After the last few weeks of hectic packing, clearing and travelling between Devon and Lancashire, we are finally under way on board 'Zindagi'. We may not have travelled far, but we ARE on the move!
We drove up on Monday 19th, down again on Wednesday 21st and then back up on Friday 23rd. Adam came up by train from Brighton on Saturday to collect the car, and Shireen joined him for the trip and an excuse to see our new home! When they drove off, we really knew that the adventure had begun – the umbilical cord of wheeled transport has gone.
A trip up the canal with Adam and Shireen on Sunday was mainly to turn the boat around, but it included a very nice pub lunch and an extra jaunt up into Blackburn, where we succeeded in getting stuck in the mud and spent a long while getting out. At least we did, AND turned round, and then moored up for the night just north of Wheelton.
Back into Classic Narrowboats on Monday for some last bits and pieces, then off on Tuesday 27th into 'unknown territory' – at least as far as we are concerned. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights in a lovely spot just north of Wigan, taking time on Wednesday to get a few more jobs done in the boat.
Today, Thursday 29th means 23 locks down through Wigan and out into the countryside again – a busy day!
We shall have to wait for some maintenance work to finish on the Barton Swing Aqueduct in Manchester on 31st, after which we head south via the Bridgewater, Trent and Mersey and Shropshire Union Canals to meet up with our friends David and Mary who will join us on the 4th April for a week travelling up the Llangollen Canal and back.
