25 September 2015 (Friday) - Banham Zoo

Another restless night unfortunately. But at least today there was no one else in the guest house to whom we had to be polite. As we scoffed a rather good Full English we watched the deer in the distance from the conservatory window.

We were soon ready for the off. We went (via a few geo-targets) to Banham Zoo. Many years ago when holidaying in Felixstowe with the fruits of my loin we had a day trip to Banham Zoo and I could remember it being a really good day out. So seeing it was only half an hour's drive (or so) away we thought we'd have a look-see.
By the time we'd finished geo-mucking-about we arrived at the zoo shortly before mid day. I was initially shocked at the cost; forty quid to get the pair of us in there seemed a tad extreme but in retrospect we got our money's worth.

There were all sorts of animals there; big and small. And you could get up-close with a lot of them. The meerkats were really good, as were the mongooses (mongeese?). The otters were noisy. the lemurs were sweet. The penguins were all on their nests. "er indoors TM" took a really good video of the giraffes which was marred only by my declaration (toward the end) of "Christ!!! - Look at the size of that zebra's cock". Perhaps I am naive but I didn't realise just how well endowed the average zebra is.
We had a cream tea and watched a cheetah devour half a cow's leg. Then we walked round the place again. The zoo was laid out in such a way that for all that it is not huge, it seems a lot larger than it actually is. We'd been there for over four hours before realising there were camels and tigers.
I went there thinking it might be a good way to spend a couple of hours; we were in there for over five hours. We only left because the place was closing.

We came home thinking we'd pick up a few random geocaches on the way back to base, and that we might find a pub for dinner as we drove. We found several random caches including one quite a way up a tree (and another Wherigo too) but we didn't randomly find a pub. So instead we took a recommendation from our current landlord.

The Shoulder of Mutton in Strumpshaw is an odd place. I walked in and took an instand dislike to the thug who was falling about at the bar whilst shouting obscenities. They I saw the barrels on the bar from which the ale was poured directly. Bearing in mind that time was pushing on and that we were hungry we stayed and had cod and chips. The food was *really* good, but of all the places we've visited over this holiday so far, this place is far and away the worst. Leaving aside the fact that the waitress couldn't keep up, this place needs to decide what it is. At the one end (where we were) is a haute cuisine restaurant. At the other end the thugs are competing to see who can shout the F-word the loudest. You can't successfully cater to both markets....

I took loads of photos today, once we were back at the guest house I popped them on-line as we slobbed about what I have come to see as our personal lounge. I took a few photos of the place.
Apparently some other normal people are staying. I'm told I shall meet them soon... I'm not sharing this lounge.



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