London behind us

12th August

After traveling along a beautiful part of the river, we arrived in Hertford.   We had been warned about the lack of moorings in the town so after shuffling Merlot around, we found a space in a spot where the sun can get to the solar panels and we can get a satellite signal for TV!!!!!!!     After settling merlot down then putting our crayfish nets into the water, we had a walk (5 min) into the small town.    First and foremost, to |Trev's delight there was a lovely new Weatherspoons pub.........   The town itself is quite small but very nice offering most of the shops and supermarkets we could need.   We decided to stay for the full week.

A beautiful family of swans with the signets almost grown and getting their white feathers.  

You can see the young ones still have some of their brown feathers, they are quite tame and loved eating from our hands.
We spent the next couple of days chilling out, exploring the town and surrounding area, nothing too exciting.
We walked to a farm shop, about 30 min across the countryside and stocked up on some meat, bread and vegies.    I spent one moring making jam with the berries we had collected.

Hey presto... five jars of lovely plum jam ready to store for winter.
We also caught lots of signal crayfish.   For those in SA, these crayfish are no where near the size of crayfish caught in Sa but still quite meaty all the same.    Its quite strange cooking something we had caught (seems silly but I think I have to get over the fact that they were caught in the river albeit the water is quite clean and clear.   It did take ages getting the meat out of the tails and claws but eventually job done and we have more FREE food yipeeeeee................

Later that day we had a feast of crayfish .

 All in all our stay in Hertford was very pleasant but now its time to move on back towards London then out at Limehouse ( the lock that lets boats out onto the Thames river)
The weather has been lovely.


Wednesday 24th August
We set off from Hertford after filling up with water at the first water point and arrived at a small village called Roydon.   We decided to stay the night although the mooring was rather less than perfect.  We were opposite a railway station with  a small road running along side the mooring and it was VERY noisy as the trains passed every 10 min to and from London.  No matter, we cannot always find the perfect mooring!!   One thing quite interesting was an Italian restaurant right on the train station platform, very atmospheric.   I went over to investigate and after speaking to the owner, it was clear the food would be good but the prices reflected the standard so we decided to give it a miss.   (Good Italian food is so easy to make so I am loath to hand over what I am sure would be around sixty quid for a meal)    One day when we win the lottery, I wont care ..he! he!

25th Thursday August
We moved Merlot a little further up the river to a better and quieter mooring for tonight.   We were near a town called Harlow but not near enough to walk.  A bus and train ride later on that day and we were in the Town.   Its one of those purpose built towns (after the second world war).   No character, ugly buildings and lots of discount shops but to my delight, we found a huge Asda.  My fav supermarket.   We stocked up and made our way back to Merlot.

Friday 26th August
We left Harlow and arrived in Sawbridgeworth.    We found a lovely mooring just after the lock and 10 min walk into the small town (possibly just a village).    A fellow boater told us that one of the many pubs in the village where having a beer festival and live music that night so as it would have been rude not too...... we went along to see what was what.   We met some nice people (two SA guys, one engaged to a very nice English girl with whome I clicked straight away.    We had a very nice evening, picked up a very average indian takeaway and walked back to Merlot.
We stayed put for the next couple of days doing bits and pieces on Merlot - always something to be done.  We are having trouble with the toilet which seems to be leaking - NOT GOOD - eventually Trev found that one of the seals were past its sell-by date so ordered a new one to be delivered to the post office in the
 village.
I had a bit of a sore ear and throat and bearing in mind its not always easy to get to see a dr, I decided to make an appointment as a temporary patient.   What a carry on I had with the reception staff, they were definitely not keen to have me see a dr and made making an appointment as difficult as possible going as far as being downright rude.  (Unfortunately there are still some bigoted people who think if you live on a boat you somehow fit into a category of people that are a little less than desirable)
I had my revenge as I eventually saw a very very nice lady doc who after hearing about my treatment, was not happy about the behavior of the reception staff and assured me she would take it up with them........
Having spent a week in Sawbridgeworth, we decided to set off again tomorrow.

Friday 2nd September  (where does the time go????)
We left Sawbredgeworth early this morning heading for a place called Broxbourne - frogspawn, as I call it -   ( on our way to Camden we passed through but did not spend any time here so we will stay a couple of days and see what we can find.

leaving central london for Hertford

Monday 8th August
The whole world must have seen footage of the dreadful riots and looting in various parts of London, Camden being one of them    When we went into town, we saw many shops smashed and looted, fortunately we
 were reasonably safe as along the towpath where the boats are moored up, there are large steel gates at either end which were locked so only boaters can gain access to the boats. 
                                                                                                                                                        Tuesday  9th August.                                                                                                                          Weatherspoon have a steak offer night on Tues, so we decided to take advantage.  (for those who don't know, Weatherspoons are a large nation wide pub chain who offer very good value and quality with both food and drinks.)   We were seated at one of the windows overlooking the lock and market area and sadly watched pubs and wine bars boarding up their windows in anticipation of further trouble and looting by these morons.

Thankfully the anticipated trouble did not  happen, not in London anyway.

Wed 10th Aug.
We  went bramble picking to have with pancakes and ice cream for pudd tonight YUM YUM.   Got loads of brambles as well as some funny looks from people walking by on the tow path - Camden is known for it's diverse population and many strange looking people, so why we attracted attention I have no idea or, perhaps it could have been  the two large poles with hooks at the end and the large plastic bowl we carried with us. (waste not want not is what we say)

 Half were gone by the time I took this photo..........

Well  it looks as though things have calmed down so we have decided to set off and head for Hertford - about two days travel away.

We went through the Camden and St Pancreas locks, through the Islington Tunnel ( I love the tunnels, sort of  exciting and romantic in the silent dark with our rather impressive head lamp showing the way)

We were now on the Lee Navigation river and found the water level extremely low - we were to find out why later.......
We decided to moor up in a spot that looked safe enough along with 3 other boats.   The small town called Bow, in the hamlet of Tower was nearby.    The longish high street had lots of small independent shops - not one huge supermarket to be seen, wonderful.....not a bad place.
As we walked back to Merlot, a very old man was struggling to get his boat through the lock we were moored behind, shame man, I am not sure if traveling on a boat on your own at that age is such a good idea.  Trev gave him a hand in the lock and to moor up.  He did seem a game old stick - so sweet - aagh shame as they say in SA.

tying the rope around yourself is not really a good idea especially if you are not that strong but I guess he must know what he is doing (I hope)

Foi toch (another SA expression - means oh shame  and I am certain I have spelt it incorrectly.   He must have been in his 80ies at least.   Respect!!!!!!!!

Thurs 11th Aug
Happy birthday Harry xx
We woke up to find the boat tilting alarmingly  due to a significant drop in the water levels.  

Unfortunately this pic does not reflect how lopsided we were...
We set off  traveling past the Olympic stadium - work in progress.  

One stretch of water was so covered in green algae, it looked like a grass carpet with debris floating on top

                                                                                                                                                           Onwards past Tottenham, and on to the River Lee Navigation - again the water level was very very low with Trev having to be very careful navigating the river to avoid going aground.  
One lock had a lovely former lock-keepers cottage with a notice outside the front fence.  See for yourself.....

Inside was written................

We had no bounty chocolates but left a toffee crisp attached to one of our Fish Hoek holiday cottage cards - never miss an opportunity to advertise.
As we passed through Enfield, we saw smoke still coming from the Sony factory that had been raised to the ground during the riots.   We now found out why the water level's were so low - in more than one place firefighters pumped water from the river or canal to fight the fires.    They are still on standby as it will take days to completely extinguish the risk of hot spots re-igniting.

More free food - Whoo hoo - the persistent rain kept off long enough for us to pick some more wild fruit.  I am going to be busy making apple and bramble crumble or pie.   We also picked lots of elderberries - might have a go at some elderberry jam.

 Getting the best ones!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE FREE FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The downpour has relented, the sun is shinning and we are nearly in a place called Broxbourne on the Stort navigation river.   It looks like a beautiful part of the river....

Still in Canden

Thursday 4th August
Well we are still moored in Camden but I can feel a move coming on soon!!!!!!!  It never takes too long before we start getting itchy feet and great as Camden is, the constant tourists, photo taking, crowds and noise are beginning to annoy a little.   Sid is now included in the commentary given by the guide on the trip boats as a rather unusual figure head. . Hey fame at last !!!

We have mooved Merlot around a bit tryhing to get the best position along this stretch - when ever a boat leaves, which is not often, we quickly move if the spot is a better one.  We have a good spot now and will stay here till we leave Camen.

We like the idea that there is that space between the boat and the side.  Its actually a sort of ramp so when horses slipped into the canal as they did from time to time, they could be easily rescued.  See explanation and the plague below.

 Not very clear - THE RAMP UP TO THE TOWPATH.   THIS IS ONE OF A PAIR EITHER SIDE OF THE RAILWAY BRIDGE AND WAS USED TO RESCUE HORSES WHICH WHEN STARTLED BY THE TRAINS SOMETIMES BOLTED AND FELL INTO THE CANAL

 A very strange(but nice enough)  German man who moored up in front of us - he went to the market and bought a sailor suit then posed for the tourists - very different!!!!    He also giggled a lot, not sure what to make of  this...                                                                                                                                                 

Water is so covered with the green algae, it looks like grass.

As we plan to travel to Liverpool, we were very grateful for the sign showing us which direction to take and how many miles LOL

Trev is now after a bigger satellite dish, I think I need to put my foot down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday 3rd August
Birthday boy Trev.    As the weather was forecast to be very hot and humid, we decided to spend the day in Hyde park having a picnic.   We had a good idea and decided to visit Harrods first and get some picnic food from the food hall.  What did I say about it being a good idea....... NOT.......Trev asked for 3 slices of ham and nearly had to pick himself off the floor as the price came to over ten pounds (for 3 slices)  in the meantime I was buying a small container of salad - well like Trev I nearly fell over when I had to pay over 6 pounds - for  a small plastic container with some salad - I ask you.    We had already bought some bread so decided this was silly and hurriedly made our way out of Harrods and into Salisbury's where we finished buying our picnic.
We made our way to the park and found a spot near the lake and enjoyed a lovely relaxing day.

Trev catching the rays in his underpants He! He!

As we sat people watching, we saw these guys treating the water.   I have to say the stuff they were pouring into the lake must be very very toxic as you can see they were wearing  serious chemical suits.  We overheard them explaining they had to put this into the lake as if left it would run out of oxygen and the fish would die - seemed a funny way of keeping the lake healthy, I guess they must know what they are doing!!!!!!!

After getting over the shock of the price of Harrods food and enjoying a lovely day in the park, we finished off back on Merlot - Trev a bit squiffy but happy - hey old man!!!!!!!!!!  Happy Birthday

Thursday 4th August.
What a lot of rain - I guess we need it and its cooled things down a bit.  We both decided to get on with a few  boat chores today.

Engine oil change........ Just as well he never had toooo much of a hang over hey.

We were sitting last night having a drink to finish off Trev's birthday when he suddenly said "have you seen the witch in our boat??"   A WITCH!!  I looked in the direction he was pointing and have to admit I did see a witch.  Actually its  a string of dried garlic with a pair of oven gloves hanging on a hook in the kitchen or should I say galley..  If you squint it does sort of look like a witch or perhaps the shock of  shopping in Harrods (am I going on too much about food and Harrods?),  too much sun and lots of wine might of had something to do with it.....no, it definitely looks like a witch (perhaps she has arrived to keep Sid the skull company - a bit scary.

Camden

Wednesday   27th July 
We decided to get the bus to Camden and check out the mooring situation, as I said before trying to get a good mooring near Camden market is like finding hen's teeth (Trev's expression).    Once moored in Camden, you are only supposed to stay for 7 nights but people don't seem to worry about this rule and surprisingly, the canal warden seems to turn a blind eye.    Anyway we arrived and saw 4 boats moored right next to the market and in front of the locks.   We spoke to a young guy who was on one of the boats and he suggested we double moor up with him as he was leaving on Wednesday anyway.   Although this bit of the canal is right in the middle of the hectic market, pubs and shops....we decided to go for it as beggars can't be choosers.    We walked back to Paddington, filled Merlot up with water and after a short cruise, arrived in Camden.

In between the two bridges, you can just see the entrance to the market and food stalls.

The Lock alongside the bars and market.

Anyone who has been here will appreciate how hectic the market and lock area get with tourists,  locals and lots of young people making statements with their interesting if not a bit weird get-up's.    It was strange going to sleep to the sounds of this lively area.

When we leave the area, we will be going through these locks.

Thursday 28th July
Survivedthe night here although some poor bloke got his head kicked in on the bridge sometime in the night so the area became safer as a police women was posted at the site in case the man died and the scene became a murder one....................    We need to see if any of the boats moored up further along (the safer and pleasant part of Camden), were moving off.     Trev had a walk and spoke to a women who said we could double up with her as she was going away for the weekend and would be moving off on Monday and we could have her spot then.    Great !!!!!!!
We are now aside her boat and can even get sky signal here - Yea!!!

Still eating street food as its so much easier than cooking and much cheaper - we also have to keep in mind there are no water points here so washing dishes is now considered a waste of water - you wont hear me complaining about that........

 Some of the food stalls, you can find just about any cuisine you may want to sample.
We continue to be something of a tourist attraction as people find Sid "the skull" amusing and lots of photos are being taken by tourist's on foot on the towpath as well as from the "trip" boats that pass by on a regular basis  -   Some more exploring of Camden is now on the agenda.

doing the tourist thing in London

Wednesday 27th July
Wow how fast time is going by.............  We have been here for nearly a week now and will have to move from this mooring tomorrow.   We plan to take Merlot to Camden and see if we can get a mooring there - will be lucky as there are only about 6 spots available and are usually taken.  Plan B will be to go back to Little Venice and moore there for a week or until we have had enough of the big smoke.

We have been reasonably busy doing some of the tourist things.   We found out if you purchase a train ticket to the value of around 3 pounds, you get "two for one"  to many of London's attractions.
We have been to the London Dungeon - not bad but not amazing,  had a trip on the London City boat which was nice and took three hours and visited the Aquarium -  all for half price...Yea!!!!!!!!!   We plan to do the London Eye and go to a show in the west end.
A few pics of London stuff .....

 Trev you are being closely followed!!!  Oh its ok, its only the stone man in Little Venice.

 Trev bonding with another stone man - I think he has taken a shine to these blokes - they don't answer back Lol

 A rather nice (if I say so myself) pic of  the river with Westminster, Big Ben and London buses on Westminster bridge.

 Had to put the London Eye in .......

 Paying respect to the fighter pilots who gave their lives  in the war.

 Behind the three glass buildings,  you can just see part of a building under construction.  It will be the tallest building in Europe, housing shops, restaurants, offices and apartments (for the very rich).  It will be called the Shard and will definitely look like a shard of glass pointing towards the sky - 1016 feet on completion.

 The pineapple - this was built by the former Mayor of London - Ken Livingston (ironically just after he promised not to waste any London money), this - we were told - cost 63 million pounds!!!!!!!!!!  He had an apartment right at the top and now Borris, the current Mayor resides there.

 Good old Tower Bridge - nothing much I have to say about that..

Well other than doing a LOT of walking, that's about it for now.   (OH we have not caught anything in our crayfish trap........  I do think the water is too clean here and with all the weed growing on the water, I don't think much survives without sunlight.    We shall see what happens when we move - I will keep the faith!!!!
To end, Merlot has become sum-what of a tourist attraction,  Sid the skelington (skeleton) has had his photo taken and is quite the celebrity around here  

On a funnier note - A lady on the boat next to ours, kept talking to Sid thinking it was Trev ..........

little venice - paddington basin

Wednesday 20th July.
We spent most of the day on Merlot, catching up with the blog and e mails.   Later we walked back to Camden for some more street food Yum Yum.   Yes,  you guessed it we popped into the elusive pub we visited yesterday for a quick drink whilst waiting for the torrential rain to ease, then back to Merlot.   No TV so radio it was.

Thursday 21st July
This morning trev had a walk to Paddington Basin to see if there were any free moorings and low and behold there were at least 4.   We very quickly (the moorings get taken up very quickly) untied and  moved towards the basin stopping at  the water point on the way filling up with water.     We found a spot.    Its a bit strange as the basin is surrounded by high rise office blocks and some sort of hospital on the other side.     Trev tried to get a signal for sky but we found the buildings put paid to that idea.

 Merlot in the basin with her skipper Trev.
We decided to have a walk to find some shopping area near by and go to the post office to see if our crayfish nets had arrived.   Yea two crayfish nets.....cant wait to put them down but need some bait first.

                                                                                                                                   
As we left the basin we came across a father (the father reminded me of my dad) and daughter showing and flying a range of birds of prey - in the middle of all these tall buildings, strange but interesting.

 A very noisy owl,  in the back ground are a gos hawk and a peregrine falcon, both with little hoods on

 A rather sweet kestrel sitting patiently waiting for his turn.

 We cannot remember what this one was... any suggestions?

 A beautiful Harris Hawk

 A very proud and scary looking Mexican eagle

Bespeckled owl - a bit camera shy

After doing some shopping we walked to Edgeware Road and stopped for a drink in a Weatherspoons confident Trev could get a decent pint...........Oh dear,  not to be,  the first tasted like nothing Trev had tasted so on taking it back he tried another........ this one tasted like vinegar so back it went and Trev settled for a cider.   Well,  I have never tasted anything so disgusting - a bit like TCP.  Trev seemed ok with it so all was well after all.    What a carry on we have with finding the right pint !!!!!!!!!!

Friday 22nd July
Trev decided to buy a aerial as a fellow boater said with digital TV a regular aerial works accessing lots of channels.   No sky but at least now we can watch a bit of TV when not out and about.
Trev went off to Maplins and returned with a aerial which is doing what it says on the box.  so TV is back on the agenda  Lol......
Wow we have just seen a little steel bridge being lifted and lowered electronically.  The reason I say wow is this  bridge is not just raised as normal but rolled up into a ball then unrolled back into a bridge.  I took these pics and hope they do justice to how impressive it was.

 All rolled up......

 Lift off........

A flat bridge again - how cool!!!!!!