Brancaster to Wells (marshes, woods and beaches!)

So our second training walk was another resounding success. A few more people in the team made it this time and we really pushed ourselves to walk the entire distance at a really good pace.

Starting off at Brancaster initially seemed like it was going to be interesting, as the tide hadn't quite gone out far enough for us to reach the car park (meeting point!) and with Andy testing how deep the 'puddles' were in his parents BMW we were all deliberating what to do with our cars. Anyway, we found a little car park by the church which was a safe distance from the water and then a few of us power walked along the walking track to the toilets near the actual car park for fear of getting caught short (probably adding an extra mile onto our journey, but what's a mile when you're talking these distances!)

The initial couple of miles we were walking along a wooden decked pathway, past some stunning properties, most of which I pointed out that I would like to buy at some point in the future! Quite quickly we reached the quay where a couple of people had to apply blister plasters and some stocked up on cold drinks from the seafood shack in the car park.

At this point I really did feel for one of the team members daughters who came along with us, as I think she had started to get a couple of blisters and perhaps hadn't realised the pace we would be going. Poor girl, no complaints from her though, even with her 13th birthday the next day and the prospect of not being able to walk for most of it! Good on her though she carried on smiling as she went! She'll be leading teams on challenges like this in the future, no doubt about it!

So from here on we trekked, marching through the car park and along the pathway at Burnham-Overy-Staithe until we reached the bottom of one of the huge sand dune hills, where we stopped for a stretch, snack and drink. Or if you're Gill, Carolyn or Ian a climb and descent of the dune hill, just for fun! ;-)

Next up it started to get a bit hilly in the sand followed by a bit of craziness and running up and down bracken and twig covered mounds in the woods (I was going to say hills but it wouldn't be strictly true, hills for Norfolk perhaps?). I think here we were all letting out our inner child and perhaps some of us pretending we were in the army, although I saw no rolling around the floor! (what a missed opportunity, next time perhaps!)

We came out of the woods at Holkham and pitched up on the beach for lunch, just in front of one of the  bigger dunes and looking out to sea. Ahhh perfect, or so you would think... After a couple of minutes of tucking into our sandwiches we realised that we had picked to sit in the nudist area and spotted a few human meerkats up on the dunes letting it all hang out. Yum, nothing like enjoying your picnic!

We didn't stop for as long as expected, all keen to carry on and get to Wells (or the pub at Wells!). So from here we walked between the dunes and the woods, alongside a channel of water. Some crossed it in their boots, other more sensible people had sandals on and went bare foot and others of us stayed on the right side of it, treading through the marshes and jumping the odd hole! Hmmm, not sure which was the right choice really but nobody got too soaked and apart from muddying untreated boots it was a really hot day so the water would have probably been a blessing!

At Wells we skipped back into the woods for a bit more running around before reaching the car park and much needed toilet stop. Finally we were on the last section of the walk along from the beach car park to the quay and Wells town centre, where we indulged in ice creams on the way to the pub for a celebratory (any excuse!) cold beverage or two!

The total distance covered was 14.5 miles and we managed it in 4 hours and 15 minutes, a fantastic pace of 17:43 per mile! Wow, what will we manage this weekend in Suffolk again with a strut like this on...