How many were going to St. Ives? Well, we did, and after leaving Ely, toured along a fairly uneventful ditch/drain to Earith. A nice mooring on the river beside a marina, and then on to St. Ives. We wandered around the ‘bank-holiday’ market (long weekend holiday for Canadians) and enjoyed the atmosphere. Then on to St. Neots, where we moored for the evening, enjoying a pub meal and short wander around.
This is river cruising, on the River Great Ouse. There is LOTS to see, with small villages (with the requisite church- some with spires and some with just square towers), and mills, etc. There was more boat traffic than we had encountered cumulatively, previously, seemingly all out for a holiday cruise. Many rental (hire) small outboard powered boats with people that had no idea at all about locks, steering, etc. Quite entertaining! Also other interesting craft, including a Cambridge punter, lots of rowers: crew, and antique rowboats.
small church with truncated spire right beside river
riverside water wheel (still turning- but I suspect more for decoration than work- the building is now a restaurant)
punter in front of thatched cottage, Great River Ouse
remnant blockhouse of anti-invasion defenses, around 1940. There are many of these scattered along the waterways.
another riverside church, peeking through the greenery
This is an enchanting part of the country to cruise in: I had been advised that we would be bored quickly with the flat country and nothing to see but banks. True- for about 5km, but the rest has at least as much to see as any other part of the waterways system I have cruised. The trees are magnificent in their blooming: chestnut, hawthorn, and many others. 
chapel-on-the-bridge, St. Ives
Dad ‘enjoying’ the shopping experience, St. Ives bank holiday market
one of thousands of flowering trees along the waterways
swans: nesting, begging, swimming with only one foot, sleeping- on land or just floating along. Lots of entertainment!
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