shelduck
The old Thornham harbor
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