Monday September 3rd 2012 - Sutton, Stalham and Wroxham

A gloriously sunny day arrived and with it the urge to get out and take some photos. With the generally poor summer and the previous weekend in Northumberland being rather a wash out I wanted to make the most of any sunshine as there was no knowing how long it would last, so still on the search for a camera card I decided to try Roy's at Wroxham and take a few photos along the river while I was there. First though, I wanted to see if I could satisfy my curiosity and find out what all the hoo-ha was with the police the previous day as it had been such an unusual and rare occurrence to have them on the site. So I sauntered across to reception and on the pretence of collecting some information leaflets I got chatting to the site owner's wife and eventually found out what had happened, though it wouldn't be fair of me to post it on here. Suffice to say that the incident was just a huge mistake, made worse by the person involved being as drunk as a skunk.

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.