This morning it was colder inside Waiouru than out. We were the first boat off the Kintbury 24 hour moorings and headed towards Hungerford some two hours away. Almost immediately we struck a group of friendly fishermen setting up of a Sunday competition.
The canals contain some rather intelligent fish as they know to stay near the far side forcing the fishermen to use very long rods!
There were only three locks today and our recently adopted locking technique appears to be working satisfactorily. On arriving at Hungerford we found nb Black Dog on the facilities moorings. The timing was perfect as they were just departing as we arrived. Then they noticed our boat name and asked where in NZ we hailed from. That’s when we discovered they were Kiwi’s from Tauranga. Bloody kiwis… they are everywhere!
The next challenge was the CaRT toilet pump out station. Whilst I finished mooring Waiouru Jan went forward with her BW key to open it… and tried… and tried… and tried!
Eventually I had a go… also failing to unlock the door. Whilst the tank was not full we really would prefer to pump it empty. I fiddled with the key and lock eventually unlocking it <phew>. We had to move Waiouru forward because the hose wasn’t of sufficient length to reach the tank outlet on the roof. However there was plenty of suction and the tank didn’t take long to empty. Jan commented on the lack of smell and I pointed out that as kiwi’s it would be most unlikely there will be any smell! OK… the truth is I think the lack of smell is due to Waiouru having a large flat tank which provides a larger than normal air void in the top of the tank thereby creating more aeration.
We moved on into Hungerford mooring on the ‘off side’
The building behind us is named “Granary” but I’m not sure if it ever was a granary? I suspect not!
Jan really likes an English pub Sunday roast so after mooring we went in search of a pub serving a roast meal. The ‘Plume of Feathers’ on the main street was advertising Sunday roasts for £10.95 each.
Jan highly recommends the roast beef. There was time for a wander around Hungerford whilst our lunch settled.
Many flags flying in the main street
My eye was drawn to the Town Hall with it’s intricate carvings.
Pigeons not welcome!
The reason for this post heading……… There are an unusually large number of antique shops in Hungerford?
One of at least four shops!
Wandering back to Waiouru was this row of small shops. I suspect they will look more attractive on a sunny day!
And down on the towpath was this plaque
Back at Waiouru two CaRT employees arrived by car and commenced entering boat registration information into a hand held data terminal. Both were ex military with one mentioning he had spent four months in NZ on exchange and the other had been on a RAF aircraft that had been delayed in Perth, Western Australia for a few days which enabled him to do some impromptu sightseeing.
Whilst Jan pegged the second load of clean laundry onto the rotary clothesline I assembled the folding sack trolley and went off to purchase fuel. Then we did some routine maintenance on Waiouru with Jan beavering away inside whilst I gave the starboard side another wash down!
Tomorrow we will wind Waiouru and start our journey back down the Kennet & Avon and on to the Thames.
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