Hi everyone. Robin and I are on holiday in North Norfolk – right on the coast in a little cottage in Blakeney. This is somewhere completely new for me and it’s lovely. Blakeney looks over salt marshes towards Blakeney point and eventually some sandy beaches.

You can see the car park on the ‘front’ but we haven’t parked there because it sometimes floods. On Tuesday we took a boat trip from Morston (just along the road) to see the seals on Blakeney Point. There were hundreds of them, both Common Seals and the bigger Grey Seals, which are apparently just as common! First we saw Common Seals lolling around on the sand, then as the tide went out and the other sandbanks began appearing out of the water, they swam around us on their way to their next favourite place to loll around.

It’s a hard life apparently!

Yesterday we went on the Broads, hiring a small boat for the day and pootling along the river very gently. For a short while we seemed to be in a convoy of mostly bigger boats chugging along trying to avoid traffic coming in the other direction, but as we entered Barton Broad we found ourselves more on our own and for the rest of the day, as we gained confidence in our ability to steer, we were able to enjoy the calm and the sunshine.

And while Cap’n Houghton took the wheel, the crew took it easy.

We had wondered if it would be possible to swim from the boat, but we were advised against it, so from there we went to Sea Palling where there was a stunning beach and we both swam.

We’ve been so lucky with the weather, having had 3 of the hottest days of the years. Today we’re taking it easy, writing this blog, reading etc. We come home on Saturday and then it’s back into the new season of music-making.

I know you’ve all been having this Indian-Summer, so I hope you have been able to enjoy it yourselves.

Nick