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Today's Canal : Llangollen

Only a short distance to go but, as we had a good boat clean to undertake, we were away by 10 am. By the time we arrived at the first of the two Swanley locks there was another boat waiting for the lock to fill with a boat already coming up.

When we were able to enter, a chap with a dog was taking a keen interest and asked Christine to explain. He said that he had never been on a canal boat but has a hire booked for later in the season. Of course, she did not need a second temptation and went into full teacher mode! He was suitably grateful for all of the  detail and seemed to be that bit more comfortable about his own experience to come.

After going down the second Swanley lock we had a five minute cruise to the entrance to Swanley Bridge Marina. We pulled onto the outside service wharf (they also have one inside the marina but this was easier for us to use as we also wanted to empty two elsan cassettes at the same time a filling up the fuel tank. Christine went to the office to pay our dues and discovered that we were allocated exactly the same pontoon as we were on before the start of this trip.

After lunch we set about cleaning, sorting and packing what needed to go back home (not as much as some times). We had a provisional plan to do a larder stock shop later afternoon but by the time we had finished the housekeeping, we lacked the energy to go into Nantwich! In the event this simply means that we will have more to bring up with us in two weeks time when we start off on the next trip. We also decided to add an extra day to our stay here so that we do not have to rush away on the day we travel up - Mike has an appointment in the morning and it will be quite late in the day before we would be ready to leave. However, this does mean that we could do an extra shop from Nantwich that evening if we find ourselves missing something! It happens . . .

All this meant that we were able to get away on the journey back home by 11 am, not too rushed. The traffic was not as busy as we had expected at this time of year. Just after leaving the marina we found ourselves, following the SatNat instructions not on our usual route around Nantwich and Shavington. Initially we thought that we must have made a mistake and we had an 'interesting' excursion around  the outskirts of Crewe. At the end of this diversion we spotted that the road we would normally have been on was closed for road works.

We tried a new stopover to recharge the car (might not have been strictly necessary but if we have the time we now feel the benefit of taking a break) We had found a good charging station (12 outlets) at a Pick Your Own and destination farm close to the A417 and A46 intersection. The charging was fine but the cafe facilities were a bit overwhelmed - they had had a large coach party. The toilet facilities were not great. However, we enjoyed a latte in the sunshine. We were home mid afternoon.

Miles - 2 Locks