Our first trip -North Norfolk

March 3rd 2017.

We woke up on the Sandringham Caravan and Motorhome Club Site to the sound of the birds in the woods around us and a faint whiff of Elsan in the air, our very first morning on site in Hygge. Warm and toasty it was difficult to rouse ourselves into action but we did finally manage it…3 hours later!

Arrival the day before, with our brand new kit provided great entertainment for fellow campers. Perhaps campervanners were an unusual event on Club sites particularly out of season, or maybe they spotted we were total novices -four circuits of the half empty site before choosing a pitch might have been a give away. We were viewed from the comfort of warm caravans and glasses of wine with some interest. Not to be deterred we rose to the challenge and provided a free show and some 2 hours or so later we sat exhausted with a cup of tea in our newly erected awning. Wrapped up against the cold, making a mental note to buy a travel heater!

We have managed to reduce the set up time of the awning to 20 minutes and since purchased a small halogen heater for those colder days in the awning.

We realised on this our first proper trip that you need to be very organised in a campervan. ‘A place for everything and everything in its place.’ Once you crack this, it is plain sailing.

Driving off the awning was simple and we spent a wonderful first day walking the sea wall from Heacham to Hunstanton St Edmund. The Wash was teeming with wild birds and as we neared Hunstanton the

fairground rides loomed up and towered protectively over the static caravans housed beneath. It was a gloriously sunny day for March and the sea was calm although the low lying land and properties still looked mighty vulnerable the other side of the wall.

We took a detour back through Wolferton where the railway station has now become a privately owned museum. It has long given up its rails and is beautifully maintained befitting its royal heritage.

As we pulled up to our pitch back at the campsite I noticed a few twitching curtains and campers settling down with a glass or two. We then discovered that without the Vango Driveaway Kit, reversing back onto your awning is not as straightforward as you would like to believe.

I am afraid we yet again offered up a highly entertaining 30 minutes of Garry shouting instructions louder and louder and waving his arms more and more furiously and me (reversing Hygge) trying to follow his instructions - incorrectly mostly and as a result laughing more and more hysterically as time wore on. (I tend to laugh when situations become tense.) Anyway we got there in the end, before it got dark luckily.

The rest of our North Norfolk Tour passed uneventfully, we visited three beautiful atmospheric historic properties:- Oxburgh Hall (NT) Blicking Hall (NT) and the small but perfectly formed Castle Rising (EH).

We moved on to our second site Deer’s Mead Erpingham. Nobody to entertain at this site as we were the only customers so early in the year!

We spent a fascinating few hours in Walsingham, a place of pilgrimage since 1061 and truly magical, And for a returnable deposit of £5 you can borrow the prison key and explore the old prison building, at your peril.

I can’t finish this blog without mentioning the unique seaside town of Sheringham. Time seems to slow down as you walk around. There is the old railway station and if you chose you can travel on the now restored Poppy Line. Or take in the sea front and enjoy the art work. Explore the seaside shops, then buy an ice cream, sit on the promenade and imagine yourself back in time.

AND finally the Grey seals and their pups on the beach at Horsey where we sat mesmorised by the sheer numbers resting in the early spring sunshine. What an absolutely amazing experience. (We didn’t get too close, they have teeth and are much bigger than you think.)

To find more details of where we went on this trip see our Places to Visit and Places to Stay blogs– North Norfolk.