It’s the second week of good weather here in the UK.
I originally planned to take Dolly to Thetford on my day off. But plans change, the lure of staying in bed that little bit longer too strong.
In the end the choice I made was to go back to Roydon Common.
We were just going to take it easy in the “heat” and just wander round what I call the upper field.
This time we walked the part of the previous walk in reverse. Which meant we did the height gain early, and make use of a water stop for Dolly.
By the time we got to the water trough Dolly was ready to climb in for her drink. I got her bowl and scooped out some water for her.
The water bottle used todaySaving her energy for the walk in the carDolly’s snack todayTrying to make me feel guiltyI like this tooLazy bastardsDolly says she has an alibiA much needed water source
As we continued round the upper field I saw three hares doing hare stuff like chasing each other. But Dolly was oblivious to them.
We found a shaded spot to stop and chill.
I felt it was too hot for coffee. So I didn’t break out my BushBuddy stove. Instead I had my Crystal Lite squash powder.
Dolly had more water, some biltong, and I had cheese and biscuits. Naturally Dolly also wanted what I was having too.
After our chill break we continued on with our walk.
Once back at the car I gave Dolly some more water before heading off home.
So after what can best be described as a relaxed start to the day, Dolly and I made off for destinations unknown.
Well I had possibilities. A return to Roydon Common? Maybe the coast? If the coast where? Heacham or Holkham?
Eventually as we drove round Kings Lynn a decision was made.
Apple Maps was instructed to guide us to Holkham beach.
The last time I was on Holkham beach it was with Strider, over a decade ago.
It was when Strider and I spent the night on the beach. The morning was magical. I took my favourite photo of Strider (see above) as the glow of the dawn sun began to start warming us up.
Since that magical time with Strider I have not been back.
But yesterday was about Dolly and introducing her to this beautiful piece of the Norfolk coast.
After leaving the car park and crossing into this national nature reserve Dolly was off the lead.
We followed the path that put the woodland between us and the beach.
Dolly was amazing off the lead. Even when there were other dogs.
It’s rude not to shareDolly discovers ice creamSigns of eco vandalism aka bushcraftingWhy we can’t have nice thingsDecision timeZZTop mode
We walked about a mile, which took us to the second hide, and the farthest edge of the woods, before we followed the path to the beach.
It was rather windy on the beach. A complete contrast to the sheltered path we had just come from.
We walked towards the sea. Which was out. Way way out.
We didn’t make it to the sea, maybe three quarters of the way before heading back.
But Dolly did really enjoy being on the sand.
There was no way we were going to walk along the beach into a head wind back to the car.
Instead we used the woodland to give us shelter from the wind a provide a rest spot.
While Dolly topped up on water and beef jerky. I too had water (no fires – Kelly kettle out, or camping stoves allowed to protect the nature reserve), and cheese and biscuits.
After that brief stop we followed the some of the many paths that cut through the woodland. The majority spanning the width of the woodland connecting the beach and dunes with the path on the opposite side.
Back at the car park we dropped our stuff off at the car and made our way the very short distance back to the ice cream van. Where I bought Dolly and myself an ice cream.
Dolly was unsure about her ice cream to start with. But she soon over came that uncertainty and decided she really liked it.
On our drive home on the road boarding the Holkham hall estate I saw a massive red kite. Such a beautiful buzzard.
As I was throwing stuff together for todays walk a shower hit. This was the turn for the worse I was expecting for the week.
It was definitely feeling a bit chillier.
But the cold and rain were not going to put me (or Dolly) off going on our walk.
By the time we hit the A47 I’d decided our destination would be back to the woodlands at Roydon Common.
Dolly was off lead for the majority of this walk, and she was really well behaved.
We explored a couple of side paths.
Which gave me a better picture of the woods. I collected a little birch bark to use as tinder.
Some of which I used to start the fire in today’s stove. Oh the stove I was using was the Kelly Kettle Trekker.
Part of these brew stops is getting Dolly used to being off lead, not wandering off, and chilling out.
I enjoyed using the Kelly Kettle. Well playing with fire (responsibly) is fun.
I didn’t mess around I used my bic lighter to start the fire. The wood I was using was some kindling I bought recently from a petrol station. Plus some twigs I’d gathered over 10 years ago!
Dolly is really sure now that she likes beef jerky! As if there was any doubt. But the jerky does make a nice treat for her during our brew stop. Plus I can have a bit too.
We had been very lucky with the weather because our walk and brew stops had no sign of rain. In fact there was some hint of the sun breaking through and blue skies!
In our wandering some of the paths we followed were definitely deer paths. I even saw a Muntjac ahead of us at one point. One such path revealed what was a “pond” that was obviously a source of water for the local wildlife. Surprisingly it was close to the actual main path, but not visible from that path.
With no Anthony to troll him this week Marcin was going to have a stress free evening.
It was good to see and play some games with Jonathan. It’s been way too long since we last sat at table and played a game.
We started off with a game of flip 7 which I won comfortably. Somehow Marcin reached the heady heights of 26 points and never managed to add any more to his total.
Our next game was Rebel Princess. Which Marcin redeemed himself by winning easily. Luckily he didn’t manage to keep a zero points score. Can’t have him matching my zero score in the last game.
Our final game was Wild Gardens. It’s an interesting action selection, resource gathering, contract fulfilment game.
This one took nearly two hour to play. It could have been quicker but when one player has ap what can you do?
Marcin won this game to.
It was a fun evening apart from the ap inflicted player dragging the game out. Plus it was really great to see Jonathan again.
Thursday evening I caught the Met Office YouTube channel warning that after the weekend the weather would once again get worse.
So I mentally made a plan to go out with Dolly on my day off.
On our way out I needed to get some petrol inside the car, otherwise we weren’t going to get very far.
At the petrol station while paying I picked up a packet of beef jerky to use as a dog treat on the walk. Which wasn’t a bad option considering there were no actual dog treats to be bought.
We then headed off towards Roydon Common. But instead of parking at the first car park we carried on to the second car park.
This was a much smaller car park that was also in the woodland that I was aiming for on our previous walk.
We were seeing wildlife almost instantly. The woods were alive with bird song. I was pleasantly surprised seeing a butterfly fluttering across the path a couple of times. It was a brimstone I think.
The woods seem to be crawling (at l ast five) with Muntjac feeding just off to the side of the path. Dolly never even noticed them as they froze hoping not to be seen. Pretending to be a statue by the Muntjac allowed me to get the phone out for a photo.
Brew stopMuntjacMuntjacTodays brewBoundless Voyage Titanium Cookware Set with the Phantom – Ultralight Stove
The path we were on was the one I was hoping to connect up to when we came here previously.
Instead of connecting up with our previous route we cut across to edge of the wood that bordered the common.
It was on this return leg that we stopped to have a brew.
For this brew stop I was using the Boundless Voyage Titanium Cookware Set with the Phantom – Ultralight Stove.
While I was waiting for my water to boil I gave Dolly some water and we shared the jerky. By share I mean I had a couple of pieces and Dolly had the rest.
It was this return leg that I tried Dolly off the lead. I was forced earlier to briefly take her off so we could get over a fence using a sty and dog hole in the fence too far from the sty.
Dolly was really good off the lead. Didn’t run off, stayed close.
I think she enjoyed the little bit of extra freedom.
As we got close to the car park I put Dolly back on her lead. I’m glad she was. There was an owner getting out of his car, his dog not on a lead or his control. He had no idea I was there or with a dog. A fecking idiot. Luckily nothing happened but I hate stupid dog owners like this.
But that last bit aside Dolly and I had a great walk in the woodland. Plenty of little paths for us to explore on return visits.
