A delightful weekend in Droitwich

It's been a hectic couple of weeks aboard AREandARE, so blog posts are a little behind!

To make up for it there's some of Barry's amazing photos on this blog which is a rare treat - above is a scene from the journey to Droitwich.

Moorings were still plentiful when we arrived, with spaces along the towpath and in the basin all weekend.  It was a busy place though with so many BCF narrowboats around; a pleasant atmosphere with lots going on.

For us though, it was a great opportunity to discover more delights of Droitwich, and catch up with family.  We've visited the town many times in the past, but found places we never knew existed.

A short walk from Vines Park, we came across Droitwich Lido Park - a vast expanse of parkland and amenities that I'd not seen previously and a great find for all the great grandchildren to visit when they come to see their great grandparents!

Droitwich Lido's outdoor pool

There's lots of historical buildings in Droitwich too ...

The Visitors Information Centre and Salt Museum building

The Raven Hotel

Quaint canalside cottages

Still a few mooring spaces left - and a trio of accommodation here: boats, houses and a church

More charming cottages hidden away

Coincidentally my three sisters had planned the same weekend to stay at my parent's home to do a bit of decorating, so Barry and I went to assist - well Barry assisted and I took my parents out to Whitley Court.

My youngest sister Viv collects us from Droitwich for a day at my parents

Whitley Court - Magnificent

The spectacular Perseus and Andromeda Fountain

We managed to get my parents onto the boat for the first and probably only time which was very precious - here I am with my dad who wanted to come and live with us I think!

We had lunch at a pub we frequently go to, we've just forgotten the name of it!  This one below is just up the road - we remember this one, it's called 'The Cock Inn' - no comment ...

My dad is getting very old, but for 93 he's still amazing and loves a game of pool.  He's also still a very good player despite his failing eyesight and stability - it's wonderful to be here spending time with him.

Back in the basin and here's a photo of the mural showing the legendary 'Captain Kidd' which was unveiled on May 4th.  In June's Waterways World, there's a write-up of this which states the mural "...was inspired by the tale of Richard Coote, MP for Droitwich from 1688 to 1695. Coote was appointed governor of America's early colonies, and recruited Captain William Kidd and others to captain a privateer galley to stop piracy.  The plan backfired, and Kidd, of course, went on to become a pirate himself."

On Sunday Jenny met my three sisters - so we had two Teutenbergs and six Walshes sat around the table enjoying a Sunday Carvery - very special.

We finally left Drotwich on Monday morning, heading to Worcester.  The canal is definitely worth a visit, so well kept with reed beds either side ...

And at the second to last lock, we became the centre of attention for a mass of schoolchildren from Kings Hawford school who were taking part in a sponsored canal walk, and had great fun helping to open and close the lock gates - it was quite unnerving having so many young people so close to the paddles and gates, but they were all kept well controlled by the teachers so thankfully there were no mishaps!

The final lock skims past a very grand property, and then we were onto the River Severn once more (the last time was May 2009) and rushing to Worcester at a breathtaking six miles an hour with the flow!

Our first Tardebigge experience - how many locks?!

On Monday we left the England's second city behind, and idled along the greenery of Kings Norton and Bournville, and taking a short walk to the Guillotine stop lock on the Stratford Canal. Last winter, with the help of £200,00 from the 'People's Postcode Lottery' funds, this unique construction was restored and only opened on 30th April.  In the latest edition of Towpath talk they say "There is a worry that the structure will be once again spoilt with graffiti and damaged. Dean Davies reported that the trust is trying to educate local youths on the value and status of the monument."  Sadly their worries have come to fruition, with graffiti appearing on each side.

Guillotine Lock, aka Kings Norton Stop Lock - the only one of its kind and a Grade II* listed and Scheduled Ancient Monument

Continuing on to Alvechurch, we moored not far from where we hired a narrowboat called 'Wye' from 'Anglo Welsh' in April 2007, Barry's first foray onto the canals - which caught him hook, line and sinker!  

On that occasion we chose not to do the 'Tardebigge Locks', the longest flight in the country - luckily for us this time we had an extra pair of hands and managed 42 locks in one day! It was hard work but fun, and with rare bright blue skies and sunshine, I also got a bit sunburnt  - I even alternated with a bit of driving into the locks for the very first time on AREandARE with hardly a bump - very impressive I thought.

Jenny must have the idea now, and to make it even quicker we used the fold up bike to get from one lock to another and smooth the ride for the captain ...

Just to prove it, we have a few of Barry's shots - here I am gliding her in, gently and smoothly ...

Last night we moored not far from Hanbury, so Jenny could cycle to Hanbury Hall today - Barry and I chose to stay and catch up on some work-related things as we'd previously visited there (when we had our National Trust membership).

Tomorrow we'll be heading down the Droitwich Canal for the first time - though the timing isn't so good and we may not get a mooring in Droitwich.  We hadn't realised until yesterday the 'Churches together' group have chosen 8th and 9th of June to have a weekend of family fun and activities at Vines park.  A number of Boaters Christian Fellowship narrowboats have been passing us - so we're crossing our fingers and other appendages there's a 60 foot long space there somewhere for us ...

The Lovely People in the Heart of the Country

We’ve spent the past few days moored in various places in the heart of the City of Birmingham, a place I frequented as a teenager and in my thirties and forties, for shopping and night-life. It’s a buzzing place, with some incredible architecture both ancient and modern. I hear people denigrating Birmingham, saying it’s dirty and industrial – well I do not agree – the streets are clean, the people are friendly, there’s an abundance of activities to immerse yourself in and there are more canals than there are in Venice – what more could you ask for?

Victoria Square with ‘The Floozy in the Jacuzzi’ was looking stupendous in the sunshine, and we spent an hour in the Art Gallery – we didn’t make the most of this building and its contents sadly, as our visit was too close to closing time and we didn’t find time to return.

The Repertory Theatre and Central Library are in the process of being re-built – not really sure about the design of the building, though new library alone is costing £188.8 million and will contain the world's largest collection of Shakespeare books, pamphlets and memorabilia. It's due to open in early September 2013.

'The levels are stacked up like a pile of children's building blocks, and wrapped in a lacy metal skin which in sunlight casts intricate shadows on the floors inside and is also intended – according to the architects – to recall the tradition of jewellery making and the city's industrial heritage. The golden box at the higher levels blocks light from the archive storeys and their precious collections, including manuscripts from the 12th century on, and an internationally renowned photography collection.'

Birmingham New Street Railway Station is halfway through its refurbishment and is looking amazing – so much more expansive and spacious than its predecessor was. We met my daughter Kim from Birmingham International Airport early on Sunday morning, following a week in the sunshine of Greece. It was her first visit to Areandare – just a short one as she needed to be back at work this morning. I’d found an amazing deal of First Class train travel back to her home in Brighton for just £34!

The newly emerging Birmingham New Street Railway Station

Over the weekend we’d walked past an interesting statue just outside ‘The Cube’ a number of times, and hadn’t realised until today that it is in fact one of a series of incredible pieces called ‘The Lovely People’ by Arron BIrd aka Temper – the others are situated inside The Cube building.  We couldn’t understand why they are not advertised more on the walk to The Mailbox (link) so that many more ‘tourists’ can see past the materialism and busyness of modern day life.  I was incredibly inspired and humbled, and loved the artist’s description of these real people.

"The lovely people are a group of seven people, all of whom have an exceptional story to tell.  The bodies are those of the actual people who inspired the work. The mirrored shine of the hearts reflects our own faces as we approach them, asking us to see a little of ourselves in each of these embodiments of society.":

This one represents a man who has worked hard all his life

 'Mother and child' - the child was born with a hole in her heart and was treated in Birmingham

 'Survivor' is an old lady who walked across Europe in the war - her mum was sent to Auschwitz 

The flying sculpture represents a firefighter who risked his life to save colleagues

Such a rich life, brimming with beautiful people ...

... though sadly not (yet) in a financial sense (though I'm definitely putting that out there for the not too distant future to manifest!), but definitely an abundance of contact with people we love, and of course being on board Areandare and finding delight at every turn on the canals.

'The wonderful things in life are the things you do, not the things you have.' ~ Reinhold Messner

Remaining in the Glascote/Amington area of Tamworth last week, we caught up with our friends Bruce and Joy, and reminisced about their boating experiences on their narrowboat 'Burlesque' some years ago.

Then on Friday we collected a hire car from Enterprise again - this time just £47 for four days, and we even got a free upgrade because the tiny car we'd booked wasn't ready so we got a cool Fiesta!  Yaay! We travelled to Brighton to help my daughter Kim to move home, then got her to the airport to catch a flight to Greece.  After that it was up to Malpas in Cheshire overnight to visit my elder daughter Lisa, son-in-law and grandson.

The main purpose for splashing out again on the car was of course to get to The Crick Boat Show, for the first time ever. The sun shone and it even became fairly warm which was a bonus - and we were fortunate to meet in person some people we've been in touch with over the years through the blog ...

Paul from 'Waterways Routes' - we're loving the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Cruising Map CD

Helen and Andy again from Captain Ahab's Watery Tales and Wild Side Jams and Preserves

Not meeting, just recognising Terry Darlington (Narrowboat to Carcassonne and other books fame)

Tom and Jan from Nb Waiouru

We finally left the Tamworth area on Tuesday, heading down to Bodymoor Heath for a night moored at 'The Dog and Doublet' - where we had our Humanist wedding ceremony on the roof of Northern Pride on 26th September 2009.  It was a very different day in late May 2013 - rainy and cold, but still full of cheer inside the pub and Jim, the Landlord, was a barrel of laughs and had us all in stitches bless him!

Barry with Jim on the right

We couldn't stay longer than one night, as Barry's sister Jenny was on her way from Australia, via Spain and Morocco, to stay with us for a while and we needed to be closer to Birmingham. Paul's Birmingham & Fazeley DVD came in extremely useful to discover moorings between there and the centre of Birmingham, without having to do all the locks.  The Nicholson's Guide didn't show any moorings and we were giving up hope - until Paul's up-to-date knowledge saved the day - thank you Paul!

We moored at Aston Cross Business Park, right behind a small shop and bar (not that we frequented it!), and Jenny arrived on Wednesday morning.  

Jenny arrives safely after finding us from Stanstead Airport in London, to New Street Train Station Birmingham, then by bus to Aston - what an amazing woman!

Yesterday we travelled up to the centre of Birmingham, which for those who aren't aware, is on a plateau.  Birmingham is where J.R.R. Tolkein grew up, and was the inspiration for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books.

On the way up, a very unassuming and friendly gentleman appeared at one of the locks and assisted Jenny and I through to Cambrian Wharf.  It was only at the top that I introduced myself and gave him a blog card, asking if he had Internet access - silly me - he then gave me his business card and it was none other than Jim Shead.  I recognised the name immediately, and knew he wrote about the waterways, but it was Barry who was blown away to realise who he'd been chatting with and disappointed he hadn't taken more of an opportunity to talk.  Thank you Jim, it was a pleasure to have your company and help, and we hope to meet you again.

Jim, Jenny and Sandra making light work of the Farmers Flight of locks to Birmingham

Last night a friend from my youth managed to find us on our mooring, after I sent out a message via Facebook to anyone who knows us to come and visit - well done Karen, it was so awesome to see you again and hope to catch you again.

Sandra, Rob and Karen sharing some boat brew wine (it's getting better with age!)

Today, Saturday, we've had another toilet hiccup  and visited Sherborne Wharf to try and get it solved. There were no engineers around, and we were beginning to despair, when Barry found a most helpful fellow boater who had just hired a pump to sort out his bilge area that had become flooded. He used it to unblock our loo - hurrah!  Thank goodness!

So many beautiful people in our lives - and tonight Kim returns from Greece and stays with us until tomorrow lunchtime - marvellous.

Business cards balls up!

As part of setting up and establishing my Life Coaching business in the UK, we've been working on new business cards.  We normally use ''Vista Print' for these, and needed to edit my cards from New Zealand to include my UK phone number, and website/blog address.

Barry's great at designing these things, and getting it all set out - but once we'd agreed the design something technical happened (I can't remember what it was!) and he had to start again.  Eventually we got it right (or so we thought), and ordered 250, along with some blog cards for AREandARE.

Expecting them to be delivered to my parents around 10th May, I called them before visiting on 12th, only to be informed they hadn't arrived.  By the middle of last week they (apparently) still hadn't materialised there, so Barry emailed 'Vistaprint' and they re-sent the order which was very good of them.

While staying with my parents last Friday night and early Saturday morning, I sorted out my dad's car breakdown insurance cover that had run out.  He's 93 now and gets confused at times, so wasn't clear what the reminder letter was about.  After I'd done that, I opened a drawer to keep the information in the relevant place - and there was a parcel, addressed to me, with the first order of the business cards!  My dad must've answered the door to the postman/courier, put them in the drawer (not sure why!) without understanding what they were, and didn't tell my mum.

So now we'll have 500 business and blog cards.

We began giving the cards out to friends and family to share with anyone they wanted to, or to place in prominent, suitable places.  We gave a handful to Helen, from 'Wand'ring Bark', and took a handful of hers for her 'Wild Side Jams and Preserves' business (on a 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' theory).

The following day Helen texted to ask if it was ok to put a link to my website/blog on their blog - and let us know that it wasn't on the business card - we were flummoxed! We'd edited the cards intensively, or so we thought, but lo and behold, she was right!  In the process of the technical hitch and re-doing the cards, we'd missed the website off the final version!

So now we'll have 500 business cards, without the vital link that explains who I am, what I do, and what options there are currently for coaching with me!  Admittedly it's there on my Facebook page if you look closely and open the relevant link, but many people don't 'do' Facebook - avoiding it at all costs.

Here's one of said the cards - minus the website/blog address of www.awakeningyourlife.me.

Thank you Helen, it's amazing that we didn't notice and we're not sure how long it would've taken us to (isn't it funny how you sometimes see what you want to see?) - today I've ordered another 250, this time with my Life Coaching website/blog address on!  Now we just have to hope that my mum gets to the postman first, or we'll have to turn their house upside down looking for them in a few weeks time ...

Loitering in Tamworth ...

Apologies are due - Barry didn't manage to find the time to post any photos last week while I was away as promised - he was too busy drinking pottering about on the boat doing all sorts of jobs.  He did do a bit of drinking too, especially after his boating accident when he slipped off the gunnel onto the corner of the cratch and gashed his eye ...

Returning to the boat after we'd spent a night with my sister in Lichfield, a couple of friends gave him a lift and of course it would've been rude not to go for a drink to the Swan at Fradley Junction with them.  The photo of his eye above was when I returned on Saturday - it was looking much less bruised by then I think.

The quaint bar at The Swan in Fradley Junction

We had some very bad news last Monday that's made us even more sure the move we've made is a good one for us.  On our return to Fradley, once we'd collected the hire car from Lichfield, we spotted a narrowboat we'd seen a couple of times on our trip in 2010.  We'd chatted to the boat's owners for ages in Goring and Bathampton, so were really pleased to see the boat again.  We hoped the same people were on board, and went to see before travelling to my sisters.  Indeed it was they - and we had a fabulous catch up over a cup of tea.  They had such plans for the future.  

Sadly, on Monday, Barry heard someone knocking on the boat around 0815hrs (of course he was still in bed!), and luckily managed to get himself up and out.  It was the narrowboat from Saturday, and he was told the man we'd re-met had, very sadly, unexpectedly collapsed and died the night before.  The lady said to Barry "We have a plaque on the boat which says 'Don't count the days, make every day count' - and we did!".  Bless you both, and rest in peace lovely man.  We feel very privileged to have spent time with you - and the photo I took by your boat may be the last one of you both, so please get in touch and I'll send it to you.

Carpe diem everyone - seize each day and be thankful for what you DO have, instead of worrying about what you don't - for one never knows what's around the next corner.

I spent last week in Brighton with my youngest daughter - so wonderful to see her and spend time in such a buzzing city.  The sun shone brightly on Thursday - and the beach was crowded even on a weekday - you've got to make the most of any opportunity for some vitamin D in England!

 Brighton seafront and pier

Enterprise have a great deal on car hire over Bank Holiday weekends, and we've been planning on hiring one to go to the Crick Boat Show.  Unfortunately I left it a little late to book one, and discovered they had none available from Birmingham, only Tamworth.  So rather than moving this week, we're just mooching around the Fazely/Glascote area ready to hire the car Friday morning.

It was lucky that we were still on this stretch of canal, as we had an unexpected surprise on Sunday when Andy and Helen texted to say they would be coming past us.  Another awesome evening with them, eating curry, drinking wine and playing six-handed rummy - marvellous!

I have some coaching clients booked in tomorrow and Thursday, so it's also useful to have good internet signal here.  

We'll be at Crick on Monday, and hope to finally meet Tom and Jan from NB Waioru.  Oh yes!  And we'll be looking for suitable life jackets for our grandson.  Lisa had bought one from Amazon, but it was too tight, and oh so bulky - does anyone have any suggestions for a good life jacket (that he'll feel comfortable wearing) for an almost four-year-old?

Packing it all in ...

No, don't worry, that doesn't mean we've had enough and are returning to New Zealand!

For the next week or so though, I'm packing a lot in to see my eldest sister for her birthday tomorrow in Lichfield, then going to my parents in Ombersley on Sunday morning, and later that day travelling down to Brighton to see my youngest daughter, staying until Friday when I'll head back to mum and dad's.

I'm not sure why my family are so scattered, I suppose it's just the way of the world now for a lot of people.  It's lovely for me to be back here and able to visit them, though it's still a challenge getting to the various parts of the country!

He aha te mea nui o te ao? 

He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!

What is the most important thing in the world? 

It is people! It is people! It is people!

Maori Proverb (from Tairawhiti/Gisborne)

Barry will be 'boat alone' for six days.  If anyone's in the area, has some free time and wants some time on board with Barry, get in touch!

We're moored now just past Fradley Junction, and the lovely people at Enterprise (Lichfield) will come and pick us up tomorrow morning from The Swan Public House there - reportedly the most photographed pub on the system - we may pop in for a pint tonight, it'd be rude not to!  But just the one sadly ...

Enterprise car hire are a gift to boaters, as they collect you from wherever the boat is moored, take you back to the office and get you signed up.  Then they'll take you back again at the end of the car hire - marvellous!  I've looked at train prices to get me to all the places we need to go to, and it would work out about the same, but with a lot more hassle getting to stations and then there'd be delays and missed connections and when you're trying to pack it all in it's just too stressful.

On Saturday we're going to see Jim at The Hop and Cork, Brownhills (or Brownshill as Barry calls it!), to talk about Barry's business that we'll be setting up on the boat once he has his UK visa.

I'm leaving Barry to post a few blogs next week - you may get to see some of his amazing photographs, I know he has some ready to go.  It's so long since he's done so though, it'll take him a while to remember but I'm sure he'll work it out.