Belt and braces

The sun was up early this morning (we were not). It was just a little too chilly for breakfast on the deck but gradually got warmer as the morning progressed. We headed out on the bikes for the first time since arriving, following a local route that avoided the main roads. It was a bit up and down at times but we were in no rush and it felt great to be back in the saddle. The landscape varied constantly from woodland to fields of wild flowers, hay and potatoes. We passed pretty houses and delightful gardens, village pubs and some unusually large churches for what seemed like a small population (we later discovered that there are more churches per head of population in Norfolk than anywhere else in the world, by far!). Like most places, the architecture in these parts is influenced by the variety of local stone as advertised, apparently, by this house in Cley.

Following the route was a bit tricky at times, as the small roads twisted and turned in all directions. Fortunately, we had bought an OS map to keep us right. We stopped in Cley to look round the village and take lunch. It grew warmer as the afternoon progressed. Eventually we were heading towards Holt for some shopping when a tyre punctured. It was easy to find the cause - a protruding thorn - but we were unconcerned as we extracted it and the repair kit. It's been a few years since we had to do this and, unfortunately, the tube of adhesive was unusable. Fortunately, we had remembered to bring a spare inner tube, never used before in 14 years. It was still serviceable and easy enough to fit. Unfortunately, by the time we got to Holt, the shops had shut! Never mind, our luck (?) in having a backup strategy had saved us a long walk - in years of experience, we can't remember the last time the strategy paid off!

An evening excursion by car found us back near Cley, trying out one of the pubs we had passed earlier for fish and chips, rounding off another great day.