Getting used to the slow pace!

We have been moving along at about 5 miles a day – what a difference to driving a car at 60 miles an hour!

On friday we left Willington, stopping first to top up with water and dispose of rubbish.

We are getting used to the hybrid system now, and when motoring along with the diesel engine the hybrid turns into a generator to charge up our huge battery bank!

Since leaving MGMs yard we only run the engine when we are travelling (even if we only do a couple of miles) and havent had a problem with power – even though we have an induction hob, electric oven, electric kettle,  fridge, freezer, dishwasher and washer/dryer which are all being used on a daily basis – not to mention the TV and DVD player that have been getting a fair bit of use!

Whilst motoring towards Burton we were looking out for Bruce and Sheila on Sanity Again as we knew they were on their way back to Mercia, and low and behold we passed them!

We thoroughly enjoyed motoring along the Trent and Mersey Canal in our own boat – we have travelled it countless times in hire boats!

We stopped just before the first narrow lock and settled down to a cozy evening in with a couple of drinks!

Saturday saw us moving on through Burton and passing through the first of the narrow locks in our own boat – it seemed so different to doing it in a hire boat!

As you can see, the sun was out and it was T-shirt weather! Lovely.

We decided to stop at Branston Water Park for the weekend, and since the sun was shining I put out some washing!

We had a thoroughly lazy weekend, Gary wiped down the boat, I did even more washing, and we went for a walk around the water park – something we have never done as we had always motored on by before! We rounded off the weekend with a roast beef dinner – and still the batteries were fine!

Monday started off a bit drizzly and grey, but by the time we moved off the drizzle had stopped and although the sun didnt come out, it was still quite pleasant motoring along!

We passed more of our holiday boating landmarks -

Tatenhill Lock – such an attractive setting!

“Chicken Bridge” (so called by our Shakespeare friends as so many new hirers were too “chicken” to go through!)

And Alrewas River Section

In Alrewas we found a nice spot to moor up – just before the water point!

We decided to visit Coates the Butcher to try out his wares – everyone seems to rate his meat, hopefully this will prove correct.

We treated ourselves to dinner in the George and Dragon and returned to the boat thoroughly full and settled down to watch TV – using the aerial recommended by Doug and James – it is fab – barely needs lifting on its pole or moving about to find a signal!

This morning as we left Alrewas, the sun started to peep out again, making our journey really pleasant. We headed on to Fradley – passing Percy on his mooring!

Through Fradley, a constant stream of boats at just the right moment meant that we passed through really easily – and  without queuing!

The last lock of the day – Woodend, meant easy cruising for a couple of hours.

We had intended to moor by the Plum Pudding – but a hire boat was stuck in the middle – so we moved on through Armitage tunnel and moored opposite Spode House having given the batteries a good charge today!