Need a New Dipstick!

We left Cosgrove this morning after a walk around the village and aqueduct. As we are leaving on Wednesday I thought I would fill up the diesel  tank when we arrived back at Kingfisher Marina,  It took 215 litres, after we tied up I checked the Boat handbook, it says the fuel tank capacity is 225 litres! a bit too close for comfort.
Tonight it was up the pub for St Georges Day, a couple of pints and bangers and mash for me and scampi and chips and a couple of glasses of wine for Elaine. I would have to say St Georges day is a bit tame compared to Australia Day, mind you Australia Day is a national holiday plus it doesn't need much of a reason for the Aussies to have a few beers!    

More Friends and Relos

Amanda, El, Bombo, Paul and Pete 

Last Friday we had our first visitors from Australia - Pete and Amanda plus Amanda's mum and their 2 kids.  I worked with Pete at Vauxhall Motors in Luton back in the 70s; he emigrated to Oz in 1981 just after me and we have been close friends ever since! 

 They came to see the boat at Yardley Gobion, we then went to the pub for lunch (for a change).  It was good to catch up with them all - they are half way through a 5 week trip. 

We went back up the pub on Friday night, brother Russ came over for a few drinks.....have we mentioned that we like the Coffee Pot pub at Yardley Gobion?!   (The Barman / Manager there doesn't believe we will ever get going on our trip !!).

Friends, kids, dogs, pub - what better ?!

 On Saturday morning we were up bright and early... not!  We set off for Milton Keynes about 10am and when we got to Cosgrove we passed Adam on Briar Rose; we had a chat and he helped up through Cosgrove lock.  (It was good to meet you, Adam!)

We arrived outside the Giffard Park pub at about 2pm, we moored up and walked round to Russell and Tracey's house. They dog-sat the mutts whilst we borrowed their car and went shopping ... such fun :(

Giffard Park Pub

By the time we got back to the boat, brother Martin and his family arrived to check out the boat followed shortly after by sister Jackie and her family, we now had 10 on board - a record!


We all rendezvoused later at the pub ... the Macey clan had now grown to 17!  A good night was had by all.   

Tracy and Russ

Sister Jackie and her daughter Hayley

Sister Lynne

Russ and his son, Phil - eating a disgusting dessert !

Brother Martin, Russ and Jackie

 We had a bit of a lie in Sunday before heading south down the Grand union for a few miles and chucking a 'u-ey' and heading back towards Yardley Gobion. There really isn't much room to turn Caxton; I had the bow right into the bank and only had about a foot at the stern when she was half way round ... I would hate to get her jammed across the canal, plus there was a boat moored very close to the winding (turning) hole, also it was fairly windy ...all good fun though and all adds to the experience!


As we approached Cosgrove we were met by sister Lynne and her son Liam, who were out for a walk.  They jumped on board for a quick trip through the lock ... at which time it absolutely pissed down - complete with thunder and lightning! We were all drenched!  The great thunder claps must have been to announce Elaine's 6th time of doing that one same lock since we have had the boat !!!


We moored up for the night in Cosgrove.  Lynne and Liam went off home so we went for a walk around Cosgrove, we were going for a pint in the Barley Mow, but they wouldn't let the dogs in ... boo-hiss!  Never mind, back to the boat for home made Pizza and a glass of red !


After our trip from Milton Keynes, I also bled one of the radiators so that is now working well; on the downside, one of the zips on the cratch cover broke, the slider snapped in half ... bugger. I'm not sure if the slider can be replaced without replacing the complete zip - so will have to do some research on that!  If anyone has any suggestions on the zip issue they would be appreciated!


Tomorrow we will travel a few miles back to the Marina at Yardley Gobion, before we set of on the big cruise Tuesday or maybe Wednesday...... 
     

Driza Bone against the rain - and yes, the occasional sun! 

 

Lazy Rainy Days

Yesterday was by far the wettest day we have had here since arriving 3 weeks ago, so what did we do........

We laid in bed and checked emails etc until ....very late morning, we stayed on board nearly all day but did manage to register with Tesco home delivery plus Elaine cooked a apple and blackberry pie and made some wholemeal bread.

I also tried to open a bank account with Barclay's bank to no avail, it is quite strange to be treated like a ....terrorist, money launderer or illegal drug dealer. All I want is somewhere safe to put my money, I don't want to borrow a cent, just drip feed in some money every now again from Oz. Nationwide said apply again in 6 months and Barclay's were not interested.

I am a UK citizen by birth have no criminal history apart from apple scrumping in the 60s oh and and a couple of speeding tickets in Oz. As I have said before its no biggie as Elaine kept her UK bank going for the last 18 years so we are using that, it just gives me the SHITS to be treated like a criminal, Australia is built on a  criminal history but is is bloody easy to open a bank account.

In the afternoon my niece Kimberley and her boyfriend Chris paid us a visit, after a bevy on the boat we went up the pub (for a change) We also stayed up there for a very nice dinner (At a cheaper price than a takeaway in Oz).

Back to the boat to watch Chelsea vs Barcelona which Chelsea won 1-0, so much nicer watching at a sensible time with a drink in hand rather than getting up at 4.00am and watching the game before work.

Today the weather has cleared so we went for a good walk around the village and fields, and tonight I rather suspect we might go up the pub!

Me, Kim and Chris, plus doggies of course.

A Relative Weekend!

Elaine here !  Last Friday, we moored up at the Black Horse at Great Linford - our first night out in the big wide, world - away from our Marina at Yardley Gobion!  As mentioned in the previous entry - we met Russ and Tracy for a swift half when Russ had finished work on Friday night.  We had a nice chat and drink - it is a lovely pub - loads of atmosphere !  Mind you, it is a bit wobbly - or maybe that we just our 'narrowboat heads (that was actually the first time we had had the head wobble)!

On Saturday, we took the dogs for a walk up to Giffard Park and then across the bridge to Great Linford Park - opposite where we were moored.  What a brilliant park - loads of lovely history !  We walked back over the Railway walk and back to the boat - where we cleaned up as my sister and her hubbie were coming to visit from Kent !

At about 6 pm my Sister and my Brother in Law arrived and after showing them around our new home, we headed to the Black Horse where we did lots of catching up over a lovely dinner !

On Sunday, they came back over to the boat and we took a little trip down to the Milton Keynes Marina - where we 'chucked a U-ey' and headed back.  We had a lovely day but I think we experienced every single weather pattern possible that day !  Poor little Sam - our Terrier cross - was still freaking out about being on the boat, so we took him off for a walk for a wee while to give him some land legs again !

We got back to the Black Horse and moored up right outside this time!  We had a quick cuppa in the pub and bid a fond adieu to Julie and Paul - what a brilliant feeling to know that it won't be years before I see them again !

Following are some pics from the day ...

Giving the dogs a walk - and also warming up with a walk !

 

We had left Paul to do it solo at that point !

 

My Sister taking a pic !

  

Paul skillfully turning the boat around !

 

 

Paul and Paul !

On Monday, we headed back to Yardley Gobion - and back to base in our little Marina for a few days.  This Saturday, we will head back towards Milton Keynes again for a catch up with Paul's family, before finally setting off on our first great journey Northward !

Last Connection with the Civilised World!

We had a strange night's sleep last night as we were going to lose our last connection with the civilised world ... our hire van had to be returned on Friday morning.  We both felt that losing access to a vehicle somehow makes you feel more vulnerable and some what stranded ... this would be my first time without a car for 40 years!

Anyway, up bright and early 8.00am! I returned the hire car to Bletchley and they kindly drove me all the way back to Yardley Gobion - excellent service!

By the time I walked back to the boat it was a case of ...'what the hell are we worried about ... this was always the plan'; Elaine felt the same.  It is spooky how we are always thinking / feeling the same thing!

Nice little Kangoo

 We decided to go for a run in the boat, as we decided there was no point in hanging around the marina, plus it was a lovely sunny day.

We kitted up the mutts in their new life jackets and headed off southwards towards Cosgrove ...
 

We trundled along at 2.1 MPH, according to the GPS, through
the glorious countryside.

 

 

We were soon going under the ornate bridge (that everyone photographs) into Cosgrove...
 

Sammy and Bombo enjoyed the ride sitting on the roof in the life ring, although Sammy still freaks out with some of the engine and general prop noises, I'm sure he relates the noises to sitting in the hold of a Jumbo Jet  for 24 hours!  Poor little boy - hopefully, he will get used to it !

 

Elaine walked for a while on the towpath, she also masterfully handled the 1 lock of the day!!



Tonight we are moored up just south of Black Horse at Great Linford, we went up there for a swift half after taking the dogs for a walk and are about to go up again for another couple, along with my brother, Russ and his wife, Tracy.

Yardley Gobion

We are still at Kingfisher marina in Yardley Gobion, the boat now all sorted and shipshape and ready for the off. We have been making use of the hire van to pick up various bits and pieces, as it has to be returned to Milton Keynes on Friday.

I think I have now mastered the electrics of the boat, although the tumble dryer constantly blows the circuit breakers on the boat and shore power, but if I disconnect the shore power it will run fine on the engine driven 240 generator!

We now have the phone, laptop and printer all sorted (after much gnashing of many sets of teeth !)

We have also purchased 2 life jackets for the dogs plus a life ring for the humans

I have also mastered lighting the fire.....but I do wonder, what is the correct etiquette for getting rid of the ash? I have been letting it cool in a metal bucket and dumping it in the trash.

We are also well rehearsed in the emptying of the toilet cassette!

I have also sorted out the cratch area as best as I can and stored various bits and pieces in the hold; we are trying to make the boat as unclutterd as possible, which is quite difficult after living in a house for so long - and especially with 5 animals !  I don't know how we would have managed on a 58ft boat!

Elaine has turned into a cooking monster....so much cooking and baking going on, no complaints from me!  I think she has missed her cooking opportunities over the past few months because she has been so busy with the house stuff.  Her dad gave her quite a few kitcheny  bits and bobs when we were up there, for baking and cooking, so she's been getting good use out of them.

As I have mentioned before, we are paid up up to the end of April on the marina, but will probably leave a bit before that, as we have got a date for some goods that are coming on the slow boat from OZ. They are being delivered to Elaine's dad in Macclesfield, so we will take a leisurely cruise up there to collect some stuff for the boat and store some stuff at his house.

We are still going up the local pub with the dogs every night for a swift half and a chat with the barstaff and locals.

I took the camera tonight a and took a few pics of the village plus the marina - the village and the scenery arouund here are just stunning!  Lastly there are couple of pics from Macclesfield from last week.

nice house

another nice house

more nice houses plus El and mutts

Very grand house

Chooks at the marina, fresh eggs, yum 

The marina

view from side hatch tonight 

Other way 

2 dogs and 2 cats william (cat) was hiding  

Macclesfield cobbled street 

Elaine outside her house 

Elaine's dad with Sammy

First Impressions ...

We've been back in the UK now for just over one week.  We have only taken the boat out once as we have been busy getting together all our bits and pieces for our extended cruising plus visiting Elaine's dad and brother in Macclesfield; whilst we were there we also sorted out our bank account and registration with a doctor - the latter was slightly tricky after a bit of an inquisition by the reception-nazi at the doctor's surgery, who wanted to know who my doctor was 30 years ago - and what their postcode was.  She wasn't at all impressed to know that the whole housing estate had been demolished years ago!

So, these are our observations of the UK so far ...

• Apart from the quack's receptionist, we have found everybody we have encountered, eg, shop assistants, hospitality staff etc to be unbelievably helpful, exceptionally friendly and humorous !

• The standard of driving is excellent, as usual !  So far we have done a few thousand kilometres and we have only witnessed one Aussie-type driver - as in, crap and dangerous !  I love driving here !!! :)

• Thirdly ... the pubs !  Our local at the moment is the Coffee Pot in Yardley Gobion where we are now on first name terms with the owners and staff.  Tonight we went up there to watch a band and how refreshing it was not to have to leave by 8 pm because all the 'young uns' are about the invade the place (ie, as in Manly, NSW !).  We reckon the average age was 50... it is just, so, so nice !  As regards pubs, we have also take the dogs into 3 of the 4 visited and they are made very welcome.

As regards other happenings, we picked up the cats from the cattery today and they are very relieved to be back with us in our new home.  They are settling in really well - however, we haven't started the engine yet !

One other exciting thing that happened in Macclesfield was that Elaine's brother gave us our new mode of alternate transport !  I (Paul) now have an 'as new' mountain bike and Elaine has a Raleigh fold-up bike - with the famous Sturmey Archer 3-speed transmission !  We've not been out on them yet - but they have been cleaned and polished and stored nicely in the cratch !

We are also getting to grips with all the new technology - we now have a Mi-fi which enables us to connect up to five different wireless devices.  So far, we have our laptop, wireless printer and new mobile phone happening!  Talk about extremes - we are going to be living a simple life - but all high tech at the same time ! 

So - all' is good aboard NB Caxton; we are really loving our new home  - we are planning to go out on our first 'solo' trip on Tuesday (after the long Easter weekend) - until then we will be making sure we are all ship-shape - and maybe do a bit of relaxing too !!!