Leaving Waltham on Thames
Friday 31st May 2013
So we set off at lunch time and did
4 locks and 8 miles. We went past the River Wey turn off (we had decided not to
do the river wey for several reasons, one being the cost, another being the weather), into Chertsey lock, and through Staines and
Egham.
... beautiful countryside as we cruise off
... waiting at Chertsey Lock landing stage, Chertsey bridge in the distance
... Jack jumps at the opportunity to stretch his legs... he cant get out at the Thames Locks!
... going under the M3
... white placcy boats bomb about .... entering Staines, and the low flying aeroplane zone
.... strange houses line the river
... and we go under the M4 bridge and wave to the people stuck in stationery traffic above
We finally found a lovely spot to stop for the night right on the edge
of Runnymede meadows!
and the placcy white boats look down on us ... but we're happy!
... and watched the sun setting over the horizon... we walked the meadows of Runnymede
Amazing place. Another one of those free for the first night and a fiver for up to two nights after that, £50 a day after that!
Huge white boats out for the weekend, knobs look down on us as they sip their gin. Were so happy!
We walked round the parkland with Jack, stopping for ice cream, Jack has another swim in the Thames, the suns shining now, its hot for him.
On Saturday we discover the meadows and woods and open fields and meadows, its a walkers paradise, and Jacks! Hes having the most amazing time!
Huge white boats out for the weekend, knobs look down on us as they sip their gin. Were so happy!
We walked round the parkland with Jack, stopping for ice cream, Jack has another swim in the Thames, the suns shining now, its hot for him.
On Saturday we discover the meadows and woods and open fields and meadows, its a walkers paradise, and Jacks! Hes having the most amazing time!
... we found the beautiful streams
... and woodlands
after a couple of hours, we've got one knackered Jack!
The mooring spot's great, quiet, except for the low
flying aeroplanes every minute! very loud. very low. You can even read the
writing on the sides of them!
As its a lovely place to stop, we stay another day.
The weather is forecast for strong winds, cold cloudy day. Don't really want to
be in the big wide Thames on a day like that!
... so we made it to the top of the hill.. looking down on Heathrow
... phew... time for a rest
After another amazing walk when we climbed a huge hill
and looked down on London, we could see for miles! There's a PEACE camp at the
top, just a load of hippies living off the land! At home we get Jack in the
shower. He needs another hair cut, so for the rest of the day we pamper our
pooch! He looks very handsome now, little bit better than the first time I did
it! more lovely walks, and we sit out in the sunshine now, enjoying the sunset
till its dark.
On Sunday we set off in the beautiful
sunshine, not a drop of wind, the river's as calm as a mill pond
... the river's so calm its like a lake
... Crown Estates, Windsor Castle in the distance
... a flotilla of dragon boats, placcy boats, huge trip boats all over the place!
Our days cruising takes us past the Crown Estates of
Windsor, past Windsor castle, weaving through the chaos of the dragon boats,
the day hire boats, huge trip boats and the plastic gin palaces that tower over
all their subjects.
... waiting for our turn at the Lock, plastic and dragons every where, trip boats too!
We get into Bovney lock, full of plastic and dragons and
us, 17 tons of steel!
At the top of the lock we decided to pull over for
lunch. Eaton Wick is the nearest town. As we slowed down to moor up, I noticed
the boat behind had a very familiar name.
Amazingly it was an old mate of mine,
Peter, on his narrow boat Corrie D'or, who i used to moor up near at Uxbridge! I was actually mates with his
wife who apparently ran off with a 'dirty stinking scrounging boater who took
her for every penny, and she deserved it!'
After a good old chat and catchup we went looking for
walks and found them! Again we'd got lucky and we had moored next to the
olympic rowing lake! The fields were all public footpaths, lovely old meadows
divided by streams and an electric fence that Jack found! He yelped! Poor boy!
Moored up at Eaton Wick, near Windsor
Back at the boat we set up the fishing umbrella for
shade for Jack and we sat in the glorious sun. Lots and lots of large and very
large boats bomb past, day hire boats, trip and party boats they just keep on
coming, so busy here.
No aeroplane noise now, peaceful and quiet here. Lots
of mayflies bopping up and down and then dying.
On Monday Peter was ready to go to Windsor shopping
and we headed in the opposite direction, up stream in the beautiful sunshine,
calm waters.
We leave for Maidenhead....
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