under another sun

Slept a big 4.5 hours, and woke sans crushing hangover feeling somewhat better. Shipmates astir after sixish, all brighter and better than yesterday after our slightly more subdued night. I walked out and took photographs of the misted predawn fields and canals, shoes soaking in the wet grass. We were soon underway again. Murray and Dion making a big breakfast, as we commenced another idyllic sunny day. I sat in the prow passing through a dream of English beauty and chatting to my shipmates. Barging is a beautiful way to see the country, and the enforced slowness, brought about by going through locks, and the sedateness of the engine, has the potential to be wonderfully restful. A prehistoric looking heron burst up from the vegetation early in the day and we passed swans and cygnets,ducks and ducklings, and smaller birds disappearing into the reeded banks. Glimpses of fish in the murky water, and they made little rings as they broke surface on the still water. Reflections made it a p...

Woke a couple of hours later utterly freezing. I'd failed to locate any bedding and so draped myself with a towel and fell back into an uneasy frozen sleep. People up offensively early, which at least prevented me from developing frostbite. Nigel spontaneously began cooking everyone breakfast. Meanwhile the French Bloke, who had barely slept, and certainly still drunk as a lord, efficiently sparked up the engine and we were underway, pootling along at less than walking pace along the incredibly beautiful canal. Gangs of us springing off to tie up the barge, open the locks and so that the barge could rise up through the lock of green and slimy brickwork to the sun. Progressed steadily through the morning. Many recommenced drinking as early as 8am. I was faintly appalled by this superhuman capacity. For I was  exhausted and shabbily hungover. We stopped in a picturesque village and made our way to its pub for lunch. An incredibly rude woman staff member started hostilities with us ...

To Acton with an overnight bag. A typical end-of-week agency day, with staff frazzled and the client  demanding the manifestation of unicorns.When this abated, off to Paddington (which was bearable) where I had arranged to meet Pat. Waited in a station bar, near the one-armed-bandit machines and watched a man like a grubby bee settling on the colourful machines, and pumping in fistfuls of pound coins. Met up with Pat, and boarded an Oxford train, we had to stand for much of the journey, which was delayed on the track. A good laugh though, and enjoyed the tins of beer I'd sensibly bought. Arrived in Oxford and shared a pizza in a bus shelter before catching a taxi to a canal-side pub, The Boat Inn, in Thrupp.  Here we found Michel. Matt, Steve (Matt's brother in law), Dion and Murray who I'd met before, and Nigel and Simon who I hadn't. All Gentlemen already well refreshed by the time we arrived. Nine strong we boarded the 72 foot barge moored outside the pub, and ha...