This morning in Gisborne there was a distinct frost on the ground and car - our previously mild winter is turning a lot colder now, but luckily we still have blue skies and sunshine to keep our spirits high (and of course Barry's other spirits help too!).
Last week we had five days in Wellington, enjoying wandering around the capital city, as well as catching up with Barry's son Tom and staying a night with a couple of friends, Fiona & Hayden. The bonus being there for Barry's niece Emma, and her fiancé Matt's, hen and stag do's. Part of the girls night out involved a pole dancing lesson - if you're friends with me on facebook you'll have seen some of the intricacies of that, but the images won't be appearing anytime soon on this blog! Barry and the boys chose bowling (and I'm obliged to tell you that Barry won!), and a spot of beer tasting.
We stayed with Tom in his rented house on the side of a hill in the outskirts of Wellington - many of the homes perch precariously on hillsides (or so it feels!) ...
Lyall Bay and Wellington Airport as seen from Tom's sun lounge
A wander round the town and a visit to Te Papa Museum
Sandra examining the giant squid on display, at 4.5 metres (14.6 feet) long it was caught by fishermen in the Antarctic waters and has been preserved for posterity - it's a female, there's never been a male captured to date, so no-one knows what they look like
Having just been to the 'Murder House' (dentist!), Sandra was paying particular attention to this display from the years of the school dentist in NZ
A bit of fun and a long exposure, looking down on the colourful floor below
Awesome Maori carving which would be seen at the entrance to a meeting house (Marae)
The 'Britten' V1000 motorcycle which set numerous speed records throughout the world was hand built by Kiwi designer John Britten who went on to form The Britten Motorcycle Company
The view from friend's Fiona and Hayden's deck, looking across Wellington Harbour
Thursday 21 October
We'd set the alarm this morning for 0800hrs, so we could get through Blisworth Tunnel and find a suitable mooring ready to be collected by some kind person from Enterprise Car Hire in Blisworth. We were leaving Northern Pride for the weekend, taking a car load of our belongings and travelling to my parents' house and then to The New Forest for a weekend with my family.
Greeting us outside was another beautiful, blue sky day. Jack Frost had paid us an overnight visit and left a layer of sparkling white on the ground and scattered on the moored boats, so Barry was in his element photographing it all. He'd love to be in England when it snows bless him, so this was probably the next best thing. One day he'll experience it, and it'll be interesting to see how long his keenness lasts!
As the sun rises, it warms the frozen boats and looks like they're steaming!
Everything is covered with a layer of frost, including our barge pole
The sun continues to do his best to warm up the day!
There wasn't much life around at this time, just some ducks and ...
... a couple of swans cleaning themselves
Such perfect whiteness contrasted against the black and orange - beautiful
The Boat Inn and The Canal Shop were both still very quiet
A layer of frost covered these water jugs
Only one boat on the move - not sure how far they'd travelled on this cold and frosty morning
Ropes as stiff as boards!
Soon we were heading for the third longest tunnel on the system, meeting another boat coming the other way which looked like it'd met a number of wet patches - so we made sue we were covered appropriately for the dark and cold passage.
Off we set for the tunnel - the 'Leggers' hut beside the entrance
We weren't sure what the concrete ring was from ...
... until we entered the tunnel and could make a calculated guess!
Past the boat that was coming through the lock and towards Blisworth
We got through uneventfully and soon found a good mooring that had somewhere to park a car close by so we could pack up some of our accumulated 'stuff' easily.
Blisworth Tunnel Marina
Moored opposite the old Blisworth Corn Mill Building
Built in 1879 by Joseph Westley but now converted into attractive apartments
This old building beside our mooring must have been an engineers workshop, according to what's left of the sign above
No shortage of boats passing today
Our mooring for the next couple of days while we set off for the weekend
The moorings at Banbury on the Oxford Canal
The toll house at the junction of the disused Cotswolds Canal and the Thames above Lechlade
Abingdon Lock on the River Thames
The elaborate bridge and tunnel on the Kennet and Avon Canal at Bath
Scalloped shaped Aldermasten Lock by Aldermasten Wharf on the Kennet and Avon Canal
One of the many stately homes along the banks of the River Thames near Henley-on-Thames
Old working barge moored on the Shepperton Arm of the River Thames 
A perfect day on the Grand Union Canal between Leighton Buzzard and Fenny Compton
