Thursday, 29th December 2022

With Christmas memories already beginning to fade, Ann and I headed for our next adventure – celebrating the new year in Suffolk!

Helping us to see in 2023 and enjoy the area, are our good friends, Jo, Janet & Carol. Janet researched and booked the venue, whilst the rest of us did our bit, and brought food, drink and games! I’m outnumbered (in a good way!) – Four women and just me!

It was a two-hours-and-a-bit drive there, and we stopped off in Bury St Edmunds to top up the car at MFG — a newish EV Charging Hub we’ve not heard of, nor used before.

The Hub featured the latest in charging technology – 150kW Chargers – the fastest currently available. Unfortunately, our car is a little behind the curve and couldn’t take advantage of the faster charging speeds, but we recharged for about 40 minutes putting around 60 miles ‘in the tank’.

Next stop? Our home for the next few days – Alde Lodge in Church Farm Holiday Park. Close to the sea (not that I think hope we’ll be swimming!) and not far from high street in Aldeburgh. The last time we visited the high street was back in May 2014 where two things made it memorable. First, the glorious weather and second, the complete absence of any mobile signal. O2 later confirmed ‘they were working on it’!

We arrived just before 5.30pm. Jo, Janet & Carol got there just before us. The first part of the journey here was pretty straightforward – we just pointed the car in the direction of the A14. But, at junction 51, things got a little more ‘twisty-turny’ as we headed in the direction of Diss and then Aldeburgh. Not a dual carriageway in sight and it was now dark too! Oh, what fun, as we negotiated unfamiliar roads, mostly the width of two horses!

Luckily, the directions for the property were a lot more straightforward, and we were soon parked-up and unpacking the cars. It looked like we had enough food and drink to last about three months – but we do like a challenge!

Time for a few photos before we trash the place!

By 7pm, with Janet on Chef duties, we were soon tucking into a tasty Chilli!

…followed by the obligatory Cheeseboard…

Now we’d had a chance to eat something, we could sit back and reflect on our new home for the next few days. Wow! It’s very well appointed, decorated to an exceptionally high standard and feels very modern! I think we’re going to love it here!!

We spent the rest of the evening scouring Netflix for something to watch and settled on their new limited series Treason.

Tomorrow (weather permitting) we’re going to take a walk along the seafront and catch up with an ex-business associate of mine who’s now made Aldeburgh his home. We’ve also got a local restaurant in mind – Regatta – that’s got an AA Rosette.

See you then!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

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