At the end of the summer we rented a canal boat, Beatrice. Even though we had zero canal boat experience, they gave us a 10 minute lesson and off we went!
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The boat engineer saying something about an engine...
I'm sure Justin was paying attention |
Beatrice is a 47 foot boat- one of the smaller versions and is driven by an inboard diesel engine with tiller. Its kind of like driving a school bus, from the back... without brakes.
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| Justin at the tiller |
The two week cruise took us through the Tardebigge Locks (30 locks over 2.2 miles) into the Avon River. This is the longest flight of locks in the UK and we undertook them on Day 1. Talk about Baptism by fire...
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Beatrice took a few lumps Day 1 as the
locks are about 4 inches wider than the boat.
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The Locks have to be cranked opened and pushed closed by, hand making for pretty physical day on the water. A few locks intersect with roads. Can you believe the let us stop traffic?!?
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| Pushing the gates open |
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It's considered good form to make sure a car isn't crossing
the bridge before hitting the up button. |
The canals gave a lovely view of the English countryside and some wildlife.
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Anyone with a dog will recognize this expression...
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We caught glimpses of many lovely country houses.
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We stopped for a few days at Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's home town. His house still stands as does the farm where his wife lived. Stratford has a beautiful waterfront.
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| The Bard's childhood home |
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| In the back garden |
Anne Hathaway's farm is still a working farm with typical animals, organic fruits and herb gardens.
The museum/farm is one of the better that we visited.
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| Justin makes nice with the goats |
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| The owl demonstration gets a little close and his wings brushed Melanie's face. |
Guess who wants a donkey for Christmas??
Back on the boat, we floated along the Edstone Aqueduct- almost 500 feet long that passes over grazing fields and modern roads. It feels little odd to be floating overland. Looking down over the tiller.
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| The sheep never saw us coming... |
And the view from the road....
The locks on the Avon River fit 2 boats and we were happy to make friends with two Australians, Ian and Jock. They were also kind enough to explain the rules of Rugby to us during the Ozzy/Argentina match. True to form we rooted for Argentina so Australia won.
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| Jock and Justin pilot along the Avon River. |
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| The crews enjoying a well earned brew. |
After a beautiful and relaxing two weeks. We turned south toward Canterbury and France.
We loved our canal boat vacation in England and Wales several years ago. Such a relaxing way to see the countryside. Much better than driving on the "wrong" side of those narrow roads, eh?
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