Enjoyed our final breakfast on the boat before packing our bags and returning to dry land for good. For the rest of the day we felt the phantom pain of motion, even when standing deadly still the urge to rock gently from side to side was powerful.
Rebecca and I drove back to Bristol to check in on the cat (and to cut our cat-sitting bills right down). The rest of the day was spent doing the classic 'recovering from our holiday' - a chance to recompress and return to the world of land lubbing.
We all set our alarms for an early rise in a bid to beat the sun. Sure enough though, it found us. We somehow managed to endure every hardship we could on this holiday. A heatwave, running around, getting stuck on the wrong side of the boat, shearing off our TV antenna. But we all did it as a unit, emerging stronger, but just a little more battered each time.
It's our last night on the boat, all the while temperatures continue to soar. I'm still shattered from all the work of the day so hopefully the rocking of the water will lull me off to my slumber.
You know in old American movies they show chain gangs all bashing rocks together on the highway. That was us today, in the unkind heat as we laboured through more locks than we would have liked. We also clocked onto the fact the boats topside is basically sheet metal, the perfect conductor for the heatwave so sitting inside was akin to bring in a greenhouse. We muscled through it though, in spite of swing bridges and no shade. Once we finally moored up we somehow stumbled into a really remarkable curry place that threw a big reversal in our once dour mood. Same again tomorrow, at least we know what's coming though.
Rebecca heckled me virtually first thing this morning for not leaping out of bed the literal second she did. Called me lazy, so I spent the rest of the day proving her wrong. Today I:
- Made her porridge (I didn't have any so it really was made specially for her).
- Finished reading the second half of my book.
- Did 30 locks back to back, in the full blast of the Summer heat.
- Undertook a pilgrimage to a supermarket to help carry some groceries back to the boat (Rebecca napped while we did this).
Spite, as it turns out, is a powerful motivator.
Exhaustion gripped me throughout yesterday, even as I tried my best to style it out. It was the first day of our family holiday out on the canal boat, the first step was a drive out to meet Mum, Dad and Louis who already had a couple of days out on the water. I just slept the whole car ride and once we arrived I made a bee-line to the nearest coffee shop. That made me feel slightly more human, but news that we were about to ascend the biggest flight of locks in Europe (30 back to back) sapped my strength. I put on a brave face though and helped out where I could. Once all was said and done though, I collapsed into bed and never wanted to wake up again.
I end today in a similar stupour, not because I'm tired but because I ate so much fish and chips that my body has entered a hibernation period. Unusual for Summer I know. I'll sleep it off though and we'll be back chugging along the river... Back on the return route now. An encore for the 30 locks.
Alongside an entire cohort of ex-co-workers, I played wingman today. We share a friend who had a potential new romantic partner come over from the States just to spend the 4th of July with her. It was a sweeping, romantic gesture that demanded the call to arms. Or maybe it was just a good excuse to get bladdered on a boat. Either way, I played my part in day drinking and getting friendly with a perfect stranger from the US. We gave a glowing character assessment back to our friend and kept a good thing going by boating all the way into town for more drinks and dancing. Walking home now and I've held hiccups the whole way home.
Halfway through my day of not working I got a text asking if I could jump in to help out on a project in Wales for a week. I ain't got much else going on so I said yes and now I'm starting to really look forward to it. The only other big job to do before then is sort out Rebecca's bookcase and we"re making even bigger strides now. I sanded down the boards so their ready to use, I got a ScrewFix basket full of all the other bits and bobs ready to collect after our holiday next week.
Lots to look forward to. A week of work, a boat holiday and some new shelves.
