I woke that morning to find there was hardly any pain left in my shoulder and I could move my arm without anything hurting; it seemed that the combination of the paracetamol and a good night's sleep had sorted things out and the possible visit to A & E could now be forgotten. After a chill-out morning I took myself off to Latham's store at Potter Heigham as I needed to get some new solar lights and a few other bits and pieces, then after my favourite treat of coffee and a cream-filled Belgian bun in their cafe I left the van in the car park and took the dogs for a wander along the riverbanks.
Even though it was only a couple of weeks to the end of the season there was still lots of river traffic around and boats of all types and sizes were making good use of the water. Swans and ducks were also in abundance and as I stopped to photograph an unusual riverside house a great crested grebe came swimming past; I'd never actually seen one close up before and I thought it looked quite cute with the little tufty bits sticking up on top of its head.
From Potter Heigham I drove the six miles to West Somerton, a tiny little hamlet at the end of a small offshoot of the River Thurne. There's nothing much there really but the dyke ends right by the village green and it's just a short but very pleasant walk from there to the river proper, passing a couple of really nice houses with gardens right by the water; if I'd been buying one I don't know which I would have chosen as they both looked nice.
From West Somerton I drove the couple of miles to Winterton; my quest, and the main reason for going there, was to find some round cottages with thatched roofs which I'd previously seen a photo of while reading through Ruth's blog. I've been to Winterton before, more than once, but I'd never seen these cottages anywhere in the village so I was on a mission to find them; Ruth had seen them while walking along the beach and the dunes, so that seemed the obvious place to start my search.
Parking spaces outside the village hall were free and I was lucky enough to find a vacant one so I left the van there and walked the short distance along the road to the beach. There was a cafe at the end of the road and almost on the beach, and I didn't have to go too far from there before I could see what I was looking for - across the dunes and on a grassy slope were several round cottages painted in pastel colours and with thatched roofs. A path through the dunes led to the grassy slope and went right across it and when I got to the other side of the cottages I realised I was in some sort of a small holiday complex.
Hoping I wouldn't get told off for trespassing I wandered round for quite a while, though I did notice that the bar and restaurant were open to the public so probably no-one would bother about me being there anyway. The cottages weren't particularly big but they looked rather unusual and quite cute, and my curiosity about them was further satisfied when I got the chance to look inside one. An internal wall ran across the centre and the front half had a cosy lounge area at one end and a small kitchen area at the other; the back half was divided into half again by another wall which gave a small double bedroom on one side and a bathroom on the other.
With my curiosity well and truly satisfied and several shots taken around the complex I made my way back across the dunes to the beach. The area near the cafe seemed to be quite a popular spot and most of the people on the beach were in that vicinity although it wasn't exactly overcrowded, and I didn't need to walk too far before I had the vast expanse of beach to myself.
Those were to be my last shots of the day and I made my way back to the van happy that I'd found and photographed the round cottages I'd set out to look for. Back at the camp site I put the dogs on their tie-out cable and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the sun and making plans for later in the week; if the good weather continued then hopefully I would get lots more photos to add to my collection.
