New territory of sorts

Yarwood left Ely about an hour ahead of us Thursday - I did a shop before we left and, unlike the Yarwoods, we are more renowned for our late nights than our early mornings. It was damp, cold and foggy when we stopped at Littleport for water and lunch and Lesley and Joe, not surprsingly, had called it a day.

Our ultimate destination was down the Little Ouse to Brandon, so we decided to carry on for an hour or so, so as not to leave us with a long cold cruise today. We tried to moor on the EA moorings by The Ship Inn, but the water level had been dropped and it was too shallow  We used the pub moorings instead which meant going in for a pint - we were frozen and so was the pub and the beer and the atmosphere, somehow I can't see the new owners lasting, and we scuttled back to the warmth and comfort of the boat and a tray of roasted vegetables.

We had arranged to pick up fuel, gas, coal, eggs, gossip, etc., from Danny and Natalie at Little Ouse Moorings on our way through and we needed to arrive about an hour apart - sure enough, the early bird Yarwoods had cruised down from Littleport and passed us with a cheery wave before 10.00 am whilst we were still scoffing breakfast in our dressing gowns! We timed it perfectly and pulled in for fuel just as they left.

It was so nice to be on a river that had natural twists and turns and the cloud cover broke. Lovely.

I'd just taken soup out the back when we came round the corner to find that Joe had pulled over for the day on the GOBA moorings (the only place you can stop before the end of the navigation) which - being low lying - were surprisingly dry. I love this spot; absolutely miles from anyone or anywhere, not even a track.

 We pulled in front of them but couldn't be bothered to get our big gang plank across from the other side so rested our bum on their bow for the one night.

Lesley and I had time to run the dogs before dark and then we settled down to a chicken and lentil curry. We shall move on to Brandon in the morning which will be new to us. We took MR down to the end and winded, earlier this year but didn't have time to stay - I can't remember why - and then it flooded after we returned from Bedford. So new moorings, new walks, new town. Excellent. As long as it doesn't rain I'd be happy to stay on these GOBA moorings for several days - the only down side is the limited dog walking, but my own walking is limited at the moment so it doesn't matter. I might get the train into Ely and bring the car out so that we can get into Santon Downham and Thetford. We'll see.