Day 15

5 miles: 13 locks: 4 litres of Pimms remaining

We had a fairly leisurely start to the day, enjoying our last pancake breakfast on the boat. I did experience a little fire from getting a piece of kitchen towel too close to the hob. The moral of that is always take food to the plate when cooking with gas, never the other way around if it's flammable.

We carried on along the Kennet & Avon canal, travelling through Bedwyn and then arriving at Crofton. We were hoping to travel through the locks with help from another boat to make it easier, but we were all on our own. They all seemed to be travelling in the opposite direction!

It was lovely to travel along the part of canal that is local to us, it is pretty, and quite popular amongst walkers and cyclists. It gave us a different perspective about the area we live in. Charlotte dropped Hayley, her favourite toy, out of the hatch in the canal just before Crofton. It could have been a disaster because the bank was really overgrown so it wasn't good for mooring. Fortunately we were able to moor at a nearby lock. Matthew then went on a mission armed with a long pole. We watched using binoculars, poor Charlotte was rather upset, but Matthew rescued Hayley quite quickly and she was returned to Charlotte, dripping wet.

When we arrived at Crofton locks, it was lovely to see some of our friends and they all enjoyed helping with the locks and riding on the roof! It was a touching welcome home gathering and we really appreciate our sociable rest at Crofton Steam Engine, our first proper time off the boat. After a respite and Anthony and Charlotte had run around with their friends, we took our boat through a few more locks and moored it for the night at the top of Crofton locks. We decided to have dinner on the boat, it was easier than preparing a meal at home. I'm so glad we did, it took us three hours to pack the our belongings and get home. I never imagined it would take so long. However, it is good to be back home, our house felt like a mansion! Anthony and Charlotte both wanted to stay on the boat, and said they liked their beds but being on the boat was better. As you can imagine the washing mountain is massive, and there is lots to sort out but it has been worth it.

We haven't quite finished our journey, at the weekend we will stay another night on the boat and take it to our permanent moorings. This will be fun, there'll be no rush because it is in the Pewsey area, so it will be good just to appreciate our adventure boat.

So check back on Monday, to finish the rest of our first big journey on Little Abbey.