Great Yarmouth Day 3 (31 July) - to see what we can sea

The land train from the camp site

The Havens holiday camp is some way from the town. There is a land train that will take us in and bring us back.  It runs every 15 minutes or every 30 minutes, depending on which side of the board you read.  We went to wait for it, but it was already there and empty.  The staff are really helpful, so the buggy was soon packed on board, our fee was paid (£2/person one way), the lollipops were given to the children, and we waited for more passengers. Here we all are sat on the train.  The picture is taken in 'selfie' mode through the front protective glass, which also introduces reflections.

It's only a few minutes along the seafront to the town. We are soon wandering about, looking at the attractions, and deciding we probably don't want to go on this or that.  We end up at an ice-cream shop near the Sea Life Centre - which we had come to visit.  Children and ice-cream does not always mix.  One is dropped and replaced, which causes another to complain.  This is normal family life, and holidays do not exempt us from it.

Havens have a voucher, but the pre-booked ticket offers are confusing and limit you to a 10-minute entry slot.  We could not book last night, because we could no guarantee being there near the slot time.  This is one of the ways businesses make life harder for us all.  It turns out that the Havens voucher is the best price, so I book it using my phone and credit card.  I'm surprised it worked so easily.  Then we are inside.

The Sea Life Centre contains more that just things that live in the sea

A ghostly child (one of ours)

Poison dart frog

a fish (I've forgotten its type already)

There are lots of displays, and we move slowly through, observing some penguins, lots of fish, a few (now dead) pirates and some other very strange creatures.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Lunch is fish and chips from Harry Ramsden's takeaway.  It was nice enough, but not as good as I remember it.  We are warned about gulls by one of the locals as we sit, some on the grass and us on the benches.  We were not threatened by gulls, but were careful to avoid attracting them.

During lunch, we find that one of our party need new shoes, so next it's off to the High Street, where there is apparently a JD Sports.  It's a long walk on a hot day, but it also provides us the chance to find a hat for Leo's uncle.  The shopping area is initially filled with holiday souvenir shops (mostly rubbish); further up the road the 'real' shops begin, and eventually a pair of trainers and a hat are purchased.

Then it's candy floss, doughnuts and back on the land train to our caravans.  The diet is temporarily suspended.

We had been planning a barbecue for dinner, but we would need to buy disposable ones and somehow get them off the ground, so instead, we opt to find a pub instead. We found the Smokehouse (https://www.thesmokehouseormesby.co.uk/) and booked an outside table for 6pm. There is plenty of space for the children to run around, and we very much enjoyed the food, although delivery was quite slow.  There was a lot of food over - our eyes are still bigger than our stomachs. It was taken in boxes and eaten the next day.  The place seemed very busy, so I asked our server, and was told it was fairly quiet!