Catherine De Barns

While supper was being cooked, Joan and Len were busy Googling stuff.  The galley is behind Len while Joan is computing on our dining tables [which can convert to a double bed had somebody joined us.

We were tied up to the canal wall for the night and these cows entertained us with their herd mentality, but that's another story.

This is the back patio of the pub we went to after supper last night: these things have to be checked out, right?

We've seen a few swan families along the way; this group had been boat-side begging for bread earlier.  They are very large and seem quite aggressive so we kept fingers close at hand...

The Heron's Nest seemed to have quite different brickwork with lots of half bricks being used.

Here's a lovely post and beam house right on the canal.

This handsome house on the hill is quite a distance away but striking all the same.

Filling the boat with water is a daily and lengthy process.  Joan is monitoring the fill overflow so we know when we're full and can move on.  Someone has to do it...

Judy and I walked on and had time to make a few kilometres and the occasional picture while the tank was being filled.  Since the boat only goes about 4 Km/hr, it took them quite a while to catch up and pick us up...

Here's one of the bridge underpasses that we've been seeing all along the canal.

This one is in good shape compared to older ones.

We came across these two fishermen along the way.  They use long poles to drop their bait exactly where they want it: no casting or fly fishing here.

Note that the second man's pole reaches the other side of the canal and he did land a fish [bass] right after this picture was made.

Here's another bridge abutment with a huge brace on the far side.  You can also note some repairs having been done.  This archway is also in pretty good shape compared to older ones.

The herons we saw here are quite different than at home or down south.  They do have much the same behaviour though, they fly off when you get too close. It would seem they bend their backward hinged knees to lower themselves and give themselves a big push off before their wings take hold.  Neat!