When I was younger the idea of camping made my blood run cold. Actually, I thought that everything would be cold. Cold, damp and festooned with flies. I could see myself laying on a a slowly deflating air mattress as it whined its punctured death into the damp earth, whilst around me the nylon tent hissed and cracked in the howling wind. All rubbish, it turns out.
I was introduced to a Land Rover with a roof tent. Not sure much ‘introduced’ as lured, really. I already loved the Land Rover – Travelling Landy – and as soon as I had climbed the ladder into the tent perched high above the car, I was hooked.
In this tent you lay with your head at branch level, so close to the trees you could touch them. At night the breeze whispers through the leaves but does not find a way in to cool the tent, unless you open the windows. You are snug in the soft light with the trees talking all around you. It’s just lovely.
We’ve been in Northumberland for a few days now and our rest in enforced. With a roof tent, unless you bring another mode of transport with you, you can walk or take the bus. Finding it impractical to fit a pair of Highlands into the Land Rover, we are walking everywhere and it’s wonderful. We are great advocates for buying local too and never stock up before setting off as, living in Norfolk, you realise first hand that tourists and second-home owners do not always support the local economy. If you are coming into a place to stay and do not support the local shopkeepers, well that’s just bad manners.
We have petted dogs – so many different dogs – on this campsite and the upshot of it is that we have had some fascinating and uplifting conversations with people from all over the UK and Europe. And all of them were just lovely and all of them were despairing of where we, as a world, are going.
It was also honest and hopeful. We are a bunch of not young people. We are not trendy and we do not aspire to become TikTok stars. We wear comfortable clothing, sensible shoes and take great delight in being in bed early, but the one thing we agree on is the terrible state of nature in all our counties and countries, and the complete lack of understanding and/or lack of willingness, to do anything about it by our politicians. We are united Europe – even if the muppets in power do not realise this.
Norfolk Notes 