Returning to Goring on Thames

Bob and June from Nb ‘Autumn Myst’ came on board for a glass of champagne before we went into the city for a meal at Fire and Stone.  As part of her training, Phoenix was allowed to come with us and the manager had personally gone out to buy her a pack of doggy chews. We had a good meal there and, as friends of Phoenix, we were treated with special care.

A glass of bubbly before dinner last night.

This morning, in gentle rain, we all set sail at 9 o’clock for our trip back down the river to Reading.  The rain stopped at 10 o’clock as forecast so it’s been a generally dry but a chill wind at times.  The river was running well which helped our speed and we reached Abingdon in 2 1/2 hours (compared to 4 hours coming up stream).

The locker keeper at Abingdon was pleased that we didn’t damage his brand new lock (opened only a couple of weeks ago).

Passing very swiftly through the bridge at Abingdon we were treated to this splendid view of St Helens Wharf.

Another beautiful house on the banks of the river.

We spotted a Kingfisher today – our first this year.  Unable to get a photo of the Kingfisher, we settled for this one of a Red Kite.

This is a common sight on the river around here – maybe someone in this ‘eight’ might be in a future Boat Race.

This new boat  house shows there’s certainly no shortage of money in college boat racing.

An ‘action shot’ of ‘Chance’ as we make swift progress down river.

Tonight ‘Autumn Myst’ and ‘Chance’ are moored at Goring having achieved a 7 hour stint, covering 30 miles of the River Thames.  We are all tired but happy and now tucked up snug in our respective ‘homes’ for the night.  Tomorrow we hope to make it to Reading and the start of our cruise along the Kennet and Avon Canal together.