Of course, our main goal today was to walk to Overstrand: that’s what we almost always do on our second day of our Cromer staycation. Last time we did it twice, and for the second time decided to take a stroll on the beach, during low tide, instead of climbing the hills, covered by wild (and prickly) brambles and massive ferns.
We love that old path, love passing by the old golf club (and seeing the sour faces of the players, who don’t appreciate interlopers) and the Lighthouse, but the erosion made the last part of the path mildly dangerous, as the actual turn to Overstrand at the end transforms into a very narrow walk with a sheer cliff on the left side, and those few minutes, while you fought the very last blackberry branches, felt unnerving.
Walking by the sea is one of those experiences you can’t overestimate: strikingly gorgeous views with the pale waves and pearly wet sand, occasionally crossed by the Ole Bois Groynes, just to meet a very few passersby with their shy “hello” (mostly, with that long-ish North Norfolk diphthong-stretching twang) and their flomf doggos who sniff you cheerfully just to run away in a second to chase a gull. And then you end up in your beloved Cliff Top Cafe, where you order you usual scampi with chippies, and coffee with a generous piece of carrot cake, and, of course, you will bring home several Green Pebble cards from their stash, and the characters in them, those jolly middle-aged women with dogs and cats look more and more like you.
Love.
