Jolly boating weather

Don't know why but woke up around 5 this morning to discover that people are around at that hour and that the sun was shining. Needless to say, went back to sleep and got up at our normal time.

Croissant for breakfast.

An initial plan had been to spend a day in Oxford but with the sun shining as it was, we decided to spend the day sailing instead.

Jericho has certainly changed since we last passed this way. Gone are the run-down buildings.

Not your eyes going, the picture is blurry for some reason - still a good view from the canal.

But even more improvements are on the way.

The canal will certainly be transformed.

Through Isis lock and a helpful sign showing the way to the Thames.

And here we are leaving our first big lock on the Thames. Bit of a shock as it was self-service! The captain had to work out which buttons to push and in which order. Open sluice, open gate, close sluice, close gate - trot to other end of lock, open sluice, etc., etc. Meanwhile, I was on the boat holding both front and back ropes while the water drained out. All I had to do after that was to pick up the captain after she'd finished closing the gates.

After that a leisurely cruise past some of the Oxford boat houses.

A tempting riverside pub but not for us today. We have a timetable to keep to.

Time for a light lunch (about 4 o'clock) after clearing Abingdon lock.

We will stay here overnight and meet up with our friend Mary in the morning.

A look back at the lock and our mooring place. Lovely.