"If you go down in the woods today...."

0 locks, and .5 mile . Now moored below Ironbridge lock no 77 Watford

"You'll be sure of a big surprise................" Well in Whippendell woods you wouldn't have found a picnic, not the right weather for it, the table was there and the weather was lovely and fresh but cold.

On Tuesday we were expecting Barney on the fuel boats Archimedes and Ari but by night fall which was only 4.45pm there was no sign of him. We thought that perhaps he had been delayed and we would see him next morning. About 5.30pm I happened to look out of the window to see a headlight approaching from the North, could this be Barney I thought? A quick dash out onto the stern deck just as Barney was preparing to hove to alongside. Now this is what I call service and dedication. We made his call worthwhile by taking onboard 117 litres of diesel @ 64p per litre, Ouch it's gone up 10p since his last delivery.

After 2 days of rain which kept us indoors catching up on emails, reading and doing some cross stitch the sun and clear skies re-appeared. Before we left our present location we reversed back to the water point and filled up the water tank whilst doing a load of washing, help keep the tank full longer.

After moving the short distance from one end of Cassiobury park to the other where we found a nice sunny mooring it was time to explore some more of Watford. My mother had always talked about Sunday walks through Whippendell Woods which I knew where they were but had never actually walked through them myself. They are part of the huge Cassio estate and intermingled through the woods is the West Herts golf club. At various places along the way the paths cross the golf greens and signs warn walkers of golfers approaching from left or right and to be aware of flying objects.

After following several paths we ended up back on the towpath which we followed to Grove Mill lane which took us back to Hempstead road and civilisation. Turning down Langley Way we eventually arrived back at Cassiobury Park and the canal.

While writing this blog I received a phone call from Stephen Kearney from N/b Gefion. This beautiful narrowboat is a 70 footer with a traditional back cabin and all mod cons. Steven has advertised the boat for sale but contacted us to see if we could spread the word in NZ for anybody that may be interested in leasing the boat long term, 6 months, 12 months whatever? Any takers contact Stephen on +447970830644 or email us to pass your details on to Stephen. Come on Kiwi's this is an opportunity not to be missed.

819 locks, 1135.5 miles, 33 Tunnels, 39 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006