Do different this Christmas

Here are a few ideas to get you off the sofa over the Christmas holidays

- Dominic Castle

Take an alpaca for a walk

Alpacas are those slightly comical-looking, fluffy gentle beasts of the camel family from South America which are becoming an increasingly common sight around Norfolk. There are a number of places around the county offering alpaca walking, or trekking, as a nice thing to do. Alpaca Trekking at Wells-Next-the-Sea is open all year round and at Wretham Let’s Go Alpacas will take you round Thetford Forest. Alpacas are relatively small and docile and generally better-natured than llamas and strolling through the countryside with an alpaca on a lead certainly makes a change from taking Fido out.

Go kayaking on the Broads

Last year Mrs C and I decided to do different on Boxing Day and joined a small group kayaking around Hickling Broad. Billed as a mulled wine and mince pie kayak adventure it was great fun and took us to parts of the broad that you would never normally be able to see. We’re not that fit but had no trouble spending a couple of hours paddling around under expert guidance and the kayaks are reassuringly stable, even when we were a bit ham-fisted…

Take a steam train ride