Day 10: Cromer

Our night ends too early, there are chickens and the rooster crows regularly from half past 5. This means that we city dwellers can no longer sleep shortly before 7. We get up and leave the campsite around 9 o'clock. Still in Norwich we go shopping for groceries and then drive 45 minutes north to Cromer. Once there, we spread out our picnic blanket and the children play on the beach. We also have our lunch there. We experience that the ebb tide takes away the water and we wade a little on the beach. Then we walk to Cromer Pier. There is a theater and at the end there is a lifeboat station. We take a look at the lifeboat and meanwhile a thunderstorm sweeps over the city. We are well protected and take a close look at the rescue boat. Then we walk along the pier into the city. From the bridge, some people try to catch crabs using special nets. Children also try their luck. The small coastal town is cozy and invites you to stroll around. Unfortunately, the thunderstorm is not over, so we hurry to the car between two showers. Now we check in at the campsite and have a coffee and reserve a spot for the night. Then we drive about 30 minutes to the National Trust - Blakeney. There is a national park in the Wadden Sea and a seal colony. I booked a boat trip to the seals in advance. It is not possible to walk there. The trip starts at 5:15 p.m. When we arrive about 1 hour before, the harbor basin and the path to it are without water. It is low tide. Now we wait for the tide before the tour can start. The landscape is not covered with mud as usual, but has a green blanket with flowers. It is beautiful to see. When the tide starts shortly before 5 o'clock, it goes quite quickly, the water flows through the river into the basin and the boats that were stuck in the mud just a moment ago are now floating.
We get seats right in the front of the small cutter and the tour starts. After about 20 minutes we reach the sandbank with about 20 seals and then another 20 animals on another sandbank nearby. We have the opportunity to watch the animals and take our photos. The guide tells some information, but we don't really listen. We enjoy the sun and the view. After about 1 hour we are back at the starting point and drive back to Cromer. There we enjoy dinner in the garden of a pub. I try a beef pie, which tastes very good. Now it's not far to the campsite. We quickly set up the car and then take a shower. It has become late and we all go to sleep.