NB Northern Pride

A surprise visit 'down under' from fellow narrowboaters ...

2012-01-26T09:07:00.000Z

... coincidentally at exactly the same time as a visit from some friends from UK who had booked in with us over a year ago!

Barry was in the shop on Monday, while I was sleeping before my fourth night duty (we're rather short of midwives currently so I'm having to do some extras!), and a couple came in and asked him if he knew who they were. Now we were expecting my friends, Jean and Jeremy, to arrive the following day as part of their whistle stop tour of New Zealand, so poor Barry was rather confused. He finds it a challenge to remember the names of people he's known for years, never mind those he's only met a couple of times, so although he recognised their faces he couldn't place them.

But then the name of a canal - The Chesterfield canal to be precise - was mentioned and he immediately knew Ray and Pauline! His memory for places and waterways in UK is incredible. Ray and Pauline were moored with us in 2009, along with the lovely Pete who we also caught up with again in 2010. We bumped into Ray and Pauline in 2010 at The Black Country Museum. Ray says he initially saw a young couple and thought we'd sold the boat, but he'd spotted my Godson Mikey and his girlfriend Sophie.

So on Tuesday evening we had a dinner party for six, instead of four, and were even more flabbergasted to discover that Ray and Pauline live 20 minutes from where Jeremy used to live in Lowton.

Pauline, Ray and Barry enjoying the evening sunshine on the deck

Barry was in his element chatting about the waterways and reminiscing about our first meeting with Pete. It was so lovely to see you both, thank you for dropping by and we'll catch you again in 2013 I'm sure!

Jeremy, Sandra and Jean catch up

Jean is a midwifery colleague I worked with in England when I was a Project Lead for Midwifery Recruitment and Retention with the Department of Health, Jean was a Local Supervising Authority Officer and Jeremy is a retired judge. They're now making the most of their spare time and every two years have a big trip - this year it was to the Southern Hemisphere and they added two days onto their packed itinerary to see us in Gisborne, and we had a fabulous day doing touristy things on Wednesday - in the afternoon we went sting ray feeding at Dive Tatapouri, a short drive up the coast, something I've wanted to experience for ages. Jean was rather worried that she'd get stabbed, but they were the sweetest, gentlest sea creatures you could imagine. Only Jeremy had a waterproof camera, so I haven't any photos to put on here yet, but I'm sure he'll email some in the future.

As Jean was leaving to return to their motel, she asked quite innocently "Is that a toy?" I looked at where she was pointing and there, to my absolute horror, was a dead rat lying prostrate in the corner of the lounge (rather than the 'rat in the kitchen'!). Barry assured me that he'd vacuumed the evening before and it wasn't there then, but it was extremely stiff - blooming cats aye, but better a dead rat than a live one I suppose!

OMG! And he seriously had vacuumed the night before!

Six weeks and six days before we return to UK …

2012-01-18T05:01:00.001Z

Sadly not to come back to the canals, but the next time it will be – that’ll be in just over 13 months time now. So the countdown is on, and there’s a lot to do in the meantime.

We’re flying from Auckland in the early hours of Wednesday 7 March and will be there until Tuesday 27 March, so a whistle stop tour catching up with my family, which includes a weekend at Northmoor House in Devon for my mum’s 79th birthday.

We had a great time camping at Pouawa from 28 December to 10 January, despite some dodgy weather when everyone (or so it seemed!) except Barry and I returned to town because we had an approaching cyclone! During the two weeks of living next to the sea Barry and I continued to work as normal, and early one morning as I drove to the maternity unit in town, along the road which hugs the coast-line, I was blessed with a spectacular sunrise …

Awesome, it made getting up at 0530hrs well worthwhile!

Not much else to report really, it’s just heads down, work our little socks off to earn as much money as possible, pay off debts, de-clutter our (far too many!) belongings, get the house ready to sell by September and save to buy a lovely narrowboat in the spring of 2013. I’m worn out just thinking about it, but it’s also very exciting to think I’ll be coming back to England to spend time with my family again, I miss them heaps.

Sunny season’s greetings and Happy New Year!

2011-12-27T01:19:00.001Z

We hope everyone has had a fabulous xmas and is looking forward to 2012. It’s been a chilled one for us, Barry is on his third day off, and we’ve had his children Jamie and Tom staying. Luckily the sun’s finally decided to come out, we’ve had more than our fair share of wet and cold weather recently – most unusual for Gisborne!

It’s a challenge for us to find something UK waterways related on our blogs during this time when we’re away, but we had a lovely surprise on xmas eve, as a friend of mine from work bought us the xmas card below …

A ‘pop-up’ xmas card – found in a shop in Gisborne would you believe?

The card is sitting on top of my gorgeous new Macbook Air – I adore it, though am still rather clueless as to how to use it completely, so am currently sticking with my old desk top until I feel more confident! It’s fantastic for Skype-ing for my Life Coaching course, and it’ll be an amazing tool once we’re back on the canals as I’ll do a lot of on-line work, so it was my treat to myself.

To pay for it, we’re renting our house out and we’re in the middle of sorting out and cleaning ready for the first group of people to move in for five nights from tomorrow. We have the same people renting this year as last year, caterer’s at Rhythm and Vines, the New Year’s Eve festival here in Gisborne which is in its 9th year and winner of the 2010 Best Festival/Event NZ Tourism Award, is reported to be “the pinnacle of the best festival week offered anywhere in New Zealand.” Our usual population is around 35,000, and there’s 30,000 tickets for R & V – and they’re likely to be sold out – so you can imagine how packed Gisborne becomes at this time of year, along with xmas holiday makers from around new Zealand.

So we’re off to the beach …

Barry putting the tent up – it’s a VERY old one, and we’ll be lucky if it survives the next few weeks intact!

Here’s the tent erected – just a stone’s throw from the beach, and right next to a Pohutakawa tree …

… and check out the view from the front of our temporary home – what could be better?

Tent’s up, it must be time for a drink!

We’ve had a great year, it’s flown by, and so many lovely things have happened. Barry’s shop continues to be extremely popular and I’m almost half way through my Life Coaching Diploma, we have a gorgeous new grandson who we see regularly on Skype, and our family on both sides of the world are healthy.

So it’s happy 2012 to all of our readers, and we hope to catch up with some of you when we’re back in March. Have a fun, but safe, New Year, and may you reach for the stars and achieve some of your dreams next year. We’ll have a lot to do on our journey back to the waterways of UK by February 2013, so it’ll be a productive time, and I also want to see as much as I can of the Southern Hemisphere before we return to my homeland, so it’s very exciting!

Arohanui (big love) from Sandra & Barry.

Barry’s in Tall Spirits

2011-12-14T11:19:00.001Z

Since our last posting, Barry has had his 56th birthday (6 December) and we had a few days away in the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula as I’d been in Auckland for the weekend on my Life Coaching Diploma. I’d already booked the accommodation and his air fare before he opened up the shop, and we have a very competent friend who looked after 'ezimade' while he was away. I know how challenging it can be for self-employed business people to take time off (having lived with Barry when he had his photography business when he hardly ever had a holiday) and I don’t want Barry to go down that road again, especially after he’s tasted three years of not a lot of employment! It’s gone from the sublime to the ridiculous lately, but that’s OK, it’ll settle down and we’ll adjust.

We drove up the west coast of the peninsula, which hugs the coast most of the way so you’re almost driving on the golden beaches which are lined with Pohutakawa trees (NZ xmas trees), though sadly only a handful of them were in bloom. It’s one of my favourite places in New Zealand, having visited many times with visiting family, but Barry has only visited a couple of places, briefly, many years ago – so I showed the kiwi some of his own country, just like he showed me some of mine when we were on the canals.

It’s tragic isn’t it that we often fail to see what’s in ‘our own back yard’. “What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?’ At this point I’ll apologise for the quality of the following photos – taken with my new ‘iphone 4s’, but by me rather than Barry so they’re not up to the usual standard despite it being a fantastic camera!

Stunning beaches and Pohutakawa trees line the road

Me and Barry on the eve of his birthday, in Coromandel town, at the Pepper Tree restaurant in Coromandel town – one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever tasted!

On Barry’s birthday we went to the 'Driving Creek Railway', built in the bush by Barry Brickell over a period of years, and then drove along the '309 road' which is 22 km of winding gravel road that cuts across the Coromandel Peninsula from west to east and has a few attractions along the way. The second one I’d been to three times before, but it was Barry’s first time. When I said we were going to a water park, he thought I meant slides and pools – ha! Little did he know what fun he’d have …

At the Driving Creek railway station and in the train, high in the bush, overlooking the Coromandel

In the Waiau Waterworks Park, Barry plays out his inner child!!! 56 or between 5 & 6?

After the water park, it was a visit to the waterfall, book into the accommodation at Hot Water Beach, and a quick walk to Cathedral Cove – sadly there’s been some rock falls here so it’s cordoned off (no that it stops most people!)

Sadly the tide never went out at Hot Water Beach, so we didn’t get to dig a hot pool, despite waiting around with our spades for almost two hours! Ah well, we’ll have to go back one day …

The time away together was far too short, and it was soon back to the shop for Barry – not that he minded! He’s loving the new opportunity and has been unbelievably busy since he opened. New Zealand is one of only three countries in the world where it’s legal to brew your own spirits, and it seems that having somewhere with the equipment for spirits, as well as beer, wine, cider and cheese and yoghurt making, is a very popular place to frequent in Gisborne. He’s even just been featured on the front page of the national home brewer’s magazine …

But don’t worry, despite his success his main aim is returning to the waterways of Britain early in 2013, all of the things we’re doing here in New Zealand in the meantime are working towards that goal.

You’re never too old to diversify – the three faces of Barry, looking outside the box - lessons in putting it out there!

2011-11-27T08:49:00.001Z

For anyone reading wondering what one earth this blog has to do with the waterways of Britain, let me explain. Barry, my husband, and I, bought Northern Pride, a 45 foot narrowboat in April 2009 and spent the next six months travelling almost 1,000 miles around the canals and rivers of England and Wales. We returned to New Zealand, as Barry is only ‘allowed’ to stay in UK for a maximum of six months, until May 2010 when we returned to complete another five month journey. In February this year, we sold our beloved boat to some beautiful people who keep us in touch with what is happening with her, and we’re back in New Zealand, Barry’s home country and my adopted country, while we plan our return to UK by February 2013 to buy another narrowboat and live aboard ‘indefinitely’. So, in the meantime, we’re continuing with the blog to keep us inspired and focussed on our vision …

In April 2007, a year after Barry and I got together, I dragged him back to England to meet my family. His proviso was that he would come, and leave his successful photography business and not earn any money for 4 weeks, so long as we could ‘do a canal trip’. So we had four days and nights aboard a hire boat with my parents and my youngest daughter Kim, and did the Birmingham ring. Barry was hooked! When we returned to New Zealand he dreamed of returning, buying a boat, and living aboard. It took us another two years to get there, but by September 2008, I had sold my house and moved in with Barry, he had sold his house and then sold his business – a professional photographer of 35 years with a very high profile in his local town of Gisborne.

Since that time, Barry has had a few short term contracts in between our trips to UK, but realistically found it an enormous challenge to get a ‘real’ job, despite sending in numerous CV’s, application forms and covering letters. Feeling that maybe employers were looking at the fact that he’d only really worked as a photographer and not seeing his transferrable skills, as well as possibly believing that at 55 he must be ‘past it’, he was becoming despondent.

But Barry isn’t one to let things get to him, and November 2011 has seen a complete change of his life! From having no job, he’s had three! From having much of the past three years off, he’s spent the past month with hardly a day not working.

Firstly there’s been his photography workshops which we mentioned in a previous blog. The September dates were a non-starter, probably because it was such short notice, but suddenly a few weeks ago he had people wanting to book and was full for November with bookings now in place for the February workshops too!

Then of course, he opened his homebrew shop 'ezimade', on Thursday 17 November and has been like a pig in s—t ever since! Business has been amazing, with huge interest from local people. He’s open six days a week, 1000hrs to 1800hrs Monday to Friday and 1000hrs to 1600hrs on a Saturday. So from having him at home for seven days a week I now hardly see him - we’re like ~~ships~~ narrowboats that pass in the night!

Then yesterday, Saturday 26th November, Barry was the manager at one of the local polling stations working from 0800hrs to 2200hrs! He’d applied for a job with the elections some time ago, and without even asking had been appointed as a manager. Not that he craved such notoriety, we suspect anyone who knew anything about the elections would have declined – experience is a great thing in retrospect isn’t it?! A 16 hour day for a pittance – ah well, that’s life.

So the message is that however low you may feel, and even if you think that you’re ‘too old’ to do what you want to do, it’s like anything in life - “What you give energy to grows and expands’ - so put it out there, whatever ‘it’ may be for you, and rest assured it’ll be given to you.

Embracing technology and ezimade takes off!

2011-11-22T09:44:00.001Z

Goodness me! My aim has been to write a blog each week at least, but things have been full on here lately, and I haven’t quite managed to fulfil my good intentions.

On 11th November, unbeknown to me at the time, the new iphone 4s was launched. On that day, I had some time to visit our local Vodafone shop and invite of the sales assistants to tell me about what phones were available to update the Motorola phone I’d had since early 2007 – without even knowing it I was persuaded to buy the very latest iphone and went away thinking I’d never be able to work it out but incredibly discovered that actually it was (and is) the simplest and most useful phone I’ve ever purchased! I adore it and have finally begun to embrace all this newfangled technology! All in the name of working our way towards returning to the waterways of UK by 2013. But more on that to come …

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of organising and partaking of a cycling winery tour with some of my midwifery colleagues, courtesy of Gisborne Cycle tours, cycling 22kms whilst visiting four local wineries sampling their wine and tasting some delicious food – awesome fun! I was the lead on a tandem bike which was pretty scary to begin with, but we managed to get the hang of it pretty swiftly and stayed upright throughout the day with no mishaps.

Nikki and me and our tandem bike

The cyclists about to leave Stonebridge Wines on a beautiful, sunny Gisborne day

The day after the cycling I’d organised a two day experience courtesy of Walk Gisborne, with a friend from my life coaching course, and we did an awesome walk on Tuesday of last week with them.

On the walk with my new ‘drink as you walk’ water siphon over my shoulder – what a fantastic invention!

Looking out onto Makorori Beach, Gisborne

Not a bad part of the world :-)

Due to changeable weather conditions on the Wednesday, we decided not to do the next walk but return to Gisborne and visit Barry in the about to open shop and help out with his opening evening.

Barry outside his new shop, with the signs being put up

Welcoming his new customers

The shop is going well, it’ll be a week since it opened on Thursday and the interest has been awesome! Today, Tuesday 22nd November, Barry has a business profile published in the local paper, the Gisborne Herald:

So anyone who had the pleasure of meeting up with us on Northern Pride in 2009 or 2010, and sampled Barry’s home brew, will appreciate the passion and commitment that has gone into opening this new venture which is part of our plan for returning to the waterways of England early in 2013.

A nail biting final, and Barry’s new venture takes shape

2011-11-02T10:43:00.001Z

We had a fabulous day at the Gisborne Wine and Food festival on Sunday 23 October. Sadly the weather changed from a glorious sunny morning to an overcast and rather cool afternoon – and there were some scantily clad people who wished they’d packed some extra clothes around!

Barry (unsurprisingly, as he seems to know a large proportion of the population of Gisborne) bumped into a number of people he knows at the event, and took the opportunity to promote his upcoming ‘home brew and more’ shop that’ll be opening in November. James Milton of Milton's Winery in Gisborne, listened intently as Barry enthusiastically talked of his plans. Barry can’t compete with their organic and biodynamic wines - my favourite is 'Muskats at Dawn', which in 2011 has a slight sparkle and is absolutely divine.

Barry tastes a glass or two of Milton’s wine with James Milton

The day was a sell-out of 5,000 tickets with around 1,500 of them to folks from out of town. For the third time this year we socialised with our niece Emma, Matt and their friends from Wellington which was cool – especially as they had packed a picnic rug so we could share that when we wanted a rest!

Barry, Lois, Matt, Emma, Charles, Lana and Charles!

The venue for the day was the Waiohika estate, which has two natural amphitheatres and is also the venue for the huge New Year festival called Rhythm and Vines which accommodates an amazing 25,000 people, and won the 2010 Best Festival/Event NZ Tourism Award. It seemed just right with 5,000 people, plenty of room for everyone, but it must be buzzing with five times that amount of people – almost the same as the total population of Gisborne!

The main stage where ‘Fat Freddie’s Drop’ were the headline act – the ‘R & V’ sign can be seen in the background

As dusk fell, the crowds moved to the smaller amphitheatre to watch the big match – and what a tense, breathtaking final it was! There was a time when I was thinking I should’ve bet $100 on France, rather than just $20 (just to soften the blow if the worst happened!), but was thankfully ecstatic to lose it. What a shame there weren’t more tries though as the whole crowd rose to it’s feet and roared at the All Blacks only try - electrifying!

Yaay! We are the champions of the world – Richie’s in the background kissing the Webb Ellis cup, and you can tell we’re delighted and relieved

So it’s all positive for New Zealand and great for our economy. Hopefully that ‘feel good’ factor will also help Barry’s new business to get off the ground. We have the keys and Barry has put up most of the shelving now and will be putting his first order in tomorrow – very exciting! Here’s a few snaps of the up and coming shop …

The logo we chose after much deliberation

The shop is on the end of a line of premises, on Peel Street, Gisborne

An abundance of shelves just waiting to be filled with home brew kits, cheese making kits, and who knows what other surprises …

A very proud Grandma and Grandad Kiwi - and a positive thinking nation anticipates a long awaited victory!

2011-10-21T08:10:00.001+01:00

I've been pretty impressed by the changes in our lives this year since I commenced my 'Holistic Life Coaching' diploma with Life Coach Associates. Barry hasn't had much paid employment since selling his business in September 2008, and despite applying for many jobs hadn't been getting anywhere. I've been talking about leaving midwifery for years, and having given up a senior post and returned to 'the shop floor' in 2010, have been investigating other opportunities.

Well 'the law of attraction' has certainly been working for us, and I've heard and seen other peoples experiences too, both positive and negative. Basically, what you give energy to grows and expands, so if you think you're going to have a bad day, guess what? You're right! Obviously the converse is also true - at the end of the day the choice is yours.

Life for us is pretty special right now, and we'd like to share with you some of the reasons why:

I started a business hiring TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) machines out to pregnant women for their use in labour - the electrical waves via four pads on the back distract the nerve endings and prevent pain impulses from giving the brain a negative message. I have eight units now and have had some amazing results from women who have managed to proudly labour with no other interventions than the TENS which is drug free. How awesome is that? Of course once I've recouped the money I've laid out I will earn a small income as well, but for me the beauty is empowering women to have more control.
We rent our house out through Holiday Homes, and have successfully done so twice so far this year. This weekend coming it's rented for three nights, and we've spent the past couple of weeks de-cluttering and cleaning in preparation - it's certainly not money for nothing, but it does mean we've Feng Shui'd our home;
My life coaching is going well, having experienced the power of being coached myself as an integral part of the course, and I'm now working on my 100 hours of client case study hours. I'm loving the challenge of embracing and learning the skills which will lead to a successful, future career, and the clients I've worked with to date are making some significant and powerful changes in their lives which, in turn, brings more clarity and focus to mine;
After much sustained effort changing my eating (bad) habits and exercising more, I've lost 5.5kg since we were in Queenstown - that's almost a stone for those still working in old fashioned measurements, and I feel so much happier with myself. When I thought about it the other day I realised that 5.5kg is more than the weight of most babies - and I know how heavy they are as I often cuddle one for a few hours when I'm on night duty to give their mum a rest (a good excuse!). Isn't it amazing what we can do when we put our minds to it?;
The midwife I've been mentoring since January is doing a great job and gaining in confidence each time we meet; she'll soon be able to drop the title 'New Graduate' as she'll have achieved everything she set out to do in her first year of practice;
Best of all, my eldest daughter and her husband adopted a little boy called Leon on Monday 10 October. I have never, in all my time as a midwife, seen two happier, more deserving parents. It's been a long, unexpected and often painful journey for them, and it's so heart-warming to see them so fulfilled at last. Of course it means that Barry and I are now grandparents, and we introduced ourselves to Leon on Skype on Wednesday - Grandma and Grandad kiwi! We can't wait to see him in person in March 2012;
Barry, having advertised for his photography two-day workshops, had given up hope when no-one had registered for the first course in September, and by last week no-one had expressed much interest at all in the other two. Then suddenly, late last week, he got an influx of texts and emails and now has six people registered for his November workshops, and two for February;
He's also gained employment as a manager of one of the polling stations in the general election in November - not a great earner, but something different and some extra pocket money;
The other huge piece of news, is that on Thursday, after weeks of pontificating and putting it out there, Barry signed a lease for a shop in Gisborne to commence selling home brew kits and other things such as cheese making kits. New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world where it's legal to make your own spirits, and we supply many other countries with spirit 'flavourings' due to it's popularity. Of course there's beer, wine and cider to delight the appetite too. Barry made a very lovely Pinot Grigio recently in around five days - it would be difficult to tell the difference between this and a bottle from a winery (unless you're a serious wine buff of course!), and the cider I can verify is extremely drinkable. Everyone he's spoken to in the past few weeks have had a tale to tell about what they want to make, from our dentist with his abundance of limes wanting to make a type of lemoncello (is that how it's spelt?), to the landlord who said he's always wanted to brew his own beer so could be the first customer! We reckon it's going to be a huge success - and by the law of attraction if we think it is then of course we'll be right!

Away from our influence is the other amazing and exciting event to come this weekend - the Rugby World Cup Final! You can feel the pride and joy of a nation everywhere as those magnificent All Blacks saw off our biggest rivals the Australians last weekend - and didn't they play well? They have such a presence on the field and the Haka sends shivers down my spine every time, they also have what most other teams don't have - an awesome team spirit. Richie McCaw is one of the best leaders I know; he's pretty gorgeous too (and Barry knows I think that so it must be ok, lol!). We'll be watching the game at the Waiohika Estate Winery for Gisborne's Food and Wine Festival, and the weather seems to have just turned into summer so it promises to be a fabulous day. Just in case the French win, I've put a $20 bet on them to win so that I shall be happy either way - problem is that I foolishly left it too late. Earlier in the week the odds on them winning were 26:1, today they're only 6:1 - I should've grasped the opportunity when it arose, another lesson learnt.

Ah well, GO THE ALL BLACKS!! It will be priceless if they win, and there'll be a few photos of the celebrations on the next blog ...

A few of my favourite things, and a disappearing Barry…

2011-10-12T08:56:00.001+01:00

For numerous reasons, but mostly time constraints, I’ve chosen not to follow through on our proposal to write a blog about ten of our favourite places from our 2010 journeys on the waterways of Britain. We’ve taken so long to just get up to date with the blog that I feel it’s time we made a commitment to write more regularly, and as much as possible in ‘real time’. - well, apart from a few snaps from our trip to Sydney on the return journey to New Zealand last November!

Our mini-break for my birthday at the end of September was lovely and relaxing; we were even blessed with so much sunshine that I got sunburnt. Most people’s daily lives these days have been taken over by technology, ours included, so it was wonderful to have a couple of days where we didn’t have access to the internet or mobile phones.

Mahia peninsula is just less than an hour's drive from Gisborne, and is one of my most favourite places. Check out these photos and you'll see why ...

Our picnic table on Taylors Beach, a 2 minute walk from where we were staying

An optical illusion, or some rather large pumice stones?

A collage of cabbage trees

Somewhere amongst the trees down there are two homes

How about that for a view?

An abundance of wildlife - turkeys and goats check us out ...

... and the odd curious cow

Packing up the picnic and leaving the beach bach (short for the 'bachelor pad' of old, New Zealanders are renowned for their bach's at the beach)

A little bike ride on my 52nd birthday - a little uphill section

The spectacular view from some sections of land for sale

Scrummy Galaxy chocolate from Lisa for my birthday - a real treat, they don't sell it in NZ!

Hard to imagine but the waves are crashing against some abandoned railway carriages

Although it's fabulous to escape the 21st century occasionally, I’ve recently ordered one of the new, 6” Kindles from Amazon for a xmas present to myself. I’m having it delivered to my parents address in Worcester, and won't get to play with it until we come in March 2012. I love my books and have a bookcase full – though not as full as it used to be as I’ve recently sorted through and am selling or giving some away. Barry has yet to make a start on his vast collection! The Kindle I’ve bought holds up to 1,500 books, which I thought sounds as many as I would ever need.

On Sunday, Barry gave away his New Zealand boat, ‘The Final Cut’, which hasn’t seen water (apart from rain) since I met him almost six years ago! It was going to be sold when we moved here in 2008, until we realised that there was so much parking space at the house we bought together, that it could come with us - so it’s been sitting at the bottom of the garden ever since. Now it’s in new hands, they may even find the time to do it up and get it back into the water – just the beginning of us downsizing our ‘stuff’ in preparation for returning to UK around February 2013.

We were sad to see that Paul and Elaine didn’t achieve the price they were hoping for at their house auction recently, and hope that it’s just a minor glitch in their dream. How frustrating to have sold your house once and now look likely to have to sell it for a lot less than someone was willing to pay for it just a few months ago. Who knows what the market will be like in New Zealand this time next year, but there’s no point dwelling on ‘what might be’, “what you give energy to grows and expands" is one of my Life Coaching mantras, so I’m putting it out there that our home will sell for a good price towards the end of 2012 so we can return to the cut.

The All Blacks remain in the Rugby World Cup, thank goodness! At the end of the first half I was wondering if they were going to go the same way as Ireland and England! Barry and I are going to be at the Gisborne Food and Wine Festival on Sunday 23 October, and we'll be watching the final on the big screen in the open air. Fingers crossed for fine weather and the kiwi boys, though Barry's said all along that Australia are going to win, so it's maybe more likely to be an Australian/France final. We shall see …

Talking of Australia, here's a few shots from our few days with Peter, Barry's younger brother, last November:

Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House

New development Ceinwen, Peter's daughters' mother, is overseeing is in the foreground

Little and large

A very fascinating tour of the Opera House

A rare picture of the two of us

The Harbour Bridge is pretty spectacular isn't it?

Barry's green t-shirt faded into the background of the green cloth that the photographer used!

Meeting up with Paul, from 'Nb The Manly Ferry' for a drink in Manly

Bye for now Sarah, Peter and Amy

The final days in England 2010 - Witley Court 2010 & 2007

2011-09-26T23:50:00.001+01:00

It hasn't quite taken 12 months to complete our 2010 blog, but it's certainly come very close! We're still pondering our 'ten favourite places' of the journey and wondering if we'll actually be able to narrow it down to ten! We have decided not to have a 'top ten' as that implies that number one is superior to number ten, and we're sure we couldn't be so selective. It wasn't just the places in 2010 either, we have so many happy memories of the people we met along the way as well, even more than in 2009. Anyway, we'll get there in the near future, I just need to find some time to really consider what to put in and what to leave out ...

In the meantime spring has sprung here and our clocks have moved forward an hour, making us now 12 hours ahead of GMT. There's still a cool breeze, but the sun shines most days. Today we're off for a couple of nights to Mahia, a peninsula about an hour's drive away, where there's some of the world's most beautiful, mostly deserted, beaches . It's my birthday on Wednesday, and yesterday we celebrated the second wedding anniversary of our first wedding (read that blog post here) on the roof of Northern Pride.

Friday 29 October 2010

My daughter Kim came to stay with us for a couple of nights just before we returned to New Zealand last October, and we had a delightful day in the autumn colours around the 19th century mansion of Witley Court, a short drive away from my parents home in Ombersley, Worcestershire.

Very serene ambling along by the trees and water

Kim and Sandra enjoy their day together before we leave once again

The magnificent Witley Court gardens from the front of the ruined house

The entrance to Witley Court - it would have been a grand affair in its heyday before it was ravaged by fire

Making beauty out of disaster

The stunning Perseus and Andromeda fountain which springs into life at various times in the day

A panorama of the pristine gardens and fountain at the back of the ruined Witley Court

The grounds and building are a utopia for Barry, and we used them when we visited in 2007 on our holiday to England, having a 'photo shoot' of the Walsh family ...

The extended Walsh family, April 2007

Here's some of Barry's favourite spots from 2010:

Also in the grounds stands a Baroque Church, which is in use as a local Parish Church whilst welcoming visitors from around the globe ...

Kim and Sandra check out the ornate ceiling from the mirror

It's as incredible as the buildings in Rome

More autumnal scenes, it really is colourful in England in October ...

On the Friday evening, Kim, Barry and I drove into Birmingham to meet up with Lisa to say goodbye for now. Of course it also gave Barry an excuse to say his farewell to the canals in Gas Street Basin!

The Mailbox in Birmingham City Centre - a hub of illumination and activity around the canal basin

This could be a scene from the late 18th century - it's modern yet timeless on the waterways of England

Always sad to part, but also wonderful to see each other and appreciate precious time spent together

Colourful balls of light adorn the walkway to the railway station

Haere Ra, farewell for now to Lisa and then Kim - breaks my heart every time - such beautiful, amazing women I grew :-)

On Saturday we had to return the hire car to Enterprise, Northampton and catch the train back to Droitwich. Now we know about the car rental company that will collect us from the boat and take us to the premises (and they even gave us a lift to the train station!), we'll definitely be considering using their service when we're back on the canals instead of relying on public transport - it's probably cheaper and more reliable.

Thank you!

We flew to Sydney on Sunday 31 October and spent another couple of days with Peter, Barry's brother, before arriving back in Gisborne on 4 November, ready for the southern hemisphere summer.

As I write this at the end of September 2011, it's almost 12 months from our return to NZ, so we know it won't be too long before we're back on the canals for the foreseeable future - if all goes to plan by the northern hemisphere spring of 2013.

The culmination of the 'down south' experiences ...

2011-09-16T07:46:00.001+01:00

As soon as Emma (Barry's niece) put the announcement on facebook earlier this year that she and Mathu were getting married in Queenstown, I sourced the cheapest flights I could to make sure we could afford to go! I've covered many of the sights and experiences in the North Island of New Zealand, and knowing we're planning on returning to UK to live for the foreseeable future around February 2013, I'm on a mission to see as many of the parts of the Southern Hemisphere I've not been to as possible in the time left here.

I booked flights from Auckland to Queenstown return for us both for less than $500 (around £250). If we'd travelled from little old Gisborne it would have cost around $2,000! As luck would have it, I had a Life Coaching weekend just prior to the trip, so Barry just had to fly up and off we went.

We imagined that Emma and Mathu had chosen Queenstown as it was one of their favourite spots, but as keen skiers and snowboarders, they'd decided that as they also hadn't seen much of the South Island (isn't it odd how we don't visit our own 'back yard?), they would tie in a road trip with a wedding. Cool idea, aye? Emma's organisational ability was amazing, she made her own dress and chose a stunning wedding location and the reception was definitely different to any other I've had the pleasure of being at. Oh and of course lucky Emma had Uncle Barry as the photographer ...

The beautiful bride with an incredible background - and the happy couple

Emma reminded me of Cate Blanchett as the Elf Queen Galadriel in the NZ film Lord of the Rings. The silver wrap was hand knitted by her amazing mum Joy, who also just managed to finish Mathu's cardigan that he wears underneath his jacket, the evening before!

Almost all the Teutenbergs - Barry, Jenny, Wayne, June, Peter, Ray, Mathu, Emma, Sandra, Lauren, Daniel (sort of a Teutenberg!) and Joy

Of course for the family photo Barry set up the camera and someone else took it, so by the time he'd skipped into the group we ended up at opposite ends of the picture! The newlweds and the proud parents of the bride - Ray, Mathu, Emma and Joy

Heavenly location - a photographers dream

We were bussed from Queenstown to the wedding venue in the mountains on the Lake Hayes Road, and then back on the bus for a winery tour. The wedding ceremony and photos had taken a little longer than anticipated, so we only managed two of the three wineries that had been planned for a visit.

The first one, Amisfield Wine Company, had a spectacular setting overlooking Lake Hayes. The blue skies and sunshine against the white mountains was invigorating - we had to drink more wine and eat more food we felt so alive and healthy!

Amisfield Wine Company with the wedding party in the foreground

An hour or so later, having tasted the most delicious cheeses, honey combs and pinot noir (their speciality), everyone was rounded up once more for the next destination of Gibbston Valley where they have built an underground wine cellar. The cellar remains at a constant, pleasant, temperature all year round and was a very intimate and cosy setting for some more platters and a lot more vino! Of course there was the obligatory (cup)cake cutting ceremony, and a few speeches and toasts to Emma and Mathu ...

A loving kiss at the cave entrance and the mouth-watering food platters all ready to consume

The wedding and reception ended around 2000hrs, and we all travelled back to Queenstown where some people got changed and partied the night away - mainly those of a certain young age, and of course Barry's brother Peter managed to stay the course! As I mentioned previously, I played nurse to Barry and Jenny and we all had an early night after their slight disasters!

On the Sunday, I had a brainwave and we booked a rental car so we could explore a little more of the area with Jenny and Lauren, Barry's sister and niece. Although it was great to spend time with the Teutenbergs, and Emma and Mathu's friends, after travelling so far it would have been a shame not to see farther afield, and of course get a glimpse of the ski-fields that Queenstown is famous for ...

Up in the mountains, on the drive from Queenstown to Wanaka

The Cardrona Hotel

The Cardrona Ski field is just behind the Hotel, and today's temperature is minus 3 degrees! The Hotel is infamous for the fact that some years ago, the owners marriage broke up and the story goes that the wife took half of the building, the restaurant, with her to Auckland! You certainly can't tell I have to say, it was such a neat, quaint place, and I'd love to stay there one day. Sadly we had to get the hire car back to Queenstown by 1800hrs so could only stay for a 'to go' coffee and a quick look around.

Some of the old settlers bits and bobs out in the back garden

Wanaka is a little less than an hour's drive from Queenstown and is well worth a visit. It has a much more open feel about it, more spacious and less touristy somehow. Here's a few of Barry's favourite pictures ...

Under the thumb? Sandra? Never! Oh OK, maybe occasionally :-)

After lunch and a quick look around, we went to Puzzling World. The website states:

Stuart Landsborough’s Puzzling World is a world unique attraction specialising in puzzling eccentricity. For over 35 years this remarkable business has entertained and amazed visitors of all ages, attracted to this beautiful part of the world. Offering the world's first "modern-styled" Great Maze, incredible Illusion Rooms, a Puzzle Centre/Café, large Gift Shop and eccentric architecture and Oddities. We are possibly the most photographed attraction in New Zealand.

We'd been recommended to go here by a number of people, and thought that one a half hours for the visit would be sufficient to see everything - how wrong we were! It was a fascinating place and we had to literally drag ourselves away.

The Hall of Following Faces - seriously, as you walk around each face follows you - spooky!

The Tilted House, with a lean of 15 degrees (I am on my way up not down in this picture ) - I was so nauseated in here I could hardly stand up and couldn't wait to get out - totally upset my ears' bony labyrinth balance centre

An interesting couple of puzzles made from single sheets of metal - the left one is easy enough to see but the right one is still beyond me (click on image to enlarge)

The Ames Forced Perspective Room was hilarious. Again the website states:

The technique of this illusion was used in The Lord of the Rings film to create tall people and little people. The shape of this room is totally distorted although when viewed from outside through a window, the room looks perfectly normal. Prepare to be amazed!

Well there you go, you learn something new every day!

BIG BROTHER - little sister!

It's all a matter of perspective

Then came the maze which has 1.5km of passages. Now Barry had told me when we went to Hampton Court the secret of getting through a maze, but for the life of me I couldn't remember it! The challenge was to get to the four corners and then find your way back out. I beat Barry to the four corners by about a minute, but getting out again was another thing - Barry managed it easily whereas after more than 30 minutes of going round and round in circles, I cheated and slipped through one of the emergency exits! Time was running out, we had to get the hire car back after all - does anyone else know the maze secret? I know it now, but if I told you I'd have to shoot you ...

Lauren trying to find her way to the four corners

The very effective Roman Style toilets - "Designed to replicate Roman-style ablutions with a magnificent Diorama (mural)"

Lauren the Mighty!!

There's certainly plenty to see and do around Queenstown, but as with most things, you need a lot of money if you want to 'do it all'. We managed to fit in some great experiences and had an 'amazing' time - thank you so much for the opportunity to be at your wedding Emma and Mathu and for the experiences we had in Queenstown.

The end of our journeys aboard Northern Pride

2011-09-13T02:37:00.001+01:00

Tuesday 26 October to Thursday 28th October 2010

Well, we've finally got to the last blog of the culmination of our journeys aboard Northern Pride - almost 12 months after the event! This is in many ways a sad posting, but in others it's a positive one as we look to the future. Of course everyone will be aware that we sold our boat in February this year to some great people who keep us in touch with what they're doing - thanks Fiona, it really is appreciated.

After catching up with my family for the weekend in The New Forest late last October, Barry returned to the boat to complete some last minute jobs. I stayed with my parents to spend some quality time with them and keep out of his way!

Almost finished the pointy end!

Ian - thank you for looking after Barry and helping him to drink his home brew beer!

On the Thursday I drove back to Blisworth in the hire car to collect the rest of our belongings - oh and Barry of course! I thought I'd have to drag him kicking and screaming from his ~~first~~ second love, but at the end of the day he was very brave and managed not to shed a tear. Actually, I think it may have been me who had the damp eyes, we'd had so many amazing adventures and met such beautiful people since we've been on the waterways, but we know they're indelibly etched in our memories.

Our last photo next to our floating home

The completed paint job - the covers are drying on the roof

Barry passes one of the cheese boats on his way to the Marina - no time to stop today!

Even the birds line up in a salute of 'see you again soon' as he saunters past

Always on the look out for photo opportunities

The final frontier - approaching Blisworth Marina

Northern Pride's new home for the winter

All parked up ready to say a fond farewell

The lovely man from The New & Used Boat Company at Blisworth - thank you for all your help

Barry's last, longing look at his pride and joy

Isn't it strange how, like many people, we'd spent much of the last few weeks getting our boat ready to sell - then someone else gets the benefits of it! We'll be doing the same thing with our house before we put it on the market, but we're spreading it out over the next 12 months. Maybe, when we're living somewhere day to day, we get comfortable with our home as it is, but want to present it in the best light to the new owners? Of course we also hope to get the best possible price in order to buy the next place - another narrowboat of course!

We finally sold Northern Pride for the same amount we bought her for in 2009, less Marina costs. We'd done some work to her over the 18 months or so that we owned her, but during that time we'd had the advantage of a floating home, and visited some fascinating places.

We summed up our 2009 travels with our top ten memories (click here to read), which we were thrilled that Granny Buttons mentioned on his blog in December 2009 (click here to read), and we'll repeat that for 2010 and aim to post in the next week or so.

In the meantime, here's a map of our travels on the waterways of Britain since 2007 ...

The small green trail into Birmingham was our hire boat trip in 2007 of four days (a hard, but fun, slog each day, but Barry was determined to do a 'ring' and not go up and down the same place!); the orange route is our 2009 journey with the starting point 1 near Nantwich, and our winter mooring at point 2 in Amington, near Tamworth; and the blue trail has our 2010 starting point at 2, ending at 3, Blisworth Marina, near Northampton.

Over the three years our coverage of the system was :

2007 - 52 miles and 50 locks in 3.5 days
2009 - 990 miles and 539 locks in 5 months
2010 - 857 miles and 700 locks in 5 months

A grand total of 1,899 miles (3038.4km for the kiwis reading!) and 1,289 locks - if only we'd completed just one more mile!

Barry makes an exhibition of himself ...

2011-09-08T13:44:00.001+01:00

As strange as it may seem to folks back in Blighty, Barry's photographs of our waterway journeys have been popular here in Gisborne. He's given three verbal and slide show presentations of our journeys to the Camera Club and two Rotary Clubs, been invited to speak at the Country Women's Institute (but unfortunately wasn't available on the day they requested) and has another invitation for a group called U2A - the University of the second age we think.

Barry has also just distributed flyers for three, two-day, photography workshops in September/October, November and February next year, which we'll hold at our house - so fingers crossed that he gets some interest. He has a very high profile here in Gisborne as a photographer, so I'm sure many people will snap up his offer!

Additionally, as previously mentioned, Barry was involved in a three-day exhibition of some of his work at the end of July/beginning of August, next door to the studio that he previously owned, D & K Photography.

Below are some shots of the exhibition, and the prints that he has for sale and that sold, all helping on our journey back to the waterways in 2013 ...

The Gisborne Herald article about the exhibition

Barry entertains the onlookers

The waterfall in the picture is in New Zealand - his talent extends to more than just UK waterways shots!

Some awesome photos

On the left of the picture is the D & K images - Barry's are on the right

Barry should maybe get some commission from the British Tourist Board?!

Drew Hill, with some of his prints

Phil Scott, who bought Barry's business, shows off his family stories photos

Some more of Barry's shots

There was also a slide show playing on the screen at the back

Door Hinge from Lichfield Cathedral

20x20" Stretched Canvas Print $180.00

Leicestershire Poppy field

15x20" Stretched Canvas Print $180.00

Leicestershire field

24x18" Stretched Canvas Print $160.00

After the rain at Bristol Docks

18x24" Stretched Canvas Print $190.00 - SOLD

St Mary's Church at Lower Heyford

28x18" Stretched Canvas Print $250.00

Rowing boats under Eavesham Bridge on the Avon

22x27" Stretched Canvas Print $280.00

Poppies in a wheat field near Dorchester

25x19" Stretched Canvas Print $250.00

Old bottles in a pawn shop at Hungerford

30x22" Stretched Canvas Print $300.00 - SOLD

The chimneys and roof tops of York

21x18" Framed print including white matte $180.00 - SOLD Derelict row boat amongst water lilies

21x18" Framed print including white matte $180.00 - SOLD

Tern in flight

23x18" Framed print including white matte $180.00

Rainy day in Worcester

20x16" Framed print including white matte $170.00

Preening swan

17x22" Framed print including white matte $220.00

Mersey barges

21x15" Framed print including white matte $180.00

The packet house at Worsley

20x16" Framed print including white matte $160.00

Old mooring rope

23x18" Framed print including white matte $180.00

Sunny day on the Grand Union Canal

20x26" Framed print including white matte $280.00

Woodshed at Bugsworth Basin

21x18" Framed print including white matte $195.00

Derelict barges on the Birmingham Old Main Line Canal

26x17" Framed print including white matte $220.00

Moorings at Shardlow

26x18" Framed print including white matte $195.00

Erewash Canal near Long Eaton

20x14" Framed print including white matte $190.00

"Crooked Little House" at Banbury

29x20" Framed print including white matte $300.00

Parisian lady exercising the dog

20x16" Framed print including white matte $170.00

Pohutakawa tree root

20x26" Framed print including white matte $280.00 - SOLD

Korokoro Falls at Lake Waikaremoana

30x20" Framed print including white matte $300.00

Barry still has an exhibition of some of his pictures in Verve Cafe, Gisborne.

Here is a copy of the promotional poster of Barry's upcoming photography workshops

A few days down South - part two New Zealand

2011-08-25T11:39:00.001+01:00

This blog is a little distraction from completing our 2010 canal trip, to showcase the South Island of New Zealand.

A couple of weeks ago we spent five days in Queenstown as Barry's niece was getting married. It was a rare opportunity for Barry and his siblings to get together, as well as other family members who hadn't seen each other for a while.

I booked the trip as soon as Emma and Mathu announced their wedding date, finding a bargain price of a flight from Auckland to Queenstown for 25% of the cost of flying from Gisborne. The problem with living in a city so remote from anywhere is that most of the flights are far more expensive than those from the major centres. We also booked accommodation early via the 'Holiday Homes' website that we also rent our house with, which was a 20 minute walk into town. This was fine going in, but coming home at night time after a few drinks in an Irish bar called Pog Mahone's (that we seemd to spend an inordinate amount of time in!) was a bit of a struggle as it was mostly uphill, but it was well worth it for the outstanding views ...

The view from our studio apartment - breathtaking isn't it?

And a closer look from the balcony ...

It really is the most picturesque place

Guess where the rich people live in Queenstown? In their pots of gold at the end of the rainbow of course!

Looking down the Frankton Arm to Queenstown Bay

The majestic TSS Earnslaw, reported to be the only coal-fired passenger-carrying vessel still operating in the southern hemisphere, which takes tourists out for trips daily

Spectacular scenery whichever way you turn ...

The very remarkable Remarkables!

Sandra and Ray all dressed up for the climate

Barry's sister Jenny, brother Ray, mum June, Sandra and Barry's brother Peter

A trip on 'The Million Dollar' cruise - Sandra and June checking out the houses at the end of the rainbow!

The beauty of going on the cheaper boat trip is that you get to see the more expensive one from a better angle!

Stunning setting - and below some of the million dollar residences ...

Our accommodation unit middle left on the ground floor

Lake Wakatipu is drained by the Kawarau River, which flows out from the Frankton Arm, 8 km east of Queenstown

"Ahoy" Captain Sandra - a little larger than Northern Pride - and June, the matriarch of the vessel

Fun with a spot of ice-skating - Sandra relives her childhood (though fortunately not the part at her friend's 12th birthday party where she fell over and someone skated over her fingers!!)

The sun sets on another perfect day in paradise

There's no photos of the wedding here as the bride hasn't yet seen them - Barry was the photographer of course! The ceremony was in the mountains with a backdrop of a ruined building and was a very personalised event. Around thirty five guests were taken there by a private bus, which subsequently took us all on a tour of a couple of wineries as the reception, one of which was based in an underground, man-made cave. A most unusual and enjoyable day until the end of the bus trip when Barry's sister Jenny tripped over some fallen slate as she walked back to the vehicle (yes, a little wine had been consumed!), and managed to cause a deep gash in her leg. I, being the nurse on the bus (!), gave her initial first aid and got the driver to take her to the Medical Centre in Queenstown where she had six stitches put in! Returning to Pog Mahone's for the remainder of the reception, I then found myself searching for Barry, who'd discovered that trying to catch up with everyone else's drinking after being the official photographer meant that he didn't eat too well and became rather unwell - so my night ended taking the injured Jenny and rather green looking Barry, home!!

A few days down south - part one England

2011-08-22T03:24:00.001+01:00

Only a week left to complete for our 2010 journey, I don't think we'll string it out until the end of October! Barry's been upsetting himself looking at narrowboats for sale, and saw an almost perfect one the other day called guess what? 'Moonshine'! It ticked every one of our essential boxes apart from one, and made us feel impatient to be coming back to live on the canals. Never mind, on the bright side we were reassured that we can get the boat that's in our vision, and time is slipping by so quickly that 2013 will be upon us in a flash!

It's been pretty cool here in the late winter of New Zealand, with Auckland and Wellington getting some rare snow falls - luckily it missed out Gisborne, apart from a good cover on the hills that surround the city. Our next blog will show some stunning photos from our recent trip to Queenstown, where the week after we left they had a huge 'dump' of snow - I'm not sure if I was sad or glad to have missed that!

Today we can feel spring in the air, the sun is shining and the blossom's blooming, snowdrops are flowering and there's a few daffodils around. The most wonderful things for me in the spring here, that I've missed out on over the past few years, are the wild freesias that grow along the dunes at Wainui beach. I walked there with my dear friend Therese a few days ago and picked some - they smell divine and are sitting next to me as I type.

Friday 22 October to Monday 25th October

We drove in our rental car down to the New Forest in England for a 'Walsh' family long-weekend away. We'd previously spent four get-togethers at an amazing place called 'Northmoor House' in Dulverton, Somerset, in the Exmoor National Park, but as our family has grown considerably since our last visit in 2008 we didn't think we'd all fit in so decided to try somewhere different. With parents, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as husbands and partners, there were 29 of us with just one person sadly missing as he wasn't feeling too well - shame you missed it Rob, we'll get you next year!

Sadly the place we chose wasn't a patch on Northmoor House, but we had lots of fun and laughter anyway. Barry and I have booked to return to England for just under three weeks in March 2011 and I'm so excited that we have discovered we CAN fit all our family into Northmoor House if we book the Lodge as well - yahoo!

A walk in the woods with Kim and Lisa - and guess where Christchurch, NZ, got its name from?

Photo opportunities around every corner - a relaxing waterfall ...

... and a stormy sea

We'll all just watch the waves, no sufers amongst us!

Some brave folks were making the most of the swells

What a great photo of Kim, Sandra and Lisa

Two of the additions to the Walsh family - Phil and Ria-May

Across the sea is the Isle of Wight and the Needles

A spot of lunch for 15!

A rather affluent area with some delightful cottages

The obligatory family portrait, Barry just managed to organise everyone by dusk!

Saying goodbye to Kim at the station

The ferry to the Isle of Wight

Loads of money around at Lymmington!

Imagine if these all went out to sea at the same time?!

A family walkabout - shame for Sandra's parents, at 77 and 91 they still hold hands

Quaint, colourful buildings in Lymmington

And a rather old street light still survives ...

... possibly a similar age to Sandra's father? What an amazing man ...

... after having four daughters he gave up and bought himself a train set!!

A rare get-together for Katherine, Linda, Sandra and Viv

It was certainly a full-on weekend, Barry's first with the whole of my family, and he coped admirably - only taking off down the pub the once on the Sunday and leading a few of the other males astray (I recall having a little trouble getting them to return to eat, which didn't go down too well!!). We played 'sardines' where someone has to go and hide, then whoever finds them has to hide with them until the last person makes it - hilarious in tight spots but not nearly as fun as it is at Northmoor in a huge stately home! We also had a fantastic quiz night, that my niece and nephew organised, and we all played in different coloured teams.

The house we stayed in was actually three houses together, so it was a little fraught at times and we're all now looking forward to March 2011 ...

Barry's Random Ten Waterways Images (part 7)

2011-08-16T11:17:00.001+01:00

Here's the next random selection of images. They are all colour corrected and possibly retouched, and form part of our photo library (from where the prints, including cards and postcards, may be purchased if you're interested). Click on Sanbar Photography Library

Holt Fleet Bridge over the River Severn near Worcester

NB Northern Pride

A surprise visit 'down under' from fellow narrowboaters ...

Six weeks and six days before we return to UK …

Sunny season’s greetings and Happy New Year!

Barry’s in Tall Spirits

You’re never too old to diversify – the three faces of Barry, looking outside the box - lessons in putting it out there!

Embracing technology and ezimade takes off!

A nail biting final, and Barry’s new venture takes shape

A very proud Grandma and Grandad Kiwi - and a positive thinking nation anticipates a long awaited victory!

A few of my favourite things, and a disappearing Barry…

The final days in England 2010 - Witley Court 2010 & 2007

The culmination of the 'down south' experiences ...

The end of our journeys aboard Northern Pride

Barry makes an exhibition of himself ...

A few days down South - part two New Zealand

A few days down south - part one England

Barry's Random Ten Waterways Images (part 7)

'Can do' kiwi's and an unplanned visit to the Droitwich Canal

Barry's Random Ten Waterways Images (part 6)

Barry's 'Random Ten Waterways Images' (part 5)

Jack Frost pays us a couple of visits ...

Barry's 'Random Ten Waterways Images' (part 4)

Our last locks of 2010 at historic Stoke Bruene

Barry's 'Ten Random Waterways Images' (part 3)

Continuing to Cosgrove and Yardley Gobion - and a night out with old friends

Barry's 'Random Top Ten Waterways Images' (part 2)

An eventful Monday in Milton Keynes - sorting and grinding with a couple of surprises thrown in!

Barry's choice of 'Ten Random Waterways Photographs' (part 1)

Saturday night fever, sporadic sunshine, some sadness and a few bees! Oh and introducing 'Sanbar Canal Photography'

Maybe Barry is cursed after all? Time to hibernate ...

A delightful but darkening day on the Aylesbury Arm ...