From a family wedding weekend, to our first festival!

The slow boat lane has been a little crazy and hurried of late.

Last weekend we travelled all the way to Bampton in Devon, obviously not by narrowboat! Enterprise in Cannock collected us from The Fox and Anchor at Cross Green, near Wolverhampton, and we filled in the requisite paperwork for a five-day hire car contract.

It really is a fantastic service for boaters with no other means of transport. The luxury of being picked up and dropped back at your mooring site makes not owning a car only a tiny challenge (and expense) when we have to travel distances.

We collected my elderly parents, and endured the long stretches of blandness on the M5 for two and a half hours. The obligatory service station stop is a must to keep the driver (me) alert, and bladders empty. 

Me and my dad at the service station - sunshine, hurrah!

I find motorways to be such mindless means of transport, packed full of hurried hunks of metal which all too frequently lead to accidental meetings at break-neck speed of said vehicles. I’ve been very fortunate so far not to be involved in a ‘motorway smash’, and fully intend to keep it that way!

It’s one of the reasons I love(d) New Zealand – the only ‘motorways’ are in Auckland, though in a few of the other ‘big’ cities admittedly there are highways. Throughout the remainder of the country the roads are single lane, and generally there’s hardly any traffic, so driving anywhere, for me, was always a dream. 

There were also the most delightful cafés dotted along any route, serving fresh food and gorgeous coffee. Compare that to the motorway service stations of UK, serving ‘fast food’ (gross - I use the word 'food' loosely here) and mass-produced packet sandwiches – no competition. 

To put it into perspective, in Gisborne we had only two sets of traffic lights in the whole city. I know  that having to deal with horrendously packed roads is one of the prices we pay for choosing to be here, living a luscious life on the canals, and being so close to my family.

And what a beautiful family I have, scattered around England, so the rare times that we all congregate in one place are extremely precious. With great-grandchildren now amongst the generations, there are 32 members! So it takes a rather large house to accommodate the clan (how I'd love to have a Marae, a Maori family meeting house, where we could all congregate frequently). 

Sam, my niece who was getting married, and my younger sister Viv, did a sterling job in finding Duvale Priory, where they had a few different barn conversions for the wedding guests to stay. The Walsh family were gathered in one, which was very special.

The Walsh family accommodation on the left

The Walsh sisters - Vivien (mother of the bride), Linda, Sandra and Katherine

Sam and Jack's Humanist ceremony

It was also our grandson’s first birthday on the Friday, meeting all his cousins for the first time.

Returning to the boat on Monday, we didn’t quite time the schedule to fit everything in. I ended up dropping Barry off at The Fox and Anchor, with our bags and shopping (and a pint because it’s only polite when you’re sitting in their beer garden), taking the car back to Cannock, and being dropped back. I got a half pint of lager and took over the bag-sitting, while Barry walked to the boat (we had to moor it away from the 48 hour moorings, so a ten-minute walk), turned it around and moored up.

In the meantime however, the sky decided to empty itself on us in a deluge that soaked us to the skin. Barry’s Goretex waterproof was in one of the bags by my side, and whilst I had mine on, it didn’t cover my legs, which had only a leather coat for protection. The towpath quickly became a muddy stream.

I sat by the side of the canal, drenched and dismal, thinking “what on earth am I doing living on a boat?”

At least it wasn’t too cold – though we did need to undress completely and change into dry clothes as soon as possible.

Our First Festival

Now we’re on our way to the first trading festival of The Home Brew Boat, at The Spring Market, The Bond, Digbeth, Birmingham. It’s on Saturday 12^th April, from 12 midday to 6pm. We’re very aware it’s going to be a work in progress discovering the vagaries of towpath/canal-side selling.

Do come along if you're in the area. Our fabulous friends Helen and Andy will be there too, selling their 'Wild Side' Jams and chutneys as well as another 60 or so traders.

Exciting times ahead!

A successful shop in Sheffield - and a visit to our suppliers!

On Monday evening we returned to AreandAre from a wonderful weekend in Sheffield visiting Fred and Sarah (with intermittent sightings of their two teenage sons!), friends of Barry's (and mine since 2007) who spent a year living and working in Gisborne in the early 1990s, long before Barry and I met.

The journey to their amazing home entailed driving in the dark and wet along Snake Pass, the main route from Manchester to Sheffield, which resembles said reptile with its preponderance of twists and turns - as well as hills and adverse cambers (sloped bits!). It was hair-raising motoring for me, due to the number of vehicles 'needing' (needlessly!) to race along at way faster than the 50mph limit. It reminded me of the 'main' road north-west out of Gisborne, called 'The Waioeka Gorge'. Another drive I wouldn't relish on a miserable winter's night!

Boots for Barry

Since we've been in England, I've often despaired at Barry wearing the badminton trainers, bought as a birthday present a couple of years ago, for general walking. Now the ground is so soggy and muddy, I'm concerned they'll be ruined if he continues.

So why not just buy some walking boots you may ask?  Good question! It's not about money, because I'd rather he had some instead of destroying his sports shoes. You'll have little idea how challenging it can be to source a pair of shoes, never mind walking boots, that will fit Barry's feet - everyone except his son Tom who has a similar problem! He has what are affectionately known as 'Hobbit' feet, which he could've capitalised on for a (walk-on!) part in The Lord of the Rings - with no need for cosmetic enhancement. I'm not sure if the photo adequately shows the predicament …

Barry's 'Hobbit' feet, photographed at his birthday party December 2012 - the hair was a guest's add-on feature!

Comparing feet - Barry and Tom's 'stand' out somewhat!

Fred was fairly confident we'd find some boots at a new store from France, called 'Decathlon', which had recently opened in Sheffield, stocking a large range of outdoor clothing and shoes at discount prices. After trying on around a dozen possibilities, and seeking assistance for our plight, alas it was not to be. 

Next stop was 'Go Outdoors', where Fred felt certain we'd find success. Once again though, despite trying many different boots, and having a modicum of success with getting help from the overworked assistants, none came close and there was just a "Ouch, no, they hurt" every time from Barry.

Finally we visited Clarks, who have an amazingly efficient customer service, and eventually he put a pair of size 11G waterproof black leather GORE-TEX  boots on and said "They're not too bad"! The young female assistant probably wished she'd had a boisterous five-year-old rather than a 58 year old, plus supporters, eager desperate to find something to fit!

Of course the 11H would have been even better, but sadly there was no stock of them anywhere in the country - maybe they've all sold out, though the more likely scenario is Barry's feet are rather unusual and there just isn't a call for such a wide fitting!

Barry finds shoes that fit - hurrah!

Burns Night

We were invited to accompany Fred and Sarah to celebrate 'Burns Night', at a friend's home on Saturday 25th January - the Scottish poet Robert Burn's actually birth day! Apparently there's recently been a big surge in acknowledging this occasion in UK - and in Dunedin in New Zealand it's quite a big thing too. I was sat next to a cardiologist who'd lived there for a year during his internship. 

A fun evening, no photos sadly, but it included incomprehensible renderings of Scottish poetry, the welcoming of the haggis and eating of such (it was delicious!), Scottish salmon, and copious quantities of a variety of whiskies. I'm not a whisky drinker, in fact even the smell makes me nauseated - Barry's the same, but being a bloke he felt obliged to try it and did so twice! He says he still dislikes it, but it felt like the proper thing to do at such an event - bless him!

Sheffield

Sadly the weather wasn't kind enough to us to allow a bracing walk in the Peak District on Sunday, despite us both finally having suitable footwear! 

My youngest daughter did her psychology degree in Sheffield, during 2002 to 2005, so I've visited the city of steel many times in the past.  Barry and I made a short visit in 2007, but he'd never been into the town before. As well as Sheffield Steel production, it's also known for the movies 'The Full Monty', 'Brassed Off', and sadly the Hillsborough disaster. 

We enjoyed a stroll around town on Saturday, visiting Kelham Island and the Sheffield Canal Basin (Victoria Quays) on Sunday. We hope to moor up in the basin at some point on our meanderings, but it's one of those canals with a long route just to the town, then you have to turn around and go back - so it'll depend upon timings.  

Barry took some photos which will be far superior to mine, and hopefully he'll get from his camera in the next day or two so I can post them! In the meantime, here's a couple from me ...

The Town Hall in Sheffield with a couple of dodgy geezers in front ...

… and looking towards the train station

Suppliers of the future

On Monday we visited the two suppliers of our new business venture, in Chesterfield, and even collected some stock! We have the go-ahead from CRT now to trade from the boat, so it's full steam ahead!

Sadly, or fortuitously depending on how you look at it, Barry suddenly realised he'd left his new boots in Sheffield while we were in Chesterfield - so we detoured and returned to collect them, and enjoyed a very different Snake Pass experience in the fading daylight.

We used a hire can once again from Enterprise - it's fascinating driving a different car each time. This journey was in a Honda Civic - very nice to drive. After returning the car on Tuesday morning, and filling up with petrol, I worked out that using public transport would've only saved us £22.77! Not having the hassle of getting a bus to the station, carrying bags, changing trains half way, having to be collected and then taken back to the station, is worth way more than that!

Thanks again Enterprise Wrexham, they're such a friendly and helpful group of people, it's a pleasure to hire cars with them and be ferried from and back to the Marina each time. What an amazing service. If only it wasn't an extra £10 a day to insure Barry to drive too.

There'll be more about our plans in the coming posts, which may or may not be on Wordpress by then, watch this space ...

The next chapter in the adventure of 'Barry and Sandra' is about to commence ...

Life in the Marina (when I'm here that is!), will be changing considerably from next week when Barry returns from New Zealand - yay! I did however chat with him on the phone yesterday, and found myself saying I had some trepidation about his return as I've grown accustomed to having the 'space' of the whole table to work on, and I'm going to find it challenging to adjust to begin with! I suspect I could easily live alone on a boat - so long as I didn't have to move it anywhere - though I reckon I could even do that with a bit of practice ...

Life in the Marina is nourishing. I thought I'd miss the variety of changing the area we 'live' most days - but I don't! I love:

• Electric hook up
• Water whenever I want it
• Being able to get my shopping delivered to the end of the gangplank (thank you Tesco)
• Having a rubbish bin at the end of the gangplank
• Knowing there's pump-out only a short distance away so it's fine to wait for the 'red-light'
• Having the teenage cygnet coming to visit and the three mallards who've decided AreandAre is THEIR boat (and fight off any intruders)
• Being a five minute walk from a fairly frequent bus service to Chester or Whitchurch
• Being a twenty minute car or bus journey from my eldest daughter and grandson (and fantastic news - they're about to welcome a new addition to the family)
• Being across the road to the Ice Cream Factory so when I have the honour of caring for our grandson we have somewhere to 'play'
• Having some lovely fellow boaters around who are friendly and helpful
• Having a reliable 'Three' Mifi signal so I can 'work from home' on my business

This is all helpful to me to recognise that whilst I love Barry immensely, and really will adore having him back beside me, I also know I love 'being' with my self - which is something as a life coach I help to bring out and nurture in my clients - such a vital key to happiness.

Talking of which - look at this for a beautiful photograph depicting the bliss of a hug from a very special friend ...

Rivka and Richard made a detour on their travels to visit me at the end of September, and are now back in Gisborne (arriving the day Barry left there!), and today I 'discovered' this picture on their blog.  So many people and places I miss about Gisborne - so I won't even begin to broach that subject, but know you all live in my heart.

Onto the past week ...

Well I had a wonderfully inspiring five days in Northern Ireland. Prior to leaving, I visited the hairdresser for the first time since March - I decided to 'step-up' and look a little more like the woman on my business cards instead of a crazy boat-woman! You'll see the difference below.

No photos of the country though, as that wasn't on the itinerary (though I saw Belfast from the motorway and it reminded me of Wellington, a beautiful horse-shoe shaped harbour and houses on the hills) - this time. It was a combination of 'work' and play, though to be fair I don't consider what I 'do' as a life coach to be 'work', it's so different to what I've been used to calling that and I'm loving it. 

Here's a shot of the group of coaches, social media gurus, holistic therapists and all sorts of fascinating business people who gathered to discover more about sales and marketing. It was amazing to be amongst such positive and proactive people, and I know my horizons expanded greatly from the time spent with them. Thank you Bernadette Doyle (she's the beautiful woman just under my chin).

I even spoke up - which for many people reading this isn't surprising, but for me it was out of my comfort zone on the first day in front of a room full of people I'd never met before!

The deciding factor for participating in the weekend's conference, was to spend time with a dear friend who I knew when I lived in Hampshire, in 1985 to 1987. We haven't seen each other since that time, and our lives have taken many twists and turns along the way, but it was like we'd turned back the clock. Thank you Alison and Alan for your amazingly warm and generous hospitality - I shall bring Barry back over to see you at some point in time - or come and experience a different lifestyle aboard our floating hallway! 

Alison, Alan and Sandra about to go out for dinner

This afternoon I have Enterprise picking me up from the Marina, and I'm off to spend ten days with my parents - oh yes! And pick up my husband next Friday morning from Heathrow!

Here's a shot of the Marina for you Barry - not long to wait now and you'll be back with your beloved - and your gorgeous wife :-)

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?

One day to go ...

... and we'll be on board 'AREandARE' - so exciting!  We're not sure at the moment how much will be left on board by the previous owners, fingers crossed they've been kind to us so we don't have to buy too much before our boxes arrive from New Zealand.

We hired a car through Enterprise, an on-line booking, and they phoned yesterday to confirm.  Then at just before 12 midday today, they phoned to say they couldn't find a car for us - hilarious!  No point in getting stressed, poor girls sounded beside herself.  She said they were still frantically trying to find one, and she'd phone back at 1pm.  So in the meantime I phoned their office in Worcester and explained the situation and asked if they'd have one if Kidderminster let us down - yes they said they did, and they could collect me from my parents house instead of me catching the bus for the Kidderminster one.

One o'clock came, and sure enough they didn't have a car.  Solution found, Worcester office will collect me between 5 and 6pm, and take me to sort out the paperwork ...

So we'll be loading the car up this evening, in readiness to leave around 9am (if we can get up in time!) and head to Crick Marina, and then to Yelvertoft Marina where our new boat is moored.  They have negotiated a week's mooring there, so we can sit and pontificate if we choose to, but I think it's more likely that once we've sorted out what we need to obtain to make the boat habitable, we'll be off.  My guess, knowing Barry, is that we'll move by Saturday, but we'll see.

In the meantime, here's the last of Barry's stunning photos to date, all from around Bowness-on-Windermere in The Lake District ...

The next post will be from our new home for the next who knows how long, so many adventures and experiences to look forward to, and so many wonderful people to meet and catch up with.  Oh happy days.