Nicole (my daughter) has arrived!
I travelled from Nantwich to Rugby by train and a wonderful friend who picked me up and then fed me lunch as well (thanks Pat!)at Braunston. Then I drove to Gatwick airport and stayed for a couple of days to see the area, and get ready for Nicole’s flight. All good. We met, and then drove back to Nantwich to get her established on the boat.
Then it was on to the Llangollen canal where Nicole’s first moments of boat life included the locks at the start of the Llangollen. All good. She is now an expert!
We overnighted in Wrenbury (no internet coverage- this is a rural canal!), then on to Whitchurch for provisions and we are now out in a nature preserve- the birds singing are the loudest noises heard! For Canadian friends familiar with Alberta, this preserve reminds me of the area of Alberta near Wildwood on the Yellowhead highway west of Edmonton: grassy marshland, very flat, with hummocks of reeds and cattails, with a few green bushes scattered across the area.
We’ve walked through the villages along the way, and enjoyed the very different feel to town centers: ancient buildings, interspersed with modern brick things.
The canal is supposedly the busiest in Britain, but (by design) we have chosen a quieter period before most have their holidays. Yea! No queues (line-ups) for locks or lift bridges. All very congenial.
We are moored tonight along a national heritage park, in Wales, near Bettisfield. Good luck finding THAT on any map! however, we are between Whitfield and Ellesmere, enjoying the ‘green and pleasant land’. As Nicole says: “the experience is the thing- destination is irrelevant.”
