With my curiosity satisfied I returned to the awning and after putting away the breakfast things, topping up my water container and having a general tidy up I put the dogs in the back of the van, disconnected the awning and set off in the general direction of Wroxham. Driving up the A149 and a few miles past Potter Heigham I saw the sign for Sutton Staithe, and as that was one of the few staithes I hadn't yet been to I decided to take a look. A short gravel track led off the main road and into a tree-shaded car park and just ahead was the staithe itself; it wasn't a big place and I knew it wouldn't take many minutes to look round so I left Sophie and Sugar in the van for once. With a couple of photos snapped I returned to the van and continued my journey, stopping a mile or so further on at Stalham Staithe. This was a much bigger place, with a large part of the staithe itself lying adjacent to the main road, though a side road running past one of Richardsons huge boat sheds took me to a smaller backwater. Another couple of photos snapped and I was on the road again, this time reaching Wroxham without stopping again.
Pulling into the large car park at Roy's department store I managed to find a shady space under a tree, though I wasn't away from the van very long - within a couple of minutes of entering the store I'd located the photography department, and though they had a reasonable selection of cameras the XD camera cards were completely non-existant. I did make an enquiry with the young assistant but he said they'd stopped selling them a while ago, so it looked like my search would continue. With a quick look round the other few shops in the village, this time scouting for mice, I went back to collect the dogs and set out for a walk along the riverside. The path I took went through a very pleasant little park before meandering through a small wooded area and emerging by the river, and it was as I turned a bend a saw a movement just ahead; there in front of me was a small Muntjack deer, it looked at me for a few seconds but before I could even think of taking a photo it disappeared into the undergrowth, and although I quietly went in search of it it was nowhere to be seen. It didn't help having the dogs with me though, I could imagine it had been scared off by their presence.
The path along the riverside only went so far before it came to a dead end and I had to turn round and go back, so with a couple of photos taken I crossed the main road running through the village and went to have a look what was on the other side of the bridge - more boats and water of course, a couple of cafes and a hotel/restaurant with a pleasant-looking outside eating area. I did briefly think about finding some coffee and cake but as I wasn't going anywhere else I decided to wait until I got back to the awning and have a couple of sandwiches instead - at least it would mean less calories distributing themselves round my body.
It didn't take too long to drive back to the camp site and with the awning re-attached to the van I made something to eat and settled down to read my book for a while. A couple of hours of tv followed - I never miss Corrie if I can help it! - then as the daylight faded I took the dogs for their bedtime walk round the site before making a final brew. I had no plans for the following day as I was being visited by a fellow UKCS member, and though I knew what time he would be arriving I didn't know how long he would be staying so I would just take things as they came and probably resume my search for a camera card the day after.
