Thursday 14th May
Well, a lot of rain has been forecast for today, so we have a number of plans, one of them, as the weather actually looks ok at the time of waking up, is to set off for Goring and reassess the situation there, so set off we did, in pretty overcast conditions, but no rain, and to Goring we went. There was a space on the (quite limited) moorings there, so we tied up, had coffee and watched the rain start, not as heavy as we were led to believe, but persistent nevertheless!!
The view from our side doors:
So, what to do? Only one thing for it, walk up to the station, umbrella in hand and go and kill some time in Reading, we wandered about, bought some bits for the boat that we needed, and some we didn't know we needed!! Had coffee and returned to Goring, it was still raining!! It only eased off and stopped as we went into the evening.
Today: 5 miles - 2 locks - 2.5 hours
So Far: 59 miles - 31 locks - 29 hours
Friday 15th May
Woke up to sunny skies, hooray!! A bit chilly though, had to put on my fleece and wear gloves. Some really good news though, all of the sticky tree sap stuff that we collected in Oxford has been washed off!! The port cabin side is a bit messy from where the rain was splashing dirt from the bank, but on balance a win I think.
A few more boats on the move this morning, I guess some are making up for not doing too much yesterday?
Still pretty peaceful though, cruising by Beale Park, I remember being taken there as a child in the late 60's / early 70's. Through Whitchurch lock, I see they've finished the bridge works here, then to Mapledurham where we made good use of the pump-out facility, and bought a spare card to prevent future occurances of the Abingdon incident. On down past Tilehurst and into Caversham, strange how yesterdays train took 15 minutes and today we take about 3 1/2 hours for the same!! Tied up above Sonning lock for a break and a spot of lunch, then onward.
Sonning Bridge:
Penny was looking out for George Clooney, just in case he was out mowing his lawn or something, but no sighting, didn't even know which house it was!!
We topped off the water above Shiplake lock and ended up of some fairly isolated EA moorings between Shiplake and Henley, just past Paul Daniels place, didn't know which one that was either!! Apparently some famous singer lives in one of the houses opposite, but the guy on the boat in front didn't know who!!
Shiplake Lock:
The houses opposite:
A quiet place, maybe a walk along the river in a bit.
Today: 17 miles - 5 locks - 7 hours
So Far: 76 miles - 36 locks - 36 hours
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