Day 58 - back to Calveley, still very warm.

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6 locks, 297 in total.







Yesterday evening in Waverton at sunset our boat was mobbed by about 50 ducks, all making quite a row and we wondered what time they would wake in the morning – 4.50am sadly – and also if they would all sleep on the roof of the boat. Apart from the mess, the sound of feet pounding along a steel roof as they prepare for take-off is not what you want to hear at dawn. Luckily they preferred the grass and gardens for overnight.







Apart from on the Kennet & Avon, when the sun didn't shine much, we've barely motored towards the sun since we set off in May. All that changed yesterday after the turn-around at Chester so it was sunglasses, wide-brimmed hats and plenty of sun screen for our faces most of today – we kept looking backwards longingly! Another issue today was horseflies – big things that can penetrate a horse's hide with ease. It's no good brushing them away – they have to be killed; it's a case of them or us and we're on holiday after all.



Hattie had another swim in the R. Gowy as she was getting too hot - too shallow for us to join her unfortunately.



We're stopped at Calveley now for showers – a peaceful mooring, though perhaps not for the cat on next door's boat!







The photo that got away – actually I was so astounded that I didn't even think about the camera. A way ahead, a narrowboat came round a bend towards us and we could see from afar the bow wave – there were several lines of white foam spreading out from his bow and as they reached the canal sides the waves were slapping against it, to a depth of almost a foot. Many people go faster than they should – all I can say is that on the roads this would have been fast enough for an automatic suspension. Oh, and his boat name was Big Boy!

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Photos

A little art on the cut.
A boater seems to have a permanent mooring on farmland on the opposite side to the towpath, so fairly inaccessible by road or track. I don't know how long he planned this but the framework is about 6 saplings of similar age, evenly spaced in a straight line,

There's a duck theme today.
These 2 were sheltering in the shade of a jetty.

Old Man's Beard
The breeze was blowing the seeds across the canal - balls of fluff, larger and denser than dandelion clocks.