River Thames ( Day 2 )

 

After a very wet night at Shillingford and the river Thames rising about 6 inches we pulled pins at 08.30 and its not long before we see this red Kite in the sky above us.

It was a day of high winds and some very heavy showers. On a long stretch like this and with the wind blowing straight at you we have a few good waves to plough through.

Some of the houses we are passing are just amazing and are worth several millions of pounds.

Even this shed with a bit of river frontage is £140,000.              

How about this at the bottom of your garden over looking the river.

This didn't have make us jump when he flew over us at low level..

Many of the locks have indictor marks to show how high the river has got when it has flooded in previous years. The Portage is for the canoeist to carry their canoes around the lock . Although if i had a canoe i think i would by-pass the lock and go straight down over the weir. I know my mate Harry would in his.

This is the weir next to the lock which is on the far left . As you can see there is a lot of water coming down and it try's to push you into the bank as you exit the lock.

A pair of crested Grebe’s .They have an elaborate courtship display in which they rise out of the water and shake their heads. We have seen more in the last couple of days than we have seen in 2 years.

After another long day we eventually get to Reading. The approach is totally different to what i expected with million pound houses as far as the eye could see on the left hand side. Keith called in for diesel at Caversham boat services and was surprised and happy to find that it was only 85 pence a litre and self declaration. We both expected it to be a lot more than that on the river Thames.

We wanted to do a Tesco shop at Reading as the store was right next to the river and there were some good moorings to stop on. It was mainly a wine run for me , but Carolyn did get a few bits and pieces. After another 6 hours of travel we decided to spend the night here on the moorings and then head off around the corner in the morning and onto the Kennet and Avon canal

                                                                                       Happy Days