The idea was simple – take the kids to see Great Grandmother back in the old country. A simple feat involved a two-hour drive back to the capital. On the way down we were delayed on the A11 close to Thetford by a forest fire at the side of the road, which caused us about a 20 minute delay – in the heat.
Then closer to London, by the junction of the Eastern Avenue to M11, a Land Rover caught fire on the opposite carriageway. This didn’t cause us delays on the way there, but added another 15 minute delay on the way back – three hours later! Yes, it took nearly three hours of the police to “not” clear the burnt out car from the carriageway – meanwhile the poor owners were left on the verge sifting through their smoke damaged belongings which were strewn around them.
Then on the A11 outside Thetford on the way back, there were some bollards being put down at a slip-road and The Missus mistakenly thought that they were closing the sliproad and drove on. But instead, we had driven onto a massive tailback on the A11. Without further ado, The Missus broke the law by doing a U-turn on the A11 and riding the WRONG WAY down the closed section and nipping back off on the sliproad.
I plotted a diversion through Bury St Edmunds and Diss in order to avoid the hellhole that is the A11, which added further time onto our journey. All in all, we were on the road for a whopping five-and-a-half hours.
The kids were absolute troupers who did not complain once, but were very tired and emotional (and thirsty) by the end of our ordeal-by-road.

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