Blissful Cruising

We left Wootton Wawen Sunday morning, passing this moored boat with some very nice flower arrangements on the roof ...


The crops are looking very ripe for harvesting ...

It was another hot day, the boys crashed out as usual.  We still find it strange that when the weather is very warm we still see people walking in winter attire; we passed a lady walking her dog - she was wearing a thick fleece, thick trousers and fur lined boots!  We have been having cold showers to cool down!  

Its hot

Nice lockside cottage with  barrel roof ...

Bombo woke up and went for a trot on the towpath ...

We stopped at Lowensford opposite the Fleur-De-Lys pub - that's it through the side hatch.   We went for an afternoon drink, then back to the boat for a quick read and nap then back to the pub in the evening for dinner!  Well recommended, lovely pie menu, but then it is home of the famous Fleur-De-Lys pies  It is also dog friendly ... Sam had a play with St Bernard!!    

We didn't start too early this morning as there were a few showers around, but once again very warm.  We passed this field with some very noisy sheep.

Very sharp turn to the right at Kingswood Junction to link up with the Grand Union Canal ...

No worries, straight in ...

Right turn again and we are on the Grand Union and heading towards Warwick ...

We stopped for the night at Rowington.  It is a lovely spot, we can see a pub but cannot get across the canal to get to it!   We had a bit of company at the side hatch...  

It is a really nice spot, and we are completely on our own which is nice.

Elaine cleaned out the cratch and tended to her marijuana plants!  We are going to be the dope boat!  They are tomatoes really but everyone thinks they are marijuana plants, probably because there are no bloody tomatoes on them!     

View from the bow, with the dogs chasing the ducks.

We spent the rest of the day dealing with a bit of overdue paperwork, renewing our Aussie passports online and then I made a (tuna) curry for dinner.

I think we will move in the morning but then again this is a very nice mooring!  So, another end to a fantastic, lovely 'cruisey' day!

Nearly forgot - 2 boats passed today that read the blog, NB Klara and can't remember the name of the other one, totally flattered!

Synchronicity!

Elaine here ...

A definition of synchronicity is 'the synchronized occurrence or coincidence of events in life that have special meaning...' (more on that later !)

We decided to stay put in Wootton Wawen (I just love saying that name !!) today as the weather forecast was for hot weather; I'm glad we did - it appears that today was the hottest day of the year so far !  It actually wasn't hot-hot here but very pleasant, none-the-less !

Last night we took the dogs for a walk to the pub down the road - on the way, we saw this cheeky peacock ... must have been waiting for his dinner !



Got fed up with waiting !


It was a pretty walk and gave us a few photo opportunities !

River Alne flowing over a spectacular weir ...



St Peter's (a very old) Saxon Church !  It is also known as
'The Saxon Sanctuary'.


Next door to Wootton Hall ... we had a walk down the grand entrance to it to have a 'sticky beak' - it seems to be comprised of residential park homes to the side of it - not sure what goes on in the actual hall now though.  It was quite cute really - it was like a little private community down there - even had it's own post office and 'country club' !

Wootton Hall and resident sheep

This guy reminded me of a lonesome sheep herder (mind you, he was just getting his mobile out of his pocket, so a modern-day sheep herder maybe !)



After our little walk down the road and found the Bull's Head, which was a lovely old pub - loads of character, oozing history, nice and clean and tidy and good service inside, but yet hardly anyone in it - shame :(  Apparently it has been through a few hands and has fairly recently re-opened again - I hope it works out for them.


We had a drink there and as it was Friday night, we thought we would 'go crazy' and go to the other pub in the village for another one - a canalside pub called (yes, you guessed it) the Navigation Inn !

We sat outside this pub as we had the dogs with us and it seemed to be a mainly 'restauranty-type' pub.  Here I am posing with Paul's drink which I stole from him because it tasted so nice !  Could be my new tipple - it is 'Ruddles' ! 

Now - here is the wierd bit of my tale !  The picture below was taken back in June in Bugsworth Basin, when we first met Mike and Sue who own 'NB Ta-Jo' - which, by coincidence, is Barn-Owl No. 6 (we are Barn-Owl No.9) !  We also met them again when we went up the Caldon Canal - and again on the way out of the Caldon ...

We knew they lived in Wilmcote - which is the next village down the canal, and we had passed their boat on its moorings twice. We hoped we might have bumped into them in Wilmcote - on the two visits to the Mary Arden pub there - but hadn't :(



 But then, just as we were finishing our drinks, who should come out of the pub - yes, you guessed it !!  So, it was hugs all round and we all sat down for another drink !

Now - what are the chances of us meeting them there (in the next village to where they live) and that moment .... synchronicity I tell ya !

Anyway, it was another photo opp for us ... here we all are ...

 

Well, after all the excitement of that chance encounter, we strolled back to the boat (in the near dark by now - and we hadn't had dinner yet!).  When we got back we discovered we didn't have any power - so Paul got his investigative head on and found that we had blown a ' 200amp DC fuse' - oops !  We had experimented earlier in the day with having the drier runnng and turning on my hair straighteners at the same time.  The straighteners had stated on them that they only drew 30 watts - in hindsight - it is probably a big typo and is probably something more like 300 watts !  Anyway, it was obviously enough to have caused a ruckus with the electrics !

I made a quick Gnocchi for dinner and Paul fixed the fuse with a spare that, luckily, Joe and Lesley had left on the boat (Thankyou!).  Phew - I am so glad it was fixable and not requiring a new inverter (which was Paul's first guess !)

We had a late night again and this morning got up and went for a walk down the local Yew Tree Farm Shop - there were actually a few lovely retail/craft shops there - which had been created within an old farmyard.  We also went to buy some more oil as Paul had the urge to change it (it was due again, apparently !). He also checked the fuel filters and checked for water in the fuel plus the dreaded bug, he said there was not one drop  of water or any sign of the black gunk, apparently the additive is doing its job!

Here is a picture of him in his engine hole --- looking hot!  He did say he was hot but not as hot as he would have been when he was working 'on the tools' in Sydney - he said they used to have to stand their spanners upright - because if they laid them down they would get too hot to pick up again !!

Tomorrow we will move again !

The Treadlie Gets a Workout!

On Wednesday, the weather was absolutely grotty - raining right through 'til mid arvo, so we just took it easy ...

Sammy didn't mind taking it easy, with Russ !

...when it brightened up and we went for a walk along the River Avon part of Stratford.  This is a view from our boat to the lock that separates the basin from the River ...

Pics from the River ...  

 

 This is the lock a bit further down the river - very elaborate looking ...

The life ring at the lock --- or not !

Hmmmm - methinks you jest ?!

We were going to get the little ferry back across the river but the
Ferry-Man was having a 'smoko' ....



Looking down the river to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre ... rowers abound !

View in the other direction !

 

All in all, we had a most enjoyable time in Stratford, in fact we have had a most enjoyable time everywhere we have been!  We were talking today, and we both agree that this boating lark gets more enjoyable the longer you do it, long may it last!

Our plans were to go down the Avon and Severn to Gloucester, but that has changed because brother Russ is having the boat for a few days over the August bank holiday and we are having his car and heading off to Macclesfield. It didn't seem a good idea to swap on the river, plus they could get stuck and not be able to get to work if it flooded etc.  So we decided to backtrack and go to....we havn't decided yet!  To us this is the joy of narrow-boating, no plans, with no destination (just 'enjoying the journey' - Elaine !)

 This was the view from the bow whilst we were moored in Stratford basin, not bad eh!


We reversed out of the berth and made a nice 180 degree turn in the basin (I love my bow thruster!)

We passed NB Armadillo at a lock just after we left Stratford, we had a very quick chat.

There were an awful lot of herons cranes on the canal bank ... (ha ha - Elaine). 

Elaine broke out the 'treadlie' for the Wilmcote flight of locks, wow - what a difference it makes, she was up and down that towpath setting the lock like a woman possessed; we fair shot up the flight! 

Nice scenery on the way up ...

Passed through the 'meaning of life' lock!

We moored up at Wilmcote for the night and went down the Mary Arden Inn for a swift pint.  

Second visit there - we went the other night too!  Nice place !

This morning it was lashing it down with rain so we laid in bed for ages catching up on some serious reading.  I have now read more books in 5 months than I have in the last 5 years, I think that must say something.

We decided to move in the rain as we had a crap '3' signal and we needed computer access to do some housekeeping on the financial front.  It was fun going across the Edstone Aqueduct as it was blowing a gale!  Just after the aqueduct is a lock, as we approached there was a boat leaving, plus another waiting to come down.  As soon as the boat passed through the gates, the next crew started closing the gates in front of us.......a few good blasts on the horn and they reversed them (I love my loud air horn) ... they said they didn't see us!!  To be quite honest if they turned the lock in front of us I wouldn't have been bothered, I just like the sound of the horn!

We have stopped just outside of Wootton Wawen, where we have good '3' signal and 100% on the satellite dish for a bonus, also noticed that, according to the guide book, there are 2 pubs in the village.....yet another bonus (I love English pubs) .

So here is tonight's mooring ...

View from one side hatch ...

View from the other side hatch ...

When we set off again we will have a 'few' locks to do 'til we decide which direction to turn at the next junction !

Bombo and Sam's Excellent Adventure, part 2 - Stratford Upon Avon

Sam here....We left our mooring this morning and were soon buzzed very closely by the police helicopter, I reckon they were looking for the ever increasing amount of beer glasses that keep appearing on the boat!


We passed over a miniature version of the Ponty-whatever-its-name-was-Aqueduct...


Me and mum hung out of the window as we went over it. Nice view !

Then - just as Mum and Dad were whinging about there being soooo many locks we were suddenly in a place they call Stratford Upon Avon !  There were so many people and dogs and kids and ice creams and noise ...

We got one of the last berths in the marina and as a bonus its free!!  Plus it's right in the centre of the town.

Below here you can see our boat ... Caxton's big bum sticking out!!

So today I was given the job of tour guide of this quintessential English tourist town; I am not as smart as Bombo, but here goes it!

Here is an old building ...

Another old building and it appears to be a pub; I reckon the old man may drag us down there tonight!

Another old building ...

Doggy drinks.....bloody water!

Monument about another old Queen....lots of old Queens in this country ...

Spotted this butterfly, I am about to tear its wings off!
(Don't worry, animal lovers - it wasn't real!)

We went to the birthplace of some Sheikh Spear chap also known as the Bard; I think he is related to Bard Simpson!

Bombo started to act the fool with a fool ...

... and then, at last - after dragging us around a load of streets in the heat, we had a  nice cold beer in a garden.  Did I mention it was very hot today ...

Then, as we had a bit of time, I checked out and approved a few of today's shots ...

Finally me and my brother posed with a statue of Lady Bigmac Macbeth ... wierd lookin' chick !

We really enjoyed Stratford.  We are going to stay here for a couple of days then they keep talking about venturing onto our onto our first river, The Avon - dunno wot that is all about !