(#9) In search of Never Never Land
Unfortunately I am unable to include photos because the memory on this iPad is not large enough to store anymore. When we return home and I have access to a desktop I will insert some appropriate photos.
We drift down the canal pulling in for dinner onboard and enjoy a marvellous sunset with the rays filtered through the trees. Reflections on the canal water are majestic as everyone attempts to capture the moment on digital file.
Off to our state rooms and some of the baling wire fixes. There are two heads (boat toilets) onboard , which are also the showers. One servicing two staterooms, the other has entry from the main hall and the other stateroom. Both heads have at least one door that will either not close or open properly so one could get a bit anxious while sitting and contemplating if they would get out without panicking and ripping a door of the hinges. The sleeping arrangements were interesting as one person of each group had to sleep against the hull while the other enjoyed the expansive floor opening allowing access to the bed. Just glad my feet are relatively small and did not have to curl my toes to stand in the space. Remarkably everyone became quite adept contortionists during the necessity of performing nocturnal ablutions. I actually think I may have slept on ground softer than our bed, thankfully time flies while you're having fun.
view from our "stateroom"
quite time in the evening
two ships passing in the day
Next day we arrive in Carcassonne, the town we dropped the car off in two days previously. A bit of a backtrack for a storey that happened when we dropped the vehicle off. There is a lock right in the centre of town allowing many pedestrian to view the process of moving through a lock. A boat, thankfully alone, enters the lock, the mooring ropes are passed onto the shore and secured. At this point we have not been on our boat but something seemed odd as everyone onboard gathered around the topside table for breakfast. The boat was headed down the canal so the water is receding out of the lock and the boat is dropping but completely secured to the bollards on shore and cleats on the boat. Just as it looks like the boat is to be hung out to dry or a cleat ripped out the stern line snaps with a mighty crack and the boat is hung up by the bow. Now here is the amazing part, the fellow who brought the boat into the lock jumps into action but with toast in his mouth. As he reaches the bow line he seems perplexed on what to do, not with the line but with the toast now in his hand. He refuses to throw the toast away or even put it down as he finally loosens the bow line so they can exit the lock. As all this is happening the rest of the group continues to enjoy their breakfasts. Our first lesson in lock operation for John & I is firmly implanted.
Photos from Carcassonne
We stayed in Carcassonne 2 nights for a cost of 21 Euros per night which included water, electricity, hot showers and an opportunity to do some clothes washing. One of the days was a market day so we loaded up on local provisions. We visited the old town on the hill which was a medieval castle that had a total of 46 people allowed to live inside the walls. There was a controversial art display on the castle walls which had to be viewed from afar and looked like broken concentric circles in a putrid yellow/green hue which appears to be the colour of the season in our travels.
The locks operate from 9:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 19:00 so at 9:15 we are bobbing on the canal waiting for the lock keeper. Today we are travelling in packs as they like to get 3 or 4 boats in the locks at a time for efficiency and fortunately we were first in because I think just about everyone operating a boat was a neophyte, including us for this particular vessel. It was like bumper cars at the PNE. Out of the lock we go and hightail it to the next lock leaving the other boats floundering in our wake, smoothly entering the next lock we discover that we won't be going anywhere until the other boats are in the lock as well. Next lesson now learned, you only move through the locks, when in a group, when everyone is there and you might as well travel as fast as the slowest boat. The problem with that idea was our boat was less maneuverable the slower we went. We were fortunate there weren't that many boats on the canal as we used the entire width sometimes to get back in a straight forward heading direction.
Canal photos
All along the canal and throughout our car travels we passed many fields of sunflowers and although they looked as if they were on their last legs the flowers still followed the sun, albeit with heads hung low. Time to stake the boat again and this page is doing weird things so I am ending this blog now.
We drift down the canal pulling in for dinner onboard and enjoy a marvellous sunset with the rays filtered through the trees. Reflections on the canal water are majestic as everyone attempts to capture the moment on digital file.
Off to our state rooms and some of the baling wire fixes. There are two heads (boat toilets) onboard , which are also the showers. One servicing two staterooms, the other has entry from the main hall and the other stateroom. Both heads have at least one door that will either not close or open properly so one could get a bit anxious while sitting and contemplating if they would get out without panicking and ripping a door of the hinges. The sleeping arrangements were interesting as one person of each group had to sleep against the hull while the other enjoyed the expansive floor opening allowing access to the bed. Just glad my feet are relatively small and did not have to curl my toes to stand in the space. Remarkably everyone became quite adept contortionists during the necessity of performing nocturnal ablutions. I actually think I may have slept on ground softer than our bed, thankfully time flies while you're having fun.
quite time in the evening
Next day we arrive in Carcassonne, the town we dropped the car off in two days previously. A bit of a backtrack for a storey that happened when we dropped the vehicle off. There is a lock right in the centre of town allowing many pedestrian to view the process of moving through a lock. A boat, thankfully alone, enters the lock, the mooring ropes are passed onto the shore and secured. At this point we have not been on our boat but something seemed odd as everyone onboard gathered around the topside table for breakfast. The boat was headed down the canal so the water is receding out of the lock and the boat is dropping but completely secured to the bollards on shore and cleats on the boat. Just as it looks like the boat is to be hung out to dry or a cleat ripped out the stern line snaps with a mighty crack and the boat is hung up by the bow. Now here is the amazing part, the fellow who brought the boat into the lock jumps into action but with toast in his mouth. As he reaches the bow line he seems perplexed on what to do, not with the line but with the toast now in his hand. He refuses to throw the toast away or even put it down as he finally loosens the bow line so they can exit the lock. As all this is happening the rest of the group continues to enjoy their breakfasts. Our first lesson in lock operation for John & I is firmly implanted.
Photos from Carcassonne
We stayed in Carcassonne 2 nights for a cost of 21 Euros per night which included water, electricity, hot showers and an opportunity to do some clothes washing. One of the days was a market day so we loaded up on local provisions. We visited the old town on the hill which was a medieval castle that had a total of 46 people allowed to live inside the walls. There was a controversial art display on the castle walls which had to be viewed from afar and looked like broken concentric circles in a putrid yellow/green hue which appears to be the colour of the season in our travels.
The locks operate from 9:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 19:00 so at 9:15 we are bobbing on the canal waiting for the lock keeper. Today we are travelling in packs as they like to get 3 or 4 boats in the locks at a time for efficiency and fortunately we were first in because I think just about everyone operating a boat was a neophyte, including us for this particular vessel. It was like bumper cars at the PNE. Out of the lock we go and hightail it to the next lock leaving the other boats floundering in our wake, smoothly entering the next lock we discover that we won't be going anywhere until the other boats are in the lock as well. Next lesson now learned, you only move through the locks, when in a group, when everyone is there and you might as well travel as fast as the slowest boat. The problem with that idea was our boat was less maneuverable the slower we went. We were fortunate there weren't that many boats on the canal as we used the entire width sometimes to get back in a straight forward heading direction.
Canal photos
All along the canal and throughout our car travels we passed many fields of sunflowers and although they looked as if they were on their last legs the flowers still followed the sun, albeit with heads hung low. Time to stake the boat again and this page is doing weird things so I am ending this blog now.
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