Thursday, August 02, 2007

Postcard from...Holkham Beach


Greetings from Holkham Beach in Norfolk

We hadn't expected to be back on the coast so soon. We'd planned a visit to London for yesterday's excursion, but saw that the weather was so hot it would be more advantageous to go on another trip to the seaside instead. After all, coming back on a hot train with tired children and London's commuters didn't seem that appealing on such a sunny day.

It didn't take us long to work out where to take the children. After several recommendations on the blog and after watching Tuesday's coast programme, we headed back to Next-Wells-The-Sea to explore the vast expanse of sand at Holkham Beach and we were not disappointed.

We walked past the beautiful beach-huts that we'd seen a couple of days before and continued to trek westwards for about 25 minutes. That's 25 minutes with two pairs of little legs, which equates to "not that far", so rather than walk further we decided to pitch up in some sand dunes where we could look out towards the sea.

After a quick lunch, the boys started to get restless so we left 21st C Dad in this beautiful peaceful setting while we ran off see the sea.

I took a little bit longer than we expected...erm...about a 40 minute round trip in total. However, en route we paddled in the sand puddles, waded through rivers, stopped to spot shells, wormcasts and crabs, all the while dodging the seaweed before we finally reached the sea.

We turned around to wave to 21st C Dad, but we couldn't see him! It wasn't that he'd gone and abandoned us, the people in the sand dunes looked as tiny as ants.

After a quick paddle in the sea we began to trek back, the boys high on the excitement of the journey and in a hurry to tell 21st Dad about the great adventures. We even managed to fit in an imaginary bear hunt on our return because (under the influence of author Michael Rosen) it was a beautiful day, and we weren't scared...but..

uh oh..a river...a deep cold river...
we can't go under it, we can't go over it,
on no, we've got to go through it.
splish splosh, splish splosh...

... a bear hunt on Holkham Beach...now that's value for money. I am pretty sure we will be returning again.

Anyway, wish you were here...to splash in the puddles...21st Century Mummy xxx


11 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you know were Ruby is?

Her indoors said...

Last I heard our lovely Ruby was reading Harry Potter. I suspect she is still immersed or has been spirited away somehow...the mystery deepens.

Anonymous said...

Do you think she has got on the wrong train and accidently gone to Hogworts...we know from her exploits getting home from London that she is not too good with timetables! I wonder what house she is in!!!
I do miss her.Perhaps you don't get the internet when you'r in another dimension!

Anonymous said...

May be her link to the blog is broken, and she has not yet climbed the moreton hall hill. On her way of course to see 21C and eat cake
Or maybe with the knights of St Edmunds back in the news ( or on another site) she is keeping a low profile.
Or maybe she just wanted a rest ( she did warn us )and if off to Holkham beach for a rest in the sand dunes, what a wonderful place that is, But did you get the feeling that the tide was just about to come in and cut you off. were they still filming kingdom ?

Anonymous said...

I love Wells and Holkham. Or rather, my dog does! She can run all day long on that beach, and there's plenty of it to keep her entertained. Is it closed to dogs now the summer season's upon us? We were there in february and caught two days of glorious sunshine. We're definitely going back come the autumn.

Her indoors said...

a.n.other ~ I hope Ruby has got on the Hogwarts Train and brings back a fantastic account of her journey for us all to read. Maybe she's turned to practising potions in her attic. Whatever our Ruby is doing I am sure she is enjoying herself. I miss her too...the cheery LOLs and the telling offs....hmmm...I think she must belong to Ravenclaw, which values intelligence, knowledge and wit ;-)

Hello Bury Boy ~ I didn't see her on Holkham Beach (didn't see many people - they were all too far away) but I think that you might have the answer...The last possible sighting of Ruby was made by Nigella in Moreton Hall on last Monday. Nigella...have you been a naughty girl and taken Ruby home and fed her your lovely desserts all week? If so, please try spam sandwiches instead or even bread and dripping. That might send the lovely Ruby back home to her laptop.

P.S. The film crew must have left by the time we were up that way. We timed our visit when the sea was out and had already left before it came back in so we must have missed the adrenaline rush of getting cut off ~ phew.

Austen ~ I did see a couple of dogs on Holkham Beach while we were there so I guess they're allowed unless the people were breaking the summer "dogs on beach" law. There'd also been a horse as well, we didn't see it but we discovered horsey hoof tracks along the way. It's such a fab place for dogs to have a good frolick around.

Christina S said...

LOL @ you all! I have of course been at Hogwarts. Hee hee, so I was sighted by Nigella in Moreton Hall. She is correct, I have indeed been there too (as well as Hogwarts). Thank you for such a favourable description of my qualities, leading to Ravenclaw for my house (LOL again - here's another LOL since you're having withdrawal symptoms!!). I once did a sorting hat test somewhere online - can't remember what I got now - but Erik got Slytherin :-0 !!

I love your Holkham bay pic, one of my favourite places. Am loving your postcards from series!

And btw 21stCMummy, you've just been blog tagged!!

http://livinginburystedmunds.blogspot.com/2007/08/eight-random-facts-about-ruby.html

Melanie Rimmer said...

Sounds like a day the boys will remember for the rest of their lives. I love days like that.

Her indoors said...

Hi Melanie ~ even if the boys don't remember it, I certainly will. It was the ultimate family experience, fun and relaxing all at the same time. The best! :-D

Unknown said...

Hello!
We go to Holkham all the time isnt it beautiful. Sounds like you had a great holiday.
Im a mummy blogger too- could youpost a link to my site or is that too cheeky :)
I could add yours to mine....

Her indoors said...

Hi Zooarchaeologist - thanks for popping over. Yes...I'll be happy to add your blog link... I've had a quick peek and it's great to have the memories of St Albans. I used to live in Hemel Hempstead but always used to pop over to St Albans to do our shopping. Nice to "meet" you ;-D