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Saturday 23rd June 2007
Wymondham to Great Yarmouth

The final leg - and we hoped to be in Great Yarmouth by 12.30 to meet the girls for lunch.  Through Mulbarton and on towards Shotesham, but there were two obstacles in the way which normally would not cause a problem.  We had two fords to cross.  At the road junction less than a mile away from the first ford there was a dreaded 'Road Closed' sign.  With all the rain that we had been having, perhaps the ford would not be navigable - but usually there is a footbridge alongside the ford, so we carried on.  A detour at this point would have added quite a few miles.  The ford when we reached it wasn't too deep, although it was quite wide.  Being me I decided to risk it but entered very slowly as fords can be quite slippery.  I avoided slipping but had to pedal to get to the far side.  By the time I had reached the other side I had wet feet!  Tony, on the other hand went for plan B.  He entered with a bit more speed, nearly came off as he slid on the wet concrete, but managed to reach the far side without pedalling.  Needless to say that there was a footbridge which would have given us a safe crossing - but boys will be boys!  In comparison the second ford was a mere dribble.  Again it was preceeded by a Road Closed sign but not because of the ford, but because of road works.  We had cleared the obstacles with flying colours!

On through the villages of Brooke and Seething, passing the lovely Kirstead Hall on the way.  In Loddon we enquired about the possibiltiy of a cafe and were directed to Rosy Lees Tea Rooms down near the river.  A very popular place and well worth a visit.  Who should we find inside the cafe but Carole and Christine - we had just arrived in time to pay their bill!

Great Yarmouth couldn't be that far away now.  We had a few more squares to photograph on the way, but this shouldn't delay us by much.  Passing through Thurlton we entered the first grid square to find a young lady riding towards us on a horse.  One of those opportunities not to miss to brighten up an otherwise dull photograph.  The first photo was taken - the countryside, the horse, the rider - just what the Geograph site is looking for.  But as we got chatting to tell her about the web site and what we were up to, she decided that we could improve on the last photo.  So more photos were taken.  We don't know your name - if you ever read this perhaps you would like to get in touch!!

And so into Yarmouth - our route in avoided the main roads and added a few miles in the process - so we were a little later than expected.  It was nearly 1.30.  We found Carole and Christine, had lunch in one of the cafes on the front and left to load our bikes onto the car - about 400m down the road.  As we did so the heavens opened and we got soaked.  But overall - a very enjoyable week's cycling.

The mileage for today was 34.9 miles making a total for the trip of 359.2 miles.