Well, this evening's episode will be
transmitted with slightly more ease than last night's...it took till half past
one for Gary to get a signal on his mobile, and even then he had to lean out
of the bedroom window, hanging on to the phone for dear life!
We awoke again this morning to the beams of the
glorious sunshine....and after an average but full English breakfast, we
finally rolled away from Cromer just after 9am. The suntan cream was out
by 9.10am, and from there the day just got better!
The first part of the drive was described as 'leisurely' by one
of the team, but the new recruits described it as something slightly faster!
For the first part of the journey, Ken and Valerie led the way,
and even managed to point out a radar trap in disguise...as an early warning
defence golf ball! We passed through Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft
without anything of note..probably something to do with the places rather than
with us. We did manage to get to EuroScope though, the most easterly point of
the UK mainland,...and in Lowestoft the local press met us and took a team
photo outside the RNLI station, and Steve took part in a live broadcast to
Beach FM! Hero!
At Lowestoft, Ken, Valerie, Christian and Kerry left us, along
with Fred, Tom, Margaret, and Anthony and Sue...and then there were 11 cars
left. (Good luck to Kerry and Christian in eight weeks time for their
big day!)
From Lowestoft we meandered towards Basildon...but it wasn't
without event..Mark and Chris nearly has another calamity with the wildlife -
this time a baby bunny, which somehow managed to go between the wheels and
survive (Andy are they part of a conspiracy or are they just trying to tell
you something!) [ed: I try !] , and then we all managed to go around a
roundabout a full 360 degrees on command from Liz, who was guest navigator
with Mark from the Eastern Region.
Once past London the atmosphere in the team and the beauty of
the scenery picked up enormously...and our fondest memories are of Margate.
We drove all along the seafront in convoy and stopped outside another RNLI
station for tea. We all succumbed to fish and ships from 'Peters Fish
Factory', and sat on the sea front enjoying the scenery. It was then
that Gary and Steve were persuaded to knock at the door of the RNLI station.
No answer. But being the brave entrepreneurs, they shouted and jumped up
and down outside the windows trying to attract the attention of Peter, the
coxswain of the Lifeboat....who obviously thought that they were out for the
day as Care in the Community in their yellow t-shirts and took pity on them.
We all got to have our photos taken next to the Lifeboat, with Peter next to
us, and he made us cups of tea too! Top banana! And special thanks
to the family who took our photo so we could all be on it.
From Margate, fed and watered, we blasted onwards through all
the seaside resorts, seeing all of the beaches and promenades, and ending in
Deal at the Royal Hotel - a superb, friendly and immensely comfortable hotel
on the seafront. Graham and Wendy Beckwith met us there and admired our
red faces over more than a few beverages, savouring the atmosphere and the
conversation....and Graham even has a Mariner Menace of his own (complete with
Robs registration plate) - even if it is only a scale model!
Todays mileage 258.6 miles
Well from now til tomorrow, here's to plenty of sunshine!
Only
one person washed then!
You can
have 3 in a 5 , sunhat and all.
So you
did drive somewhere
Thunderbirds
are GO...
Who has
the best red face!
With
the RNLI