From Felixstowe to Lowestoft
The Orwell Hotel in Felixstowe turned out to be very good. It was great value at only AUD 60 per night.
Leaving Felixstowe
I got a bit lost leaving Felixstowe and heading north. I was looking for the ferry that crossed the Deben River. You would think it would be easy to find. The Garmin found it difficult.
I finally found the ferry crossing and continued heading north. The route took me through the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Natural Beauty (AONB). While it was quite pleasant riding on mainly flat country roads, there wasn’t too much natural beauty to be seen. There were, however, a large number of pig farms. Each sow, appeared to have been given a small hut to live in. I guess that that is better than nothing, and more humane than ‘battery farming’.
Staying in YHA in Blaxhall
As was riding along a noticed a sign to a YHA. It turned out be in a village called Blaxhall. The village really only consists of the YHA and a pub.
I checked into the YHA and headed to the pub for a meal. As I was ordering my meal, the two lady cyclists that I had run into on the Felixstowe Harbour and Beach ferry, turned up in the pub. We ended up having a meal together. They were staying in, what I took to be, a very up market B&B not far from the village.
The YHA turned out to be very good. The YHA hostels in the UK have certainly changed a lot since I first stayed in them in the late 1970’s. Those days, you are required to bring your own sheets, and do chores such as sweeping the floors and cleaning the toilets.
There is none of that nowadays – staff in the hostel do all of that stuff. Also, most hostels like this one, serve alcohol and provide breakfast.
Into Adleburgh
Leaving Blaxhall, I headed towards the coast to the seaside town called Aldeburgh. It is one of the more popular seaside towns that is in this part of the world. It is known for its festival. The festival had taken place the day before my arrival. However, there were still lots of people in the town and there was no accommodation to be had for love or money.
I headed inland looking for a place to stay.
Camping in Lieston
I ended up staying in a campsite on farm just outside a village called Lieston. The contrast between this village and Aldleburgh was stark. It is really amazing how villages that are so close together can be so different.
The only place to get an evening meal in Lieston was a very dodgy Indian restaurant. I didn’t have a very good night’s sleep as a result of eating in that restaurant.
There was no place in the village that served breakfast. A passing local told me that there was a reasonable café at Sizewell about five kilometres away. Sizewell is famous, or possibly infamous, for being site of one of the UK’s nuclear-powered electricity generating plants.
The café was on the beach and was very popular. The power plant overlooks the beach. I was really surprised at how many people were at the café.
Ride to Walberswick
After breakfast, I headed north on country lanes to a village called Walberswick. It was a glorious English summer’s day. When I arrived in Walberswick, there were people everywhere. There were almost as many dogs as people. It seemed that there was a rule that said ‘you need a dog in your family to be allowed in the town’.
Row boat ferry to Southwold
Walberswick is on the southern side on the River Byth. There are a number of ways to cross a river including Bailey Bridge over which the cycle path crosses. However, there is also a small ferry. This one turned out to be very interesting in that it was a rowing boat. Check out the Flickr link to see a video of the ferry.
Lunch in Lord Nelson
After the ferry crossing I headed into Southwold for lunch in the Lord Nelson pub. At some time in the future I will have to add up the number of Lord Nelson pubs that I have visited over the years. I am sure it will prove to be a lot. They can be found, not only in England, but around the world including Geneva.
On to Lowestoft and Trouble with Westpac
I headed onto Lowestoft, where I had booked a hotel on the beach front.
The ‘check in’ did not go well. The receptionist told me that my AMEX card had been rejected. I tried to use my Mastercard that is linked to the same account. It was also rejected. I called the Westpac so called ‘helpdesk’.
Westpac told me that both transactions where charged my account. As we chatted I logged into the Westpac online app. I could not see the transactions. Indeed, the only transactions that I could see were from five days ago.
The hotel said that they needed proof that the transactions had been processed because, their system had no record of them being processed. That seemed a reasonable to me. I asked the Westpac ‘helpdesk’ why I couldn’t see the latest transactions on my account. They told me that they were having problems with their systems. This is something that Westpac customers have to put up with on a regular basis.
I had thought that things were getting better at Westpac , but it would appear that are not. The problem is, as we all know, that it is difficult to change banks. Also, there is no guarantee that the service will be any better if you do.
In the end, I had to pay for the room using my currency card. It was all very embarrassing. I suggest to everyone, think twice about banking with Westpac.
Walk and Meal
Once I had finally settled into the hotel, I decided to walk along the seafront to find a place to eat. I found a gastro pub which served a very good night baked seabass. A bonus was that they accepted my credit card.
It was a bit cool as I walked back to the hotel. Clearly, the end of summer was on its way.
Flickr Link
Garmin Links
Felixstowe
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1935320278
Blaxhall
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1935320300
Leiston
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