Our boat, called 'Wind over Willow' (or WoW for short), is a 32 ft Linsen - a Dutch built river boat that is neither a barge, nor a canal boat, nor a plastic white motorboat. We think she's rather attractive - photo below.
Having had the boat for 2 years now, we have obviously covered the full stretch of the Thames, going as far upstream as possible (more or less outside Oxford) all the way through London and to the mouth of the River. Although we have already covered the same ground many many times, it never gets boring - the River is always different and constantly moving, with all the wildlife changing as the seasons progress.
On this trip, it being summer, the River was in full bloom. Ducks, geese and swans of various varieties everywhere, not to mention countless other birds - coots, herons, kites to name but a few. Most ducklings and goslings were, by now, mostly fully grown, although we did see several new hatchlings - very cute as ever.
We didn't go far on this trip, leaving Reading at the weekend and spending 3 days getting as far as Wallingford, before returning. Life on the River is very slow, but in a good way - to drive the same distance would probably take no more than 40 minutes, however when you consider locks, queues, frequent coffee and lunch stops and the fact that we are limited to more or less walking speed, going any distance each day is virtually impossible (and in fact undesirable). So we spent a very relaxing week - slow breakfast, little potter up the River, stop on the riverbank for lunch, another little motor, then around 4 PM start to look for a suitable riverbank to stop for the night. This was not always as easy as it sounds, as often certain stretches of the River are either private or do not allow overnight mooring for whatever reason. Therefore, the places that are available (and are free) are often taken by someone else, especially later on in the day. However, it was never a problem, and we always found somewhere in the end, with a bit of planning.
Other than pootling around, we didn't do a great deal. Spent a fair amount of time reading, which made a welcome change. We managed to have a couple of barbecues, but the rest of the time we eat on the boat using our galley area. The weather was mixed. Unfortunately, or possibly fortunately for those who don't like the heat, the heatwave of 2013 had well and truly ended by the time we left. That being said, it was never cold. It was overcast some of the time, but rained only on one or two occasions - the rest of the time was patchy cloud and hot sun. Actually, the worst evening in terms of being uncomfortable was on the 2nd day, when it had been raining constantly all afternoon so we were confined down-below. Clearly we didn't want the rain coming in so had the hatches shut, meaning the temperature and humidity inside was not pleasant. Fortunately, however, it didn't last…
My birthday itself was, as with the rest of the week, relaxing. We had found a restaurant called The Beetle and Wedge - a 'beetle' being a small hammer often used to knock 'wedges' in - which allowed boats to moor outside, if they were eating there. We had a very good meal, and it was very pleasant.
So… Not a particularly adventurous or exciting holiday by some people's standards, however it was very relaxing and certainly made a change from the busyness of Reading.
