The first time I visited Wroxham was as part of an
unforgettable hen weekend (What happens on the hen-weekend...) last year. The weekend was a huge success, due
largely to the fabulous group of women that attended and the impeccable
organisational skills of Hen's Sister, but also due in no small part to the
destination, the accommodation and the (boating) activity. We stayed in Waterside, part of the Boathouse accommodation offered by Barnes Brinkcraft, in Wroxham on the Norfolk Broads. The apartment sleeps eight, with four bedrooms downstairs - two twin, two double and all en-suite - and the living area upstairs, and it also comes with free use of a dayboat in all but the summer months. We spent daytimes cruising the Broads on the boat, with stops for the all-important pub lunches, and evenings chilling out together in the apartment (when we weren't doing karaoke in Norwich with the infamous Graham). It was the perfect choice for a hen weekend - and all kudos to Hen's Sister, as it was something I'd never thought of doing before. But in the back of my head, I kept thinking what a perfect family holiday it would make too. This is the curse of the parent - you spend half your life dreaming of an adult holiday away from the kids and then, when you get it, you keep thinking about them and how much they'd be enjoying it if they were there. Luckily I wasn't the only one feeling this way - one friend (to whom I guess I will have to continue to refer as Little Miss Clumsy - or perhaps LMC for short) was thinking along similar lines, and so it was that we found ourselves going on a joint family holiday to the Norfolk Broads and back to Waterside.
It wasn't the first time we'd holidayed together. We met up in Spain a few years back, after independently booking holidays in the same area, and three years ago we spent Easter at Butlins together. That was a very successful holiday and we had a great time - apart from the weather. It was so cold that it snowed - yes, in April. Perhaps we should have taken it as a sign, because the weather was the only thing that dampened our holiday in Norfolk - quite literally. This was the beginning of June - it should have been dry, sunny and warm. Or, given this is England after all, it should at least have been mostly dry, sometimes sunny and not cold. We couldn't even manage that. We had torrential rain on our journey up (enough to create a ford-sized puddle across one of the roads) and the rest of the time the weather was drizzly, grey and cold. Given that I hadn't even been needing a jacket in the month before we went, I wasn't expecting to suddenly need a winter coat. But my light waterproof jacket wasn't sufficient, and neither were the spring-appropriate clothes I'd packed. In fact, by the end of the holiday I'd had to pop to good old Roys to purchase some socks, new shoes and a jumper (and I kind of wished I'd bought gloves and a hat too...).
Weather aside, we actually had a great time. The children kept each other entertained while at the apartment, at the pub (ahem) and on the boat, meaning far fewer 'Are we there yet?' and 'He just hit me' refrains. We brought a multitude of games and the evenings (once the kids were in bed) were spent playing Taboo, Balderdash and Cards Against Humanity (if you haven't played this, look it up - it was hysterical, if not very [okay, not at all] politically correct!). I would definitely recommend a joint holiday if the people you go with have broadly similar views to you on things like discipline, bedtimes (the children's!) and the things you like doing. Family holidays are usually spent catering for, and dealing with, the children, often leaving you feeling like you haven't had a holiday at all, but this holiday didn't feel like it was all about the kids. They probably enjoyed it more because they had friends to bounce off, while the adults actually managed some grown-up conversation and didn't have to spend their time separating the kids. On top of this, it also meant we had two men to berth and unberth (I'm well aware that this isn't a real word) the boat whenever we stopped (not that LMC and I just sat there like princesses, ahem).
Of course, given that I'm infamous among those who know me for having holiday disasters, and given LMC's propensity to be, well, clumsy - not to mention the fact that this attribute has been passed down to LMC's children - you wouldn't expect a joint holiday to pass without incident. To be fair, such incidents were actually few and far between. No one fell overboard. To the best of my memory, LMC didn't fall over, drop anything or break anything. LMC's daughter (LMC2?) did fall over once outside a church in Norwich, giving her knee a resounding crack and reminding me of that awful age where you suddenly realise you're too old to cry, even though it REALLY hurts. My Dylan was actually the clumsiest of all, managing to step off the boardwalk at the nature reserve, resulting in a rather wet foot, and managing to fall in a water feature at the crazy golf, resulting in a change of clothes. He also managed to get himself lost in Norwich city centre for ten minutes, nearly giving the adults a heart attack. There was also a minor 'incident' with a swan, which clearly had no intention of letting us off the boat. But the main holiday 'disaster' was the boat breaking down. Yup, it had to happen.
We first took the boat out the evening we arrived, thinking we'd do a quick test run. It took about ten minutes to start and then promptly kept stalling, leaving us floating around the boatyard while we kept trying to get it started again. We finally managed to get it to start - and stay - running properly, and took the boat for an hour-long trip along the Broad and back. We figured the earlier problems were down to it needing to warm up. It stalled again when we tried to berth it back at the apartment, but we put this down to user-error. It struggled to start again the next morning, but we assumed again that the engine was cold. It started quicker this time at least, and off we set, with the intention of arriving at the Swan Inn in Horning for lunch. It stalled several times on the way, whenever we slowed down, and we started to think maybe there really was a problem. As we finally neared the pub, we had to slow down again to let some other boats past before we could moor. This was boat-suicide. We stalled again - and this time we couldn't get the boat started. We tried really hard to drift towards the pub, but it didn't work. We spent approximately twenty minutes drifting around, getting in people's way, before we were finally close enough to land to be able to jump out and safely moor the boat. Unfortunately, this was on the other side of the river to the pub - on an island, in fact - and in a private mooring. Still, it was better than floating around helplessly. We phoned Barnes Brinkcraft to ask for a rescue. 'I'll drive down,' said the engineer. 'Can't you get to the other side?' How we wished we could. Being stranded at a pub didn't sound like a bad situation to be in. Being stranded on an island was not so good, especially when we were all hungry and needed the loo. The situation was made worse by the owner of the private mooring turning up. 'Excuse me, you do realise this is private?' she said, looking none too pleased. We tried to explain the situation but she didn't look very happy with our answer. Luckily at this point, the engineer arrived, having waved at us from the other side of the water and then cadged a lift from some Broads superhero with a motorboat; like Boatman and Robin, they pulled up next to us and the private-moorings lady left us alone. The engineer explained there was water in the fuel, perhaps after the previous day's torrential rain, and he proceeded to drain it as best he could. After a while, he started the boat again - it sounded much healthier - and steered us over to the pub, where he returned to his car and we went for a much-needed late lunch. We were a little wary of getting back in the boat afterwards, but it started like a dream. 'Shall we stop at the nature trail on the way back?' we wondered. Five minutes later, the boat stalled.
We did at least get it started again easily this time. We carried on, thinking the nature trail might not be such a good idea. Half-an-hour later, we stalled again, and this time it took ten minutes to get it restarted . All thoughts of nature trails were abandoned - all we wanted to do by this point was get back to Wroxham asap, so we didn't end up spending the night on the boat. We got back without further incident, thank goodness. While we were getting out of the boat, Lee noticed a small silver lid on the roof of the boat - it was the fuel cap. No wonder we had water in the fuel tank... Luckily we had arrived back before the BB office closed, and they sent an engineer round early the next morning to fully drain the tank. We had no more problems after that, thank goodness, although every time we started the boat we were on tenterhooks. The moral of this is that actually the boats normally work very well, without any problems, so if you do experience any, ask for advice straightaway, rather than putting it down to a cold engine or bad handling!
So, for those interested in a holiday to Wroxham, what is there to do? Well, obviously, the boat makes up the majority of the entertainment. It was good fun going out on the boat (when we weren't stalling), and would have been even nicer if the weather had been better. (Luckily there is at least a canopy you can use, so you don't get wet if it rains.) The kids had great fun taking it in turns to steer (under supervision!), and there is plenty of room to move about or even play travel games - although the boat can only take eight, it could probably seat twelve or more. And of course, the views are beautiful, especially if you travel north-west towards Coltishall, a particularly unspoilt stretch of the Broads. We had been planning to travel a lot further, but we only made it as far as The Rising Sun at Coltishall in one direction (the 'end of the line', to be fair) and the Swan Inn in Horning in the other. We did eventually make it to Hoveton Great Broad nature trail, where we spent a pleasant forty minutes wandering around the trail, and we also stopped at Salhouse Broad for a picnic, a wander and some outdoor games. On the last day of our holiday, having checked out of the apartment and said goodbye to the boat, we headed off to Wroxham Barns for some (vital) fudge-purchasing and a (slightly wet) game of crazy golf, before spending a couple of hours in Norwich - a beautiful historic city, which is now on my weekend-break list.
Wroxham itself is the perfect base for a holiday. On a grey day it can feel a little industrial, due to all the boatyards, but on a sunny day it has the feel of a seaside town (without the sea). It's a good size, with a multitude of shops - most owned by Roy, of course - and plenty of food options if you want a takeaway: Thai (which I'd recommend), Indian, fish and chips, pizza, kebab and, of course, McDonalds. There are two pubs in the town, the Kings Head and Hotel Wroxham. We only visited the Kings Head - once for lunch, once for dinner and once for a pub quiz, which I'm pleased to say we won, paying for half our pub dinner the next night! (For reference, the quiz is held every Thursday, starts at 7pm and is family-friendly).
As for Waterside and Barnes Brinkcraft, I really can't recommend them highly enough. The apartment was a perfect size for two families. With four en-suite shower rooms and a further bathroom (with bath) upstairs, there was no queue for the shower in the morning. There was plenty of space both on and around the sofas in the living area, and the dining table could seat up to ten. The kitchen was well-equipped with a dishwasher (although I'd recommend bringing a slow cooker if you're planning to cook - you can put the dinner on before you go out in the morning and it's ready when you come home!), there was a large TV in the lounge plus one in each bedroom, and there was also a CD player, a washing machine and various games and books. There's also a little balcony around the outside - sadly, we didn't have the weather to be able to take advantage of this. You can see a little tour of the apartment below, taken during my first stay at Waterside - apologies for the unmade bed and the towels in the shower! The apartment is already well-equipped, with towels, sheets and toiletries included (you'll need to top up the toilet rolls, though!), as well as washing-up liquid, tea-towels and a little welcome bag with tea, coffee, milk and sugar. Even better, though, if you are a returning guest, you get a loyalty hamper - it really is a very impressive hamper, with sausages, eggs, bacon, bread, olives, cheese, chocolate brownies and much more, and it provided us with a delicious cooked breakfast one morning! Another advantage of being a returning customer is that you get a discount on your booking. And although the stay isn't cheap, it's actually pretty good value, especially when you bear in mind that the dayboat is usually included in the price. A little tip - it's the same price to stay in Waterside for three nights over the weekend as it is to stay four nights in the week, so if you can afford the time off work, you get more for your money if you go in the week!
So if you fancy a break on the Broads, with lots of laughs and relaxation, in comfy accommodation and with plenty to do, you won't go wrong if you book Waterside. (But if you fancy good weather to boot, I wouldn't recommend bringing me with you - I don't have the best track record in that respect.)
It wasn't the first time we'd holidayed together. We met up in Spain a few years back, after independently booking holidays in the same area, and three years ago we spent Easter at Butlins together. That was a very successful holiday and we had a great time - apart from the weather. It was so cold that it snowed - yes, in April. Perhaps we should have taken it as a sign, because the weather was the only thing that dampened our holiday in Norfolk - quite literally. This was the beginning of June - it should have been dry, sunny and warm. Or, given this is England after all, it should at least have been mostly dry, sometimes sunny and not cold. We couldn't even manage that. We had torrential rain on our journey up (enough to create a ford-sized puddle across one of the roads) and the rest of the time the weather was drizzly, grey and cold. Given that I hadn't even been needing a jacket in the month before we went, I wasn't expecting to suddenly need a winter coat. But my light waterproof jacket wasn't sufficient, and neither were the spring-appropriate clothes I'd packed. In fact, by the end of the holiday I'd had to pop to good old Roys to purchase some socks, new shoes and a jumper (and I kind of wished I'd bought gloves and a hat too...).
Weather aside, we actually had a great time. The children kept each other entertained while at the apartment, at the pub (ahem) and on the boat, meaning far fewer 'Are we there yet?' and 'He just hit me' refrains. We brought a multitude of games and the evenings (once the kids were in bed) were spent playing Taboo, Balderdash and Cards Against Humanity (if you haven't played this, look it up - it was hysterical, if not very [okay, not at all] politically correct!). I would definitely recommend a joint holiday if the people you go with have broadly similar views to you on things like discipline, bedtimes (the children's!) and the things you like doing. Family holidays are usually spent catering for, and dealing with, the children, often leaving you feeling like you haven't had a holiday at all, but this holiday didn't feel like it was all about the kids. They probably enjoyed it more because they had friends to bounce off, while the adults actually managed some grown-up conversation and didn't have to spend their time separating the kids. On top of this, it also meant we had two men to berth and unberth (I'm well aware that this isn't a real word) the boat whenever we stopped (not that LMC and I just sat there like princesses, ahem).
Of course, given that I'm infamous among those who know me for having holiday disasters, and given LMC's propensity to be, well, clumsy - not to mention the fact that this attribute has been passed down to LMC's children - you wouldn't expect a joint holiday to pass without incident. To be fair, such incidents were actually few and far between. No one fell overboard. To the best of my memory, LMC didn't fall over, drop anything or break anything. LMC's daughter (LMC2?) did fall over once outside a church in Norwich, giving her knee a resounding crack and reminding me of that awful age where you suddenly realise you're too old to cry, even though it REALLY hurts. My Dylan was actually the clumsiest of all, managing to step off the boardwalk at the nature reserve, resulting in a rather wet foot, and managing to fall in a water feature at the crazy golf, resulting in a change of clothes. He also managed to get himself lost in Norwich city centre for ten minutes, nearly giving the adults a heart attack. There was also a minor 'incident' with a swan, which clearly had no intention of letting us off the boat. But the main holiday 'disaster' was the boat breaking down. Yup, it had to happen.
We first took the boat out the evening we arrived, thinking we'd do a quick test run. It took about ten minutes to start and then promptly kept stalling, leaving us floating around the boatyard while we kept trying to get it started again. We finally managed to get it to start - and stay - running properly, and took the boat for an hour-long trip along the Broad and back. We figured the earlier problems were down to it needing to warm up. It stalled again when we tried to berth it back at the apartment, but we put this down to user-error. It struggled to start again the next morning, but we assumed again that the engine was cold. It started quicker this time at least, and off we set, with the intention of arriving at the Swan Inn in Horning for lunch. It stalled several times on the way, whenever we slowed down, and we started to think maybe there really was a problem. As we finally neared the pub, we had to slow down again to let some other boats past before we could moor. This was boat-suicide. We stalled again - and this time we couldn't get the boat started. We tried really hard to drift towards the pub, but it didn't work. We spent approximately twenty minutes drifting around, getting in people's way, before we were finally close enough to land to be able to jump out and safely moor the boat. Unfortunately, this was on the other side of the river to the pub - on an island, in fact - and in a private mooring. Still, it was better than floating around helplessly. We phoned Barnes Brinkcraft to ask for a rescue. 'I'll drive down,' said the engineer. 'Can't you get to the other side?' How we wished we could. Being stranded at a pub didn't sound like a bad situation to be in. Being stranded on an island was not so good, especially when we were all hungry and needed the loo. The situation was made worse by the owner of the private mooring turning up. 'Excuse me, you do realise this is private?' she said, looking none too pleased. We tried to explain the situation but she didn't look very happy with our answer. Luckily at this point, the engineer arrived, having waved at us from the other side of the water and then cadged a lift from some Broads superhero with a motorboat; like Boatman and Robin, they pulled up next to us and the private-moorings lady left us alone. The engineer explained there was water in the fuel, perhaps after the previous day's torrential rain, and he proceeded to drain it as best he could. After a while, he started the boat again - it sounded much healthier - and steered us over to the pub, where he returned to his car and we went for a much-needed late lunch. We were a little wary of getting back in the boat afterwards, but it started like a dream. 'Shall we stop at the nature trail on the way back?' we wondered. Five minutes later, the boat stalled.
We did at least get it started again easily this time. We carried on, thinking the nature trail might not be such a good idea. Half-an-hour later, we stalled again, and this time it took ten minutes to get it restarted . All thoughts of nature trails were abandoned - all we wanted to do by this point was get back to Wroxham asap, so we didn't end up spending the night on the boat. We got back without further incident, thank goodness. While we were getting out of the boat, Lee noticed a small silver lid on the roof of the boat - it was the fuel cap. No wonder we had water in the fuel tank... Luckily we had arrived back before the BB office closed, and they sent an engineer round early the next morning to fully drain the tank. We had no more problems after that, thank goodness, although every time we started the boat we were on tenterhooks. The moral of this is that actually the boats normally work very well, without any problems, so if you do experience any, ask for advice straightaway, rather than putting it down to a cold engine or bad handling!
So, for those interested in a holiday to Wroxham, what is there to do? Well, obviously, the boat makes up the majority of the entertainment. It was good fun going out on the boat (when we weren't stalling), and would have been even nicer if the weather had been better. (Luckily there is at least a canopy you can use, so you don't get wet if it rains.) The kids had great fun taking it in turns to steer (under supervision!), and there is plenty of room to move about or even play travel games - although the boat can only take eight, it could probably seat twelve or more. And of course, the views are beautiful, especially if you travel north-west towards Coltishall, a particularly unspoilt stretch of the Broads. We had been planning to travel a lot further, but we only made it as far as The Rising Sun at Coltishall in one direction (the 'end of the line', to be fair) and the Swan Inn in Horning in the other. We did eventually make it to Hoveton Great Broad nature trail, where we spent a pleasant forty minutes wandering around the trail, and we also stopped at Salhouse Broad for a picnic, a wander and some outdoor games. On the last day of our holiday, having checked out of the apartment and said goodbye to the boat, we headed off to Wroxham Barns for some (vital) fudge-purchasing and a (slightly wet) game of crazy golf, before spending a couple of hours in Norwich - a beautiful historic city, which is now on my weekend-break list.
Wroxham itself is the perfect base for a holiday. On a grey day it can feel a little industrial, due to all the boatyards, but on a sunny day it has the feel of a seaside town (without the sea). It's a good size, with a multitude of shops - most owned by Roy, of course - and plenty of food options if you want a takeaway: Thai (which I'd recommend), Indian, fish and chips, pizza, kebab and, of course, McDonalds. There are two pubs in the town, the Kings Head and Hotel Wroxham. We only visited the Kings Head - once for lunch, once for dinner and once for a pub quiz, which I'm pleased to say we won, paying for half our pub dinner the next night! (For reference, the quiz is held every Thursday, starts at 7pm and is family-friendly).
As for Waterside and Barnes Brinkcraft, I really can't recommend them highly enough. The apartment was a perfect size for two families. With four en-suite shower rooms and a further bathroom (with bath) upstairs, there was no queue for the shower in the morning. There was plenty of space both on and around the sofas in the living area, and the dining table could seat up to ten. The kitchen was well-equipped with a dishwasher (although I'd recommend bringing a slow cooker if you're planning to cook - you can put the dinner on before you go out in the morning and it's ready when you come home!), there was a large TV in the lounge plus one in each bedroom, and there was also a CD player, a washing machine and various games and books. There's also a little balcony around the outside - sadly, we didn't have the weather to be able to take advantage of this. You can see a little tour of the apartment below, taken during my first stay at Waterside - apologies for the unmade bed and the towels in the shower! The apartment is already well-equipped, with towels, sheets and toiletries included (you'll need to top up the toilet rolls, though!), as well as washing-up liquid, tea-towels and a little welcome bag with tea, coffee, milk and sugar. Even better, though, if you are a returning guest, you get a loyalty hamper - it really is a very impressive hamper, with sausages, eggs, bacon, bread, olives, cheese, chocolate brownies and much more, and it provided us with a delicious cooked breakfast one morning! Another advantage of being a returning customer is that you get a discount on your booking. And although the stay isn't cheap, it's actually pretty good value, especially when you bear in mind that the dayboat is usually included in the price. A little tip - it's the same price to stay in Waterside for three nights over the weekend as it is to stay four nights in the week, so if you can afford the time off work, you get more for your money if you go in the week!
So if you fancy a break on the Broads, with lots of laughs and relaxation, in comfy accommodation and with plenty to do, you won't go wrong if you book Waterside. (But if you fancy good weather to boot, I wouldn't recommend bringing me with you - I don't have the best track record in that respect.)
