The new camera was ordered on Saturday and it was delivered to Giles on Tuesday, we have always had excellent service from Amazon.
Tuesday was a gentle day, with not nearly as much rain as forecast, I managed to find the energy to clean another of the venetian blinds and also all the windows, and Geoff had a clean out of the cratch. We have to do a little work sometimes.......
Wednesday was all planned that Geoff would walk into Pangbourne, meet Giles at the station, collect the little car and we were then mobile to go up for our baby sitting duties after lunch. We had thought of moving up to Goring after a recce to see if there was space, but Giles delayed the meet by an hour so we decided that was not feasible. First part went according to plan but when Geoff arrived back at Petroc he was fuming......the car had virtually no petrol and had overheated on the journey back............thoughts of the AA loomed......however after giving the engine time to cool down he went back to check the problem. 4 pints of water later things were much improved. It was a good job Giles was not within range...no petrol and no water and we were doing them the favour of babysitting!!!!!!
Anyway we both went up to look after the children but Geoff departed after supper back to Petroc.
Thursday had been the day of departure but after a bit more baby minding we decided it was too late to set out.
The plot was an early start today Friday, this was achieved but in the pouring rain
It was a wellie and long mac day
We self locked through Whitchurch lock and the first stop was above Mapledurham Lock to water, deloo and empty rubbish.
Mapledurham weirs seen from below the lock
The back of Mapledurham House
Closer to Reading we passed Reading marine where 3 years ago we stopped to refuel. Despite the sign and the pump, we are reliably informed (by NB Epiphany) that they no longer sell fuel
There are some big houses on the approach to Reading some with their own boathouses, I liked the one below with it's thatched roof.
Not a bad little pile!
Not too sure about this one
Enlarge this one to see what they have parked in their garden
Next stop was Caversham Boat Service to fill up with fuel. I had phoned ahead to check the price 97p before tax. This is 8p a litre more than we paid for the last fill up o the Oxford. I don't think it is because fuel has gone up but just the fact that we are on the Thames. However we could self declare which I did at 10% cruising. We have been going so slowly this year and that is what the spread sheet tells me.
A little further on we passed Better Boating who were also advertising that they sold fuel, but it was the first time we had seen any marina advertise that you could self declare.
Next stop was Tesco-on-Thames. There was just one space which was just big enough for us to get in. After an abortive attempt to come in downstream, we did the sensible thing and turned round to come in upstream........we have forgotten what an effect the current does have when you are trying to moor.
3 trolley trips later we were well stocked up again. I neatly bypassed the grid area where I thought the trolley would stop and wheeled everything straight to the boat and thought I was quite clever. However we were then told by the boat who had come alongside us that since they were now making you put your £1 in for the trolley that the wheel locking thing no longer happened........
Upstream again to moor just the other side of Reading bridge..it says it is £4.80 a night here so it will be interesting to see if they come to collect it.
We are expecting Emma tonight after a long day shift in Reading A&E, followed by another one tomorrow.
We had thought she could use the car park close by but the sign says it shuts at 2130hrs and does not reopen until 0700...we shall have to see how she gets here...we are only one mile away and a 20 minute walk.
9.53miles, 4 locks, 4hrs 40 min(not including Tesco shopping time!)
No comments:
Post a Comment