We set out from Heyford on another blazing sunny day. It is wonderful finally knowing what Bella is like in the warm. Elizabeth was back on deck for much of the time, each of us sharing locks as ever. We had a wonderful encounter at Shipton Weir Lock. Elizabeth was lock side and went to help a single hander in a cruiser named Sally. Elizabeth looked at the boat, the brain cells started buzzing and she asked, "Do you moor up on an arm off the Napton Flight?" Answer, yes. "Do you Flickr?" Yes. "Ah - there's Pete!!" It turns out that this was Sally and Dick Penn, a Flickr friend of Pete's, who have been chatting and sharing photographs for years. They had a great chat and we counted this as another meeting of the Oxford Canal Flickr Group. Dick was bringing Sally back from a traumatic visit to Reading where she had been vandalised. Much work later, Dick was only just getting used to the new engine.
We pulled into Thrupp easily finding a space - which boaters coming up had told us might not be possible. Indeed, we found a space immediately next to Morning Mist, Kate's boat, the 10 year relationship we had come to celebrate! She greeted us, took a line to help us moor in, then spotted the beautiful winged creature on our cratch cover. Here it is - our welcome to Thrupp butterfly.
That night we joined with many other boaters and non-boaters at The Boat pub where we all enjoyed a fab pig roast and party. What a great arrival!
