Setting off in almost completely the wrong direction

After last winter's Big Adventure, we started out on this year's Even Bigger Adventure

View from cliffs above East Runton 

this week, even though there is still a day's work to do back at the house before we hand it over to its new owners and set off for good. We are currently at a nice campsite, Woodhill Park, up on the cliffs above the village of East Runton. Before the less geographically-challenged of you go rushing to your atlases to confirm your suspicions, yes we have gone north. East Runton is on the North Norfolk coast! We were somewhat surprised by the lack of physical security around the campsite as it doesn't have fences around it, but other than their own gate, the only other way in is on foot so I guess it's safe enough. We appreciated the opportunity of having a nose at two other sites the footpath traversed too!

Saturday afternoon we were treated to a great family lunch at my Dad's house and now we're visiting Dave's dad in Sheringham. I've been to the town a couple of times before and love the variety of little shops and cafes. Today we worked up an appetite by walking from East Runton into Sheringham along the cliffs and over the famous-in-Dave's-family Beeston Bump. It's about three miles each way and we walked back along the beach. The views out to sea are so pretty and there are wide sandy beaches all the way. The sea was mill-pond smooth today so it was hard to imagine the destructive power it does have along this coast. A hint at the wind's potential around here is indicated by the big offshore wind farm in the distance off the coast. We could see dozens of individual windmills in neat rows fading into the distance - the neat rows reminded me of the hammer army in The Wall.

We ate generously portioned veggie lunches at Mulberry followed by a stroll around the town and along the prom. Having unsuccessfully searched Hastings for pistachio ice cream a couple of weeks ago, we found it here - at the appropriately named Ice Cream Shop. Plus we indulged in a spot of Local Shopping which is something we plan to make much more of an effort to do in Spain this time around. Here we spotted packs of four stuffed lamb breast rounds at J & D Papworth farm shop for £2.55 and paired them with locally grown white cabbage from the greengrocers opposite. Dave remembered a good way to prepare the cabbage - shredded and pan cooked in a little butter with salt, pepper and herbs until it begins to go translucent.

We're heading back down south tomorrow all ready for a final day's intensive cleaning on Thursday. I'm looking forward to that part being finished!