Norfolk Broads - My Epic Boat Trip
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
For the last part of my Easter holidays, my family decided to book a boat on the Norfolk Broads. A few years back, we went on this trip for the second time but we booked our boat from a different location. My mum reckons I wasn't even in secondary school because we listened to an audio book by David Walliams whilst watching the stars on our boat that was anchored to the river bed in the middle of a massive broad. After a 2 hour drive from Cambridge to Norfolk, with one stop to Tescos for lunch and biscuits, we arrived at the boat company at 2:20pm. Me and my sister Alice went to look for our boat, Evesham Light, whilst my parents got all the paper's signed and checked. Before we knew it, we were on the boat, on our way to the broad that we spent the night on our previous trip.
It took a while for my dad to get used to driving the boat again. It was our third time on the Broads but it was still a few years of not boating to catch up on. However, we arrived safe and sound at the broad that we were all dying to revisit. We gently lowered the anchor into the water since if we dropped it directly in, it would get stuck in the mud and we would struggle to get it out. After that, we got ready for the evening. I was the first to have a shower and it took getting used to because it was in the same spot as the porter loo and the only thing that was separating me from it was a small shower curtain. I also had to be cautious of the amount of hot water that I was using since it is all heated up by the engine and we hadn't travelled far that day. Despite all this, we were all showered and in our PJs. I took some amazing photos of the sunset and I have to say that golden hour was at its peak!
We then had dinner. Whilst we were all having showers, my mum was busy making dinner in the tiny kitchen. In comparison to some people's normal everyday dinner, the food she made was really nice. You can tell she loves to cook. We had salmon, rice and roasted courgettes and aubergine. The fish was a tiny bit overcooked but definitely not inedible. By the time we finished what was on our plates, we were all full up!
Later, we made the pull-out bed in the living room area which took some time since we didn't know how to turn the sofa into a bed but we managed to figure it out. Me and my sister gathered together our duvets and we opened up the roof to watch the stars. The moon that night was really pretty because it shone red due to the fact that the sun was still setting. Before we knew it, it was already turning dark. I joked around a bit saying that I could only see one star but in the end, we could see quite a few constellations including the Big Dipper or the Big Digger as my sister procariously called it.
It was soon getting cold as night fell so we decided to go to bed. My bed was really comfortable because I was lucky enough to get a double bed all to myself.
The next day, we woke up at 7:40am, in a freezing cold bedroom because the radiators were off all night and we've been sleeping on top of water. We got up at around 7:50am to make breakfast. We got the kettle boiling for the tea and coffee as well as the grill so that we could cook our hot cross buns and bread rolls. I had two bread rolls for breakfast since I'm not a big fan of the raisins in hot cross buns. It was really nice and we were really fortunate to have such an amazing early morning view of the lake whilst sipping our tea and my mum sipping her coffee.
Later, we got changed and I pulled out the table to continue my on going revision. I have an RE exam that counts for an actual GCSE in May as well as mock exams for things like science and maths. I did relax for the rest of the day afterwards but I wanted to make sure that I didn't forget anything so I bought some key notes and flashcards with me.
After revision we decided to make our way up to Wroxham, a Broads village, to stock up on water. However, we were unsuccessful since there wasn't a public mooring spot and it was quite busy with people anyway. We assumed that the abnormally hot and sunny April weather lead to people doing last minute bookings for day boats and sailing boats. Consequently, we made our way back down the river towards Horning where there was also another place for water.
On our way there, we decided to moor up on a spot by the river for lunch. Me and my sister sat at the back of the boat and found that there were a lot of ducks expecting food off us. One of them even tried to jump up onto the boat. The previous night, we saw a load of ducks that flew up onto our boat just outside our window. When me and my sister went back inside to see what was for lunch, three of the ducks flew up to the window adjacent to where my mum was making the salad. They kept pecking at the window as my mum was tearing up the mozzarella! The salad ended up being really nice and we also had some bread with chorizo and smoked salmon on the side. The smoked salmon was from Aldi and despite how cheap it was, it was actually really nice because it wasn't as salty as some of the other smoked salmon that you get from other shops. The chorizo was really nice too because it was oily, as it warmed up in the sun and it had went back to its normal state.
After lunch, we moored up at another lake which was more challenging than before because it was parallel parking and my dad had to reverse backwards without any vision. With the help of some of the locals, we were able to moor up and fill up our water tank which was already running short. We visited this particular lake before when we moored up to go to the pub. We didn't stay for long though, since we were racing against time to try and make it to another pub further up the Broad.
I drove for quite a long part of the journey there. I've driven river boats like this and it's actually quite fun once you get the hang of the control. I drove down quite a windy stretch of the river with a meander at every corner. I did struggle at first to control everything, I even nearly crashed into another boat, but I soon got the hang of it and was able to drive it without any adult supervision. I did have to hand over to my dad at the end eventually though since I wasn't confident on overtaking other boats.
We arrived at yet another lake and decided not to go on further liked we had hoped. Boats are not allowed to drive after 8pm so if we did go to the pub, we wouldn't have been able to moor up in time. Instead we ate yet another lovely meal on the boat. All in one tray, my mum roasted some pork, some beans, sliced courgette, and sliced aubergine. We ate this along with some rice, it was delicious! I even had to ask for seconds. By this point, we were in our PJs so me and my sister decided to lounge around and watch some more of Our Planet by David Attenborough which I downloaded off of Netflix. There isn't any Wi-Fi connection on the boat and I don't have any data on my replaced phone since there isn't a SIM card in it so downloading things before hand was a must have. It was really fun and we learnt some cool stuff on how humans are affecting the planet which we clearly saw throughout Easter because it was so abnormally hot; it felt like summer.
We then watched the amazing sunset just outside our window. The sun always sets in the west and we saw planes flying by that must have either come from Ireland or America. It was an incredible sight to see. We also saw a load of flies hovering over the water. There were so many that even the fish were jumping out of the water trying to eat them. I tried to take a photo of them but it didn't really cut it.
We then got into bed and I finished writing this part of the post on an empty doc which I will eventually paste all onto my blog. It was a spectacular evening! As I fell asleep, I couldn't help thinking about how far I've come already this year. I've been to London so many times. I've been to Manchester on a dance trip. I've been on a hectic history trip to Berlin. I've hit 1,000 followers on Instagram and now I'm here. Sitting on a boat in the middle of nowhere. This trip is definitely making me reflect on my life and how far I've come but also how much more I still want to achieve.
On Easter Sunday, me and my sister woke up at around the same time that we did on the previous morning. When we got up, my mum presented us with two boxes of Easter egg chocolates by Moser Roth. We didn't get a big egg this time since it would have been difficult to pack and hide on the boat but we were still very happy with what we were given and the chocolates were really nice!
After a lovely breakfast, we decided to head off to get some water, food and to drop off our rubbish at a nearby village. I drove for a little bit of the way there but my parents did most of the job. I also did some more revision on the way there too and my dad tested me on some physics equations. When we arrived there, I had to help with mooring the boat then me and my sister took the rubbish and dropped it off by the bins. Later, we tried to find a shop and we asked a local where the nearest one was but they said it was just a Mace in a garage. We went anyway but we only ended up buying beers since they're wasn't any fresh vegetables in the shop. We did end up laughing at this one guy on the way there who got so annoyed with washing his car that he dropped his wet sponge on the dirty floor and swore at it. We reckon that it was probably his wife who gave the orders to wash the car and the man wasn't too happy to do it!
When we returned to the boat, we had to double park with this other boat in order to get to the hose pipe to get the water we needed. It was quite difficult and we parked quite precariously using only the front rope to keep us next to the bank. Nevertheless, we got the water we needed, unmoored the boat and went further upriver at a bigger space to turn around. After that, I attempted to do some more revision but I ended up just driving the boat back to the big lake that we spent the night at. It was really fun and I even got the hang of changing the speed at the different sections of the Broad. I think that deep down, I really missed driving a boat!
After that, I finished up some English flashcards and packed up and sat at the front of the boat, taking in the lovely but abnormal April sunshine. For lunch, we moored up on a wild side of a river bank using the ropes and hooks. I spent a bit of time outside and I could see that in the water, there were lots of little fish. My dad came to sit beside me and we also noticed a water boatman dancing on the water surface. My dad did a funny impression of it end as soon as he did that, all the fish dashed to the bottom of the water where they couldn't bee seen!
For lunch, my mum made this giant leg of lamb with potatoes and vegetables because it was Easter Sunday. It's a miracle how she managed to cook it all on a tiny gas cooker and stove. This is when you realise, she knows how to cook. It was a little overcooked but it still tasted delicious! I had to have seconds of that lamb.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in the boat since it was just too hot outside. I like the sun but when it's like this, you can't help but realise that climate change is taking a toll on this planet. Still, it was nice to have a rest on the sofa after quite a busy morning. We left the Broad with a beautiful swan just outside our boat!
We spent the rest of the day going back towards Potter Heigham where the boat company, Herbert Woods, is situated since we had to take the boat back for Monday so we wanted to ensure we were not too far away. We moored up again and I took some photos from the boat then had a shower once my sister was finished. For dinner, we had leftovers from lunch. Then we sat outside for a little bit and saw a dead fish floating on the top of the water which was sad. Then me and my sister watched two episodes of Merlin and on the last one, my mum came to watch it with us. Since we watched it from my phone, all three of us were lying on this cramped double bed but it was still fun! We even had a cup of tea to go along with it. Then, since we were all tired, we decided to got to bed at around 9:10pm. We had to give our boat back by 9am the next day so it was going to be another busy day ahead and we needed some rest.
The next day, was a bank holiday Monday so me and my sister didn't have to go to school that day. We woke up at 7:30am because we needed the time to get everything packed and ready to go for when we left. We had breakfast and I accidently spilled some tea all over the table but luckily it had a ridge surrounding it so it contained a lot of the tea. It is a small space so I guess it's excusable. I also got everything packed and ready to go after I got dressed and brushed my teeth. I then decided to spend my last few moments on the front of the boat, watching the beautiful scenery. My sister is 17 now and I'm turning 15 in July so this will probably be one of our last holidays together as a family so it was important that we made the most of every second. I took some last minute photos of the beautiful houses on the river bank before we had to eventually moor up the boat at the boat company. We had to do another parallel park which went a lot better in comparison to the last few where we were constantly arguing about which direction to take! I guess that's a plus. When we got off the boat and unloaded everything back into the car, we decided to go to the nearby shop which sells everything at a percentage off to get a mirror for our new living room extension. We saw some the last time we passed Potter Heigham but sadly there were none that day. My mum did find some oven gloves though and some more bits and pieces. After the shop, it was time to head home. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Norfolk and hole to return sometime soon!x
Have you ever been to the Norfolk Broads? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
See you next time,
Bye,
XOX,Juliette
My social media handles:
My Instagram
My YouTube channel
My second blog:
The Book Hub
For the last part of my Easter holidays, my family decided to book a boat on the Norfolk Broads. A few years back, we went on this trip for the second time but we booked our boat from a different location. My mum reckons I wasn't even in secondary school because we listened to an audio book by David Walliams whilst watching the stars on our boat that was anchored to the river bed in the middle of a massive broad. After a 2 hour drive from Cambridge to Norfolk, with one stop to Tescos for lunch and biscuits, we arrived at the boat company at 2:20pm. Me and my sister Alice went to look for our boat, Evesham Light, whilst my parents got all the paper's signed and checked. Before we knew it, we were on the boat, on our way to the broad that we spent the night on our previous trip.
It took a while for my dad to get used to driving the boat again. It was our third time on the Broads but it was still a few years of not boating to catch up on. However, we arrived safe and sound at the broad that we were all dying to revisit. We gently lowered the anchor into the water since if we dropped it directly in, it would get stuck in the mud and we would struggle to get it out. After that, we got ready for the evening. I was the first to have a shower and it took getting used to because it was in the same spot as the porter loo and the only thing that was separating me from it was a small shower curtain. I also had to be cautious of the amount of hot water that I was using since it is all heated up by the engine and we hadn't travelled far that day. Despite all this, we were all showered and in our PJs. I took some amazing photos of the sunset and I have to say that golden hour was at its peak!
We then had dinner. Whilst we were all having showers, my mum was busy making dinner in the tiny kitchen. In comparison to some people's normal everyday dinner, the food she made was really nice. You can tell she loves to cook. We had salmon, rice and roasted courgettes and aubergine. The fish was a tiny bit overcooked but definitely not inedible. By the time we finished what was on our plates, we were all full up!
Later, we made the pull-out bed in the living room area which took some time since we didn't know how to turn the sofa into a bed but we managed to figure it out. Me and my sister gathered together our duvets and we opened up the roof to watch the stars. The moon that night was really pretty because it shone red due to the fact that the sun was still setting. Before we knew it, it was already turning dark. I joked around a bit saying that I could only see one star but in the end, we could see quite a few constellations including the Big Dipper or the Big Digger as my sister procariously called it.
It was soon getting cold as night fell so we decided to go to bed. My bed was really comfortable because I was lucky enough to get a double bed all to myself.
The next day, we woke up at 7:40am, in a freezing cold bedroom because the radiators were off all night and we've been sleeping on top of water. We got up at around 7:50am to make breakfast. We got the kettle boiling for the tea and coffee as well as the grill so that we could cook our hot cross buns and bread rolls. I had two bread rolls for breakfast since I'm not a big fan of the raisins in hot cross buns. It was really nice and we were really fortunate to have such an amazing early morning view of the lake whilst sipping our tea and my mum sipping her coffee.
Later, we got changed and I pulled out the table to continue my on going revision. I have an RE exam that counts for an actual GCSE in May as well as mock exams for things like science and maths. I did relax for the rest of the day afterwards but I wanted to make sure that I didn't forget anything so I bought some key notes and flashcards with me.
After revision we decided to make our way up to Wroxham, a Broads village, to stock up on water. However, we were unsuccessful since there wasn't a public mooring spot and it was quite busy with people anyway. We assumed that the abnormally hot and sunny April weather lead to people doing last minute bookings for day boats and sailing boats. Consequently, we made our way back down the river towards Horning where there was also another place for water.
On our way there, we decided to moor up on a spot by the river for lunch. Me and my sister sat at the back of the boat and found that there were a lot of ducks expecting food off us. One of them even tried to jump up onto the boat. The previous night, we saw a load of ducks that flew up onto our boat just outside our window. When me and my sister went back inside to see what was for lunch, three of the ducks flew up to the window adjacent to where my mum was making the salad. They kept pecking at the window as my mum was tearing up the mozzarella! The salad ended up being really nice and we also had some bread with chorizo and smoked salmon on the side. The smoked salmon was from Aldi and despite how cheap it was, it was actually really nice because it wasn't as salty as some of the other smoked salmon that you get from other shops. The chorizo was really nice too because it was oily, as it warmed up in the sun and it had went back to its normal state.
After lunch, we moored up at another lake which was more challenging than before because it was parallel parking and my dad had to reverse backwards without any vision. With the help of some of the locals, we were able to moor up and fill up our water tank which was already running short. We visited this particular lake before when we moored up to go to the pub. We didn't stay for long though, since we were racing against time to try and make it to another pub further up the Broad.
I drove for quite a long part of the journey there. I've driven river boats like this and it's actually quite fun once you get the hang of the control. I drove down quite a windy stretch of the river with a meander at every corner. I did struggle at first to control everything, I even nearly crashed into another boat, but I soon got the hang of it and was able to drive it without any adult supervision. I did have to hand over to my dad at the end eventually though since I wasn't confident on overtaking other boats.
We arrived at yet another lake and decided not to go on further liked we had hoped. Boats are not allowed to drive after 8pm so if we did go to the pub, we wouldn't have been able to moor up in time. Instead we ate yet another lovely meal on the boat. All in one tray, my mum roasted some pork, some beans, sliced courgette, and sliced aubergine. We ate this along with some rice, it was delicious! I even had to ask for seconds. By this point, we were in our PJs so me and my sister decided to lounge around and watch some more of Our Planet by David Attenborough which I downloaded off of Netflix. There isn't any Wi-Fi connection on the boat and I don't have any data on my replaced phone since there isn't a SIM card in it so downloading things before hand was a must have. It was really fun and we learnt some cool stuff on how humans are affecting the planet which we clearly saw throughout Easter because it was so abnormally hot; it felt like summer.
We then watched the amazing sunset just outside our window. The sun always sets in the west and we saw planes flying by that must have either come from Ireland or America. It was an incredible sight to see. We also saw a load of flies hovering over the water. There were so many that even the fish were jumping out of the water trying to eat them. I tried to take a photo of them but it didn't really cut it.
We then got into bed and I finished writing this part of the post on an empty doc which I will eventually paste all onto my blog. It was a spectacular evening! As I fell asleep, I couldn't help thinking about how far I've come already this year. I've been to London so many times. I've been to Manchester on a dance trip. I've been on a hectic history trip to Berlin. I've hit 1,000 followers on Instagram and now I'm here. Sitting on a boat in the middle of nowhere. This trip is definitely making me reflect on my life and how far I've come but also how much more I still want to achieve.
On Easter Sunday, me and my sister woke up at around the same time that we did on the previous morning. When we got up, my mum presented us with two boxes of Easter egg chocolates by Moser Roth. We didn't get a big egg this time since it would have been difficult to pack and hide on the boat but we were still very happy with what we were given and the chocolates were really nice!
After a lovely breakfast, we decided to head off to get some water, food and to drop off our rubbish at a nearby village. I drove for a little bit of the way there but my parents did most of the job. I also did some more revision on the way there too and my dad tested me on some physics equations. When we arrived there, I had to help with mooring the boat then me and my sister took the rubbish and dropped it off by the bins. Later, we tried to find a shop and we asked a local where the nearest one was but they said it was just a Mace in a garage. We went anyway but we only ended up buying beers since they're wasn't any fresh vegetables in the shop. We did end up laughing at this one guy on the way there who got so annoyed with washing his car that he dropped his wet sponge on the dirty floor and swore at it. We reckon that it was probably his wife who gave the orders to wash the car and the man wasn't too happy to do it!
When we returned to the boat, we had to double park with this other boat in order to get to the hose pipe to get the water we needed. It was quite difficult and we parked quite precariously using only the front rope to keep us next to the bank. Nevertheless, we got the water we needed, unmoored the boat and went further upriver at a bigger space to turn around. After that, I attempted to do some more revision but I ended up just driving the boat back to the big lake that we spent the night at. It was really fun and I even got the hang of changing the speed at the different sections of the Broad. I think that deep down, I really missed driving a boat!
After that, I finished up some English flashcards and packed up and sat at the front of the boat, taking in the lovely but abnormal April sunshine. For lunch, we moored up on a wild side of a river bank using the ropes and hooks. I spent a bit of time outside and I could see that in the water, there were lots of little fish. My dad came to sit beside me and we also noticed a water boatman dancing on the water surface. My dad did a funny impression of it end as soon as he did that, all the fish dashed to the bottom of the water where they couldn't bee seen!
For lunch, my mum made this giant leg of lamb with potatoes and vegetables because it was Easter Sunday. It's a miracle how she managed to cook it all on a tiny gas cooker and stove. This is when you realise, she knows how to cook. It was a little overcooked but it still tasted delicious! I had to have seconds of that lamb.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in the boat since it was just too hot outside. I like the sun but when it's like this, you can't help but realise that climate change is taking a toll on this planet. Still, it was nice to have a rest on the sofa after quite a busy morning. We left the Broad with a beautiful swan just outside our boat!
We spent the rest of the day going back towards Potter Heigham where the boat company, Herbert Woods, is situated since we had to take the boat back for Monday so we wanted to ensure we were not too far away. We moored up again and I took some photos from the boat then had a shower once my sister was finished. For dinner, we had leftovers from lunch. Then we sat outside for a little bit and saw a dead fish floating on the top of the water which was sad. Then me and my sister watched two episodes of Merlin and on the last one, my mum came to watch it with us. Since we watched it from my phone, all three of us were lying on this cramped double bed but it was still fun! We even had a cup of tea to go along with it. Then, since we were all tired, we decided to got to bed at around 9:10pm. We had to give our boat back by 9am the next day so it was going to be another busy day ahead and we needed some rest.
The next day, was a bank holiday Monday so me and my sister didn't have to go to school that day. We woke up at 7:30am because we needed the time to get everything packed and ready to go for when we left. We had breakfast and I accidently spilled some tea all over the table but luckily it had a ridge surrounding it so it contained a lot of the tea. It is a small space so I guess it's excusable. I also got everything packed and ready to go after I got dressed and brushed my teeth. I then decided to spend my last few moments on the front of the boat, watching the beautiful scenery. My sister is 17 now and I'm turning 15 in July so this will probably be one of our last holidays together as a family so it was important that we made the most of every second. I took some last minute photos of the beautiful houses on the river bank before we had to eventually moor up the boat at the boat company. We had to do another parallel park which went a lot better in comparison to the last few where we were constantly arguing about which direction to take! I guess that's a plus. When we got off the boat and unloaded everything back into the car, we decided to go to the nearby shop which sells everything at a percentage off to get a mirror for our new living room extension. We saw some the last time we passed Potter Heigham but sadly there were none that day. My mum did find some oven gloves though and some more bits and pieces. After the shop, it was time to head home. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Norfolk and hole to return sometime soon!x
Have you ever been to the Norfolk Broads? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
See you next time,
Bye,
XOX,Juliette
My social media handles:
My Instagram
My YouTube channel
My second blog:
The Book Hub
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