Orkney to the Norfolk Broads

One of the joys of the riverside is meeting people and invariably their pet dogs from all walks of life. On May Bank Holiday we had the pleasure of bumping into a lovely gentleman from Orkney called Nik with pipe in hand, who was originally an East Anglian. A few years ago the family decided to up sticks and move fully up to the Orkney Isles archipelago, north east of Scotland. Nik was retracing his last foray on Broadland rivers as a teenager ~ even hiring the very same motor cruiser from Richardsons of Stalham. Nik was intrigued by the green truck and wondered if a chassis which he tows around his garden with a compact tractor (minus the electrical tackle) was from a similar former Royal Mail road vehicle. It was extremely interesting to hear how island life compares to the proper mainland, where everything is more anonymous and corporate. Finding instant maintenance jobs fixed can take months, due to a relatively short supply of skilled trades folk. Justice is another key difference ~ 'if say a visitor steals some chocolate from a shop. The word goes around and the person is swiftly ostracised; whereupon a bus driver will say to the said person they are banned from travelling'. Nik was charged for a combined day and night berth for their boat on the river ~ believing there were no free moorings upstream of the bridge. However, moorings at no cost for charter craft are available in boatyards, providing there is space. Information about moorings is contained in a folder on over night hire craft, although for many reasons this data is not always processed. Does Nik's experience highlight the lack of clarity over mooring facilities for visiting boats in Hoveton~Wroxham today?