Sept 1st 2010 -TWO YEARS TODAY!!

Yes its hard to believe but two years ago today we embarked on our adventure aboard NB Lady Arwen! We had let our house and put all our worldly goods in a storage facility and moved on board the night before and then, with a great send-off from our very good friends Barry and Shirley Collings, we left Whilton Marina on our maiden voyage! 

Our first destination was Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, the place where we were both born and bred and where both our children, Vicki and Gareth, were born.  It normally used to take us just short of two and a half hours up the A1 and M62 to get there, on Lady Arwen it took us 26 days!  It was very exciting for us both getting used to handling the boat and doing the locks and also swapping life in a large four bedroomed house for a 57' x 6'10" narrowboat!!  I think the biggest shock to the system was downscaling from a King size bed to a four foot double!!!  Cosy to say the least!

After a couple of weeks in Huddersfield moored at Aspley Marina, during which time we had a multi-fuel stove fitted, we headed off once again.  Since then we have been as far North as Hebden Bridge, West as far as Bath, South as far as London and East as far as Burwell in Suffolk.  We've had a really wonderful time and met some great people on our travels.

When we initially planned this adventure it was going to be for two years however now that two years is up we have no intention of giving up this wonderful life, certainly not in the foreseeable future, so we have arranged for new tenants to move into our house when the current ones leave in mid September.  We are going to have a bit of a break though.  Having spent two very harsh winters on board Clive has decided its time to fly South for the winter!  So, all being well, we are intending to fly out to New Zealand at the end of November for three to six months!  We have been to NZ twice before but only for a maximum of three weeks, which is not enough time to see New Zealand at all.  So we will be spending Christmas with our good friends Lindsey Britton and her sister Philippa and then hopefully heading off in their ancient camper van, which must be 20 years old if its a day!  However they have assured us that it is still going strong and doesn't look bad either.  We should adapt quite easily having lived on board Lady Arwen for so long - mind you it will be a tad shorter!!!

The question we have been asking ourselves is whether to continue with a blog whilst we are there.  Some of our avid readers have insisted that we keep it up and post photographs and locations as we have been doing.  So we will probably do so, however it will depend on internet connection etc. 

We will continue to fill you in from time to time in the interim period on this blog.  As of now we are still moored at Clayhithe (Waterbeach) in Cambridgeshire.  We have had the use of Clive's classic Triumph TR6 this week so have been out and about a bit.  This afternoon we are paying a visit to our house with our letting agents to have a look around and see what work if any needs to be done prior to the new tenants moving it.  It will be very strange indeed to be in the house, especially with other people's belongings in it!  We are also hoping to catch up with some of our neighbours especially Carol and David across the road as we have heard that they have sold their house and are moving away! 

Next week we will have the use of Vicki and Ben's car as they are going to Malta for a weeks holiday.  Clive is taking them to the airport very, very early on Saturday morning!  We need their car in order to go to their house daily to feed the cat and give her a bit of attention whilst they are away.  The problem with having a car at our disposal is having somewhere to put it!  Where we are now at Clayhithe is ideal because there is a little car park for the dog-walkers down a little track from the boat but in actual fact these are supposed to be 48 hour moorings - we have been here since Sunday!!  We know of another place where we can moor the boat and actually park the car right next to the moorings but it is working out the logistics of getting the boat to the moorings then somehow getting back to the car and driving that to the boat!!  We're hoping somebody can give us a lift!

Our son Gareth has moved up to Huddersfield  (he left there 25 years ago when he was 5!) to start a new job and a new life.  He is currently staying with his grandparents (Clive's mum and dad) but is hoping to find a place of his own in the not too distant future.  Our daughter Vicki and her partner Ben are settling in nicely in their new home and are very happy so at the moment we are feeling very content and happy ourselves.

In case you wonder how Clive and I manage to stay civil to each other living in such close confines, we don't know either!  However we are very good friends and share many of the same interests, which is lucky.  We both absolutely love this life afloat and have no regrets whatsoever about taking the huge step that we took back in 2008.  We will be celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary in a few weeks time so we must be doing something right!

So thats all for now folks, will bring you another update soon.