After being treated to the most gorgeous meal out avec Champagne on Friday, we had a long (by my standards) cruise on Saturday before further car shuffling, eating in and all having an early night – we were all pretty bushed. Not before Muttley and I took ourselves off to meet the locals though. After the rainbow (previous blog) the sky was amazing.

Despite the short pontoon (which is a bit awkward with a wobbly Baxter and one arm), I liked this mooring even though I didn’t get time to explore the village. I guess one person’s ‘good mooring’ is very different from another’s – the actual mooring platform on this one was falling to bits; we had to put mats down to get the dogs safely on and off and the steps were all overgrown, but just 10 metres away was a beautifully manicured park and motor home aire. It suggested that the village had stopped maintaining the mooring because nobody stopped there.

G cycled up the hill to the boulangerie to fetch breakfast in the morning, which was eaten in teenager style!!!! Shocking, the grand children would not be allowed to do this.

Just a short cruise on the Sunday morning to Dormants so that we could enjoy G’s Sunday lunch before Sarah and Andy left us late afternoon. Mooring here was a tad tricky as we had to shift forward an ‘abandoned’ boat to make room – even then there wasn’t a lot to spare at either end.

Behind us, on a separate quay, was the most beautiful tjalk; still with full rigging, leeboards and tiller – sadly there was no one about so I couldn’t bluster my way on board for a looksee and G and Andy wouldn’t let me knick the leeboards overnight.

We are right in the middle of Champagne country now and the hilly fields abound with vines and the villages with Champagne houses

Even though we were moored alongside a big park and had nice views all around, neither G nor I liked it very much – no idea why.

Despite my natural instincts to explore the town, neither of us wanted to stay, so we moved on again on Monday morning; we seem to have caught the ‘hire boats in a hurry’ disease. Only 1 lock and 10 kms to Port a Binson where the mooring is delightful but the village has died and the dog walking is bad, so it looks like we shall be moving again tomorrow! It may have only been one lock, but it was very exciting as we were boarded – the eagle peacock has landed!!!!

One of them just took himself up and flew onto the boat, sitting on our roof quite happily as the lock filled

Only as we moved out of the lock did he decide to leave us (just as I was thinking of a nice roast dinner), not before he left a big black poo on our roof though.

Funny old lock this one; steeply sloping sides with a rising platform and an angled walkway

Tonight’s mooring and sunset

We have had confirmation today that we are coming out for blacking and an insurance survey at the end of August beginning of September in Friesland that’s right up in the North of the Netherlands – it’s further North than Great Yarmouth; in fact it’s so far bloody North we’ll nearly be at the North pole!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t even say hello in Dutch, let alone Friesland speak ( a completely separate language evidently); what have we done??????  Hey ho; it’s only around 1,000 kms away……..hmm