Now I have been driving for a while, and have completed about 8,000 miles in Katy I have a few favourite roads, and some that I have added to the, ‘only ever to be driven on once list’ ! The latter category includes the Kirkstone Pass in the Lake District, Porlock Hill in Devon, and a recent off road experience where although following the Sat Nav, we ended up looking like we were driving through the reservoir, rather than round it, on a very rough road that resembled a riverbed in parts! Very Indiana Jones, but as Katy is not a jeep we won’t be doing that again.

However, I have found lots of roads that I love driving on. There is a beautiful route from Ellen’s to Huddersfield that has the most amazing views. That road was also my first inadvertent night driving experience last year, after getting stuck in traffic in Sheffield, good job I know it well as it is very winding, with no street lights!

The roads in Norfolk were also lovely, lots of long straight roads with little traffic. One of the things that I loved about those was all the woodland, I had thought Norfolk would be less wooded and hilly than it was, and loved the scenery, as well as all the cute villages.

However I think one of my favourite roads of this trip has to be the A12 in Suffolk. It was such a pleasure to drive on, beautiful scenery, and some stunning places along the way. I stayed at the Kessingland Caravan and Camping Club site near Lowestoft for a week, and had lots of time to visit the coastal towns and some of the Trust properties in the area.

My first visit was to Sutton Hoo, this has been on my list ever since seeing the treasures about 20 years ago in the British Museum. There are replicas at the visitor centre as well and their beauty is just amazing. However, it is the story of the site that fascinates me, and others, and it was made into a film in recent years, called The Dig. The story of the owner of Tranmer House was really well interpreted within the house, with lots of original material from the time of the dig.

Edith Pretty was very interested in archaeology, partly as she had spent time during her childhood travelling with her family to various excavations. The discovery of the ship burial came about due to her interest in the mounds on her land. It is incredible to think that had another person lived in the house, without that interest, none of this might have been found. One of my favourite rooms was interviews with people who have worked at the site over the years, it really makes the story come to life, as do the recreations of the finds, like this amazing helmet.

The house is in a stunning location as well, it is worth a visit just for the walks and the views of the river. I was lucky that it was a glorious day, and I had a fantastic time. It really was one of my very best days out.

I also visited various of the quiet and unspoilt Suffolk beaches, like in Norfolk, many are nature reserves and are great for a wander, finding smooth pebbles and interesting shells. I could spend ages on beaches just looking at pebbles, I find them fascinating. And lovely clouds, always lovely clouds!

I also went to Aldeburgh for the afternoon, another very warm day. Loved the shell sculpture on the beach just outside the town, the pretty painted cottages, and enjoyed wandering along the shoreline looking at all the cute huts selling fish.

Southwold was my favourite place though, not so much for the beach front, which has another one of the very ugly concrete walkways that seem to be everywhere in this area, but for the beach huts, and the town itself, which was full of gorgeous architecture.

I think these beach huts would make fantastic tiny homes, they are so pretty and I love all the personalisation of them with artwork and colour schemes.

It has got very warm again here this week, it is 25 degrees here today, so I am going to take the opportunity for some beach time here over the next couple of days. I have been doing some jobs around the house, like painting outside, so am well ahead on the ‘tasks to do’ front.

Hope that you are all having a lovely time, see you again very soon with more Suffolk loveliness. Until then, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.