This morning we moved Waiouru forward to the water point moorings above the Foxton Flight to top-up the water tank whilst our visitors had a look around the museum and the incline plane.
We were the only boat waiting at the top when nb Phoebe arrived with John and his wife aboard. John introduced himself as one of our blog readers (are they all following us around England?) and mentioned he had been following the blog from the time we were living in Adelaide, South Australia. With a small smile on his face he mentioned to me he probably knew more about the construction of Waiouru than I did! 
John on the stern of Phoebe. Great to meet you John!
Our visitors were from Perth, Western Australia. The party consisted of my sister and her husband along with her sister-in-law and her husband. If that was difficult then they were Julie, Paul, Karen & Dave. The plan was to have them work Waiouru down the 10 locks either working the lock gates and paddles or steering the boat. With the assistance of the volunteer lock keeper, Allison and the supervision of the boat captain (Jan) it all went very smoothly.
Julie opens the red paddle whilst Karen waits to openthe the white. They remembered… “Red before white you’ll be alright!”
Mum is too frail to make the journey all the way to the UK and she had therefore decided to treat us all to lunch giving Julie the money before she left Perth. The pub at the bottom of the locks looked like it was serving food and we immediately started looking for a mooring once we’d reached the bottom of the flight. It was Julie who was observant and noticed there was a vacant mooring adjacent to the pub beer garden.
Waiouru moored against the beer garden…. Great mooring!
The girls then started into their “internet fix” calling Perth via Skype to check how badly the kids had trashed the house in their absence. The boys rehydrated!
After lunch we leisurely cruised the stretch of canal into Market Harborough. Dave and Paul took turns at the tiller and did very well with their steering. Being keen ‘yachties’ might have given them an edge. Julie wanted a photo of me and managed to take one just as I was taking a photo of her.
Paul, Karen & Julie
Whilst Karen and Julie headed into Market Harborough to find some accommodation for the night I walked with Paul and Dave to collect the car back at Foxton Locks. I’d previously identified the shortest walking route using the online OS maps which had then been downloaded on to the gps. The route took us through fields of bright yellow rape and paddocks of sheep. On our return to Waiouru we discovered the girls had the accommodation booked and also identified a good venue for the evening meal. Two cooked meals in one day…. The main meal was tasty and the dessert divine.
At this rate we’re going to have more chins than a chinese phonebook! (I stole that line off my sister!)
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