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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3073 |
16th December 2018 Hiking - Walking: Horsey Gap Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: Distance Covered: 4.50 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Sunday 16th December - walk ***** – Horsey Gap - sunny. Last week we were hoping to go to Lackford lacks with our friends the Hurrells then go on to see the seals at Horsey Gap but when the clutch went on our van we had to call it off. It was looking like we might miss the trip to Norfolk altogether, as we were running out of days before Christmas and the seal breeding season is nearly over. But after Saturday’s wet and windy foul weather, Sunday and Monday were looking great with the wind dropping and wall to wall sunshine forecast. The wind is supposedly returning on Tuesday for another windsurf to make up for the one I missed at Point Clear when the clutch went! Mag and I decided to pack the van and head to darkest Norfolk for a night away in the van. We have been away every month so far this year and have already had 142 nights away, all of them ‘wild’ camping too:) We left Felixstowe at 10.30 in sunshine which we kept for two days! The route to Horsey Gap took a couple of hours covering 78 miles and takes you up the Norwich road, then to Acle past Horsey windmill to the coast. The private carpark with its four attendants was filling up quickly when we arrived. Mag paid the £4 for the carpark, packed the rucksack with snacks, and I put my new Fuji 100 – 400 lens on and headed off following the crowds along the path towards Winterton. Sunday wouldn’t be our day of choice to do something like this as we like to avoid the crowds but, in the end, although busy it was nice to see lots of people including loads of families enjoying the spectacle of seeing over 1500 seals and 1500 pups too!! The same number of young, simply amazing! The seals spend most of the year on Scroby Sands in front of Gt. Yarmouth but head the few miles north to give birth to their young on this deserted sandy beach sheltered by high dunes. There are 20 volunteer helpers here to rope off viewing areas help the public and keep an eye on the seals. There are a couple of roped off viewing areas up on the top of the dunes offering stunning views of the hundreds of seals which litter the beach for as far as the eye can see! The many young vary from tiny very recently born which are yellow/white to larger black speckled ones that have been gorging on their mothers’ milk so much they have a job to even roll over as they are so fat - we imagined that if you stuck a pin in them, they would fly off like a punctured balloon! Mag then realised she had forgotten her binoculars so returned to the van while I snapped away with the new camera which I am loving even though the big lens is a bit bulky to carry but you can hand hold it meaning you don’t need a tripod. I did take my monopod but didn’t use it. The only trouble with the big lens is its hopeless for close shots and you do miss some good ones but I had my 18 – 135 with me too so was OK:) With Mag back we continued along the dunes watching the action as the Bull seals were now fighting over the females with mating on their minds. Several had chunks out of their necks! Sadly, there was the odd dead pup which is only to be expected among this huge number of seals, the only down side was the large gulls following the baby seals about but the lovely brown spotted females were seeing them off. At the Second World war Pill Box you head down to the lower path and walk to the second roped off area. We stopped for cheese and biscuits in the sunshine enjoying watching the seals. Then you come to an area not roped off so you can scramble up the dunes and walk back along the top. The only trouble with this is you do come face to face with wildlife! We came to a family group, father, mother and pup and when I got a bit close to take a pic the mother soon saw me off charging towards us!!! There were now pups all over the place, on the paths and even one that had rolled down the back of a steep dune. We hope they were reunited with their mothers who were probably out fishing! With the sun dropping and it clouding over it was time to head back to the van being out over 4 hours covering 4.50 miles, everyone should come here and see the seals:) You don’t have to walk that far – the main seal population is right near the car park! It was time to find somewhere to park for the night. There is a good National Trust carpark at Horsey Mill but they don’t allow overnight so we returned to West Somerton and parked in a small lay-by at the end of the Staith which is a top spot to stop! After a very welcome cuppa followed by corned beef, potatoes and beans we had a nice evening in the van as it started to rain! Photo Gallery Here |
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