We’ve Moved

Just a brief post as we are very short on time having moved from Kelly-Louise down to Aldermaston Wharf on the Kennet & Avon to be closer to Waiouru for her rebuild.  We were quite sad to leave Kelly-Louise as she is a lovely boat and our two months aboard gave us a wonderful insight into living on a narrowboat.  We have learned so much from the experience.

The last couple of days have been quite frantic.  We packed all our possession and squeezed them into the Enterprise rental car.  We hadn’t heard of Enterprise until reading about them on other boaters blogs, but can now agree they are the best rental company we have ever used.  Highly recommended!

Over the last couple of weeks Jan had run down the food stocks in anticipation of the move south.  So once we had moved everything from the car to our new temporary home (one of the hire boats at Aldermaston Wharf) we headed back into Reading to do some essential shopping.  One of life’s small irony's was the multi-storey car park we found ourselves parked in.  It was adjacent to the canal.  I took the opportunity to have a good look as we walked along the towpath into the CBD.  First time I’ve seen traffic lights on a canal!

After purchasing some thermal underwear (winter is coming) we headed to the nearest large supermarket for dry goods.  By the time we returned to the boatyard it was dark.  AND THE GATE WAS LOCKED!   I formulated a plan and explained it to Jan, I would climb the gate and she would pass over the bags of food.  The car would be left out on the street.  Jan then stated she couldn’t climb the gate.  It looked like divorce!  But then from out of the dark appeared a stranger who started to unlock the gate.  I got out of the car (it was parked in front of the gate).  He then stopped unlocking the gate and asked “What do you want?”  I explained we were living on a boat in the boatyard.  To which he replied “I’ve never seen you here before!”  I then explained we had only arrived that day.  He then informed me he was expecting his wife to arrive in their car which was why he was unlocking the gate.  As he was telling me this his wife arrived.  So we were saved from spending the night in the car sharing bodily heat (or cold).

Sunday morning was spent trying to find a home for our possessions.  Space in a narrowboat is so limited you sometimes have to double (or triple) handle items when finding a suitable home for each.  However the bulk of the work has now been done.  I was also able to have a conversation with Nick (boatyard engineer) who organised shore power to the boat.  This meant we could plug in the freezer without having to worry the domestic battery bank would be flattened.

In the afternoon we headed back to the supermarket to purchase perishables.  We then stripped all the meat from its containers and broke it down to meal size portions which we placed into freezer bags.  These were then “shaped” to fit into the freezer. 

After all this work we’re too tired to have dinner and will nibble on a couple of biscuits and a cuppa before hitting the pillow.  Up early tomorrow as the car has to be returned to the Enterprise depot in Reading.