M woke early again, grumbled about the noise from the nearby road and then went to sleep again. Truth was, there was so much early morning traffic that it was almost at a standstill!
M has been polishing brass when we have been moored up, she says that it's her penance for neglecting it all winter - a lot of elbow grease needed now but the shine is finally coming back. We think that we might buy shares in Brasso! When we have been moving M has been steering a lot too.
Saw half a dozen Canada Geese with about 30 goslings all together. Nursery school? They were certainly better behaved than small children!
Stopped for lunch close to Temple Island at the top of the Henley Regatta course. There is a very grand building on the opposite bank called Greenlands that looks a bit like the White House and used to be the residence of William Henry Smith, otherwise known as the owner of your local newsagent's - he was The WH Smith!
Shortly after, we saw something much more modest, but it was our dream house on the banks of the river - a cottage for two with a mooring! Perfect!
We moored up for the night next to Rod Eyot just south of Henley and had a G&T on the stern. M wore her hat - "Well, this is Henley after all, darling!"
Our computer has a touch-screen and R had to find a way to switch the "touch" off as, in the evening, the occasional insect would fly onto the screen and make it do things - like erasing everything he'd written!!
We had moored up next to nb "Ruffian" and M remarked that we had seen her before but couldn't remember where. It turned out that our two boats had done the tidal Thames from Teddington to Brentford together at the end of October last year. Jim and Karen live aboard and have been continuously cruising the Thames as they work part-time in London. Two weeks ago, they spent four days tied to a tree in Cliveden Reach while the Thames was in flood and then managed to struggle upstream to Cookham Lock where they sheltered in the lock cut for a few days (which is why we delayed our departure to avoid the Thames in flood - a good decision because they said the river in flood was scary).
They joined us later in the evening and we swapped stories over another bottle of rosé. They are a delightful couple, both Canadians but love England and have made it their home for the past 30 years. In fact they know London so well that Karen is a "Blue Badge" tour guide in the City. We were very envious that they have a 14 year old ship's cat called Hobbs (who has fallen in twice but is generally very well behaved). They wrote a "Me and my Boat" article for Canal Boat Magazine in Spring 2011 - so we will have to look that up when we are back home.
Today: 9 miles, 4 locks and 3.2 hours
Trip: 39 miles, 18 locks and 18.3 hours (161.6 total)
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