July 13th

Normal 0 false false false st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} More Saturday July 11th - St Ives   We never got to see the St Ives carnival yesterday � in fact we didn�t even hear it!  I was expecting to hear the sound of drums and marching bands but it was very quiet indeed.  Clive got settled in front of the TV to watch the qualifying for the Grand Prix and I noticed a lot of activity across at The Dolphin � it looked like they were preparing for a wedding!   Sure enough, later on in the afternoon we saw people starting to gather on the lawn opposite all dressed in their best bib and tucker, then the bridesmaids arrived and they looked lovely in their beautiful red dresses and finally the bride and groom arrived.  They were all very lucky indeed weather-wise because the rain that was expected never materialised and it stayed sunny all afternoon.    We had a call from our daughter Vicki in the afternoon to say that she was going to come over to see us and bring her boyfriend � Ben.  I suggested that we all have dinner together and the consensus was Chinese!  We checked on the internet and discovered that there was one just over the bridge from where we were moored so decided that would be the best place.  However Clive was chatting to some fellow boaters who had moored up behind us and they said that we would be very lucky to get a table as it is extremely popular and gets very busy.  So we phoned them just after 6.00pm and they said if we could get there within ten minutes there was a table available!  Vicki and Ben had just arrived and therefore we set off straight away and soon arrived at the Cherry Garden on Bridge Street.  It was quite small inside and within a short time of our arrival it was absolutely full and buzzing.  We had a lovely evening, the food was great and the company was excellent � we were very pleased to finally meet Ben, he is very nice indeed and we all seemed to get on extremely well.   After dinner Vicki and Ben headed off back to Cambridge and we returned to the boat and settled down for the evening.  We decided to watch a DVD as we have now finally finished all seven series of 24!  The film we picked was an early Antonio Banderas movie called The 13th Warrior.  We were about half way through when the sound suddenly went and we couldn�t get it back, then the picture started to disintegrate � oh dear!  Clive was a bit non-plussed for a minute then realised that it was the power � we�d run out of battery basically and it was too late to put the engine on to recharge them � so we went to bed!  There was just one problem with that � the wedding party disco!  We could hear the booming base for quite some time but eventually we fell asleep!  I distinctly remember saying earlier what a lovely peaceful spot this was!  Ha ha � well it was really, once the disco had finished!   Sunday July 12th � St Ives   It had rained during the night, quite heavily, but by the time we woke up in the morning it had passed and once again it was cloudy with sunny intervals and quite warm.  Obviously we weren�t going anywhere today as the coverage of the Grand Prix was due to start soon after 12.   Clive got himself settled in front of the TV in good time and I busied myself playing Tetris on the laptop!   Once the Grand Prix was finished we decided to go on an expedition to Waitrose, which was at the other end of the high street, then back to the boat for a little more R and R before dinner.  After which we managed to watch the rest of the Antonio Banderas film!   Monday July 13th � St Ives to Godmanchester   We finally left St Ives this morning after breakfast.  It was very pleasant, a few clouds dotted around but otherwise it was warm and sunny.  I remembered to put my suntan lotion on before coming up deck, however I had a bit of a set-back as of course I had taken my glasses off to put lotion on my face and hadn�t put them back on again whilst spraying my arms and because I couldn�t see what I was doing I managed to spray factor 20 straight into my left eye!  Lovely!   We had a very enjoyable cruise, the scenery around this area is absolutely lovely � broad sweeping meadows and lots of weeping willows along the river banks, it was beautiful.  We passed through Hemingford Grey, Hemingford Abbots and Hartford and they were really lovely, lots of lovely thatched cottages and pretty gardens.  The silly thing is that our house is within a few short miles of all these lovely places and in the 17 years we have lived in it we were totally unaware of what was literally on our doorstep!   We arrived at Hemingford Lock and there was a boat already in it so we had to wait until they were through.  I went up for a chat whilst we were waiting for the lock to fill.  They said that they would wait for us at the next lock so that we could share water.  The locks on this stretch are a bit different from previous locks, they are sort of half lozenge shaped and therefore have plenty of room for more than one boat, especially if the others are cruisers.  There are an awful lot of cruisers on the river, we see far more of them than we do narrowboats.   We soon caught up with Little Owl, the small narrowboat we had met at the previous lock and they had waited for us in the lock as promised.  Unfortunately they had pulled over to the right side of the lock, which is the long straight side.  Clive couldn�t get into the lozenge shaped side so ended up just sort of floating around in the middle � not the best way to be really!  However both boats survived the lock filling and we said goodbye and headed off.  Little Owl was only going as far as Hartford Marina but we were continuing on to Godmanchester.    We soon approached Huntingdon and up ahead was the A14 bridge crossing the river.  We have travelled over this bridge and looked down at the river on so many occasions on our way to and from Cambridge, so it was funny going underneath it.  We also spotted a very familiar sight in the distance, the wind turbine at the Wood Green Animal Shelter, which is about ten minutes drive from our house!  We were soon cruising down towards Godmanchester and knew that there were some moorings on the right bank so we were keeping our eyes peeled.  However when we found them they were already full!  Not much further along, down a rather narrow channel, we approached the Godmanchester Lock and there was a boat in the lock just ready to come out.  Unfortunately Clive couldn�t pull in to the jetty to let me off the boat as there was a very small speed boat tied up in the middle of it � at first I assumed they were waiting to go into the lock but then I realised the lady was collecting her handbag, shopping bag and dog off the boat and her husband was just walking away � we yelled out to them that they couldn�t just leave the boat there as it was only for lock users!  They got everybody back on board, including the dog, then pulled away from the jetty so that we could pull in and I could jump off � some people just haven�t a clue!     Once we were in the lock I spotted the moorings which were just on the left of the lock.  It just meant going  through the lock then reversing back up the left channel and tying up.  Brilliant.  Its lovely here, very peaceful and pretty.  We are going to go and explore in a little while and see just exactly where we are in relation to the town centre.  We are hoping to meet some folkie friends of ours later, George and Karen, as they actually live here in Godmanchester.