Sunday 27th January to
Sunday 3rd February 2013
So much can happen in a week and we have not been disappointed with this
past week.
After the downside of not being able to get any power turned on in the cedar
huts for our Australia Day get together, the party went ahead anyway; people
got into the spirit of Australia, perhaps non more so than Barry from nb
Winton’s Folly producing a cork-dangling hat and very much into the vegemite
sandwiches. The lamingtons and sausage-in-bread went down well and even the odd
can of Fosters’ appeared and was consumed. Plenty of Australian red and white
wines; background music of Australian bands and singers – really great day.
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from left - Gordon, Barry (Aussie Barry), Mick (in a happy mood),
and Carol |
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Gordon just before he seemed to be likely to break out with a song |
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we have spoken to Dot about the things that she puts into her mouth
Everybody had there opinions about all things Aussie, but we could leave it with
Mick to show his true patriotism by being upstanding in somewhat less than full
support of some.
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Tuesday and Wednesday were rather mild days after Monday but we have managed
to start wallpapering the front lounge – some time ago Diane had the brilliant
idea that we should buy some insulated wall-lining and apply it to the walls
and then paint it to brighten up an otherwise darkish boat – a fair idea – and
so this week we have started with it – by week’s end – well Thursday actually
we had finished the front room and it does give a much whiter, brighter feel
and helps to reflect the light. So far we are quite happy with the result.
In addition to this on Wednesday there was a general gathering at The Swan
for a farewell drink for Mick who is on his way back to
Australia for about 6 weeks.
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Gordon is not asleep - just seemingly not listening to Dot;
Richard (r) interested in the camera |
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Mick, Carol and Barry enjoying the night |
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Elaine (nb Caxton aka nb Manly Ferry) |
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there is that woman again - been following me
for 30 years now |
We moved on from there to The Swan; it finally ended about 11pm with Paul,
Gordon and I arriving back to the marina – all others had left some time before
then – fortunately no recriminations from our better halves – pass me another
bandage for my head.
I have written previously about this - about a week before xmas our oven decided to stop working and we started
down the track of getting it fixed but found a better option – buy the oven
surplus to Tom and Jan’s needs on nb Waiouru – it being the same size as our
existing one, but brand new. We had been in contact and during our messages and
phone calls it transpired that they had purchased a self-pumpout kit that
George and Carol on nb Rock’n’Roll no longer needed, but unfortunately the
distance between them had precluded the said kit changing boats. As Rock’n’Roll
were just a few miles away, and we were going down to the London area anyway we
offered to pick up the kit and transport it down to Tom and Jan when we were
coming to see them for the oven pickup.
So we made the journey to Barbridge to see George and Carol and had a good
old chat with them – I had met with George when we were both at Tattenhall
marina in late 2010.
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George and Carol (nb Rock'n'Roll) and Diane - also Molly the dog |
We had a good look over the boat but were most interested in their recently
acquired composting toilet – something that we have become interested in – well
not actually their particular one but the style in general.
Having discussed the manner in which it operates; how they are learning more
about it all of the time and how they are finding the differences we came away
with an increased determination to pursue this more vigorously.
We had a lovely time with them as well.
Friday was eye-testing day for Diane and we needed to get down to
Watford – it was a total of just half an hour in all –
the first time we have seen such efficiency. The downside of course was that
Diane had blurred vision for about 4-5 hours – it was the only side-effect of
the consultation; no change in anything else – seems that she still had enough
sight to advise of where I went wrong with the driving; enough sight to panic
at the sight of anything bigger than a Robin Reliant in front of us; and
certainly enough to tell me where I should go.
We caught up with her aunt – Pam; as well as Lisa and Jonathon and then
dinner with Mags and Paddy, David, Phil and Jessica.
Friday night we stayed at Kings Langley in a Premier Inn – we quite like
these – and this one we were lucky enough to get for just ₤19 for the night; a
pub right next door where we enjoyed a quiet drink before flopping into bed
exhausted from a long tiring day which had started about 6am.
Saturday was allocated to getting down to
Aldermarston Wharf
to deliver the pumpout kit and pick up the oven. No major problems with the
drive down except that along the way as Diane was texting to our son Mitchell
back in Australia, the directional instructions became a bit less concise and
much more general with the outcome that we did make a wrong turn – or as Diane
would tell me, I didn’t listen to what she said (and of course to what she
meant to say but didn’t say).
In the end there were no broken bones or blood loss and so we came out with
a nil-all draw; made it to see Tom and Jan.
Time seemed to disappear very very quickly as we talked about so many things
that boaters always have in common – the obligatory discussion about toilets,
batteries, other boaters, non-movers and boat layouts.
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with Jan and Tom aboard nb Waiouru |
Have to say that we were very impressed with their boat; it’s inclusions and
how very open it is; Diane made a couple of little suggestions to Tom about
what could be done and I could almost hear him saying “yes dear” just to get
her to change the subject.
Tom explained how most of the gizmos worked in the boat and how problems had
been solved along the way – it certainly gave food for thought about what can
be done to improve life aboard.
Thanks to you both for a wonderful time and look forward to catching up with
you when you move northwards later.
We drove to our next rest stop at Stanwick – we booked this as a result of
Lloyd’s bank giving us 2 nights away for opening accounts with them (1 night
for 2 for each of us).
Not pretentious but very comfortable – again we were feeling a bit tired so
a night in was called for – catching on this blog and with the paper.
Sunday greeted us with some cloudy skies and we decided to take a leisurely
drive back, picking up Banjo along the way.
It didn’t take long to find detours along the way – Diane thought a short
trip into Market Harboro would be nice – she hadn’t been there before. An
antique and collectibles market got our attention; a short walk through the
centre of town got us thinking – “Now where is the canal?” – a man with a dog
answered Diane’s query with very specific directions, so we naturally had to
see – we found the basin and quite a number of boats – but it was a short walk
along the arm from the basin and we came across nb Tilley with Tracey and Pat
aboard – we hadn’t seen them since Watford about 18 months ago and prior to
that it was the Llangollen.
We had a nice little chat for about half an hour and discussed what we were
doing this year; how they were going and about to do. Pat was doing quite well
with his singing and doing a lot of shows in the area, even as far as
Leicester so it was pleasing that all was well.
After that we were off again but were sidetracked when we saw the sign to
Foxton Locks – couldn’t go past that by, so another detour, but mighty glad we
certainly did.
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The top of Foxton Locks |
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Looking out over the landscape from the observation deck |
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The inclined plane as it currently exists |
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Looking down the locks - 2 sets of staircase locks with sidepounds
for water conservation - a remarkable feat in themselves |
A complete look at the two sets of staircase locks and the remains of the
inclined plane.
The views from the top are also magnificent; certainly glad that the water
levels on this line are now excellent – we stand a chance of getting to do this
part of the system sometime soon.
Finally we were back in the car and back on track. Being where we were and
where we needed to go to get back to Stone, we had decided to pop in and take a
look at Mercia Marina as well as Midland Chandlers (who were there as well).
You just never know when the information will come in handy – certainly had
a good look around the facilities and got first hand information about the
marina and management.
If nothing else was constructive I did get Diane aboard a Dutch barge as
well as a wide-beam – she seemed less than enthusiastic about the barge but did
like the space on the wide-beam. We may need to win the lottery to change one
boat for another.