I took the kids to Norfolk this month in anticipation of wide-open skies, scrummy local produce and wonderful wildlife. The Gods smiled on us and the sun shone, we scoffed fish and chips, and took a seal trip to Blakeney Point.

Roads can be slow winding through flinty villages, so we allowed plenty of time to get tickets; we were rewarded with the sight of eager youngsters crabbing quayside in front of a classic Norfolk wherry.

Although seals are guaranteed all year, boats generally run March-October. Shifting sands, literally, mean little Blakeney Quay will be silted up soon, so the boats cast off from Morston, further along the coast. Here, the kids gambolled through salt-marsh grasses while a skylark poured out song.

The boat chugged down the creek before heading out to Blakeney Point itself, past the sea-green lifeboat station built over a century ago on the edge of the spit, and now stranded up-channel by longshore drift.

Once at the Point, we delighted to see both Common (cream, rounded heads) and Grey (slate-coloured, Roman noses) Seals basking on the shore, swimming beside and under the boat. A hogey of Sandwich Terns performed aerial displays above and around. We had the sun and sea-spray on our faces all the way back.

Images by Nadine Mellor