A narrowboat chat in Sydney

On Tuesday we began our journey back to England and Northern Pride via Sydney - my first visit to Australia.  After a very early start (we were up before 5am), we chilled for a few hours in the 'Koru' lounge at Auckland airport, as Barry had accumulated sufficient airpoints from travelling to UK and back twice last year.  So we had a chilled morning eating and drinking and relaxing - Barry had his first glass of wine about 10am!

Barry looking laid back - having a massage at the airport before leaving Auckland ...

... and the entrance to 'Luna Park' in Auckland

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arriving across the ditch (as they say down under!) mid-afternoon on Tuesday, the weather was very grey and miserable, cloudy and raining but Barry still managed to find a smile in 'Luna Park', a funfair across from the Harbour Bridge.  Can you see the scary resemblance between the two faces ...

Luckily the rain abated on Wednesday and we had a fun day exploring Sydney's sights, including a vast array of sea-faring vessels from a P & O cruiser, a replica of the Endeavour (the ship that Captain Cook sailed to NZ and Australia) to Jessica Watson's 'Pink Lady' - the boat the 16 year old Aussie completed her nine month 'round the world' trip in last Saturday.  I couldn't believe how tiny it is - about 33 foot long.  And there's us thinking our narrowboat is small, what an incredible young woman she must be.

 "Ella's Pink Lady" - not sure who 'Ella' is, but that's the name on the boat!

 

'The Bounty' replica - up close and personal

Having a coffee break

 

Inside the famous 'Queen Victoria Building' shopping complex in the city centre

 

A view vertically upwards at one of the stained glass domes

 

 

An interesting mix of old and new in the city

We wandered around the town centre feeling oppressed by the huge buildings - amazing as they all are we're just not city people and both visibly breathed a sigh of relief when we arrived at the Botanical Gardens and open spaces.  These are stunning - there are 'flying foxes' in many of the trees - bats just hanging around waiting for their nightly flying missions.  Unfortunately these fascinating creatures are destroying the vegetation so they're trying to find humane methods of moving them on which is sad ...

 

One of the bats stretches its wings mid-afternoon

 

 

There are some interesting trees in the gardens - this one looks as though it's about to fall down - it's actually tied to another tree!

 

 

Various views of spectacular Sydney Harbour

 

 

In the evening we took the ferry to Manly to see Paul and Elaine, a couple originally from England who've lived in Sydney for many years and got in touch with us through the blog last year, as they're considering buying a narrowboat and becoming 'continuous cruisers' for a few years in the not too distant future. 

Paul sounded as enthusiastic as Barry had been in the 18 months prior to us following our (well his really!) dream, soaking up UK Waterways Sites blogs with a passion, and he and Barry chatted away companionably.  Elaine sounded a little cynical - I can definitely understand how she feels, must be a female thing - so we hope to be able to bring her encouragement through our blog in the coming five months.  Paul had very kindly bought us a bilge alarm for Northern Pride which will warn us of impending disaster - so hopefully it won't be put to good use at any time!!

We had a lovely evening having drinks and dinner at the Manly 16' Skiff yacht club -not the 14' or 18' Skiff yacht clubs which are nearby!  It's all about size you know ...

We leave Sydney for England tomorrow evening and according to the internet the flights to UK are all on schedule so far, but of course things could change at any time.  Fingers and toes still crossed ...

The journey north begins again ...

Having packed, unpacked and taken 'stuff' out of the case a number of times (and transferred one or two items into Barry's lighter case!), I think we're just about set for our flight to Auckland and then Sydney tomorrow.  We're still each about 5kg over the 20kg limit (it's just far too little for a 5 month stay!!), but hopefully they'll let us off or allow us to pay a small excess baggage fee.

I had my last walk on Wainui beach late in the afternoon on Friday - the weather here is still warmer most days in late autumn than UK in late spring at around 20 to 22 degrees, but I'm hoping the sunshine is just around the corner up there?  Maybe the weather is feeling as glum as some people who seem concerned about what the 'new' government is planning - interesting times ahead I'm sure ..

Last year I grew my hair long for our trip so that I could tie it back on the boat, but on Saturday I finally plucked up the courage to have a short crop to see if that's simpler to manage without the luxury of hair straighteners - the previous version was a bit of a pain with my unruly locks!  Barry reckons he'll have to keep his beard now or people won't be able to tell us apart!

 

Charlie (bless him) has been back to Northern Pride last week and fitted us with 3 new batteries, so she should be 'ship shape' and ready for us to board next Thursday - assuming that we'll arrive in England on schedule rather than be stranded in either Sydney or Dubai (I can think of worse places to be stuck).  Que sera, sera ...

In the hands of fate …

Barry flew down to Wellington yesterday to see his son Tom for a few days before we abandon him and leave NZ for another five and a half months – he’ll be 20 in August so I’m sure he’ll survive OK.

Today was mothers day in NZ so I took Barry’s mum out on the local steam train from Gisborne to Muriwai (just a half hour jaunt each way) and then out for lunch at his brother’s cafe in town.  It’s also her birthday on Friday when she’ll be 86 years young – wow!  She just missed getting the prize for the oldest mother on the train this morning – pipped to the post by another passenger who was 86 last December!

I have just four days left to work, then four days off to help Barry get everything sorted before we head to Sydney next Tuesday.  I may get more excited once I’ve finished work – so much to complete there and so little time; but whatever isn’t finished will have to wait until they find someone else to take over my job, I’m sure lives won’t be lost!

It’s getting pretty cold here in the evenings and mornings – down to about 7 or 8 degrees C – by Gisborne standards that’s blooming freezing though possibly not by UK ones!  Our log burner is keeping the house warm – no such thing as central heating here for the vast majority of kiwis.  But then when the North Sea gas supply runs out in the northern hemisphere, everyone who’s grown up with and can’t live without gas central heating will have to find another way – and it’s not so bad honest!

Unfortunately the news seems to be that there are still some issues with the volcano in Iceland so it’s in fate’s hands as to whether we actually fly according to our schedule - we can only hope for the best.  Tragically, a friend of Barry’s who he talked to a number of times before we planned our narrowboat trip last year, passed away suddenly last week.  He’s been going to UK or Europe for the past few years, buying a narrowboat, travelling around for up to six months and then normally selling it before returning to Gisborne.  Barry was inspired by him and gained some really useful advice.  Apparently, on his way to France a couple of weeks ago, his flight was diverted due to the volcano and he was stuck in Korea.  I believe that the minibus he was in crashed and he sustained a few broken ribs and was hospitalised.  He improved over a few days and was about to leave hospital when he had a heart attack and died.  It’s so sad, he should’ve been on his boat now cruising along.  Once again it brings me back to the adage of seizing the day – but at least he’s been having some fabulous boating adventures for the past few years.  May he rest in peace …

Two weeks left in Gisborne

Barry finished his work at Montana as one of the vintage cellarhands last Friday.  While there he took his still in and made what’s known as ‘grappa’ by fermenting grape skins in water with added sugar, then distilling the mixture.  I found a good description of this on-line:

“Grappa is a uniquely Italian drink.  Traditionally, made from pomace, the discarded grape seeds, stalks, and stems that are a by-product of the winemaking process, Grappa has been around since the Middle Ages.  For generations, Italians have sipped this "firewater" after meals and even added a little to their morning espresso, to "correct" it.”

The alcohol produced when Barry brewed this potent substance was about 81% proof and smelt like drain cleaner to me! I believe that he and some of his work mates had a drink or two during their leaving bash on Friday afternoon (not with their morning coffee I hope!) and are amazingly still here to tell the tale!

Montana Winery in Gisborne – just a small part!

I have 8 working days left and finish my contract on 14th May, so also have a few days off to get things packed and sorted before we fly away on 18th May.  We have tenants moving in on the day we leave, a (temporary) home for our cat, have borrowed a small sum as a mortgage on our house, and just a few odds and ends to tie up before we depart including my work’s leaving party at a bar in town on Saturday 15th May (no grappa involved!).

We’ve bought annual memberships for the National Trust and English Heritage this time; we missed visiting so many places last year because we couldn't afford to pay all the entrance fees so we’re hoping we can make the most of anything close to the canals around Birmingham and the south this year.

So we’re almost ready, time will fly by …

The story of stuff

As we work through our 'to do before we go' plan, we become more aware daily of one of the big adjustments we'll be making once again living aboard Northern Pride - there's very little space for 'stuff'.  We seem to accumulate more depending on the size of our home, but I know that we're perfectly able to manage with very little.  A friend told me about a 'you tube' video called 'The Story of Stuff' which I checked out yesterday, rather long at over 20 minutes, but it reiterates the things I've been talking about and have felt for many years - there are far too many people in the world working harder and harder to buy more and more stuff that they don't have time to appreciate because they're working so hard!  When they get in from work they're so tired that all they can do is slump in front of the TV where they get bombarded with adverts telling them what they must have so on their days off they shop and buy more stuff they don't need so then they have to work harder, etc, etc.

Apparently this phenomena can be linked to the end of the second World War when, to 'ramp up' the economy, the American government set about making goods that were not designed to last - what is known as a 'planned obsolescence' - they planned  to make goods that would not last.  There's also now a 'perceived' obsolescence whereby people pressure each other to have the latest phone, computer, car, fashion, etc.  One of the reasons I love living in Gisborne is because for the majority of people, having the latest of anything is NOT a priority.  We don't follow fashion, cars are owned until they don't pass their Warrant of Fitness rather than having to have a new model every two years, most people keep their mobile phone until it breaks, not until a better model comes out and so on.  As soon as I get back to UK I notice the stark difference and it scares me because I so don't want to get caught in the trap again - so many people there seem to have been brainwashed to believe that if they don't have the latest whatever, they have less value than their mate who has just got the best, most up to date gadget phone/computer/ipod/house/car, etc, etc.  I hate it!  It makes me feel as though I'm suffocating by the banality of it all and I want to scream at everyone - STOP!!!!  You really don't need that, you could stop working so hard and have more leisure time with your family and friends if you just stopped buying so much bloody stuff!

There's a great web site linked to the story, it's a little American but apart from that it's very thought provoking and I recommend you watch it at least twice to really appreciate it.

On a similar vein, Captain Ahab's wife hijacked his blog the other day to ask whether boaters are using biodegradable substances to clean their body parts and clothes as anything used on board is drained into the canal.  It would be interesting to take a poll and see what percentage actually do consider the environment and how easy it is to find such goods to use.  However, I also see that Halfie has suggested that all products now have to conform to environmentally friendly status so all we're doing is paying a lot more for ones that say they're better - hmmm, it's a tricky one ...

As to working too much, at the moment Barry and I really are like ships passing in the night, or at any time really!  He's on his 13th day in a row now and I'm on my first day off for 7 days.  I'm then working two nights tomorrow and Tuesday.  We don't have time to buy much 'stuff', nor is that the purpose for our current mindless working pattern, but we're certainly looking forward to having time to DO stuff and spend time with family and friends in UK in just over four weeks time!

On Friday I flew to Auckland with a new graduate midwife I've been mentoring since we returned to NZ, for her 'Midwifery Standards Review'.  As we live in such a small,isolated place, we usually have to travel out of Gisborne for anything; very few people deign to venture here to meet us.  But that's OK, we had a cool day out and managed to take a ferry ride across Auckland harbour to Devonport for brunch - my first boat trip since leaving Northern Pride in October last year!

 

I love the Auckland skyline with the Skytower dominating the view - it's taller than the Eiffel Tower and has a revolving restaurant towards the top.

There was a large P & O cruise ship in port looking almost as big as the high rise buildings!

 

We were stoked to see a photo of Northern Pride on 4Evermoore's blog last Tuesday as they passed her on the mooring in Ammington, Tamworth.  I'm so looking forward to having time to smell the roses once again.  Thirty sleeps to go ...

Who wants to win the lottery???

Continuing on with the theme of life being about so much more than money, there was a story in 'The Gisborne Herald' recently about a kiwi living in Australia who is 'battling' for his share of a $17 million lottery win.  Along with two friends, he'd purchased a lottery ticket in July 2008 by pooling their money at an impromptu party which won this huge sum of money.  What a life changing experience that could be - divide it equally and live in comfort without having to worry about money again.  But oh no, greed took over and rather than improving their lives beyond measure it has changed them irrevocably.  They've been in dispute ever since about who's entitled to what, and have spent $2 million so far in legal fees alone.  They had been friends for over 20 years and now no longer speak to each other.  Most of the money has been frozen awaiting a trial date on April 19.

The article records other lottery 'disasters':

• An American who won $2 million and was subsequently sued by his former girlfriend for a share of his winnings, his brother was arrested for hiring a hit man to kill him so he could inherit a share of his winnings and another sibling talked him into investing into a disastrous business that failed.  Within twelve months he was $1 million in debt and forced to declare himself bankrupt;
• Another American won US$314.9 million in 2002 and was robbed numerous times, became a very heavy drinker, divorced his wife, and some time later his beloved granddaughter was found dead from a drugs overdose that had been funded by the $2100 weekly allowance he'd given her;
• Another lottery winner (it doesn't say how much he collected) invested his winnings into a profitable business and bought generous gifts for his family and took them on holidays.  Seven years after the win he was found in the back of his van shot dead  - having been murdered by his sister-in-law and her boyfriend who'd kidnapped and murdered him for the money.

Money definitely makes the world go round, but it's also 'the root of all evil' as they say.

Six weeks to go - time for spreadsheets

Six weeks from today we'll be on our way back to the northern hemisphere to rejoin Northern Pride and travel the canals of the south of England.  We leave Gisborne at 0630hrs on Tuesday 18th May (oh so early, but the cheapest flight!) and have about four hours in Air New Zealand's 'Koru Club' lounge in Auckland airport (free food, drinks, TV and papers, etc) prior to our flight to Sydney to stay a few days with Barry's brother.  We have the two passes to the Koru Club because Barry travelled from here to England and return twice last year, so got upgraded to silver card status!  It'll be my first time in Australia, so I'm excited about seeing what's on offer 'across the ditch' as they say here.

We leave Sydney on Sunday 23rd May and arrive in Birmingham at lunchtime on Monday 24th May.  We'll go to my parents house in Ombersley for a couple of days initially before returning to Ammington and our boat around 26th May.  My dad celebrated his 90th birthday last week - how amazing is that?

In the meantime we're doing the necessary planning for another extended period of time not earning a salary.  We've produced a financial spreadsheet of approximate costs, being better informed this time of how expensive or cheap (depending on how you perceive it!) living on a narrowboat can be, with experience from our travels last year.  Unfortunately, despite working full time and saving hard, we'll still need to borrow some money in order to make the trip possible.  This scares my 'sensible' side at times, but I mostly manage to rationalise it as we've no mortgage on our house here and own Northern Pride outright, so we know we won't get deeply into debt and of course have our house rented while we're away.  As I get older, I'm also very much of the 'seize the day' attitude, when the reality of my mortality kicks in with a vengeance - you just never know what's round the next corner ...

We realise we're unlikely to ever be 'rich' in monetary terms, and don't aspire to such heights (though wouldn't turn it down if attainable!), but believe we're blessed in other more important ways and want to make the most of 'living' without the main focus being on earning more and more money to buy 'stuff' that we don't need.  I recently read a book called 'The elegance of the hedgehog' (stop now if you're reading this or plan to in the future!) where at the end of the book the main character, a poor but extremely intelligent 54 year old concierge in a Parisian apartment block,  unexpectedly dies in an accident just when she meets her (very rich) soulmate who enables her to let go of the past and finally accept that she's as good as any 'wealthy' person - how ironic is that?  I also tried to read 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' by Stieg Larsson (sorry Captain Ahab, I know you loved it, but it's just not my 'type' of book - I may revisit it!) and was saddened to discover that he'd written a trilogy of three books that are now bestsellers, but he died shortly after submitting his manuscripts!  Shame!  He must've spent his final years doing nothing but writing and never lived to discover how much people would love his work.  Why not just write one book, then live a little before the next one?  Such a waste, yet another note to self.

So we're not waiting until we've saved up enough money to retire before we do the things we want to do, we're coming back to England to live on our narrowboat once again for at least five months, maybe longer, depending on whether we find a way to earn a few more pounds to make it possible, and we plan to truly live and appreciate every single moment of it  ... 

Changing seasons and preparing to change lives once again...

While spring is blooming in England, autumn is spreading it's magical colours across New Zealand.  All the native trees here are deciduous, it's only those that have been brought in from other countries that shed their leaves, so it's never as bleak in winter as it seems to be in UK.  There's a chill in the air now at night, and it's beginning to feel as though the time is drawing closer for these two old birds to fly north for the summer ...

Although I love living in New Zealand, at the moment it's associated with working full time (and more, some weeks!!); subsequently I'm now counting down until we leave and return to England to travel around the canals and rivers of the Midlands and south England.  Barry is enjoying working again, but he's lucky to get just one day off each week, and I'm sure at the end of his 8 weeks will be more than ready to be at home again!

It really is a life of contrasts, we have a fabulous home here in NZ that I adore, but am not getting a lot of time to enjoy.  But we do have a large 'section' of land, a three bed-roomed house and of course an automatic washing machine!  Back aboard Northern Pride, space is limited and we'll be living in the proverbial 'corridor' once more with just the one 'fixed' double bed and no washing machine!  I think that's what I'm mostly not looking forward to; but luckily the benefits of living on a narrowboat and travelling around outweigh the disadvantages.

The weekend before last we had a trip 'down the coast' and spent some time walking on the beach in the sunshine and a temperature of around 25 degrees, and then dropped into some hot springs for a relax with some student midwives who have come from Edinburgh to have their elective placement with the maternity unit.

 

Barry is excitedly planning where he wants to travel first on Northern Pride, and we're hoping to spend a couple of weeks at least, travelling around the Birmingham Canal Navigations.  We did a trip in April 2007 from Tardebigge; 4 days and nights in a loop passing through the centre of Birmingham.  It was all such a rush having to travel at least 8 hours a day in order to get back to the hire place on the Friday morning so we're looking forward to a much slower pace this time!

We moored up in our hired boat in Gas Street Basin and Barry couldn't believe that we were in the centre of Britain's second city!

 A walk to The Mailbox for a spot of Tapas one evening

Barry at the helm of the hire boat in 2007; the beginning of his passion for the canals

Northern Pride and the kindness of strangers

Barry has started his first 'proper' job after selling his photography business in September 2008, and is working for Montana wines running the centrifugal CT6 separation system (!!) which separates the water from the grape juice for the production of low alcohol wines (are you with me so far?!).  This machine is designed to spin the grape juice under heat, in a vacuum, to separate water from the juice.  A part of this process will be low in alcohol and used for cheaper wines and grape juices, whilst the remaining, more concentrated part, will be used in higher alcohol production.  Those in the know will understand that more sugar in grapes = more alcohol in wine, and it's imperative to get the timing right to harvest the grapes.  During the process more sugar may be added, but it's considered cheating and definitely frowned upon in the winemaking industry which is such an inherent part of New Zealand culture!  Another way to increase the alcohol content (so Barry reliably informs me) is to use lower 'brix' grapes, and separate the water from the juice.  The current challenge apparently, after working for two days (well one full day as the harvest has been put back a week due to previous heavy rainfall!), is that the CT6 machine, which is obviously crucial to the process, isn't working!  Fingers crossed they get it sorted by Monday when he should commence full time as a vintage cellarhand.

Our other exciting news is that the story I submitted in November to the Australian/NZ Reader's Digest, has been published in the March edition that we received today.  Of course it is (extensively!) edited from my original submitted article, the wordage being reduced at least by half (the fewer words the less money paid!!), but the general idea is there and the really cool thing is that a photo of Barry and I is featured on the 'contribute' page.  The story describes the people in the two boats who so kindly stopped and jump started us - our guardian angels - when we were stranded close to Rugeley, on the Trent and Mersey Canal, towards the end of our travels in 2009 on our way to Bodymoor Heath for our English wedding.

Store High In Transit ...

My last post ended with reference to Barry's new job which begins on Wednesday - just one day left!  It's going to be a little strange for him after running his own business for about 26 years, to be working as an employEE rather than an employER, and as a cellarhand at that for a minimum wage.  But beggars can't be choosers and it fits in with our plans as it's just an 8 week contract.

The irony of Barry working in a winery won't be lost on those who know and love him; he could never be accused of being a teetotaller!  I'd insinuated that he'll be like a pig in s--t and it reminded me of a story he recently told me about the origins of the word 'shit'  that he'd read in a book my mum sent from England for his birthday (when you think about some of the words in the English language you've got to wonder how they came about).  He's building up quite a collection of quirky books about what it is to be in England.  The latest one is called 'The old dog and duck: the secret meanings of pub names' by Albert Jack (can't imagine why my mum thought he'd enjoy it!) and there's apparently a story in there which describes how, many years ago, raw sewerage would be collected by 'night soil' men, and, along with ash from the fires, would be made into blocks and used as fertiliser.  Somehow, unimaginable really, there wasn't enough for their requirements so extra supplies would be shipped in from abroad.  Originally they stored the blocks on the floor of the ships, but inevitably some became wet and would go soggy leading to a build up of methane gas so if anyone struck a match there would be random explosions, blowing up the ships.  Consequently they were eventually stored in bags higher up the ships to try to prevent them becoming wet and the fumes from rising.  The bags were labelled 'Store High In Transit ', the acronym of which spells, yes you guessed it!

I must find some time to read the book, having digested just a couple of pages in a few spare moments it's fascinating.  We often laughed at the names of pubs on our journeys around the north of England and were curious as to the meanings of them (I won't repeat Barry's jokes about distances and 'The Cock Inn', definitely not original!).  I suspect he's enabling me to see my home country in a new light, such is his passion for it (yes Andy, you're correct, his heart is in England - but funnily enough he only aspires to live on the canals there, not in the 'real' world thank you very much!).

 

We've just had a great weekend away at The Mission concert in Napier and boogied on down to a Motown party with bands from the 60's and 70's including The Temptations, The Miracles, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves and the Vandella's and Mary Wilson (of the Supremes fame).  It was fabulous to have four days together (that's in succession and with Barry!), we're going to be like ships passing in the night once he starts full time work next week.

But that's OK, we'll have at least five months of living in close quarters back on the canals come May, so it'll all be worth it.  Life is short, Carpe Diem ...

Two Hemispheres, two such different lives ...

Life here in the southern hemisphere has been pretty mundane of late after all the excitement of the wedding, xmas, New Year and our lovely visitors from the northern hemisphere.  In my opinion we live in a paradise, but it's easy to take it for granted and not find time to appreciate our surroundings ...

It's been work, work and more work for me, with only occasional days off and hence hardly time to catch my breath so the blog has taken a back seat.  It's difficult to find inspiration to write about the canals when we're so far removed from them.

However, we've been talking about different routes for our return, and I think we're pretty sure that we won't do the Bristol Channel due to the expense of hiring a pilot and of course the inevitable potential for time delays when the conditions aren't right.

This weekend we're travelling south along three hours of winding roads to the art deco capital of New Zealand, Napier, where in 1931 an earthquake destroyed most of the buildings.  As often happens, disasters can be turned to an advantage and Napier was soon rebuilt in the style of the era and has been an iconic place since then drawing tourists from around the world.  We're off to a 'Motown Party' at The Mission Estate Winery, and will be away from Friday to Monday - yaay, four days off in a row and in a hotel!  Bliss!

I know it'll be worth all the hard work to get back onto Northern Pride and have the luxury of time and space to relish the lifestyle of the canal world once again.  Barry soaks up all the blogs from fellow boaters who are so good at writing daily posts, and today he's put the map of the waterways up on our study wall - having just redecorated our two spare bedrooms it's sort out time now!

The inland waterways map of Great Britain takes pride of place!

I have a fixed term contract until 14 May in my role as the Midwifery Educator at Gisborne maternity unit, and we're in the process of recruiting a replacement so I can hand over the reins when we leave.  The plan currently is to sell Northern Pride at the end of our voyage this year, and we have a return ticket to NZ at the end of October.  However, we're not actually sure that we will return here; maybe we'll stay in England for a while longer, depending on whether Barry gets 'permission' from the Home Office and what events transpire while we're there.

Meanwhile, Barry has a job as from 17th February - he's going to be working full time for about 8 weeks as a 'Vintage Cellarhand' for Montana Wines.  I'm not sure what exactly that entails, but it's something to do with alcohol so I'm sure he'll be like a pig in the proverbial s--t!

Countdown to our return to Northern Pride

As the snow continues to envelop Britain, we're sitting smugly in our sunny Gisborne paradise, and I for one am thankful that we're not freezing our butts off aboard Northern Pride! 

Self-timer shot on our honeymoon at Anaura Bay (if you look closely at the photos on this link you'll see Sandra sat at the table outside, taken November 2008)

Barry, on the other hand, drools over the photos of narrowboats sitting prettily in the arctic conditions and amazingly longs to experience a Northern Hemisphere winter on the canals - I suspect he'd only last through the one.  Maybe someday I'll relent, but only if we had a log-burner aboard methinks!

In the meantime, we've taken the plunge and booked our return flights for mid-May til end of October 2010, via Sydney so we can visit Barry's brother and I get my first taste of Australia.  All being well, we should be back aboard by 27th May ready to continue our travels, heading south.

For Barry's xmas present, I purchased a DVD on the Caldon canal from Paul Balmer of Waterways Routes, and we watched it a few nights ago.  I have to admit that it was really heartening to see the canals again, and Northern Pride Pride featured briefly as we passed their boat on our way back to the potteries of Stoke in September.

Watching us watching them!  Paul from Waterways Routes passing us by ...

One of the challenges we encountered towards the end of our trip last year, was with the alternator not charging our batteries.  The penultimate problem was when we discovered that if we'd only saved our power the previous evening we would've been able to start the boat the day after - luckily our guardian angels were watching over us and we managed to get a jump start from two wonderful fellow narrowboaters.  I wrote a story about our serendipitous experience which is being published in the Australia and New Zealand Reader's Digest next month in 'The Kindness of strangers' pages.  What would've been useful are more LED lights on the boat to conserve precious power - we had two small ones available from Ikea, but they didn't really give enough light.  Sarah, aka, Baddie the Pirate, emailed us recently about her business selling LED lighting for narrowboats and asked us for a plug - so here it is!  We'll definitely check them out prior to our return so that we're better prepared should there be any similar concerns in the future.

So the countdown is on once again, but there's lots of hard work to be done beforehand to a) earn enough money to see us through, and b) get everything here ready to leave, such as renting our house and packing away our belongings.  I love the contrast of living on land in the southern hemisphere half the year and then living on the canals and rivers of Britain the remainder of the year (and of course achieving a perpetual summer!).  Realistically though, it's a very expensive lifestyle that it's unlikely we'll be able to continue after this year and will have to sell Northern Pride at the end of our journey this time :-( unless a miracle happens!

Wainui wedding and welcome 2010

Happy New Year to everyone reading the blog - we hope you had a wicked xmas and that 2010 brings you all oodles of love and happiness.

An amazing sunset over Gisborne, just before xmas , seen from the hill where we live

Talking of love and happiness, Barry and I are now legally married - yaay!  We had another perfect day on 22nd December, this time on the beach at Wainui in Gisborne, New Zealand.  Although Barry had convinced himself that the weather would be awful as we'd had such a glorious day in England at the end of September (and was ready to laugh because I'm always harping on about the wonderful weather here!), it luckily (for him!) turned out to be beautiful. 

The roof of Northern Pride was a magical wedding setting in September, but for me Wainui Beach was truly a wedding in paradise ...

Ceremony on the beach (there were lots of guests, honest!) - the theme for this wedding was paua shells and sunflowers - two of Sandra's passions, Barry of course being the main one!

  Meandering to the Surf Club, a 10 minute walk from the wedding setting

 A barefoot affair, typical kiwi style!

 

A few more guests than the first wedding!

My youngest daughter Kim and her partner Joe are still with us in New Zealand, as is my friend Arlene.  Unfortunately they return to England and the cold next week. 

We're now on a countdown to saving madly to return to England around May time, but the wedding was certainly a lot more expensive this time so we have a way to go!  We're determined to get back to the canals and Northern Pride for 4 to 6 months though, and we will find a way ...

Sailing the Severn Seas and other watery themes ...

Following my plea in October to anyone who may be able to help us with advice about travelling from Sharpness to Bristol, Paul from Waterways Routes emailed and said he had a DVD that he'd filmed in 2005 with Granny Buttons sailing from Bristol to Sharpness, and recently sent me a copy bless him.  Barry and I watched it with interest last week and I'm relieved to report that it's reassured me the journey could be possible in Northern Pride in 2010.  The conditions on the day they sailed seemed perfect, and of course you can't guarantee such calm weather on the day you want to travel, but nonetheless it wasn't half as scary as I'd imagined!  We'll investigate pilot options closer to the time; it'd certainly be an adventure to look forward to and one that Barry's very keen to experience.

We've been busily organising our Wainui Beach wedding which is in just ten days time!  'Wai' in Maori is water and 'nui 'means big - it certainly is a large expanse of beautiful beach and Pacific Ocean.  The weather here has been in the late 20's all week, but one never knows whether it'll last, and there's a southerly change approaching.  So we can only hope that on 22nd December, at 1600hrs, the sun will be shining upon us as we make our 'official' commitment to each other in front of around 120 guests!

On other things watery, we've recently completed our new fishpond in the garden.  The one we left when we went to UK sort of evaporated, the lodgers didn't keep the water level topped up and it was only lined with black plastic.  We returned to just one of the original goldfish in a tank in the living room :-(  Never mind, we now have a purpose built pond liner in, have made the surroundings very peaceful and three goldfish and a couple of boggle-eyed fish are swimming happily around.

Another pertinent story is of the dolphin that's made the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand its home for the past couple of years.  Moko had been a feature of Mahia, a stunning seaside settlement about an hour's drive south of Gisborne, until the end of August 2009 when he moved here.  He's currently seen most days close to Waikanae beach, minutes walk from Gisborne town centre.

Unfortunately I haven't had chance to see him yet, but maybe when I've got three weeks off I could be lucky.  The drawback is that there'll be thousands of summer visitors coming here in the near future who I suspect will also be dolphin spotting!

We were delighted that Granny Buttons wrote a blog about our blog (!) a couple of days ago - in fact I'd go as far as to say that Barry was beside himself with glee to see us featured in the blog of which he's been an avid follower for about 18 months now.  Who'd have thought this time last year that we'd be seeing ourselves in print in such a way.  It just goes to prove to me once more how important it is to follow your dreams.

Exciting times ahead, the next blog will be around Christmas time when we'll post some photos of our wedding.  We're going to Anaura Bay, Rangimarie Beachstay for two nights afterwards, which must be one of the most stunning places to stay.  If you look closely at the photos on the attached link you'll see me at the table when I stayed there for a weekend of writing in November 2008.  We're staying in the cottage, and may even venture out one night into the Balinese-style sleeping platform - heaven on earth!

Nine miles off one thousand!!

When we were travelling around the canals and rivers of Britain writing our blog, we chose not to keep a track of how many miles/locks/swing bridges we were going through.  After a while though, Barry did meticulously update our whereabouts on the google map, which has proven to be a very useful tool!  He's now counted the distance we accomplished and the work involved, and it looks like this:

• 990.6125 miles
• 539 locks
• 99 swing/lift bridges

Damn!  If we'd realised that we'd have taken a little detour somewhere along the way and made sure we'd hit the thousand mile mark!  Maybe we'll do it differently next year?

We've almost paid off our debts from our trip, so just the NZ wedding to pay for and then we'll be down to some serious saving ready for returning around May 2010.  Barry has applied for a seasonal job with one of the local wineries, so fingers crossed that he gets that to work from February to April.  It's going to depend on how much we save as to how long we can get back for to return to Northern Pride and 'do' the south.  We really must do some research into travelling down the Bristol Channel from Sharpness.

I'm very excited that a story I submitted to the Australia/New Zealand Reader's Digest is going to be published in February 2010, along with a photograph of our English wedding - yaay!  It was a story about 'the kindness of strangers' and I wrote about the two narrowboats and their fabulous occupants who came to our rescue and jump started Northern Pride when our battery was flat - our guardian angels.

I have just under three weeks to work in my current role, before I leave and take a holiday for three weeks (again, I know, it's so greedy having so much time off!) over Christmas and New Year, and of course the 'real' wedding.  The material for my wedding dress only arrived this week and is still on the table at the dress-maker's, hopefully it'll be transformed into a stunning creation in the very near future!

Wainui Beach  - shot from our NZ wedding location

Farewell to Frank

Barry's father passed away peacefully on the morning of Saturday 7 November.  It was spooky how he seemed to wait until he had all of his family in Gisborne; his daughter and younger son arrived from Australia on Thursday and Friday respectively.  The funeral was held on Wednesday, with over a hundred mourners present, and was a fitting tribute to celebrate the life of a great and gentle man.  Barry and his brothers and sister spoke of their memories of his life, and then presented a very slickly put together (what else would you expect from Barry?!) slide-show of photographs of Frank and his friends and family which roused those present to applause loudly at the finale - we're not sure if that's appropriate behaviour at a funeral, but it certainly felt 'right' that Frank's 89 year presence on this earth had been acknowledged in such a heartfelt way.

Frank Teutenberg

25 September 1920 - 7 November 2009

I can still vividly recall the phone call from Barry's brother Ray, on 20 May this year, informing us that Frank had suddenly been taken ill and subsequently diagnosed with a brain tumour.  We were on the River Avon, having just left Tewkesbury and arrived at Eckington a delightful little village.  Due to the unfolding events and the need for Barry to return to New Zealand, we then skipped swiftly past places such as Wyre Piddle and Pershore on our way to Evesham to find a mooring that we could stay at, as that was going to be a good place for Barry to catch a train from and me to stay during his absence.  Maybe we'll return along the Lower Avon Navigation in 2010 to visit those places and take good look around and also see our newly found friends Chris and Joan, the Evesham Lock-keepers, who looked after me so well while Northern Pride and I 'lodged' with them for a couple of weeks!

We almost booked our return tickets to England last weekend as there appeared to be a really good deal on Air New Zealand.  Once we'd thought about it and gone back to the site later however, the deal had gone - bugger!  Don't you just hate it when that happens?  You just have to grab life's opportunities when you see them, no use hanging around thinking about it for a couple of hours.  Hopefully we'll find another one and be more ready to grasp it!

Narrowboat Gypsy Rover cruised past Northern Pride last week and posted a photo on their blog bless them.  She's looking happy having her winter break, and will need to conserve all her energy for Barry's return next year!  He's already talking about going back a few weeks or so before me and possibly persuading/cajoling a mate to come along too to help with the rest of the painting.  Meanwhile I'll be here earning the cents to turn to pounds to see us through the summer - he's a damn lucky man isn't he?!

The wedding arrangements are sort of coming along, though we've been rather caught up with Frank for the past couple of weeks; we still have to organise the catering and the booze!  I'm sure it'll be alright on the night though, as the first one was ...

Carpe Diem - seize the day

It's almost two weeks since I've written a blog.  Life certainly takes on a different meaning when you're working full time, and it's challenging to find some quality time to do the things, and be with the people, you love.  I feel so lucky to have had the experience of being on Northern Pride with Barry, and to have been able to stop and smell the roses for a while - unfortunately it has meant that we spent all our savings and now are on pay-back!  But that's OK, we'll be back on track soon ...

Barry's father is very poorly, but comfortable, in hospital, and it's just a matter of time before he leaves us bless him.  On the same day that he was admitted, a dear friend of mine arrived in the emergency department too and is having major heart surgery tomorrow.  So our thoughts turn to 'seizing the day' and appreciating what we have, as one never knows what's in store as each new day dawns.

Last weekend Barry and I seized a great Gisborne day out at the local Wine and Food festival, and drank rather too much wine in the glorious sunshine!  Barry was fine (he's had a lot more practice than me!), but I managed to embarrass myself by stumbling over in a car park and had a gravel rash down my face, and was then ill (apparently, as I have no recollection of the events!) in the local Fishing Club - not a good look!  I would put a photo of us earlier in the day on, but Barry hasn't been using his camera much since we've been back and the photos I took with my phone we can't find the programme to put them onto the computer!

So back to our favourite places from our soiree in England ...

The first canal we went onto, the Llangollen,  was definitely one of the best - and as we travelled in April and May, wasn't too crowded. 

The view from our first mooring on the Llangollen Canal, just outside of Wrenbury

I recall that Barry was in awe of the bright colours of the foliage, they were so fresh and green as spring brought new life to the canal.  The trees in New Zealand are mostly deciduous so we don't have the same contrasts of the seasons.  In fact, a fellow Brit who also emigrated here, said the other day that he thinks we have just two seasons in Gisborne - winter and summer!  

The Chirk and Pontcysyllte Aqueducts were incredible experiences, and of course since we traversed the latter it has become a World Heritage site - and rightly so.  It's the most amazing structure, and to think it was constructed over 200 years ago.  Breathtaking.  And I do recall my breath being taken away the night after driving over it when I thought of the 38 metre drop I'd had at my side, but funnily enough actually going over it wasn't a problem as I was just in awe of the beauty around me.

Kath and Tim brave the Pontcysyllte - don't look down!

Llangollen itself was such a quaint and friendly town, despite the wet weather.  It was where we found the largest collection of ducklings in what appeared to be one 'brood' - we counted 29!

Scrambling for a morsel of bread - we couldn't quite get them all into one shot!

We spent over a week on the Llangollen Canal, our first 'real' experience of living on a narrowboat.  Barry didn't take any persuading to be 'hooked' on the experience, and though I was certainly enjoying the time, I couldn't say I was persuaded of the merits of the alternative lifestyle at that stage - in fact that didn't happen until much later, and then so subtley that I'm not sure I could pinpoint the exact moment it happened ....

Our favourite places - part one

As I suspected, it's going to be quite a challenge to continue writing this blog and attempting to make it relevant to those reading a waterways site.  Living as we do on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, it feels very remote from the canals and rivers of Britain.  However the experiences we had during those six months have changed our whole perspective on life, and it's still quite challenging to 'settle' back into how life was pre-Northern Pride.  In fact I don't think it will ever be the same again ...

Here's a shot of where we live in Gisborne, just to show you the difference in homes here compared to UK:

All the land you see is part of our 'section' which is what kiwi's call their garden or plot of land attached to their house. We're very lucky and it's really not a great hardship to be back here for the New Zealand summer!

But I digress; onto topics of a watery nature ...

One of our favourite places that we visited on the canals was Manchester and surrounding areas.  We'd had a lovely weekend with Lisa and travelled south east from Wigan on the Bridgewater canal.  Barry knew we'd be going over the Barton aqueduct which crosses the Manchester Ship Canal, and was so excited when we arrived and the gates were closed and the aqueduct was swung open.  And how fortuitous it was that we were the first narrowboat to arrive and subsequently got to spend almost two hours watching events unfold.  The tank of water that pivots around the central point over the canal holds 800 tons of water!  Amazing!

The canal journey into Manchester on the Ashton canal was very pleasant as we'd previously experienced some less attractive routes into other major cities.  We'd been informed by many boaters that stopping in Manchester wasn't recommended, but if we were feeling brave and bold to moor up only at Castlefield.  We experienced no scary encounters at all during our three nights in the city and would recommend it to anyone.

Salford Quays was amazing and we really should have spent more time there - if only we'd got out of bed earlier on the Friday morning!  As I missed the Lowry exhibition, Barry bought me two Lowry prints and a book (The Lowry Lexicon) for my recent 50th birthday - 'Gentleman looking at something' as this one was painted in 1959 (we have it up in the boat), the year of my birth, and a larger print called 'Northern River Scene' which depicts the mills of the north along with many people walking along the river.  We'll get that one framed and put up at home.

A highlight of the weekend was the Manchester Pride Parade - we loved being a part of it and all the colourful people involved, what a fabulous atmosphere, extremely enjoyable.

Leaving Manchester on the Sunday, I don't think we quite realised what a long day lay ahead, it was certainly a hard day's graft!  Luckily we were able to share some of the locks with another boat which helped.  Since we've been back in Gisborne, a few people have commented that they thought we'd have put weight on rather than lost it or stayed the same - it seems that folks have a mistaken impression that life on a narrowboat is all about cruising along gently, feet up, sipping cocktails and reading books!  Whilst the lifestyle is indeed idyllic (and maybe the experience of hire boaters doing a week or two is different to living aboard?), it's not due to lying around but to having fun and making the most of every day and every experience along the way, working hard to move through locks and swing bridges and keeping the boat ship-shape!

Ah well, onto planning wedding number two and we've been to see the venue for the reception which is the surf club at Wainui Beach.  Just to make you all envious, here's the scene last Thursday evening around 7pm ...

 

Working to live; not living to work

Well I've survived the first few days back at work without too much trauma.  The main challenge has been accessing the recesses of my mind for my midwifery knowledge - my brain has been full of so much more (or could it be less?) during the past six months.  Of course, as one friend kindly pointed out, it's like riding a bike - once you get back on again it soon becomes second nature.  There's also the impetus of earning enough money to enable us to return to the waterways next year, which definitely provides the incentive to put my nose to the grindstone.

Barry has been busying himself visiting his dad and pottering around the house and garden, doing lots of maintenance and sorting and tidying; then today he's spent some fruitful hours rearranging our website of photos from our travels on the canals and some from New Zealand too.  He still has a long way to go to upload all the best ones, but there's a link on the blog now and an opportunity to purchase prints on-line if anyone so desires ...  We hope some people do if only to feedback to us that it all worked, as we've yet to test it out!

We've been experiencing better weather this week and I've walked to work surrounded by a clear blue sky and sunshine.  For some reason the sky always seems larger to me here than in England; maybe it's the lack of clouds most days that gives that impression?

Talking of size, we're still finding it strange adjusting to having so much space around.  Barry keeps putting things away in cupboards and I can't locate them.  At least when you're living in the confined space of a narrowboat you know there's only a limited number of places things can be!

We've heard from Joy and Bruce that Northern Pride is doing fine, so that's reassuring, and we're hoping they'll take her out for a trip sometime and possibly send us some photos.

Back to reality - initial reflections on life aboard

We've been back in New Zealand for six days now and we're beginning to settle back into the kiwi life, but it's tough!  The house is starting to feel like ours once more and we've caught up with most family and friends.  Tomorrow, Monday, I'm back at work; it's going to be a real shock to the system after six months off!

Having had time to reflect on our journeys aboard Northern Pride on the waterways of Great Britain from April to September, I've compiled a 'Top Ten' of my personal highlights - there's actually many more than ten but I'll keep it short initially!

Firstly though, some more pictures from the past week ...

 

A brief stop-over for refuelling in Hong Kong, ground temperature 31 degrees C

Feeling OK after the first ten hour plus flight ...

Sunrise over the east coast of Australia - awesome!

Our first dinner back home, kindly prepared and cooked by Sam, one of our lodgers - Left to right: Sam, Mariam, Tom & Sandra

Welcome home banners - hand made by Barry's mum and sister - very touching bless them - note the blazing fire; it was so cold when we returned!  The photo on the wall is of reflections in the canal at Gas Street Basin, Birmingham, April 2007

This one is Jenny's, Barry's sister, we think it's the winner!

   The sun is starting to come out again ...

  Barry's family - brother Ray, Sandra, Barry, dad Frank, sister Jenny and mum June

Barry and Frank - leaning on each other at the front of our house

Barry was photographing a wedding on Saturday, and late in the afternoon there was the most amazing light across the ocean of 'Poverty Bay' where we live.  Captain Cook first came here in 1769, the inaugural setting foot on New Zealand soil, and it was the anniversary of the landing that same day.  Unfortunately they mistook the Maori greeting for a call to arms and shot many of the locals - hence the name 'Poverty Bay; as unsurprisingly they then had to set sail without provisions!

 

 Early evening light over Poverty Bay, Gisborne, New Zealand

So, onto my highlights of our canal adventures (not necessarily in order of priority):

1. Writing the blog each day, or most days, was definitely number one for me.  I loved capturing our daily lives, what we saw, did and felt.  The feedback we've received from people across the world, some known to us but many we've never met, has just been incredible!
2. Having the time to discover an England that I never knew existed.  Visiting cities, towns, villages and Hamlets (I didn't even know there were such things anymore!) and learning about the history of each place.  I was never really that interested in the subject at school, but it all came alive when we moved around the country.
3. Of course being 'close' (they are so scattered all around England!) to my family for six months was awesome.  I believe that I have more quality time with my relatives because I live in New Zealand strangely enough.  When we do get together, we appreciate it so much more than if we all lived around the corner from each other.
4. Catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.  There is, mostly, an amazing camaraderie amongst boaters.  We would talk to complete strangers most days and always have commonalities in the fact that we were on a narrowboat - whether people were on a boat they owned, part-owned, or hired.  The towpaths were also hives of activity much of the time; it was great to see so many people out walking, even though it was mostly with dogs.
5. The wildlife on the canals and rivers - we've loved being so close to the mallards, swans, moorhens, coots, geese and herons and their offspring; and spotting the occasional mandarin duck, terrapin, water snake, peacock or other unusual beings.
6. The peace and serenity of living on a narrowboat much of the time is an experience to relish.  Many times we moored up in the middle of nowhere and the only sounds we could hear were of the local birds and ducks.  Often though, despite the remoteness of the mooring, there would still be a major road somewhere nearby and you could hear the constant drone of the traffic - not a problem, we just treasured the fact that it wasn't us rushing around in a state of constant stress.
7. Partaking of a drink or two in the local pubs.  We've met so many people this way and have found some brilliant places, and so many friendly people (there was a converse side but I'm not doing any negatives today!).
8. The fact that each day was so different.  We probably travelled further than was practical in the time we had, but the beauty of doing that was we never knew where we would end up and what we would see along the way.
9. A chance to catch up on some reading!  I read so many books in the six months we were away, life is so hectic most of the time that I don't think we take the opportunity often enough to expand our horizons by reading good books - or even bad ones!
10. In fact, just the act of sitting, mainly in the evenings, and doing very little.  We'd write the blog and put on the photos, read books, I'd do my embroidery (haven't done a cross stitch for many years and still not completed the canal scene I'm doing!), talking to each other or phoning family/friends, visiting the local pub or just going for a walk.  We didn't watch the TV, the one left on the boat when we bought it was relegated to a cupboard - we rarely read a newspaper either.  We believe that the media influences people's perceptions of the world in such a negative way that it's best not to collaborate with them!

There are more positive reflections for me, but I'll leave them for another time.

The weather promises to improve here next week, just in time for me to return to work.  But working has a different focus for us now; it's a way of earning enough to return to the boat in 2010 to live once again in the parallel universe of the canals and rivers.

In the meantime, on the rare days when I'm not working between now and the middle of December, there's always an array of indoor and outdoor activities to enjoy here too!