Slow travel

Here we are, back from Switzerland,  reunited with Santiago.   Sad to leave our Swiss friends, such a bittersweet time with one of them very ill.  Nearly 2 weeks there, mountains, lakes, a mad fun folk club evening, trains through and round mountains, one to Italy for a day. And time to reminisce  50 years of friendship.   Santiago rocks gently on her mooring, resplendent in her repaint, needing a good clean inside. And so for decision time - which agent to select to sell her for us, what route to take for a last trip. What to throw out, donate, keep. Amazing how much can be stuffed into a small boat. Today a 40min bus trip along the flanks of the Pennines, Pott Shrigley, Bollington  to Macclesfield,  where my mother was born, worked,  married, and from where she left with our little family to Oz. An old mill town, bordering the canal, so familiar to us. Back with our shopping 🛍 along the same winding bus route. Another passenger pointe...

 This small town fringes Lake Thun, trad wooden chalets climbing up towards pine forests. An ideal place to live or for a tourist A small cafe at the ferry wharf, so a coffee before heading east to Interlaken, or west to Thun.  Or a guacamole bagel for lunch! Our friends' house is a recent build, the roof covered in solar panels. K is an artist with fabric..a  puppet leans at leisure, quilted birds against a wall. Such skill and patience. Nearby a pool complex,  well used, a practical protocol of pre showering, shoe removal etc, that allows a high patronage with courtesy observed. Everywhere garden corners  fit in the urban landscape.

 Y Two nights ago we are in a folk club in Oberhafen, singing, laughing, clapping to music from South America,  Ireland, Germany....Much we don't understand, monolingual travellers that we are.  Our friend plays the piano with elan, Tim Winton virtuosity. A happy few hours in the company of friends of 50 years.  I met them through Lady Luck, them as newly weds exploring Australia,  me teaching English in an evening class to save for my own travels. That instant rapport which you seize for the prize it is. Friends for life. We were to be together in a hill town in Piedmont. The plan from.last year. But illness has struck one member of our Swiss family. We circle wagons, recall memories, listen to our friend's reflections on his life, affirm his legacy.  His journey is almost done, and we grieve together. He is a master jeweller, created unique pieces. A fine clever father husband friend. An expert mushroomer.  A subtle wicked sense of humour. A fierce g...

 About to board, end of our nearly 5 month trip. The green grass of home...family,  friends  aqua, making soup, sleeping in our own bed... A few last precious hours with cousins and old friends. A last photo from our mooring HOME SOON!

 After nearly 5 months our flight home is 6 sleeps away. In the past week so much has happened.  Most importantly,  the nasty mole was diagnosed as not malignant,  by a specialist working in the City of London. Oddly, this area saw my first night in London  50 years ago, and where I worked. Despite this memory, we were very pleased to be accompanied on rail, tube, to the appointment, by kind generous boating friends. We stayed with them in Dulwich in south London, a delight.  The other big event this week was the announcement that the (locked) lock flight blocking the return of Santiago to her home mooring,  was opening at the end of October  for a few days, must book passage. Great relief, with our boating friends volunteering to crew her north. They have all stayed on her over the years. So now we sort, pack, clean and head home after some family visits. 

 We're in a holding pattern. The canal authorities have not yet reopened the Macclesfield Canal to allow passage through the 12 Bosely locks. Our home mooring is on the north of these locks, as well as our booked boat repainters' yard. And time here for us is running out. We fly home in less than 3 weeks. We have received  generous offers from friends to move Santiago after we leave, most welcome. So now an alternative mooring is needed, securing keys, advising the home mooring marina, contacting the repainter.... transport for us from where the boat is left. The list goes on. All is not gloom. Our friends in London welcome us this week, a show booked, plans to visit some NT properties.  Plus a dash down to Portsmouth to our family friends. Yesterday in Manchester, mostly waiting on some medical advice at an NHS hospital, but also a happy wander round the Manchester Art Gallery.  Old and new buildings are married in spacious beauty. To reach Manchester we walk in the...

 From Scotland we travel by train south, to the Cheshire moored Santiago.  A 4 hour journey becomes 8, as the system near Manchester is stopped by 'a major incident',  ie a suicide, on an intersecting line. Santiago wraps round us, and we unwind, walking, sleeping. A pilgrimage to Little Morton Hall, c 1540, approaching across fields and sites.  In the local pub we meet up with other boaters, also waiting for the canal to reopen. A local bus takes us to Sandbach, Saxon crosses in the market square. Another bus we blithely board, but it's route deposits us 2.5m from our boat.  So a goodly walk, the scenic route. Now on wheels to say goodbye fir now to our northern cousins.  Weather chilly,  and damp. Send it down, Hughie!