Saturday 21st July

Oops!! Forgot the Bounty Bars Again!!

Second day with Mark in tow, tried to start with a cooked breakfast at the cafe at Hazelmere Marina but they didn't seem to want to open this morning.  Despite there being many hungry mouths to feed!  So we ended up having bacon sandwiches made by yours truly instead.  
When our bellies were suitably full we set of for London and Checkpoint Charlie, we had plenty of time to get there and with two of us doing the locks it would be an easy day for Mark and myself.

Yogi on the other hand was having a bit of a hard time of it.  With him being 6'4" and the steering wheel only coming up to his knackers, he compared himself to one those garden ornaments your nan used to have.  The ones with the old man furiously bending up and down  spinning a wheel praying for the wind to stop!!
The engine had been running beautifully since we left and the gearbox is gradually quietening down, it had been a bit noisy but taking into account she hasn't been moved for nearly a year, once the oil had been changed, topped up and moved around the various places it needed to be she was going like a veritable rocket!!
Loads of people have been commenting on how lovely she looks, taking the time to come out of their boats to watch her come past.

Updating Facebook with our location

We arrived at Lea Bridge in plenty of time and settled in for the evening.  Yogi had bought a new TV aerial from Maplins before we left and it worked straight away, no tinkering or fiddling needed!! This Yog found most impressive and, for the moment, it is his most favourite thing in the world :0) The only problem with being here is there is pretty much no Internet so the early evening was spent sitting on the roof checking Facebook and emails as it was the only place we could get a signal.

Checkpoint Charlie at the entrance to the Restricted Zone

We were greeted at the checkpoint by a rather nice IWA volunteer who helped us moor up on hte wall and checked if we were on his list. We were of course, as I had organised it and already printed off our transit passes which were clearly taped in the window already.  (Organised thing that I am). We had quite a lengthy discussion about the Huddersfield Shallow Canal and Standedge Tunnel as the chap hailed from Huddersfield and knew it well lol.  
Sunday 22nd July

Park for a garden

Had a lovely lay in this morning, the last one I will get for a while as we are off to continue phase 3 of our mission tomorrow at 6am.  Apparently they are a lot more organised this time and we shouldn't have the stress we had last time!! Ha Ha Fingers Crossed along with everything else that is cross able. Its a lovely day and we are moored right between the Filter Beds and a huge public park.  Whilst I was out wandering yesterday I saw a sign for a Sunday market which we had a look at.  

Cafe on the corner

It was mostly food stalls and a couple of antique stalls but was worth a wander around.  I managed to get a couple of bags of soap nuts for £1 which I am testing out as we speak as well as some fresh rhubarb, tomatoes and lettuce.  
On the way back I stopped in a little corner coffee shop for a posh coffee while Yogi made his way back to the boat.  When I got back, Yog had bought beer and some posh fags for me and had sorted the bits and bobs I needed doing out.  So all in all was a pretty good day :0)