A trip to Dundee

The boat was out of the water last week to have it’s bottom blacked at Debdale Marina in Leicestershire, so we spent a week visiting my sister in Dundee and were blessed with gorgeous weather. 

The highlight of the week was going with Samantha to Edinburgh Zoo. All the family had clubbed together for her special birthday in May so she could have a ‘zoo keeper for the day’ experience. We were able to tag along too and be her photographers, plus, we chatted to the keepers as well. I was rather interested in the reproductive cycle of the chimps as the zoo are taking part in a selective breeding programme to be able to reintroduce some of the rare sub species. Their latest baby, whose now 5 yeas old is one of these pure bred chimps. The keeper had to find out some of my more complicated obstetric questions!!!!! To aid the breeding program the females have contraceptive implants and the males have reversible vasectomies. 

My stomach did turn, watching the small penguins gulping down whole rather large fish.

 

Samantha’s highlight was feeding the juvenile rhinos. The 2 rare, Greater One Horned rhinos were 2 and 4 years old and are living there until they are old enough to be ‘married off’. They could be sent anywhere in the world for breeding. The keeper told us about the work being done with the local people in their native habitat to try to prevent poaching.

 

She ended the day by meeting a Souther Three-banded armadillo. We were able to look at this beauty close up. Her shell had a lovely pattern on it and when the keeper put her on the floor she was scratching around looking for grubs. I though she didn’t look real, almost like computer generated animal.

 

We strolled down from Samantha’s village to the River Tay via Balgarthno standing stones, which are now in the middle of a housing estate, but would have had commanding views over the Firth of Tay when it was built.

 

We met a chap who takes his macaw out with him, he doesn’t clip the birds wings. He’s pretty loud, but I just loved having him sit on my shoulder.

Dundee has a V&A Museum now, we saw it under construction last time we visited. It is a rather modern structure which represents a ship and the welcome leaflet describes the rather small exhibition space as a ‘living room for Dundee’!!!! It rather overshadows RRS Discovery in it’s dry dock. 

 

 

I was interested in the small textile exhibits.

 

There was an electronic arm blowing huge bubbles, which was rather relaxing to watch.

We had a wonderful walk along beach and also I visited Samantha’s friends that breeds the rare Cleaveland Bay horses.

 

 

Before we snuggled the boat up at Debdale Marina we spent a weekend at Union Wharf, Market Harborough. 

 

I think our youngest daughter has a secret business!!!!

 

The Arts Fresco event was on. We thought it was an art exhibition and were surprised when we attended, it was a much smaller version of the Edinburgh Festival, with street performers. 

HMS Punafore, a “butchered and blended” version of a Gilbert & Sullivan opera blended with modern nautical tunes.

The Allotmen, vegetable nannies relocated their baby fruit & vegetables and garden to the town centre and had the kids feeding them!!!

 

Gran Turismo, grannies riding their shopping trollies.

King Brasstards, New Orleans style band which covered an array of music genres.

 

Anyone For Tennis? Which had us in tears of laughter, a moble tennis court with umpire & Russian little known tennis star Chesti Coff. They recurited members of the crowd to be ball boys & a member of the roay family to present the award to the little lad dressed as 

Andy Murry.

B Boys were stilt walkers.

Hope and Joy, brought the Austerity Party to town with their up cycled clothes & fun games for all!!

 

Flux Dance youngsters performed a very moving story of a boy who could fly.

 

The Great Fiasco seaside theatre.

 

The Leicester Line

 

This time last year we did a similar route along this stretch, the Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal, when it was much busier. We were the only boat going up Watford Locks, whereas last year we were in a huge queue. 

We moored close to Watford Gap services on the M1 and strolled there for our tea one evening. It’s nice to watch the traffic going so very fast.

This time we ventured down the Welford Arm, a narrow almost ditch like stretch, which is a feeder from the reservoir to the mainline's long summit pound. Welford is the highest part on the GU. We moored on the visitor moorings before the basin. We had the BEST ploughman’s lunch we can ever remember at The Wharf Inn, before heading back down the arm to moor on the main line.

This part of Leicestershire is so very pretty, rolling countryside and very few villages, so stocking up with provisions is essential.

Several times we’ve been kept company by kingfishers, who seem to travel a long way with us.

 

The birds in the area seem very hungry and I’ve needed to keep the bird feeder well stocked. We had a nuthatch visit for a whole weekend, it didn’t actually live up to his name & just ate from the seed feeder!! Plus, along with the usual regular assortment of tits we had a green finch too.

 

  

We spent a couple of days on the Foxton visitor mooring, where our friends Maggie & Dick visited. Although we descended Foxton Locks mid week, there were still lots of gongoozlers and helpers to push the lock gates open. There’s an amazing view from the top of the locks. One evening we stood on the viewing platform overlooking the disused incline-plane watching the rabbits, bats as the sunset and then listening to the selection of owl calls.

We moored right outside the modern Foxton Locks Inn, on a 24 hour mooring, where the beer was £1 dearer than at the nice little locals pub, Bridge 61, on the other side of the canal. Easy to guess where we spent the evening and it looked so pretty at night.

 

A few photos of me at Brauston Marina, sitting spinnning with my drop spindle, outside their laundry waiting for the bedding to wash & dry.