Goodbye Mr PM

So today, after some 10 years in office, Tony Blair resigned. The reaction of the public here in the UK was pretty much an overwhelming sense of relief. Quite different from the wave of euphoria which greeted him when he first came into office.

Me, I'm actually quite sad to see him go. This is probably because I actually didn't think he was all that bad - sure, Iraq was a dumb thing to do, but hey - it seemed a good idea at the time, and anyway, he wasn't the only one led up the garden path by George "I'm too stupid for words" Bush. Little Johnny Howard for one, jumped on that bandwagon.

I guess the reason I didn't think he was all that bad was I actually met him once, back in May 2000. What happened was, Mrs Cruse called me into her office one day and asked me if the steel band could play funk. Hm, let's see, steel bands usually play reggae and calypso - but funk? And the problem was that the steel band tutor (Mat) was away at the time. I gave him a call anyway and it turned out he was back the next day, and he said, sure, we can do some funk. Next thing I know the Head's taken these kids off timetable for 3 days to prepare for an audition to play at a state function at 10 Downing Street - it was a function for Afro-Carribbean Heads of State, which is why they wanted a Steel band, but I don't think I ever got why it had to be funk. The Head had said to me as we prepared for the audition that as Head of Music I needed to be doing something musical too at the performance. So the next I knew, there I was learning to play "Whatcha Talkin' Bout" and "Upso" on tenor pan. I managed ok with that, as when the difficult bits happened, I just tilted my pan a bit so you couldn't actually see that I wasn't playing anything. Its not like the notes are laid out in a logical order on the pan, you know. I never did manage "Brazil" though...

Anyway, some important (well, they thought so) people from Downing Street came and listened to the band, thought they were ok, and next thing I know, me, Mrs Cruse, Mat and the schoolkeeper Greg were on our way up to Number 10 to check out the space we would be performing in (like a Headteacher needs to come along for that, right?)

A day or two later and there we were, in the Terracotta room, checking it all out for size. Seems it passed the test, as off we were a couple of days later for our performance.

And what a performance! I think it was an evening that I will never forget in my life. VIPs, dignitaries, Heads of State - and they all came up and said hello. Plus before the event Tony and Cherie Blair came up to say hello to the girls and have a private performance. I shook his hand and chatted for a bit, he seemed nice enought to me (or maybe he was just polite, I don't know). Anyway it was at that moment that he got my vote (well would've done if I ever wanted to vote in British elections).

It was a very special evening, an opportunity I never thought I would have as a lowly music teacher from the colonies.

Maybe I'm being a bit stupid, but that's why I'm sad to see Tony Blair go. At least he had a bit of personality. Gordon Brown has all the charm and personality of a dead fish.

Playing with the Steel Band

Meeting Cherie Blair

With Baroness Blackstone

Me and Mat setting up the band

The PM and his wife enjoying a private concert

Outside Number 10

All the way to the top!

Girls Night at Gemma's

Last night I went over my friend Gemma's house for a bit of a girly night in. Her friend, Louisa, who is also a dancer like Gemma, and who does the summer school that I was doing the past few years, was visiting from Leeds. We decided we'd do a bit of cooking whilst having our girly goss and then watch a movie.

A couple of months ago I helped Steve and Neil out on "Friday Night Food" at church. It was an oriental evening and they did lots of Chinese food, and I showed the guys how to make sushi. Gemma was there, tried our sushi (and survived!) and asked if I'd show her and Lou how to do it, which is how we ended up making sushi last night. We made ebi nigiri (which was surprisingly easy as I found the prawns already cooked and sliced at the Asian grocers in Brixton), various makizushi, and also inarizushi (we called them "sushi pockets" because they were little pockets of fried bean curd which you stuff sushi rice into).

Tasted pretty good, too!

Louisa cutting the sushiGemmaMe and Lou

Oh crap, my pav's gone spack!

The Head retires after 19 years service at our school at the end of this academic year. To celebrate, they've planned a series of (get this!) FOUR events to farewell her. And of course, the Music department features heavily at pretty much well all of them. So the first one is tomorrow, its an informal event, basically its a bring a dish thing, with members of the Music department and anyone else who plays an instrument providing live entertainment. Anyway, I was volunteered by ASS (the "After School Social" committee) to do two things - play sax, and provide a pavlova. So, here I am, on a Thursday night, diligently making my pav (and from scratch too, I might add!). I happily load the pav up in the oven, it's looking good, oven humming along nicely - but I forgot that if you use a fan-forced oven you have to cook at like 10 degrees less or something. So, now I have a pav that's gone completely spack! It looks like a white cow pat. Imagine me rocking up tomorrow to the do, hi everyone, here's my traditional Australian dish - ta da! The cow pat...! Would go down well, wouldn't it? It's so bad I can't even bring myself to look upon it any more, let alone post a photo of it on my blog for everyone to see my shame. Which is why I now find myself at 11pm on a school night making another one. Only this time I fortunately found a pavlova magic at the back of the cupboard... Fingers crossed this one works...

Side by Side by Sondheim

Totally forgot to post about this until just now.

Two weeks ago I went with my colleagues Stacey (voice / guitar teacher) and Erik (classroom music) to see "Side by Side by Sondheim" at the Venue, Leceister Square. For those who have been to London, the Venue is next door to the Prince Charles Theatre just off Leceister Square, where they show "Singalonga Sound of Music". We went for dinner first at my fav, Wagamamas, in Leceister Square, then had a quick coffee as we had a bit of time to kill before the show. We had got very reasonably priced tickets on lastminute.com (my favourite website).

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I was a bit dubious at first as the show has only 3 singers and 1 narrator, (plus 2 pianists as the musical accompaniment!), but it was absolutely wonderful. The music of Sondheim is so lyrical, catchy and really is just wonderful to listen to. The singers were amazing, we didn't have the blonde woman that you see here (but her understudy, who sung nice enough but her eyes were really weird so that detracted a lot from the performance), but the woman in the red dress, Josie Walker, was incredible. Her version of "Getting Married Today" was hilarious! (and very well sung)! The guy, Alasdair Harvey, was really good too (especially funny in the Andrews sisters number!).

Basically the show is a revue in 2 acts, of the songs of Stephen Sondheim. There's no real plot, the narrator (on our evening it was Les Dennis) gives a bit of a comment about the song, then it gets performed. It's basically a tribute of Stephen Sondheim songs. Some of my favourites were:
* Can That Boy Foxtrot!
* Getting Married Today
* You Must Meet My Wife
* I Never Do Anything Twice
* Send In The Clowns
* Pretty Lady
* I'm Still Here
* You Gotta Get a Gimmick - this one was especially funny!

So, it was a very enjoyable evening. For more details, pics etc, check out the website here.

Farewell, foul stench!

Hallelujah, its over!

I got a phone call on Thursday from the foul stench that is Jessops, saying that finally, FINALLY! my photos are ready. You know, the Iceland ones, the ones that they did a rubbish job developing, and then lost one of the rolls when they reprinted them. The saga that's been ongoing since February...

So yesterday I schlepped up to town to get them. I manage to get there just before closing time, but this time I did actually check the photos before I left the shop. You know what's coming next, don't you? They got it wrong again!

They managed to reprint the lost film, create new negatives, but neglected to put the corrected prints onto CD. Now I thought to myself, I can go back and complain, and looking at their past track record, wait another 4 months, or I can leave the shop, wipe my hands of them, and never darken their door again. Or I can do this:

Sunday Night at the Movies

Well after my experiences last Saturday (and a few weeks back) I will admit, I was a bit skeptical about braving the local cinemas again to go see Ocean's 13. But I figured 6.30pm on a Sunday night should be ok, right? I mean, it'll probably finish around 9.00pm, tomorrow's a school day, so hopefully the only kids who are at the cinema are the ones who are a bit older and have a later bed time... You know I was wrong again, don't you. We get into the cinema in good time, choose pretty decent seats, a comfortable distance apart from other patrons, settle ourselves down in our seats with my good friends Ben and Jerry, and there we go. Bring on the film. The problem with arriving early and choosing seats in the middle of the cinema is that you can't see who arrives after you and sits behind you. So, lo and behold, it happened again. A young woman with her 3 or 4 year old son arrives just as the film starts and sits behind us. So, the film is clearly well over the kid's head, he gets bored, and starts yapping. And the mother makes absolutely no effort to shut him up. At all. After about 30 minutes of constant yap from the kid, we up and move seats. But we can still hear him. So, during one of his many soliloquies (in a quiet bit), I tell him to 'shush'. And he does, for about 30 seconds - then starts up again. At this point, Jane had had enough, so she went out to get the usher. The usher said that unless the kid was crying, there's nothing they can do. Excuse me? I'll have my money back please - at this suggestion the usher decided to get the manager, who came in, heard the racket, and promptly evicted them. Thank goodness. And then we managed to actually enjoy the rest of the film. This has been the 3rd film in pretty much as many weeks that I've been to see, and the 3rd in a row that has been ruined by kids who really shouldn't have been there. What is wrong with parents these days? Why do they think its appropriate to bring young children (or those who can't speak English) to the movies - because they can't find or can't afford suitable child care? Where's the sense in that? My sister and her husband have got it all sussed. At the moment they bring their baby daughter with them to the movies, but if it's a film Beck really wants to see, Dem will take Marcella out if she squarks, and if it's a film Demo wants to see, Beck has baby duties. Makes perfect sense. I just don't get why the people of London can't figure out something similar. Or at least take advantage of the parents and toddler sessions that the cinemas offer. Hm. I want to go see the new Die Hard film when it comes out soon. Maybe I'd be better off seeing it in the middle of the day - all the kids will be at the evening sessions!

The Re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall

Wow, what a weekend!

Or more accurately I should say, wow, what a week! It started on Monday with the commencement of a project with our school, the Royal College of Music students, a laptop orchestra from the London College of Communication, and the London Sinfonietta. Basically, they came in this week to put together a performance of Terry Riley's "In C", which would be performed at the re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall after some 2 years of closure due to refurbishment.

The piece was absolutely amazing, the girls really rose to the occasion and joined in making some very interesting music (well, the piece is credited as being the first minimalist piece so it does have moments of sounding rather unusual). We performed two performances on Saturday night in the ballroom, which is a large performance area in the foyer of the Royal Festival Hall. It was a real privilege to be able to take part, there was so much going on over the weekend (some 250 000 people visited the South Bank over the course of 48 hours) and to be one of the performers, well, that was a real honour. Especially performing with the likes of the London Sinfonietta, one of 4 resident orchestras at the South Bank.

I don't know if this video does much justice for the piece, as it was taken on a stills camera, but it'll give you an idea anyway. And if you look (and listen) real hard, you'll spot me (playing woodblock next to one of the London Sinfonietta violinists)...

Then on Sunday, because there was sooo much going on, and I really wanted to be a part of it, I went back down to the South Bank. The only problem was that there were so many people there that it was difficult to move around, let alone get to see any performances (all of which were free, I might add).

But the highlight was tonight. The Head had been given free tickets to the "First Night Gala Concert" (the price range for which was £500 or £100) but she couldn't use them. So she gave them to the Deputy Head and to me. So I got to go to the first proper concert since the refurbishment, to hear the London Philharmonic, the London Sinfonietta, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (plus the Philharmonia Chorus and the London Philharmonic Choir) perform the following repertoire:

Julian Anderson Alleluia (world premiere) - London Phil, Philharmonic Choir, Conductor Vladimir Jurowski
Stravinksy The Firebird Suite (1919 version) - London Phil, Conductor Vladimir Jurowski
Ives The Unanswered Question - members of London Phil, London Sinfonietta and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Conductor Marin Alsop
Birtwhistle Cortege (world premiere) - London Sinfonietta
Purcell Symphony from the Fairy Queen - Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Ligeti Atmospheres - Philharmonia Orchestra, Conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi
Beethoven Symphony No 9 (Choral) 4th Movement - London Phil, Philharmonia choir, soloists: Joan Rodgers, Patricia Bardon, Philip Langridge and Brindley Sherratt, Conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi

and the closing encore, Ravel's Bolero - with members from all of the above ensembles, Conductor Marin Alsop. Actually I thought out of all the conductors, she was probably the best, closely followed by Jurowski. With these two, even the tiniest gesture created a subtle change in sound - and I don't just think that it was the orchestra being really good a following, because the other dude was all full of gesture and there didn't seem to be any real point to it. He was much like Tristan's 'mad conductor' in All Creatures Great and Small...

Then afterwards there was refreshments, speeches, toasts and a celebration cake (yum!). It was a simply fantastic evening, lots of the glitterati in attendance (and some not so glitterati!) - the Deputy Head kept pointing out various pommy socialites whom I had never heard of, and some I had, people like Janet Street Porter - I can't name the ones I hadn't heard of because I can't remember their names! hehehe! During one of the intervals (there were two) Salman Rushdie wandered past me. Dubious honour, but anyway.

I think out of the pieces we heard, I enjoyed the Rossini, Stravinsky and Ives the best. The Ives was really cool, it was played with a string quartet who are out in the wings, off stage, and a woodwind quartet on stage, and a solo trumpet (who was up in one of the boxes). Brilliant.

Anyway, it was such a special evening, one I will always remember, and to quote my sister Melissa (on the occasion of seeing "Turandot" at the Sydney Opera House) - "How can I go back to being a pleb after this?"

Saturday Night at the Movies

The day after the Great CBA, Nic and I decided to go see Pirates of the Caribbean. Now there's nothing all that astonishing about that, I know. But it was a Saturday night, and we decided to go to the cinema in Croydon so we could go to Frankie and Benny's beforehand (my favourite restaurant). Anyway, we ended up going to the 8.00 session or something. Again, nothing astonishing about that. Nor anything astonishing about how packed the cinema was - I mean, it was a Saturday night, you've got to expect it, right? But packed with children? And I mean, children... kids, aged like 7 or 8, all out at the movies on a Saturday night - a movie which is scheduled to finish around 11pm or so. Now call me old fashioned, but I think that little kids that age should be heading for bed around 8.30pm - not heading out to the movies. The reason we picked to go to a later session was so that we wouldn't encounter a load of children. I suppose I wouldn't have minded so much if they actually behaved. But you had one woman there with her 7 or 8 year old son, who clearly wasn't interested in the film, plus her toddler, who DEFINITELY wasn't interested in the film, as he kept crying all the time (and never once did she take him outside! Just stood off the side, trying to shut him up)... then there was the kid behind me, who needed the toilet part way through, tripped over someone's feet in the dark and decided to grab me by the hair as he walked past to steady himself. Ironically, the same thing happened a few weeks ago when Jane and I went to see Spiderman 3. We wanted to go on a Saturday night to the 7.30pm session but it was fully sold out, so we ended up at the 8.30pm. I couldn't believe it, the cinema was absolutely packed, again with 7-8 year olds who don't understand the concept of shutting up when the film is actually on, but additionally, I was stuck in front of the kid who needed the toilet (very regularly), the kicky kid (who thought my chair was a football) - and - the piece de resistance - the Polish woman who translated the whole film into Polish for her daughter. Only in England.

The Great CBA Part II

So where I left off it was Monday night, I think.

The next day, Tuesday, was rain, rain, rain again - but in the afternoon it came out sunny! So we took full advantage of the sun, sitting on the roof of the boat, cruising along - Michelle and I even practised our Charlie's Angels impersonations!

The sun was so nice that we decided to have a BBQ on the boat... except we weren't supposed to! I didn't realise this until afterwards, when one of the guys said "hey didn't the guy say we weren't to have any naked flames on the boat?".... hehehe...

Anyway, it was a lovely evening.Tuesday was supposed to be our turn around day - we had to return the boat to the company on Friday so because there are only a few key places on the canal where you can turn around, we knew we had to take advantage of the nearest turnaround point when we were halfway through the holiday. The problem was, with this being the first time the sun had come out, it seemed like such a pity to be turning around now and heading for home. So, we decided that we would head for the Braunston tunnel first thing Wednesday morning, as it wasn't too far away and there was a turn around point just after it. We would then turn and head back to Linslade.

So Wednesday morning, Erik and I are the first ones up. We decided to get the boat moving, head for the tunnel, and then we could moor up and all have breakfast the other side of the tunnel before turning for home. It started spitting but we tried to ignore it, and made it as far as the tunnel. I was steering at this point, so I steered us through the tunnel. This tunnel isn't as long as the Blisworth one, but it was made by two companies in the 1700s, and they kind of got their measurements wrong - so there's a big kink in it in the middle. Not a problem you say, but bear in mind, its pitch black in these tunnels, the only light is coming from a spotlight at the front of the boat (and well, all the lights in the boat as the regulations are that you have to turn all the lights in the boat on when in the tunnel - but this doesn't really give much light to navigate by - it just helps other boats to know where you are). So it was actually very difficult to steer. Fortunately though I did not hit the walls (and luckily no boats passed us whilst we were in the tunnel).

We got to the other side of the tunnel, and there's a problem. The turning area is too narrow for our boat. We can't turn! Hmm...

So, we moored up and pondered our plight over breakfast (yummy French toast cooked by Q). There was only one thing for it. We had to go on to the next turning point. The only problem with that was - there were 7 (yes, SEVEN) locks in a row just before the turning point - so we would have to go through the 7 locks, turn around, and DO THE SAME SEVEN LOCKS AGAIN!!!!

But there was nothing for it, we had to do it. Actually it wasn't so bad, its just that it takes some time for the locks to fill, so in all it took about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to go through the 7 locks. And then we had to go back through them.

So mid-afternoon and we finally turn around and make our way back. The thing is, its raining again - but by this point we really have got the driving teams sorted and actually it wasn't a hardship at all.

We drove as far as we could before sunset (bearing in mind sunset is around 9pm, so actually we made up some time) and then pulled off to the side near a cute little pub, where we had dinner.

Thursday. Wouldn't you know it, but there's sun. Our last full day. Actually the day was pretty uneventful, we made good time through the locks and made it back to Linslade in good time (the boat was due back at the marina at 9.30am the next day). Seeing as the sun was still shining, we jumped off the boat and went to the local tesco's to get more provisions for another barbie - only this time we put the actual barbie on the canalbank whilst we cooked the food. I made chocolate bananas, which were actually quite nice.

Friday. We got up early, had to clean the boat, then we motored the short distance to the marina, returning the boat in good time. Alas, again the sun was shining - just at the end of the holiday. You wouldn't read about it, would you?

After we returned the boat, we went to a nearby cafe for a final breakfast before making our way home. We tallied up the mileage we'd done in the boat and it was just on 100 miles. Not bad for a few days cruising, hey?

It really was a brilliant time and I can thoroughly recommend the canal boat experience to all.

Rainy Days and Mondays

The reason for this title is that for most of the holiday, it rained. Now since Bris Vegas has been in serious drought, I don't have a problem with rain - if it happens in places where its needed. But to be raining during our holiday? I wasn't that impressed. And it was that hacking it down rain too, the kind that no matter how good your waterproofs are, it will get through. And the other thing was, on a narrow canal boat, with 6 adults - there's not a real lot of places you can go to get out of the rain. Sure, you can go inside, but the lounge area is quite small, so you try cramming almost everyone in there (whilst someone is outside driving the boat). Not a great success. And its a bit claustrophobic to go lie on your bunk and read a book.

What's that got to do with the title? Well, because there wasn't a real lot to do in between the locks and with the rain, we started to edit our videos. Three of us had brought cameras and Erik had brought his mac, so he set it up in the lounge / living / kitchen area and started to edit bits of film. One of the sequences featured the rain, and this Carpenters song was used with it - hence the title.

The rain was the worst on Sunday, our first full day on the canal. We took it in turns as teams to do the driving. By about lunchtime we were pretty washed out, and cold, so to warm up we moored up along the way at one of the little pubs we came across. This was great because they were having a carvery for Sunday lunch, my favourite - great slabs of meat, a mountain of vegetables and of course, yorkshire pudding! Yum!

After lunch the rain was just sort of drizzling, so Nic and I took the helm, and off we set. Despite the rain, our spirits were not dampened. There's actually something quite special about being outside in the elements. Definitely it was cold, but it was kind of fun to be out there (weird I know) and also, there was the Blisworth Tunnel to look forward to (and also the various aqueducts we went on - including one which crossed over the M1)! Anyway, this tunnel is 2813m long, just a bit wider than 2 narrowboats side by side, and it took us 45 minutes to pass. The first time through, Agnieszka was at the helm, and I was up the back helping (we had decided that if someone was driving there should always be someone there to keep them company (plus yell out to the galley for cups of tea)). This was actually a bit of a disadvantage because all the action was taking place down the front of the boat - the guys were filming funny videos and taking funny pictures - but we were too far away to see. Erik took the speakers and poked them out the window, so suddenly the whole tunnel was reverberating to Vivaldi's Gloria, that was pretty cool. Took me back to my days at St Pauls...

Once we got near the end of the tunnel though, it became pretty windy and cold. My waterproofs were satched through, and as it was getting late in the day, and no one else wanted to drive for a while, we pulled over and moored for the night. Nic made great pasta for tea - didn't think I'd be able to eat another thing, but I managed...

The weather was much the same on Monday, rain, rain, rain, but we were really into the editing by now and plus we had a heap of board games that we'd brought to play. The best one was "Things" which Erik brought from Canada, it was very funny. And also, there were still the locks to do - in some cases a series of 3, others a series of 7, sometimes with another boat, sometimes just by ourselves... we were becoming lock pros...

How to work a lock in 34 seconds

Check this out... my first attempt at editing using a mac! I can't take all the credit, the concept was Erik's... but in this version, I did the editing... FYI, I'm the one in the blue waterproofs and brown cap (and my lock companion is Michelle...)

A-locking we will go!

Me, Erik, Agnieszka, Michelle, Nic and Q on "Splendid"

Last Saturday, 6 of us from school (there would have been 7 but unfortunately Adam couldn't make it in the end) set off from London and headed for the sleepy little town of Linslade, near Leighton Buzzard (near Milton Keynes - complicated, I know), to pick up our hire boat "Splendid" and set off on the "Great CBA". We were sooo excited, for all of us this was to be our first experience of narrow boats, canals, and locks - but at the same time I will admit, I was a little apprehensive, for two reasons. First, we all work together - but how would we get on in such a confined space for a whole week? Second, when I found out that Adam, the only one with a boat licence, couldn't come, well I was a bit worried. On that count, I needn't have been - Blind Freddy could drive these boats (well, maybe not "Blind" Freddy - but you get the picture). But as for my first concern, I really shouldn't have worried - I live with Nic, have travelled extensively with Agnieszka, and was on a weekend long camp with Michelle and Erik... so that just left Quentin. Well, he's as laid-back as they come, so no worries there.

Anyway, we arrive in Linslade and immediately Nic and I are sent off to do the grocery shopping whilst the others have the training on the boat. I'll admit I was a bit peeved about this, I wanted to see the training too - but if we were to get away before the Saturday midday rush, we needed to split up and get the various jobs done. So off we went to Tesco.

When we got back, the dude who had been training the others on the boat (you know, things like how the toilets flush, how the shower works, how to start the engine...) took us down to the first lock. He explained how the locks work, and then showed us how to do it. Basically, if you are on the bottom level wanting to go up, and the lock is "down" - then its your lock (if another boat is approaching it from the opposite direction to you). So, you open the gate (easier said than done sometimes) by leaning back on it with your bottom and using your legs to walk the gate back. Then, the boat goes in, you close the gate, and go to the opposite gate. If there is only one set of lock gears, then you open them halfway, and once the lock is half full, you open it fully, using the windlass. But if there are two sets of lock gears, you must open the back ones first - and then when the lock is half full, the front ones. These are sometimes white and red coloured ("red before white, you're alright, white before red, and you're dead..."). Once the water in the lock reaches the same level as that outside the gates (where you're going) then you can open the gate and let the boat out. Pretty simple, really... you'd think. In dry weather, yes. Or with just one lock. But you try a sequence of 7 locks, in absolutely pounding down rain - that's another story.

I have to say though that out of the jobs required for "locking" - I'd rather be opening the gates than steering the boat into the lock. Also, when you're in a lock going down, you have to be careful of the cill or you'll take out your rudder. And as you go down, the boat goes forwards, so you have to keep putting it into reverse, or forwards, to keep it in the centre of the lock - dude who taught us to do the locks calls this a "hill start for the canal boat".

So our first lock, he takes us through all of this (just before we go in to the lock) - and then tells me to jump on the back and steer the boat in. Now, hang on. I was shopping before. I don't even know which way on the gear stick thingy is forward, or neutral, or anything... mini panic here, then I get on with it. It was great fun actually, and I managed quite well on that lock (not so on the others mind, but more on that later).

We get through the lock, dude literally jumps off the boat - and we're off! Sun is shining, birds chirping, morale high, I get to steer the boat for a bit, we make lots of cups of tea and cruise along the canal, taking turns to steer. It was on someone else's turn (not mine, hey Erik) that we narrowly avoid colliding with another boat when crossing under a bridge - boy are there a lot of bridges on the Grand Union canal too - phew. That was close.

We drove for about 5 hours and then moored up. We'd been through 4 locks (1 and then 3 in succession) and it had been very pleasant sailing. After mooring we made our way to a pub nearby for a very nice meal, after a lovely day.