It was a very blustery day and the wind played havoc with the boat. We moored once during the day at Wolverton for shopping and a search for a laundrette. It was a challenge to get the boat to the side of the canal and then to hold onto it whilst tying it up. When we moored for the evening at Milton Keynes we were helped by our boat neighbours to drag the boat in by catching the ropes I threw to them. Thankfully, it didn’t rain all day and it wasn’t cold.
We slept in until eight o’clock probably due to the overcast weather. Before we set off we filled up with water at Cosgrove and went straight into our first and only lock for the day. The canal then quickly took us onto the Ouse Aquaduct over the River Ouse which was ten metres below. The boat travels in an iron trough with a small lip at the side. Further along we went on another aquaduct over Grafton St at New Bradwell.
At Wolverton we wallked the length of the town in search of a laundrette to no avail. Some of the people we asked didn’t even seem to know what a laundrette was. Have they not watched Pat in “Eastenders”? We gave up on or quest and bought English lamb chops for dinner from the Tesco which is opened twenty-four hours a day.
We had yummy prawn sandwiches for lunch and had a break before we moved on. We had a strong internet connection so Henk booked three rail tickets from Rugby to London for Henk, Brian and me after we return the boat. By booking ahead we have saved a hundred pounds between the three of us.
Henk struggled with the wind for another hour and a half until we reached Milton Keynes. We set out for our quest for a laundrette again. We walked for two kilometres through a long park straight to the biggest shopping centre we have ever seen. It is known as Central, MK and markets itself as the centre for serious shoppers. It was upmarket and everyone was dressed well. We walked into it with our large bag of washing and realised in an instant this was not the place to find a laundrette. We eventually found “Discover Milton Keynes” information centre and the helpful assistants found a place to do our washing further along the canal. We will visit this first up tomorrow morning.
The forecast for the rest of the week seems to be more strong winds with very little rain. It looks like the winds will be easing by Friday for a good weekend.
Photos: Canadian geese at Cosgrove; Henk taking the boat over the Ouse Aquaduct; Wolverton with not a laundrette in sight; A Virgin fast train speeding on top of us! (This is for you, Bill.)
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