Sunday 25th July

Today we said goodbye to the Thames for the time being. We had two locks to go through and stopped for lunch near Sonning. It was hot and oppressive and there was a kayaking race going on – not sure where they started but the finish was at Reading. I could hear a few of them moaning about how hot it was and how their arms hurt!! I now know the difference between a canoe and a kayak – thought they were the other way round before! Millie also found it very hot and couldn’t really decide where to sleep!! About 4pm we turned off the Thames at Reading and onto the Kennet and Avon Canal. We didn’t really know what to expect but the first part of Reading was very nice and the canal winds its way through Brewery Gut (not a spelling error!) where there are eateries on both sides – you can also see Debenhams and the House of Fraser as well as the Oracle Centre – though there is no stopping. In fact the Gut is one way with traffic lights operating the flow of boats! There is also a back water round Reading which we will look at next time we are passing. We shared the locks with another boat that really didn’t seem to know what they were doing. I asked the skipper if they were new to the canals but he said that no they weren’t – goodness knows what they have been doing before! We went on to Burghfield where we moored close to the Cunning Man – but no we didn’t go in!!