We were all ready to go. James was a few hours ahead of us all with the time difference from Kenya and Pete and Elizabeth were ready to leave Paddington. James, of course, was camera ready and took some early shots – james gray king on Flickr if you want to see incredible stuff.
With the engine on at 7:30, we pulled away at 7:50 and went all the way into the basin to turn around. We dropped James off at the entry to the station at 8:20 to get a phone card while we moored up in Little Venice to take on water, put off waste and get breakfast from the Waterside. He joined us again (a quick walk!) and we pulled away, eating our bacon and egg butties, just before 10. We went west on the Paddington Arm, gliding over the North Circular Road near Wembly and moored up at Willowbrook for fuel. A little while later we turned north on the main Grand Union canal to stop at Hayes and Harlington. Elizabeth and James went to put James on a train (faster then a Kenyan matatuk, says James) for Oxford. We finished up in Cowley Peachy again, all very familiar now. (and MUCH quieter than Paddington!).
