Thursday 28 April 2016

Not Feeling the Love Navigating the Nene



Fotheringhay
Well, it wasn’t meant to take so long to get the next instalment written.  But first of all nothing much was happening, and then when it did, we ran out of data after downloading The Night Manager to watch (which was well worth it – fantastic!!).

Anyway, after spending a few days with my lovely mum and brother John and Nephew Alex in Fife, catching up on domestics like the dentist, getting my hair done, legs waxed…blah…catching up with some friends…..blah…blah, trying to get rid of the cough picked up skiing, I headed to York to meet up with Mike so we could catch up with our friends and family there. 

Nephew Alex after a visit to his favourite shop - Leith Army Navy Stores!
Sometimes Facebook just gets on my nerves and intrudes on my life, but on Saturday 9th, whilst sitting at Inverkeithing Station, it came into its own.  The train was late so I idled some time away on Facebook only to spot a post by my longtime friend Kate, saying she was on her way to London this morning.  I replied to her post saying “You’re not on the 10.10 from Inverkeithing are you??”  Two minutes later, she walked along the platform to find me.  We had a grand catch up, but parted ways when the train arrived as I had a first class ticket and Kate didn’t.  However, she came and hovered with me for a good half hour, but declined a smoked salmon sandwich, preferring her Fife sausage bap waiting for her in coach B.  It was brilliant to see her and get all her news – she’s an amazing woman and embarking on all sorts of new adventures, not least a trip on Quaintrelle in the autumn hopefully ;)

Kate and her second class coffee...
After a lovely weekend in York catching up with our dear friends The Robertsons at Norfolk Towers, and a day in Whitby with the rellies, we made our way to Weedon on Tuesday 12th.  The boat was freezing when we got back but soon warmed up with the fire on, and it felt amazing to be back on board – I’d been away from her for four months!!!  Jim had been busy the last few weeks doing the jobs we’d left him but also some other work to ready her for France later this year.

Never mind the bollards - new ones on front gunwhale for French locks
Flagpole and ensign required for France
New toilet tank gauge (for you Neil - I'm still obsessed!!)  The red light will come on when we need a pump-out
New toilet tank gauge in place (another one for you Neil :) )
Busy, busy at Weedon as Jim maneouvres Betty into the shed for her paint job
On Friday night, our new friends we met in France, Laura and Steve came for dinner on board and we had a lovely night with them.  They head back to France (and 23 degrees – I’m not bitter) on 15th May, for the summer, but we hope to see them again in November before we take the boat to France.  Did I mention we’re taking the boat to France??? ;)  Well, it’s all booked!!  More or less…… we have the transport booked and the crane booked to lift her out on 28 November at Gayton Marina, we’re just waiting to hear back from the yard in Migennes that their crane is available on 30 November to lift her back in the water – the French water.  We’re booked into the Port at Auxerre where we will spend winter (and go to French lessons!!).  We’re pretty excited. But before we get carried away with our adventures across the channel, we’ve got a summer of boating in the UK to enjoy!  We had intended to leave Weedon on the following Monday 18 April, but having crawled around on his knees for two days touching up the paintwork, Mike’s knee flared up – literally...

Mike was quite pleased to get rid of his nobbly knee and have something more substantial
On Monday evening, Connor Morris (Body Kneads – sport therapy and remedial therapies) came and worked his magic on The Knee for an hour.  By the time he left, we could see the shape of Mike’s knee-cap again, but Connor warned it might swell up again the next day and be sore after being manipulated.  He was right.  Next day Mike was groaning and hobbling even more, but followed the instructions he’d been given, rest, ice, compress, elevate.  The next day there was some improvement but we’d also been told not to overdo it when it started to get better.  So we sat in Weedon for another few days to let the knee recover and finally only left on Friday 22 April. 

Looking back towards Gayton Junction on the Grand Union

New territory on the Northampton Arm
It felt good to be on the move especially when we turned off the Grand Union at Gayton Junction onto the Northampton Arm – new territory!!!
We moored up for the evening at the top of the flight enjoying finally being free of the marina, even if we were quite close to the A46……….

The next day we began making our way down the flight of 17 locks to Northampton.  We almost didn’t get away as the gate on the first lock wouldn’t open fully, but we managed to squeeze in.  The boat behind us wasn’t quite so fortunate and got stuck, we found out later, and had to get CRT to come out and dredge out a load of muck from behind the gate…..  We soon caught up on the single boater in front of us, who, as he returned to close the gates after him was opening the top paddles to start them filling for us.  We returned the favour as we caught up, by closing the gates behind him to save him coming back, so it worked out well for both of us.  Half-way down the flight, we picked up a passenger – Jan, a friend who lives in Northampton, and she enjoyed a wee cruise for a couple of hours down to Northampton.  Jan left after a late lunch and having shown us where Morrisons was, where we headed to do a shop before settling down for the evening.

Joined by Jan
Bat Boxes on the Northhampton Arm

Locking down onto the river
The welcome committee at Northampton - sadly there were only the two blond ones left by the time we left :(
We stayed in Northampton on Saturday, one, for Mike to rest his knee for a day, and two, we couldn’t go any further as we didn’t have an EA key, which is required for the locks on the Nene, and the marina where you can buy them wasn’t manned that weekend as the manager had gone off to London.  This was more than slightly annoying as we’d tried to buy one at Gayton Marina (also listed in various guides as supplying them, but they’ve stopped doing them, as of this year!).  So, here we were stuck in Northampton, also now known as the town of no aubergines.  There were none in Morrisons, Asda, and although we found where they had been in a Tesco Express in town, the tray was empty!  Sainsbury’s might had had them, but we couldn’t find it – Google Maps seemed to think we could walk through a 20 feet high brick wall…… We’re pretty good, but we can’t do that……. When I realised where it was (in a shopping centre), Mike’s knee was playing up, so I went on my own leaving him resting on a bench.  I got within spitting distance when I realised I didn’t have any money or bank card on me – Mike usually buys the food shopping.   We managed to get into the marina on Sunday and get an EA key and we set off, not overly enamoured by our experience to date of the River Nene.

As we were setting off, another boat (Ruptie Jane) came out of the lock, so we set off together so we could pair up in the locks

Things didn’t get any better later on in the day when it transpired that some of the mooring points shown on the Imray Guide we had bought especially for this navigation, turned out to be non-existent – as did some of the services shown, and we were needing to empty our bin.  Having been unable to find a mooring, we continued on and did a much longer day than planned, and the scenery wasn’t that great and the weather was shit.  We did consider turning back at one point, as we’d also noticed that despite cruising for over five hours, our batteries were only up to 82% and normally they’d be up nearer 100 after that length of time………

As we were just resigning to continuing on to Wellingborough, I spotted a boat pulled in on the bank ahead.  There was a stretch of even-ish bank, so we pulled in and moored up for the night. 

The next day the sun was out in full force, but so were northerly winds that were bitterly cold and brought sleety showers with them…  As we were finishing breakfast, Ruptie Jane passed us and a while later, the lone boater we’d followed down the Northampton flight passed, along with another boat he’d paired up with to do the locks with.  We followed shortly and made our way to Wellingborough, where there was a water point, pump out, Elsan, toilet block, shower but no rubbish bins.  Eh!!!  They go to all the bother of putting in every facility possible, but not rubbish??!!  C’mon guys………  We topped up with water and had a chat with Ruptie Jane’s owners as they had stopped for water and some shopping from the nearby Tesco.  The other two boats had moored up for the day further back the embankment.  As Ruptie Jane headed off, the heaven’s opened.  We filled up with water, having decided that we would fill up whenever we saw a tap given the lack of services on the river, had a coffee and waited til the rain stopped to set off. 

Our first guillotine lock
Industrial waterfront at Wellingborough
Swans travelling in twos - must have been a school outing...
An interesting bit of the Nene navigation
More industrial land scenery and boring flat landscape, we were really wondering what all the fuss is about the Nene.  So many people said to us, “You’ll love it, you must do it.”  Well, not feeling the love at the moment.  We cruised for a couple of hours mooring at the now defunct Rushton Diamond football ground.  Kind of felt that we were moored at the edge of an industrial estate, but it was quiet and a few boats around.  There were some nice cows in the field opposite.

Moo!
 
A crane - not the type with wings

Another more interesting bit - look, trees on the bank!!!

The weather was much the same the next morning, beautiful sunshine, but then an icy blast as we opened to doors.  We set off, able to see the lock ahead, which looked a bit different and a few minutes later we realised there was a crane in the lock!!  Mr Positive F’d and blinded a bit and said that was it, we’d have to go back now….. I hopped off the boat and asked the EA man if it was a coffee stop or a lunch stop we should have.  “Coffee – we’ll be done in 10 minutes or so.”  The EA obviously adheres to canal time as they were done in about 30 minutes…….  It was another uneventful day’s cruising, through fairly uninspiring countryside with the occasional lock thrown in for a bit of variety.  Most of the locks are electrically operated but we started to come across manual ones where you turn a huge wheel by hand to raise the guillotine-style gate, and they are back-breaking.  Or rather ‘chicken-wing’ breaking – not a flabby upper-arm in site……  The countryside took a turn for the better as we approached our evening mooring at Wadenhoe, in the garden of the King’s Head Pub.  This turned out to be one of our favourite moorings in a beautiful setting.  The pub charges £10 a night, unless you eat at the pub, then it’s free…..  We had a fantastic steak and chip dinner with a bottle of wine – highly recommended J  The next morning we took a walk up to  the church, filled with water (just because we could), had a coffee and headed off.

Nice mooring at the King's Head
Pretty Church at Wadenhoe

Wadenhoe is really pretty, lots of thatched cottages
Plenty of water at the Wadenhoe Lock - flooding over the gates
Pretty bridge at Lilford - one of the prettiest locks on the Navigation apparently...
Nesting Swan
It was to be another day of misleading information from the guide…..  The moorings we were aiming for at Ashton Lock had insufficient depth for anything other than a kayak to get in and after grounding coming out of said lock which took about 20 minutes to get free,  we ended up in Fotheringhay, which should have been our Thursday night mooring, and this was only Wednesday.  There was still an icy wind blowing, there were still manual locks but our batteries suddenly jumped up to 100% - woohooooo!!!  It was really sunny and our new solar panels appeared to have kicked into action.  There’s not much at Fotheringhay in terms of services, but you pay the local farmer £4 for the pleasure of mooring at the edge of his field.  It is a place of interest however, as Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots was beheaded in the great hall of Fotheringhay Castle, which sadly is now just a mound that the sheep roam over.  The church looked pretty stunning, but having been in the one at Wadenhoe, we didn’t bother going in for a look.  Just as we got our mooring pins in, the sky, which had been darkening for the last 15 minutes or so, opened up and a sleet storm raged for about an hour.  It felt nice to be tucked up in Quaintrelle with our fire on and I was glad it was not a ‘run’ night….. I started my running when we got back down to Weedon, easing myself in with a couple of 20 minute runs for the last couple of weeks.  But it’s quite hard to run when you’re on a river as there is often no distinct path.  Even when there is a ‘footpath’ marked in the book, it’s often just along the edge of a field, following the hoof prints of the local herd, and I’m never quite sure if I’m meant to be there?

Our £4 mooring at Fotheringhay
The view from the mound that was once Fotheringhay castle - what Mary Stuart would have looked upon - without the narrowboat obviously.....

Looking back to Fotheringhay; Bridge, Church and the big green mound to the right that is all that remains of the castle
Having climbed the mound and had some deep thoughts about what must have gone through Mary Stuart’s mind as she spent her last days here, gazing out over a fairly characterless countryside, we set off with two potential moorings in the guide book for this evening’s accommodation – the preferred one being another pub garden J  We were actually right through the town of Wansford-in-England (just in case you’re not sure which country you’re in) when we realised that we had passed both….  I had been looking out for them and seen nothing – okay, I had seen the pub, but it was up on the main street and not on the waterfront.  So we reversed back, just in case we’d missed it, but no.  There was no mooring.  Again.  Where the guide says there is.  So, we carried on with the next moorings not far away (if they exist!), at Wansford Station, the home of the Nene Valley Railway.  With a biting wind accompanying us yet again, we got moored up on a pontoon mooring just under the railway bridge, just before the heavens opened and the rain set in for the rest of the afternoon.  It’s a shame the trains aren’t running tomorrow, Friday, as we could have stayed here and taken a train trip, but they are running this weekend, so we’ll take the train from our next mooring on Saturday (which DOES exist because two boaters have told us about it and I’ve seen pictures online).  Tune in next time (I’d say next week, but I don’t want to commit myself….), for more Nonsense from the Nene………

Monday 4 April 2016

Boating Business in Burgundy

We arrived in Beaune on the evening of 19 March, bringing with us from the week skiing happy memories and a couple of viruses, courtesy of the kids in the chalet..... Mike succumbed first with a sore throat quickly becoming a rough, chesty cough and I followed suit a few days later.  So our next phase of travel was interspersed with afternoons resting and trying to keep warm dosed up with various cough mixtures and medicines.  It wasn't so much a wine tour of the Burgundy Region, but a Pharmacie Tour, visiting the Pharmacie in most of the towns we visited.  On a plus note, I am now fluent at describing different types of coughs in French....... Fifteen days on I am still coughing but now managing to sleep through the night.  Anyway, back to Beaune.  It's a very nice town and we enjoyed our couple of days there doing the tourist stuff, before hiring a car to explore the Burgundy Canal in the surrounding area.
The Wonderful Hotel-Dieu at Beaune with traditional tiled Burgundy roof

Kitchens

The Hotel-Dieu was founded to care for the needy; sick, poor or both

Oooooh - a historical Pharmacie - anything for Toux Grasse!!!
We did a wine tour and tasting at the Patriarch domaine, and though we tasted really hard to try and like the Burgundy wine, we just didn't :(
Caves and caves of wine we don't like :(
Exploring the Burgundy Canal - The Basin at the pretty town of Pouilly-en-Auxois

The canal tunnels under Pouilly-en-Auxois for 3K.  It's managed by lights and a barrier as it's only wide enough for one-way wide-beam traffic.
The tunnel entrance under Pouilly-en-Auxois

A regular haunt for us on our trip - the laundrette!  This one in Beaune.
On Tuesday 22nd we boarded the train heading for Auxerre with changes at Dijon, then Migennes.  The Dijon-Migennes section should have been an hour and a half, but they had replaced the train with a coach and it took three and a half hours!! We were losing the will to live by the time we got to Migennes, but Mike summoned up the energy to walk along the platform to look at what he could see of the port from the station.  We were excited about this part as information from the boatyard at Migennes would allow us to decide when to bring the boat over, depending on when they could fit us in.  We picked up our hire car and headed to our accommodation at Auxerre, the lovely, rural La Bichonnerie.  The hosts were lovely and directed us to a close-by pub/restaurant where we could pick up a quick dinner or pizza, as we were a 20 minute drive from Auxerre, which we didn't really fancy. So we ate very averagely at the local place and were bathed and tucked up in bed by 8.30 - rock n roll!!  The next morning our host asked us how we were, "not great...." We coughed back.  "Yes, the other guests said they heard you coughing all night........"  Oops :(  Thankfully we were the only guests for the next couple of nights so would only be keeping ourselves awake.  The next day we headed into Auxerre where we spoke to Lesley and Mike who run the port there.  It would be no problem to fit us in for a winter mooring at the end of this year - woohoo!  We had a look round the port and were invited onboard for a cuppa by Bill and Jane on WB Lazybones.  We had a good chat with them and they said it was a good place to moor for the winter.  We then wandered around the town which was very pretty and had all the amenities you'd need.  Then we went back to the b&b for a hot bath and bed.
I'm afraid we felt so crap and the weather was so poor that we have no pics of Auxerre or Migennes apart from this one.  Me with a toilet in Auxerre.  My favourite subject!!
At least it makes the one of the laundrette look interesting.......
 Mike was beginning to feel better, but suffering from lack of sleep, whilst I was still getting worse, but we headed into Migennes the next day to find out about getting the boat craned in at Simon Evan's boatyard later this year.  Again, no problem.  Just let them know when once we have transport arranged at our end.  The only problem might be if the river is high.  They would still crane us in, but we might have to stay at the yard until we can get safely down to Auxerre.

After a cuppa on Stu's boat DB Vagabond, we headed back to the b&b for the afternoon,  stopping off at the Pharmacie on the way to restock.

On our last day there we drove around some of the little towns and villages, and visited the Pharmacie in Chablis.  We sat in the car park in Chablis for a while to catch up on emails etc. as we were struggling to get a decent wifi signal at the b&b then headed back for our bath and bed.

Saturday 26th saw us boarding the train again, this time bound for Paris.  I wasn't sure if my excitement was for Paris or the fact that suitcase living was drawing to a close!

We checked into our hotel near the Place de Republique and headed out to explore our surroundings.  Our first stop was the Canal St Martin, which we will cruise when we bring the boat to France.
Canal St Martin - Drained for repairs.

Empty locks on the St Martin
Our first dinner in Paris was at a restaurant called La Pharmacie, 2 minutes from our hotel.  I hoped their house wine would provide a cure, but whilst Mike was in full recovery mode I was still coughing constantly to the point of gagging, which was most unpleasant.  One episode on the underground had me gagging away and a Chinese tourist offered me some water.  I declined until she also produced a stack of paper cups in which to dispense the water which I then gratefully accepted.  The flow of water down my throat seemed to stem the coughing, which started again as soon as the water stopped.  So I sipped and sipped trying to keep the cough at bay and make the water last.  Thankfully the Water Lady and her family had left the train by the time my nosebleed started....... I was a bit of sorry state.....

Our second day in Paris took us down to the river, for further viewing of where we will be bringing the boat.  It was a completely industrial section where we couldn't get near the river, so we started to walk back towards the city centre.  Then the rain started and we got soaked - yay - fantastic for my cold!!  
The Arsenal Basin in central Paris

Other side of the Arsenal
We managed to do a few touristy things in Paris, but I found the dry air of the galleries a real struggle with my cough, and the cough itself exhausting, so whilst we managed the Musee D'Orsay, we had to duck out of the Louvre at the last minute.  We made use of the Boris Bikes in Paris, which were great and there are superb cycle lanes throughout the city that made navigating the busy roads a bit less stressful.  But I was gutted that we didn't manage more, as a few afternoons were spent in bed coughing :(  I loved Paris, it just had such a great feel to it and I can't wait to go back and do what we didn't this time.
Notre Dame

The Seine, from the Batobus, pulling in to let the working boat pass on the other side.

Paris from the Batobus

Yikes!!!!!  How big??! How fast??!!  How close??!!!!!

Museum D'Orsay clock

Cafe in the Musee d'Orsay

Vince

Preferred mode of transport in Paris
I felt sad leaving France on Thursday, it's a really great country and I've loved our three months exploring.  The only area we have crossed out for potential living is the Burgundy region.  We don't like the Burgundy wines :(  They are too acidic, too lightweight.  We prefer the heavier, fuller grapes of the South - and the weather ;)  

We are now at Chez Mum's and my cough is finally on its way out, although it's taking its time!!  Mike is heading back to the boat tomorrow and then heading to York for the weekend where I'll meet up with him and finally both back onboard next Tuesday 12th and hopefully ready to set off down the River Nene by the end of that week.  CAN'T WAIT!!!