Kiwi’s galore!

Still moored at Abingdon.
543 locks, 668½ miles, 18 Tunnels, 37 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

After a quiet night and a bit of a lay in this morning it was time to investigate the town and n/b “Aotearoa” We walked into town and then back across the river to be able to get onto the opposite towpath where Aotearoa was moored.
It turns out that the boat is owned by Anne and Colin Bull who are English but have 2 sons living in Auckland and Blenheim hence the boat name. After spending an hour or so chatting we went into town and managed to sneak into St Helens church with a tour group.

The church is normally locked with tour guides having access keys so we were quite lucky to view this unusual church.
The church was started in 1180 and has 5 aisles which means it is wider (33m) than it is long (30m). Over the centuries it has been repaired and modernized many times, the last being in 2004 when under floor heating was installed and the organ renovated and new bells fitted.

Later in the afternoon when we were back on board there was a knock on the side of the boat. It was Anne and Colin with a bottle of wine in hand so we had another hour or so chatting again. Later in the evening Anne rang to say that they had had a caller from Tauranga who were on their way over via the lock to visit.
Sure enough there was another knock on the boat and Rusty and Dot (common name that) from Tauranga arrived for a chat. They are over here visiting daughter Sharon in Brighton and have rented a flat here in Abingdon for a week before returning to NZ on the 1^st August. They also have hired a narrowboat on the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal in Wales. They invited us back to their flat for a coffee and before we knew it the time had flown and it was a quarter to eleven. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Memories of home!

5 Locks, 17 Miles, Now moored at Abingdon.
543 locks, 668½ miles, 18 Tunnels, 37 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

This morning was fine with blue skies and white clouds when we set off. As the morning rolled on so did the rain clouds with intermittent light showers. Around midday the skies really opened up and for about half an hour I had to endure a torrential downpour. When we arrived at Culham lock we moored up below the bridge for a change of clothing and a warm cuppa. The approach to the lock couldn’t have been calmer after the last time we passed through this way when it was a raging torrent.
After a short break it was on the move again and for the rest of the afternoon it was a case of a short shower, sunshine, short shower, sunshine, short shower, and sunshine until we reached Abingdon. There were no moorings available below the bridge so we carried on to the children’s playground where we found one mooring at the top end of the park.
We are moored opposite a narrowboat called Aotearoa with a mural of a long white cloud below the name. This boat must have some sort of NZ connection which we will try and investigate tomorrow.

Click on the photo to see it full size showing the name of the boat

The weather office has issued a severe weather warning for most of England and the wind has become extremely blustery around here so we will have to wait and see what transpires.
Finally had the opportunity to meet Bones of Mortimer Bones narrowboat tonight when she came for coffee. Great to meet such a lovely lady who proves that women can do anything. Great to meet you finally Bones and look forward to meeting up again sometime.

Heading North.

5 Locks, 14 Miles, Now moored near Cholsey.
538 locks, 651½ miles, 18 Tunnels, 37 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

After steady overnight rain it was still raining when we arose this morning. While Dot went with Tracey to catch the train to work I said our farewells to Christina and Derek on Kalimera. Hopefully we will meet up with them some where up North in the not too distant future. By the time Dot had returned to the boat the sun was making an effort to break through. We did a last minute shop at Tesco’s for any worthwhile specials as there is not much in the way of supermarkets between Reading and Oxford.
Due to the long range weather forecast being changed to rain for most of this week we decided to it might be wise to make a move Northwards as we don’t want to get caught on the Thames if it floods again.
By about 3pm dirty black clouds started to appear on the horizon so we found a spot to moor up in case the rain started. Wouldn’t you just know it; we had only been moored long enough to make a cuppa when the clouds cleared away with the help of a strong wind and the sun re-appeared with a clear blue sky.

Thunder.

Still moored at Reading.
533 locks, 637½ miles, 18 Tunnels, 37 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Last night Dot’s daughter Tracey came to stay for the week-end and this morning she wanted bacon and banana pancakes for breakfast. Well this is not normal fare for us so we said “Go for it, the galley is all yours”. Well I must say that breakfast was better than I had imagined and was very nice.
The day started fine, warm with high cloud. It looked safe enough for a bit of painting so I cleaned 3 sections of the roof and masked it all up for undercoating and laying sand for a non slip surface.
About an hour after I had finished painting some ominous black clouds started to roll in with a clap of thunder. I then had to search the boat for things to lay over the new work to protect it. I found an old shower curtain, a mat and a roll of sandwich wrap (Glad wrap in NZ). Hopefully the paint has been on long enough to dry and the covering will protect it. Fingers crossed.
While painting, a Tupperware cruiser sat out in mid stream opposite us waiting to pick up his crew. He must have had a knackered V8 engine in the engine bay because he had twin exhausts which were pouring out so much blue smoke it was almost suffocating. If that had been a car on the road he would have been prosecuted and put off the road until it was fixed. They complain about global pollution, well this guy was not helping the cause one little bit.
On a more pleasant note I saw a steam driven Thames cruiser with its highly varnished wooden hull and over sized chimney puffing its way upstream. The engine bay was open and you could see the engine working and a row of dials that would do a railway steam loco justice. Unfortunately I was busy trying to cover the paintwork from the rain and didn’t have a camera handy.
We walked Tracey up to catch a train back to Wimbledon only to find a signal failure at Slough had put all the trains back with the delays getting longer and longer. Tracey opted to come back to the boat and travel to work from Reading in the morning. On the way back we stopped for a coffee with Warren and Wynne (fellow New Zealanders) on Kiwi Cruiser II who are moored by Caversham bridge.
A big thank you to Del and Al for putting us right about Lessor Burdock
that I photographed a couple of days ago at Theale. How right your dad was.

Out of Jail.

7 Locks, 6½ Miles 1 swing bridge. Now moored at Reading
533 locks, 637½ miles, 18 Tunnels, 37 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

The time had come to make our exit from the K & A which has had its moments both good and bad. After farewells all round with Maffi it was hi ho silver, up, up and away. The weather was fine with plenty of white clouds but no sign of rain; hopefully we had all that last night.
On our journey to Reading it became clear as to how high the river had been when we came onto the river 6 weeks ago. The tide marks on bridges and walls showed that the river had been at least 18 to 24 inches higher. Today the flow on the river was a mere pussy cat compared to our trip up river.
The only problem we had was at County lock where somebody had left a note to say that the lower offside gate wouldn’t open fully and the lower towpath side gate would only close if somebody with a bit of weight sat on the balance beam while somebody else closed it. BW has been informed.
When we reached Blakes lock there were some teenagers helping 2 solo boaters into the lock. They asked us our boat lengths and said you’ll fit and opened up the gates again to let us in. Sure enough all 4 of us fitted in quite snugly. Once all the locking had been completed the teenagers just hopped the fence and were on their way again. Just goes to show that there are some decent teenagers out there. Thanks for your help guys.

As we entered the Thames I had swung wide due to the sand bar on the top bend and as I did so we found a huge trip boat bearing down us. I did a quick change of gear into reverse and he swung wide to pass across our bow. A cheery wave between both parties and we were under way again.
We only travelled a short distance to just above the Tesco moorings and found a gap in the trees between boats where we moored up and Kalimera is breasted up against us. The moorings here are chocker block full with even plastic fantastic’s and gin palaces breasting up 3 deep.
We plan to stay here until Monday when Derek & Christina will take their boat over to Reading Marina, just opposite the K&A, where they will leave it for a week
whilst returning to Devon for a christening and weather permitting we will start making our way to Oxford.

Sunset on the Thames tonight

Helping hand.

Still moored at Theale.
526 locks, 631 miles, 18 Tunnels, 36 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

On Friday as it was such a nice place to moor and we had time on our side we opted to stay put for another 24 hours.
After lunch Dot and I walked down to Burghfield lock to meet Maffi on Milly M and give him a hand through the 3 locks and swing bridge to Theale.

Our timing was pretty good as Maffi was just coming past the Cunning Man pub which is close by.
The evening was spent over a few ales and wine catching up on events since we last met. While chatting Maffi spotted the photo of the steam traction engine we had seen at Aldermaston on our screen saver and asked Dot to send it to Mortimer Bones as she loves steam driven vehicles. This she did with much appreciation from Bones.

The last of the turf sided locks just below Theale

Steam lives.

9 Locks, 8½ Miles 7 swing bridges, 1 Lift Bridge. Now moored at Theale.
526 locks, 631 miles, 18 Tunnels, 36 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

With the weather forecast for the forth coming week-end being more rain we pushed on further than we normally travel, another reason was no available moorings at Aldermaston.
At Thatcham a Reading marine hire boat which had been moored up with us over night left heading downstream ahead of us. We let the guys get a head start so that we could carry on locking together. Even after giving them a good head start we still caught up with them at Aldermaston lock. Luckily this lock is big enough that all 3 of us got in together with enough space left over for another 35 footer.
The crew was South African and they commented that we had our own Tri-nations league in the lock because we had a UK boat, a NZ boat and them.
They told us that they were not impressed with the boat as the engine smoked badly and made them feel ill. Also when they came out of Old Woolhampton lock which has the river entering the canal at right angles across the lock exit the engine died. This is not the place to be without power as you have to negotiate a sweeping curve to get through the lift bridge. Luckily they managed to restart the engine before they collided with anything but it frightened the life out of them.
Sad to say this is the 3^rd Reading Marine hire boat that we have come across while on the K & A which has had serious mechanical failings while out on hire. When you pay big money to hire one of these boats you should at least expect it to work properly.
At Aldermaston we stopped to use the facilities and have lunch. As luck would have it the self pump out facility was out of action so we had to improvise in a nice way of course. While moored up I heard a steam whistle but never thought much of it until I saw the steam traction engine and caravan which had been stopped by a boater using the lift bridge. Luckily for me it gave me time to grab the camera and get some very valuable photos of this rare sight.

We are now moored at bridge 19 in striking distance of Reading and the Thames.
May meet up with Maffi tomorrow as he is now at Mapledurham heading downstream to Reading.

Spotted whilst out walking tonight. Anyone know what it is?