Back in the southern hemisphere; planning the 2010 trip

Thank goodness for the blog!  At least now we're back, during times in the coming days, weeks and months when it feels as though we never really left Gisborne, we can look back at the pages of memories, remember the experiences we had, and confirm that we really did live on a narrowboat for almost six months and we'll be returning in 2010.

  The sun shone for our final couple of days around Amington

 Joy and Bruce prepare Northern Pride's parking place - a novel way of stopping your wife from falling into the canal!

Prior to mooring in Amington, we made a trip to Alvecote Marina for a pump out and to fill up with diesel.  Whilst there Barry noticed a fisherman along the towpath and was just reflecting on the fact that, although we'd seen many of them along our journeys , we'd never really seen any of them actually catch anything from the cut.  No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than out of the corner of his eye he saw a huge pike being pulled from the water.  Another reason not to swim in the canals; he had some scary looking sharp teeth, and a jaw that seemed as though it could wrap it around your thigh!

Matt and his pike - great catch!

 

Open wide ...

A bit to big and old to eat, so gently back into the canal to fight another day

Alvecote Marina, where we went for a drink with Maggie, Gary and Mikey at the end of June, halfway through our adventures

Last leg of the last day on the cut - back to the mooring

The map on our wall showing how far we've travelled since we started towards the end of April - see the black lines

It was late afternoon before we'd finished all our respective jobs, and we could then leave Northern Pride in very capable hands - as you can see above Joy and Bruce had spent the morning trimming their hedges and weeding in anticipation of their guest.  Barry was very reluctant to leave; I thought at one stage he may try chaining himself to her, but thought better of it so he didn't risk being thrown out of England and not allowed back for ten years if he overstayed his welcome.

  Joy and Bruce after a final walk-through

Safely tucked and tied up

Northern Pride from the bridge

Our lovely friends Maggie, Gary and Mikey put us up (or should I say put up with us maybe?!) on Thursday night before very generously giving us a lift to my parents in Ombersley (because they didn't see how on earth we'd manage on a train with all of our belongings!), where we spent our last night before heading back on the long journey down under.

The Honeybee - our lunch spot on Friday - two lunches for six pounds!

A cute little robin red-breast comes to Ombersley to wish us bon voyage

Because we flew with Air New Zealand and our outward journey was through the USA, we got to bring 46kg of luggage allowance each.  The problem was getting to the airport with it all!  My mum and dad only have a tiny car, a Matisse (not sure if that's spelt correctly!), but by some miracle Barry managed to get our four cases and two hand luggage bags in the car as well as the four adults!  Amazing!

Mmmmm..., rather a lot of luggage - yikes!!

Waiting for the train with mum and dad

Our travelling 'home' was mostly uneventful; Droitwich to Worcester then to Paddington, then to Heathrow by train; on to Hong Kong, Auckland and finally, after 36 hours, to our home town of Gisborne by plane, the first city in the world to see the sun rise each morning.  Unfortunately when we arrived in New Zealand this morning the weather was appalling; around 10 degrees Celsius, pouring rain and driving wind from a sub-Antartic breeze(!) - it's ironic that we've experienced an abundance of sunshine and blue skies in England for the past few weeks so now the climate seems better there than here!  I suspect it will be short-lived ...

 No problem!  Of course I can carry three suitcases ...

Making ourselves at home on the train; a beer for Barry ...

 

... and a cappuccino for Sandra

 Made it to Heathrow in one piece and with all baggage accounted for

A snack and a glass of wine while we wait for the flight ...

It was almost a full moon - the four lights under the moon are all planes coming into land - it's like a skyward highway!

Just a part of the huge terminal at Hong Kong airport, seems to go on forever!

On the plane at last - 36 hours travelling from door to door to get to our home in New Zealand

Barry's father is still going, though we're not sure for how long, and it was good to see him and Barry's mum, sister, brother and son Tom at the airport; as well as another close family friend, Marie.  Bless them they'd been to our house and cleaned, tidied, washed and left us provisions, in addition to making two fantastic 'Congratulations' banners - June and Jenny had a competition as to who could make the best one; a difficult choice.  They'll be well used as we can also put them up at the next wedding, on 22 December, at Wainui Beach, Gisborne - the 'official/legal' occasion.

We're definitely missing being on board Northern Pride, the house feels so spacious which is good in some ways, but it doesn't have the cosiness of our narrowboat.

We have a focus to concentrate on though; pay off the debts incurred and save for next year.  We covered such a huge area of the canals and rivers this year; possibly more than we should have in the time we had available; and next year we plan to see the south of England's waterway system.

We appreciate that we're still very much novices having only experienced six months of boating; but we're considering going from Sharpness to Bristol in 2010 (though I can't believe I'm even suggesting it!), so if anyone has any tips or tales to share we'd welcome them wholeheartedly.

Haere Ra (farewell) to the cut :-( - we'll be back!

We've almost finished getting Northern Pride ready to be left for the winter on her mooring.  Barry's been grinding and painting, and generally making sure she's as sound as possible externally, while I've been packing, sorting and cleaning the inside. It's similar to getting your house ready to sell - it's always at it's best when you leave it rather than when you're living in it!

Last night we had Joy and Bruce on board, the couple who are very generously letting us use their end of garden mooring in Amington (of course we have to pay BW for the privilege!).  They had their own narrowboat that they sold a couple of years ago, so are well versed in what maintenance will needed during the coming months, and we're confident that she'll be well cared for.

Here's a few more shots from the wedding - expertly taken by Tim, my second cousin-once-removed-in-law (something like that anyway, it all becomes complex trying to work out relations)!!  You're a star Tim ...

 Being escorted to the boat by my amazing parents

The wedding party, on the roof of Northern Pride, with Margo the 'la la' celebrant - the bridesmaids are in the colours of my engagement ring: yellow, blue and pink sapphires

Cutting the sensational wedding cake - bless you Arlene

Barry and Jamie - don't they look happy bless them?

We are family ...

We cannot believe that our Six months in a leaky boat (Split Enz song, lyrics below - actually as far as we're aware the boat isn't leaking and will still be afloat when we return!) has come to an end, but we're pretty confident that we've made the most of every minute while we've been here. 

Our journey started two and a half years ago when I brought Barry back to England for a holiday and he requested that we hire a narrowboat.  He'd spent six months in England in 1976 (remember that really hot summer?) and had come across the Norfolk Broads on his travels and saw the boats there and thought that it looked like a really neat existence.  We holidayed in April 2007 (hottest April since records began!) from Tardebigge, and completed the Birmingham Ring in four days - he was totally hooked.

"When I was a young boy I wanted to sail 'round the world
That's the life for me, living on the sea
Spirit of a sailor circumnavigates the globe
The lust of a pioneer will acknowledge no frontier
I remember you by thunderclap in the sky
Lightning flash, tempers flare, 'round the horn if you dare
I just spent six months in a leaky boat
Lucky just to keep afloat
Aotearoa, rugged individual glisten like a pearl
At the bottom of the world
The tyranny of distance didn't stop the cavalier
So why should it stop me? I'll conquer and stay free
Ah come on all you lads, let's forget and forgive
There's a world to explore
Tales to tell back on shore
I just spent six months in a leaky boat
Six months in a leaky boat
Shipwrecked love can be cruel
Don't be fooled by her kind
There's a wind in my sails, will protect and prevail
I just spent six months in a leaky boat
Nothing to leaky boat"

Two years ago almost to the day (my birthday party 2007), I recall one of his good friends telling me that he'd been talking seriously about his dream of coming to England to buy and live-aboard a narrowboat, and I have to admit I originally believed he was crazy, never imagining that it would work out.  Ironically it had been my dream to emigrate to NZ, so the thought of coming back to England for six months wasn't terribly appealing to me at that stage either! 

Barry's hope was that we'd be here last year, but for one reason or another that didn't happen which just made us even more determined, and once here we've embraced every magic moment.

Barry had read waterways blogs for months prior to his dream becoming a reality, and we're very grateful to fellow bloggers for all of their information, particularly Granny Buttons, aka Andrew Denny, whose blog Barry soaked up like a sponge.  Thank you Andrew.

Writing our blog has been a fascinating experience; experimenting with Barry's amazing photography, and trying to hone my writing skills.  We've had some very moving feedback from people in England, America, Australia and of course our home country New Zealand, and we thank you all for your kind words - it's been so touching.

We've met an array of folks along our journeys; some old friends and some new, and we hope you'll all keep in touch.

We're now completely hooked on blogging and will continue to write; we're just not sure how often or in what form as yet.  And of course we'll continue to follow narrow-boating blogs while we're back in NZ - poor Barry is going to be bereft to be away from 'the cut' so he'll be logging on daily I suspect, while I'll be back at work probably six days a week, at Gisborne Maternity Unit.  OMG!

Making the most of the final few days ...

The last few days have been unbelievably wonderful, and today and the coming days are full on packing up the boat and completing as much DIY as possible.

Here's a rather large entry to keep you entertained!!  We'll post another one before we depart to southern shores on Saturday, and we promise to continue blogging from down-under ... 

   Gary, Jamie, Sophie & Schalk working the locks to get to the pub on time!

Continuing with tales of our glorious wedding on the roof of Northern Pride, we just have to make another plug for the The Dog and Doublet - if anyone is looking for a venue for a function whilst residing on a narrowboat we'd highly recommend it; the atmosphere is so welcoming and the staff are really friendly and helpful.  Apparently they're hoping to obtain a photo from our wedding video to display, in the hope of encouraging others to use them as a setting - so look out for us watching you if you're in the area!

 

Wedding shots from Barry's camera (taken by the groom himself!) - the ceremony on top of the boat were taken by others surprisingly enough - they'll be posted soon ...

After the informal reception we all went to The Station, what a superb upstairs room we had for the frivolities of the evening.  Keith and Layla run what must be the best pub in Sutton Coldfield and were extraordinary hosts, thanks guys.  Once again, Barry was off duty so the photos aren't available yet ...

Joy & laughter filled evening, the music was fabulous, with our first dance appropriately themed on the day - "You make loving fun" by Fleetwood Mac.  It was rare that the dance floor was empty, apart from the half hour of Pink Floyd and associated requests from Barry's playlist!  I wonder why?

We didn't open the cards until Sunday, they were all wonderful, but four particularly stood out - one from someone who reads the blog, posted to the Dog and Doublet; a hand made card by my niece who was a bridesmaid, a beautiful hand written poem by my friend Mandy and a specially made narrowboat card from friends in Scotland who unfortunately couldn't make it on the day, Jane and Gary.  We received an abundance of brilliant, thoughtful cards; too many to mention them all.

I am reminded frequently lately of a book I read a few years ago called 'The Celestine Prophecy'.  If anyone has read it they'll recall the final chapters envisage an end to the materialistic ways of the world, and an upsurge in people gifting to each other in a form of bartering system.  I firmly believe that the current economic climate will turn out to be a positive experience if we learn and reflect on it; it's time we stopped working all hours, spending money we don't have, on 'stuff' that we don't need - but we have no time, that most precious commodity, to enjoy the really important things in life.  Our wedding cost us less than 1,000 pounds - all inclusive!

We asked for no presents from guests (we have everything we need and more and couldn't possibly carry anything else back to NZ!), though suggested that they were welcome to give a small monetary contribution towards the buffet.  We did receive some very welcome cash to put in the bank to offset some of the overdraft, and other gifts were of a different variety also from the heart, and included:

• Arlene made our wedding cake and it was wonderful - including a surprise of hand-made icing sunflowers and a Maori Triple Twist on top, along with its meaning of the bonding of friendship, new beginnings and the joining of lives for eternity;
• Mandy went girlie shopping with me last Thursday then did my hair and make up on the day;
• Kim did my nails and decorated the bed as well as doing her reading;
• Linda and Viv decorated the room for the evening's party;
• Maggie and Gary organised the venue and afternoon's reception;
• Michael and Carol did us proud with the marquee, wine and food;
• Sandra made contact with someone to do a free video;
• Katherine organised a photo-message book in the evening;
• Keith gave us his fantastic upstairs room at the Station;
• Rachel, Sam, Jack, Leighton and Jenny did the DJ'ing and kept everyone dancing the night away;
• Fred & Sarah bought us three Chinese Lanterns to set off into the stars for good luck;
• Lisa had a chocolate cake made for my 50th. 

I'm sure there were more gifts throughout the day; it was mind-blowing and we just felt extremely blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family.

We eventually made it back to our hotel room around 3am - and were surprised to find red carnations on the pillows and a heart shape of pink rose petals on the bed, thanks to my amazing daughter Kim.

All-in-all we had a wondrous celebration and will remember each magic moment forever.

The nuptial bed!  Bless Kim for going to so much trouble; very romantic

On Sunday and Monday, my 50th birthday became the focus - my daughters, along with my parents and sisters, had organised a blanket to be made with photos of me through the ages.  What a special gift to treasure.  After a leisurely lie-in and cooked breakfast, we chilled in the hotel lounge all day with my family on Sunday, had a snooze and then a swim and sauna, before dinner with a couple of friends also staying there - Den and Jill who'd almost had us thrown off the waterways back in July on the River Trent!

Kim and Joe had given Barry some bottled chilli beer (Black Death) to try - can you imagine what beer with chilli's in tastes like?  And would you even wish to more's the question?!  Barry and Den accepted the challenge and managed to polish off one bottle easily (though Den at one point did try drinking it through a straw so his lips weren't so tingly!), but when Barry attempted to open the second one unfortunately it must have been bottled too early and it exploded upwards in an uncontrollable fountain, spraying the immediate area with beer which may be ingrained in the furnishings by now (avoid room 312!).  Barry laughed so much he had to sit down; the second time in less than 24 hours that he'd been so tickled by events bless him!

Jill & Den and the dodgy beer drops on the curtains - looks a little sample-like in the glasses don't you think?!

The weather has been settled now for a couple of weeks and is set to continue for a while longer - it's really amazing!  We made the most of it on Monday; following a chilled breakfast in bed we had a walk around Penns Lake Road where I lived from age 5 to about 13, and then around the lake where I used to play with my friends around 40 years ago - it was like going back in time.

 

The conference suite at Penns Hall

Sandra's childhood home; a little different now, but holds many happy memories

Penns Lake

One or two fishing rules

Penns Hall from the lake

Sandra reminiscing

      A final drink in the bar and scan through the many cards we received before returning to Northern Pride

We arrived back on the boat in the afternoon, my sisters new man Pete very generously offered to give us a ride and we gratefully accepted!  After a swift pint with him, we boarded our boat and commenced tidying the boat and getting the washing up done from Saturday, focussing also on packing and sorting our 'stuff' for a couple of hours. 

One of our guests had gifted us a bottle of champagne that we relished with some strawberry liqueur boat brew and strawberries from the roof.  This unsurprisingly made me a little tipsy, or should I say 'mellow', followed by a delicious dinner at the Dog and Doublet with Kath, Pete and my good friend Arlene.

Dave and his large horse, sorry, dog (whose name escapes me, sorry Dave!), came to see us and drop of some photos - thanks mate!

How about this for a friendly, welcoming ambience at the Dog & Doublet

On Saturday friends of ours had given us three Chinese Lanterns and we set two of them off on their travels.  Tonight we let off the third one, and as we were lighting the wax a random bloke from pub came out same time and began lighting another one - when I asked him why he was doing it he said "look at the message on the lantern" - on it was clearly written 'I love you' - it was the most surreal experience I've ever had, I was so spooked by the coincidence.  When Barry went into the pub he asked the man what it was all about and his response was that he'd been present on Saturday, and having the lantern in his car, he wanted to do something for us, not realising we were doing exactly the same thing.  Once we'd gotten over the weirdness of the situation, two lanterns once again were sent into a late evening sky with the most breathtaking cloud formations, at one time it looked as though there was a woman's face in them.

We mislaid a present for my birthday from Barrys daughter and asked the Station if they'd found it, but all they had was a '50th birthday wishing spell' - we're not sure who had left that but collected it anyway and I conjured up the ingredients and made some birthday magic on the towpath ...

 Eye of toad and blood of newt

Do you see the face?

Next morning, Barry's favourite tree reaches out for a final embrace before we leave

Barry and Jamie planted sunflowers for the ceremony, bless them, but they haven't lasted long

Today, Tuesday, we've moved on past Fazeley junction, and Barry has been grinding on the other side of the boat and put the rust killer on ready for two coats of paint over the next couple of days.  Meanwhile, once I'd caught up with my hotmail messages (around 90 emails - luckily I worked out how to put on a vacation response last week!) and facebook, I sanded and varnished the windows inside.

Curworth top lock has a very friendly dog living there who loves to watch the passing traffic

 

Signs of autumn as the leaves fall from the trees into the canal

Lots of boat work going on!

This evening, the crew of 'Captain Ahab's Watery Tales', Andy and Helen, have been to visit and we had a delightful meal and convivial conversations.  I know Helen from her days as a midwife, and have only recently caught up with her through facebook where we discovered our mutual blogging and all things canal-obsessed men! 

We're ashamed to admit that we completely missed the opportunity to take their photo - even though Andy took one of us by the boat name which he's posted on his blog - what are we like?  I think we're just so overwhelmed and in awe of our recent experiences and the whole journey we've been on in the past six months (that's now sadly coming to an end) that our brains are a little jaded - so sorry you wonderful people!  Now we'll HAVE to catch up with you next year!