Slept like a log again last night which is fabulous as I am normally such a bad sleeper - climbed out of bed at 8.15, staggering around like a zombie trying to wake up and get a zillion things done before we left at 10.00am.
Lesley and I stayed on the boats and locked them through Houghton before walking back across the common, through Hemingford Abbot and back up into Hemingford Grey - piling the dogs (now very wet - quelle surprise) into the car and planting it (the car) at Godmanchester.
The weather was utterly glorious and I just wanted to go out paddling but we needed to get the decorative tiles for behind the fire so I slung himself a banana and dragged him off to B&Q; sorted the tiles, home again and made him some lunch - I scoffed a sandwich on the hoof whilst hulling strawberries and sorting veg for the evening meal - bless him he prepped and par boiled them for me whilst I was out. Another quick walk with the dogs for wees and Lesley and G deposited my transport in the town pond and I was gone.
First off I turned out onto the main river and then paddled through, down and round the iconic bridge at Huntingdon
It's quite strange to being looking at it low level - I also felt scarily small
lovely light hitting the mellow stone
I then crossed to the other side of the river and hit the backwater behind Port Holme meadow
all much less scary and small time
location, location, location
the swans have left me alone so far, even those with cygnets; but this chap was a bit feisty (although cygnet free) after I'd passed him, apologising as I went, he chased me off his patch for a good 1/2 mile but in a polite sort of a way
By now G was getting rather hungry and had called out the search and rescue helicopter
so I headed for home after one more little detour up Cook's Backwater - I just keep wanting to go to the next bend, I can't stop myself
Loving these next two; spin them 45 degrees and they could be trees...well.. they are, of course trees, but ....you know what I mean
time for bed said Zebedee
You are leaving my old patch now so can't advise you much, places we have seen from the bank on classic car trips higher up the Ouse are Offord Cluny, may be a mill race and backwaters there, we alsomused to visit someone riverside at St Neots, I think you can get through the marina onto a smaller river?
ReplyDeleteWith this weather you need to get out in the kayack.
Thank you Andy, sadly I'm not yet fit enough to do more than two hours at a time, but I'm doing as much as I physically can - I'll try the St Neots marina. Memory map is proving useful - I found a great backwater upstream of Godmanchester lock today
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