A reflection

5½ months away!  What a fantastic summer.  It has been an absolute privilege to travel through our countryside at only walking speed - almost medieval - watching the scenery and the seasons change.  Even the changes in local accents  could be noticed as they morphed from one area to another.  As each new flower or leaf came out we could stop, look it up in our flower book and appreciate what was happening.  

The waterways are a parallel universe. One where the clock ticks slower and people find they have time for one another - to pass the time of day and offer a lending hand where needed.  We have made several good friends whom we would love to keep in contact with.  We have also met many total strangers - who have stopped to chat - told us their life story, and then left some hours later knowing all about us - with a cheery wave we will never ever see them again! But they went away smiling and our lives are a little richer.

I hope that doesn't sound too gushing! It had its tougher side too.  Whilst it was on the whole a beautiful summer, we started in the snow and had our fair share of wet, cold and windy days.  We traveled for up to 10 hours a day some days, eating on the move and on more than one occasion after several flights of locks we were almost too tired to continue.  The distress of loosing the two young birds we found was only outmatched by possibly finding a body on the Hatton flight in Warwickshire.  If there wasn't a body then it certainly caused us to reflect on the plight of the homeless.

In short - every day was an adventure!

Some facts:
While we were away the engine ran for 600 hours and used 660 litres of fuel.
We travelled for 1150 miles
Went through 620 locks, 109 swing bridges and 34 tunnels
Neither of us fell in once!
The route we took is shown below: