Left at 09:00
arrived at 14:30
Its another bright day,
looking like it may be a scorcher so suncream liberally applied. Filling the water and pumping the toilet out
before we set off, the dogs have been having a play on the green hillock next
to us, its a lot better for them this side as they can have a canter round on
the grass, dogs are not allowed on the Museum site, Derek had been walking them
through the locked gate at the end of the moorings and into the village. Oh, I forgot to say that the water here is
really clear, you can see the reeds and fish, Derek saw a perch gobble another
smaller fish yesterday. Got through the
three locks smoothly by 120, so back in the boat , made a coffee, went round the back to Derek and had a little
drive, scaring Derek a few times, its pretty boring going down a dead straight,
if somewhat grubby bit of water, made him go faster. Derek says the anglers(mostly older guys
today) are a lot more cheery, one old guy said he saw us the other day, he
remembered the names Esmerelda and Foxholes, as they were unusual, he gave us a lovely wave
goodbye. There seems to be even more
sweet peas in the hedgerow today, maybe the sun has brought more in to flower,
they are lovely. Decided to make a hot
pot as we will be travelling for a while, prepared it, put it in slow cooker,
made lunch and delivered it to Derek. A
NB came by with a pretty young girl driving, sat on top of the boat, she gave
us a smile and then we noticed the boat name? The Vented Spleen!! Is it just us
or is that a terrible name, conjuring up someone with a lot of anger, even if
it is being vented? Awful!!!! On entering Birmingham, we had a funny
situation, the river bus was in front of us, the skipper was giving his talk,
we were almost at a standstill while he stopped at the roundabout in the middle
of the canal. It brought a smile to my
face, the driver was a small bald headed man, Popeye came to mind. We slowed right down and let him get on with
it following him, very slowly, through a very bustling busy city. At the second
of the narrow channels, there were 2 x 2 sets of Kayaks (2 boats with two
people in each, the boats tied together) waiting to go through. The front little girl shouted to ask was
there anyone behind us as they wanted to go through. I stood up and watched
whilst we got through and then told them that it was safe to make a break for
it. The little girls said they were
racing the other set of boats so I told the big instructors in the back of the
boats to paddle like mad. They were
having a great time and we left them paddling their way through. We passé a
boat I noticed before Hydrogen Operated (was on the sign fastened to it) it was
moored alongside another quite tatty boat and next to a portacabin, it belongs
to the University of Birmingham and is also moored next to their expansive
campus grounds. There is a wonderful
clock tower in the distance, unfortunately I couldn’t get a picture as the
trees hid it from the camera lens. We
went over an aquaduct and I managed to get a picture of the Tower, were not
sure if it is part of the University but it is magnificent. The hedgerow here is full of ferns and brooms
with large black seed pods, it would have looked lovely when they were in bloom
earlier in the year. We have also been
seeing large brown dragonflies along the way, they are really large, 3 to 4 ins
from head to tail, very impressive.
Moored at Bourneville by 2 30 on the end of two other boats, one which
we know has been here for a week or more, with no one on board, they left it
when we were here with the kids. Its
been a long slow trek today, Derek says the canal is really low, hence him
having to slow down. A cuppa was in
order and a snooze, its been very warm on the way and we are both weary. Derek lel the dogs have little run on the
grass at the side of the moorings and we settled to our rest. The slow cooker stopped when we turned the
engine off so we put the hot pot into the oven on a low number to finish
cooking. After a rest and then tea, Derek
had a shower and we did the blog. He
also showed me the plan for the next few days i.e. the way we are going and where
we will be on Monday to wait for Niamh to join us. Beginning to wish he hadn’t, there are a lot
of locks and a few swing bridge/lift bridges?
I jest, not too bothered really, sure we can cope with whatever comes
our way, take it as it comes is the way to be??
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