The week started for us on Sunday evening as we left for a five day break in Norfolk, not easy with the Ma-in-Law suffering from dementia, but with a few of the family offering to stand in we set off to our boat in Brundall. Up with the lark on Monday morning (do larks get up at 8.00am?) we set off down river to our favourite spot alongside Rockland Broad, a trip of around forty five minutes, we entered the broad along the long entrance as this is a good area to get a glimpse of the Marsh Harrier, a great looking Hawk with the most graceful flight.
Entrance to Rockland Broad
Unfortunately there were no Harriers on show, but the view that greeted us on entering the broad soon made up for our disappointment, the sun was beating down, the views were stunning and the bonus was, we were there all on our own, the Southern broads being far less commercial than the Northern side. This fact was the main reason i guess we moved over to the Southern side after thirty plus years of the North. We moored up at the edge of the broad and Jak's got the kettle on.
A view over Rockland Broad
After a cuppa i decided on a bit of bird watching, its a great place to see birds and very rarely disappoints, i spotted the Cettis Warbler, a Hobby chasing Dragon flies, Cuckoo, Reed and Sedge Warbler, and Marsh Harrier, its not easy getting good images when sitting on a boat with the continued gentle rocking so i never even bothered trying, i was just happy with my world, far better than some, no, most Monday mornings in the bad old day when i was working for a living. I was disappointed at the lack of Dragon/Damsel Flies around when we were here a couple of weeks back so decided i should go and look for some today, hopefully they would be more prolific now, they weren't although i did get the odd shot.
I saw a Barn Owl flying in search of food on the fen around 2.00 pm, a sight that never fails to excite me, i assume they have chicks in the nest at present and need to spend a lot of hours hunting.
Hunting Barn Owl
After a hard day out with the camera what could be better than a meal in the local pub, and a chat with a few Broads men who had spent their lives earning a living on the water. One was an Eel catcher, still working but with very reduced numbers. I must say in days gone by Eel's were a pain when fishing, it seemed every other fish was an eel, invariably it cost you a new hook as the bugger always seemed to swallow it with no chance of retrieving them, now its rare to catch an Aguila aguila, although there are some still present in the Broadland rivers, in fact on the Wednesday when my mate Geoff Tuplin and his Brother and Son joined us, Jim the Brother actually caught a very small eel at Woods End, maybe a sign of recovery.
Jim Tuplin with his priced Eel
The following day was spent at Bramerton Common, this time to hone my match fishing skills, with Geoff and his gang arriving on Wednesday I needed to be on top of my game, no way could i let a gang of Northern boys win the fishing match, i caught fish after fish, in fact i had a bite every time in put my float in the water, by the end of the day i had a very good bag of fish, i felt good, those Northern gits needed to watch out. The Wednesday came and Geoff and Co arrived at the Marina around 9.45, delayed a little due to the amount of traffic on the A47 queuing to get to the Royal Norfolk show. Geoff looked like the Elephant man due to an abscess on a tooth, he became the butt of our jokes all day, cruel yes i know, funny though. We arrive at Bramerton after around a hour and a half boat trip, unload the gear and proceed to fish, although the fish were not as accommodating as the previous day we did all manage to catch and safe to say my days practice paid dividends. The guys thought it very amusing when the ice cream boat came up river, we waved them in and enjoyed a Magnum each.
The Oakey man (and woman)
A great days fun and a meal in the pub made for a very enjoyable time, even if Tuppy was suffering.
Thursday saw us heading for a place called Langley Dyke, a beautiful spot approximately a one and a half hour boat trip down stream. I spotted a Bream on the surface as we
cruised along, circling the fish to take a closer look, it appeared to be gasping for air, but when we got near it it shot off at a pace, after about 5 or 6 attempts to get the boat withing a reasonable distance, i got my landing net out and caught the fish, it was in pristine condition, immediately Daz, Geoff's son was posing with the fish for pictures to be taken, this duly happened and the Bream was returned, the rest of the day Daz kept reminding us of how he had the biggest fish of the day, how he works that out i don't know, but all he kept saying was i have the photographic evidence, we let him have his 15 minutes of fame.
Daz Tuplin and poached Bream
I hate to admit this but Jim beat me in our second fishing match at Langley, I tried every trick in the book to avoid defeat, even by throwing stones at his float when he told me he had a bite, but Jim triumphed, i will never live it down. Geoff was lagging behind and was struggling to get a bite, it was strange as he fell further behind his tooth seemed to hurt more than before. Jim took first place, Daz and me took equal second, and Geoff took a miserable last place, his face was a picture. What was Jak doing while this battle took place? Not a lot as you can see.
Jak taking it easy
We returned for home early Friday leaving the Northern lot to fish the marina before they left for Hull later in the day, I had been home a few hours when Tuppy rang, what a shite few days i have had he said, and all the others can say is we have had a ball, what a fantastic couple of days its been he said, just when you think it can get no worse. Whats happened i ask? It appears Geoff was cooking breakfast on his boat shortly after we left and had three plates full of egg, bacon, sausage, tinned tomatoes and three cups of scalding hot tea when the table collapsed resulting in all its contents ended up around Geoff ankles, he spent the next few hours in A&E waiting to have the ulcers that came up lanced and dressed, he has been back to hospital each day since, i know you should not laugh but sometimes aye.
