Well it was truly monumental in the end and what has made us realize this is to how tired and how much we are looking forward to going home. Planning for our next trips will involve taking some of our learnt experiences from the last 145 days. Maybe less time away; maybe more realistic challenges … More September 2017 – Final Blog of the 2017 Twelve Phase Odyssey

Our last full day in England and our final day of the European Odyssey 2017!!!!! We are ready to go home now, but not to become couch potatoes! The end of Phase 12 came to a conclusion with a breakfast of porridge and toast on Ange De L’Eau and laughter and sadness around the morning … More Wednesday 20th September – Irthlingborough to Gatwick Airport

What a nice day to share together as the sun was out and it was considerably warmer than what it has been. The River Nene is not a fast flowing river by any means and the nice thing is that it is extremely clear. You can see well down into the depths and watch the … More Tuesday 19th September – River Nene to Irthlingborough

Up bright and early to put the finishing touches on Ange De L’Eau. We found some great bunting but unfortunately the wind kept blowing them about and couldn’t get a decent photo of it. We popped into Morrisons for some final shopping and to pick up a birthday cake!! We motored over to the marina … More Monday 18th September – Northampton onto River Nene

Every morning appears to be getting cooler. We are well huddled under our duvets plus a blanket each night now. The weather is going to remain cool until we leave the boat on Wednesday when it will improve – wouldn’t you know it. Our first task of the day was to do 13 single locks. … More Sunday 17th September – Gayton Junction to Northampton

Mixture of a day. We started with seven of the double banger locks which we are not going to be sad to leave behind. Unless you have a dancing partner to join you in these locks it is tough work for both driver and lock slave. We waved a not so fond farewell to our … More Saturday 16th September – Norton Junction to Gayton Junction

Very little to comment on today. Starting off this morning was like getting out into the slip stream of the continuous line of boats that were making their way down the Grand Union Canal. Where we are currently is at probably the busiest area of the entire canal network. Around us are multiple marinas, hire … More Friday 15th September – Napton Junction to Norton Junction

We had quite the sleep in today and didn’t arise until 9.00am. After a breakfast of ourScottish porridge, which we are heartily enjoying on these cool mornings, we walked into the town of Long Itchington. With a name like that we thought it warranted a visit. We walked back along the towpath and then took … More Thursday 14th September – Long Itchington to Napton Junction

It was a wild night on the cut. Very blustery indeed and it was good we were on bollards otherwise we would have heard the clank of chains all night if we had put out nappy pins or the long chains. This morning it continued to be blowy and you needed to hang on to … More Wednesday 13th September – Warwick to Long Itchington

Most of the day spent being Tommy the Tourists. We caught the local bus into Warwick City and then made our way to the castle. We had been here before in 1991 and in fact celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary here. We both remember sitting looking out at this spot having a cuppa tea. In … More Tuesday 12th September – Warwick