St. Stephen's in Norwich
Hauling Boats to Croatia: Palma, Mallorca to Toulon, France - 9th April 2026
Sean's driving a trailer full of ILCA 6 dinghies for an international sailing team from Palma, Mallorca, down to Split in Croatia, which requires little in the way of justification in order to tag along, seeing as it fits in five countries - Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia - in five days. Things get off to an odd start as we're following one of Google Maps' slightly strange routing choices as we walk from Palma airport, where we'd met up - eventually, once Sean's phone actually started working - to the marina at Ca'n Pastilla - a route which involves us dicing with death crossing busy roads, cutting across central resevations and roundabouts, and walking through petrol stations and bleak industrial areas before we arrive at the marina. At this point, we discover that the trailer we should be hauling has already been driven off, but luckily for us and the sailing team it's heading to the same ferry, and wasn't by now on its way to mainland Spain or somewhere. After finally swapping the trailers with about 15 minutes to spare, we make it to the overnight ferry to Toulon in France, where the epic 900-mile overland journey commences. Before that, we're in Norwich for a bit, and Fred's tagging along for the 4am journey to Stansted airport as he's off to Dublin for a couple of days with a mate from college.
previous album: A Visit to Winterton-on-Sea, Norfolk - 6th April 2026
There's a busker on Gentleman's Walk
The Hoover spares stall in Norwich Market
Market lanes by China Wok
Pigeons on market-stall roofs
Norwich Market
The back of the Sir Garnet pub
An unusual view of Norwich's City Hall
Isobel wanders around by St. Peter Mancroft
Stansted's secret seating area has been moved
Fred hangs around waiting for the Dublin flight
Building works and the control tower at Stansted
The Ryasnair/Lauda 737 trundles to the gate
A set of aeroplane wheels are unloaded
A field that looks like a rearing horse
There's a queue of planes at Palma
Palma's arrivals lounge
Palm trees at Palma
Proof of Palma Mallorca airport
We head off across a roundabout
On a hot road in the middle of nowhere
The Autopista de Llevant
Sean checks where we're going
The sight of the sea is most welcome
The sea front at Ca'n Pastilla
On the beach, Platja de Ca'n Pastilla style
A rear view of Ca'n Pastilla
We make it to Club Maritim de Ca'n Pastilla
Sean roams around looking for boats
Sean's on the phone tracking down missing boats
We switch trailers near the ferry port
The other van is ready to drive off
The giant Mega Victoria ferry
Wandering the endless corridors on the ferry
A factory near the ferry port at Alcúdia
The town of Alcúdia
It's party time on the back of the ferry
The ferry's disco bar
Mallorca slowly disappears into the distance
Sean in shades by the Lido Beach Bar
The ferry stops off in Menorca
Menorcan cliffs
There's an intense sunset over Menorca
Time for another beer in the canteen
A view on the deck
Walking the dog on the ferry's top deck
Our cabin for the night
Breakfast time in the canteen
Sean looks down to the sea
We wait in the sun for a bit
Toulon in the south of France
Toulon's harbour entry light and marker
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St. Stephen's in Norwich
St. Stephen's in Norwich
There's a busker on Gentleman's Walk
The Hoover spares stall in Norwich Market
Market lanes by China Wok
Pigeons on market-stall roofs
Norwich Market
The back of the Sir Garnet pub
An unusual view of Norwich's City Hall
Isobel wanders around by St. Peter Mancroft
Stansted's secret seating area has been moved
Fred hangs around waiting for the Dublin flight
Building works and the control tower at Stansted
The Ryasnair/Lauda 737 trundles to the gate
A set of aeroplane wheels are unloaded
A field that looks like a rearing horse
There's a queue of planes at Palma
Palma's arrivals lounge
Palm trees at Palma
Proof of Palma Mallorca airport
We head off across a roundabout
On a hot road in the middle of nowhere
The Autopista de Llevant
Sean checks where we're going
The sight of the sea is most welcome
The sea front at Ca'n Pastilla
On the beach, Platja de Ca'n Pastilla style
A rear view of Ca'n Pastilla
We make it to Club Maritim de Ca'n Pastilla
Sean roams around looking for boats
Sean's on the phone tracking down missing boats
We switch trailers near the ferry port
The other van is ready to drive off
The giant Mega Victoria ferry
Wandering the endless corridors on the ferry
A factory near the ferry port at Alcúdia
The town of Alcúdia
It's party time on the back of the ferry
The ferry's disco bar
Mallorca slowly disappears into the distance
Sean in shades by the Lido Beach Bar
The ferry stops off in Menorca
Menorcan cliffs
There's an intense sunset over Menorca
Time for another beer in the canteen
A view on the deck
Walking the dog on the ferry's top deck
Our cabin for the night
Breakfast time in the canteen
Sean looks down to the sea
We wait in the sun for a bit
Toulon in the south of France
Toulon's harbour entry light and marker