Weekend in London

Sat 29th & Sun 30th March

We also spent a weekend in London, initially to catch up with an old workmate from our Auckland days. We ended up going to see Mamma Mia in the West End and although Andrew might have been a bit apprehensive about the musical, we all ended up thoroughly enjoying it. Andrew was even humming along with some songs.  Who thought that there was an Abba song to describe so many different parts of our lives! We said goodbye to Katrina after dinner and made our way back to our hotel. On the Sunday we had a bit of a walk around before having to check out of the hotel and making our way back home.

Hungerford Suspension Bridge

London Eye at night

The Royal Houseguards building - the hotel is in the left hand part

A Royal Horseguardsman

Guards Division memorial

 The back of St James Palace with the rear of 10 Downing St on the right

Admiralty Arch on The Mall - looking towards Trafalgar Square

The Mall - looking towards Buckingham Palace

Seen on a building on Whitehall just down from Trafalgar Square

The Royal Horseguards Hotel

and our room :)

Seen on the street corner

A Few Days in Bristol

Wed 9th April

I spent a few days in Bristol for work.  I was lucky enough to stay at a hotel very near the Clifton Suspension Bridge. All the following photos were taken with my phone so I was not able to play with settings so easily.  But still it gives you an idea.  What none of these show is the extreme cold and wet.  One of the evenings on my walk home I was completely drenched in a hailstorm. Luckily it was on my way home and not to work, so I was able to take a nice long hot bath to warm up before dinner :)  

Window reflection from my dinner table

and another one with the Clifton Suspension Bridge outside

Clifton Suspension Bridge

Clifton Suspension Bridge again

 

 

At Home

The next few blogs are all catch-ups from the previous few months. So quite happy for you to ignore if you are not interested :)

Sometime in February

The furniture all finally arrived.

The Lounge Suite

Dining Room - as yet unused ???

Lovely bed and cabinets

And some other photos from home. Well sort of the cemetery is across the road !
Not great quality as they were taken with my phone on the way home from work.

Easter Weekend - Day #3

Some early morning risers had Andrew up early himself. 3 boats before 7:30am when he appeared with my morning wakeup cuppa. Once again we were off just after 8 am ourselves. Copredy on our radar. Each day has been cooler than the day before. Today was decidedly chilly and a touch wetter. Luckily for us the rain waited until we had reached our destination at 5pm. Since then even the ducks were sheltering.

There have been a number of boats on the move today, lots more than the past two. We even saw Timothy West and Prunella Scales aboard their own boat heading in the opposite direction. Andrew naturally yelled out that he really enjoyed watching their canal journey program that aired a few weeks ago on More4.

We had more entertainment when I tried to close the bottom gate at Somerton Deep. It was replaced in the winter maintenance program, I had difficulty closing it before, now it was impossible. I could only manage a few inches and Andrew had to climb up the ladder to help out. I have filed a note to self for future reference,  next time I drive and Andrew locks. My problem is I do not like being in the bottom of such a deep lock :-(

Banbury was so quiet, it was quite eerie. Only 3 boats on the 48 hr moorings in town, yet Coprexdy was absolutely packed, with not a single spare mooring :-( not sure what was going on here. Maybe no onereally wantz to be i banbury unless the shopping mall is open ?

Well the boat is now booked in to Copredy for the week and we just need to find a way to get in to Banbury to catch the train back to Reading and pick up the car. So another day of travelling tomorrow, but not quite as much fun :-(

Easter Weekend - Day #2 (Updated with pictures)

Another early start today. We left Abingdon at around 8am. It was a beautiful peaceful morning. Just a couple of other boats on the move. We are making good time, reaching Lower Heyford this evening. Stopping at around 6:30pm. Just over 10 hrs today. The face is feeling a bit wind-burnt but still I have enjoyed the day. I have not forgotten how to do a lock, although it has been a while, we still know what we are doing. Luckily :-)
We have slowed up a bit now on the canal. First hold up was at the end of Dukes Cut. 2 boats trying to get up the lock were not able to get in as there was something under the water surface preventing the gate from fully opening. They were slightly wider than the normal 6' 10"  but as 2 hire boats got down and out we decided to try our luck. We made it and were just by the lift bridge when C&RT arrived, so hopefully the others got through too.
Passing through Thrupp, we said a very quick 'Hi' and 'Bye' to Maffi, who was doing his usual wonderful job of opening the lift bridge for all the water travellers. I wish we could have stopped to chat but spare time was not something we have much of now. Maybe we will go and visit by car one weekend :-D
After 5 months I must be getting soft ! I have only done 8 locks today (and Andrew 1) and I am feeling every muscle and my feet are sore :-(  Although we did not do such long days when we were living aboard. We were never in a hurry to get anywhere!

Looking backward out the hatch at our mooring in Abingdon

Historical rowing skiff - one of 4 that past us by

Followed by this launch :)

Abingdon Lock - early morning self service

Andrew well wrapped up - not nice and sunny like the day before

Walkway over the weir at Isis Lock

Isis Lock

Oxford

Abingdon Rd Bridge

The Old Railway Bridge, Oxford

Easter Break - Day #1 (Updated with pictures :))

It is a sad story, our blogs have been reduced to these now :-( and I will actually count the days.
I feel a bit like a boater on a mission. Well we are . Gone are the days when we might wake up and say, 'Couldn't be bothered to move today, let us stay where we are. Or we will see how things go and move later'.  Now it is all about moving as far as we can each day. It sort of reminds me of hiring. Not that those were bad days if we had not done that we would not be here today :-D
So 9hrs and 5mins on the first day, and 30.4 miles. It is on the river mind you. Not bad. But we slept really well. Must be the sudden rush of sun and fresh air. We left Reading just on 8am and eventually stopped at Abingdon. Andrew would quite happily have carried on but he was on dinner duties and you cannot steer the boat and make dinner at the same time.
Any photos will be added later as I  did not bring the laptop, so I cannot upload them now.
I don't think we will be doing quite the same distances once we are on the canal!
It does seem quite odd though. We have had a day of really doing nothing at all. Sitting (or standing for Andrew) drinking tea (coffee for Andrew) while Andrew (and occasionally me) steers the boat up river and through the odd lock now and then. What a wonderful life. Might need to try this on a more permanent basis sometime in the future (again) ha, ha.
We will be off soon, gone are those 10am starts :-(,  for now at least. So cheers for now.


You may notice that I have found some other things to play with in my photo editor :)

Leaving Thames and Kennet Marina

Looking Back

Another marina inhabitant

Thatch in need of repair

On closer inspection - what happens when the chicks hatch? How will they get back to the nest ?

Egyptian Goose and chicks

Canadian Goose

Greylag Geese and chicks

Passing Pangbourne

Shillingford Bridge ?

Others out enjoying the day

Spring colour

Spring colour 2

More chicks :)

Notes from Andover

Sorry this is so late. I wrote it a few weeks ago but had not taken the photo's and there always seemed to be something else to do.  But here it finally is, better late than never in this case.....

Well I gather that it is time for another update for us world wanderers (well at least some of it).
We are not wandering anymore unfortunately. As I am sure that I have mentioned before, we are now both gainfully employed, but as yet still to receive that welcome deposit into the bank account. Until then we are still in scrooge mode.

So these are our current living conditions:

Camping out at home

TV though was first on the list :)

Under there is an airbed

waiting on the arrival of new furniture. Still another 2-3 weeks to go and then it will feel a bit more homely and we can then have friends around to visit. That is assuming that anyone would like to visit us and not saying that people cannot visit right now, they would just have to sit and sleep on the floor??  The flat is in Andover, just a few minutes walk from my work. Andrew has just a 25 minute drive to Winchester, although once his office move to Basingstoke finally goes ahead, it might be a bit longer but hopefully not too much. The flat is warm, comfortable and roomy!! Will be even more comfortable once the settee arrives. Surprisingly the airbed, which we are currently using, is proving to be very comfortable. I hope that the new bed will live up to expectations, I would hate to have to relegate it to the spare bedroom :(

Once we have more spare cash, our plans are to do lots of weekend sightseeing, as best we can, plus some friendly visits of our own :) It has been a while since we were up north and although we will not be able to make a pie night at the Soar Inn, I am sure that we can manage a Saturday night or possibly even a Sunday brunch.

Our other 'home from home' aka The Boat aka nb Ashdown, is still riding out the rise and fall of the Kennet and Avon at Theale. With the delays in lock maintenance caused by the wet weather, we have not been able to move her into a marina yet. We have 2 weekends available until the delayed Aldermaston close but unless this rain stops, it does not look like a happening thing. She is though, perfectly safe where she is and there are other boaters keeping an eye on her for us. What is is to have great friendly neighbours :)

We are both however undergoing serious withdrawal symptoms. It is very hard sitting in an office looking out the window, knowing that you would rather be somewhere else. Also boredom is setting in, at least on the boat there were various activities which could be undertaken to relieve that boredom but in an office the range of activities is severely restricted, especially when you know that ALL of your internet browsing is monitored! I guess as I get more up to speed with the new applications, my quiet time will be limited but at least then the days will fly :)

The camera for now has been relegated to the cupboard but I shall have to retrieve it soon and get back into the swing of it all. There will be less of the nature pics but I would hope that they will still be interesting, to some at least :)

We spent a lot of time over Christmas at my brothers house, which was a good thing, as we could not move the boat because of the high water. Our water tank was getting rather low and the black water rather full! Not having to worry about all that was rather nice and the extra company was most enjoyable (thanks Jody and Gina for putting up with us) Every time we go back to visit now feels like yet another home coming :)
So there we are, living in Andover, working for our living and making a bit on the side for the fun things in life.

Next project is to find a safe home for nb Ashdown that is reasonably close, so that we can spend weekends still playing on the water.