Ahoy!

Happy New Year...

Yes I know I never quite got around to publishing the second part of our Canada trip but to be quite honest, having said I'd keep this blog updated I'm really struggling to do so!

I find that all my blogging energies are now going into our sister blog 'Birding Afloat' and all our exploits in Canada can be found there anyway. Also the Brandon Marsh Report 2010, a place where I find myself spending endless hours, is also due out and I'm also privileged to be part of the compilation of this with responsibility for Amphibians and Reptile reports. So in a nutshell, at least for the time being, 'Narrowboat Quidditch' will be on hold.

Don't forget you can still follow us on 'Birding Afloat' and we look forward to seeing you there.

In addition you can also find us on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/boatbirder




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Canadream Week 1

Our RV Unit

Travelling around Canada in a Recreational Vehicle is something that we can highly recommend to anyone of any age and is something that we are already planning to do again next year. With an RV, you don't just get a vehicle - you get access to an entire lifestyle, which Dee and I can fully appreciate living aboard a traditional narrowboat as we do.

During our trip Dave, my long standing best mate, Dee and I completed just short of 1900Kms in 14 days and in 2 RV's, staying in some amazingly stunning places. Like the U.S, Canada is fully geared up for the RV way of life. There are campgrounds across Canada to suit everyone's taste. From large RV parks with every kind of luxury and amenity, to beautiful and remote wilderness camp sites, you can guess which ones we chose?



Colours of Fall

We began our trip at Calgary on September 17th with a planned route that would take us to Vancouver some 14 days later. Having picked up our RV on the Saturday afternoon our first stop was the local supermarket, where we fully stocked up our on board fridge and freezer, not forgetting the nearby Liquor Store!

After taking on provisions we made the relatively short journey, 50Kms to Ghost Lake, where we spent our first night in the wilderness. I say the wilderness as the campground had obviously closed for the winter and although the surrounding sights were wonderful there was no facilities on hand, having said that we enjoyed an excellent evening and were already getting into the swing of things.

Lake Louise

Our first full day on the road took us from Calgary to Banff where we were married last year, and having spent a few hours sightseeing and reminiscing we moved on in the early afternoon. A short while later we crossed from Alberta into British Columbia at the Atlantic/Pacific divide to our next overnight stop of Radium Springs. Here we stayed at Canyon RV Resort a really delightful place with very friendly staff and a cracking spot too, the local Creek running directly behind us where we had the pleasure of watching two American Dippers as they foraged for food.



Moraine Lake

 The following day we had a dip in the famous hot springs at Radium before moving off to our next stop of Golden. Golden, bracketed by Glacier National Park to the west and Yoho National Park to the east, is right in the heart of some of the most pristine wilderness to be found in the Canadian Rockies and during our drive down we came across our first Bald Eagle perched high in one of the many Pine's. Upon arrival we stayed at the fantastic Eco-Adventure Ranch, one of our favourite stops.

A walk around the ranch and down towards the Kicking Horse River produced some interesting birds including another Bald Eagle and Osprey. However, the most intriguing part of the walk was the discovery of Black Bear and Coyote pooh found near the river, the Bear Pooh a big black mound full of berries!

Moving on from Golden we passed once again back into Alberta and stopped at Canada Parks Lake Louise RV site for the following two days. Here we spent our time visiting the famous Lake where we spent our honeymoon last year, plus the nearby Emerald Lake and Moraine Lake, which we were unable to visit last year because of snow blocking the route. We also took Dave to see the amazing Spiral Tunnels which takes the Canadian Pacific trains up a steep gradient and a place both Dee and I passed through last year on the Rocky Mountaineer.

Bow Summit

The longest day of our tour was from Lake Louise to Jasper (aprox. 236Km) where we passed over the Columbian Ice Fields and out of Banff National Park and through into Jasper National Park at the Saskatchewan Crossing. During the journey we stopped at Bow Summit and took the short walk to the top, ending up around 7,000ft.

Bow Summit is the height of land between the Bow River system, flowing southeast to Banff, and the Mistaya River flowing northwest. The view was simply awesome and is of a glacial-fed and brilliantly turquoise Peyto Lake. We were also delighted to make contact with a large flock of around 100 Cedar Waxwing swirling from tree to tree and showing beautifully in the brilliant sunshine. A few snow flurries at the higher levels of the Ice Fields to hinder us but we arrived safely in Jasper just before sunset, stopping over at another Canada Parks RV site on the outskirts of Town.

A visit to the town of Jasper before setting off once more, this time turning southwest towards Valemount and re-entering British Columbia.

To be continued.....................

France - August

Chateau Glen, Ste Radegonde

We arrived at Poitiers (August 22nd)  in the pouring rain for 3-days with Dee's parents, this time arriving from Stansted, Ryanair having now inconveniently stopped flying from the nearby Birmingham Airport.

The flight across was an interesting one having at one time skirted the outer edge of what looked to be a pretty large thunderstorm. Only lasting a short time but the turbulence was probably the worst I've experienced on a short haul flight.

The good thing about visiting Chateau Glen is not just the outstanding cuisine that we have the pleasure of sampling but the conversation and wine that always seems to flow and last until the early hours. I won't mention the constant beating I seem to suffer every time I meet Graham on the pool table.

This year the early summer rain torrents experienced in the area wiped out the cherry crop, so bang went my pre dinner walk munching cherries through the orchard. Mind you I still had an excellent choice of other crops such as plum, sweetcorn, pumpkin, courgettes and not to mention several varieties of tomato. Susan and Graham have also left a good part of the garden wild and so I spent some considerable time investigating what Butterflies I could find and came up with some gems, like this Silver-washed Fritillary.

Dee's parents are always good enough to lend us their second car and so getting around the locality is made an awful lot easier. On the Monday we decided to take the drive out to La Pinail, a nearby nature reserve we'd discovered on our last visit. The weather forecast for the day wasn't looking too good with prolonged periods of rain and quite a strong wind but we had a lovely visit with lots of Butterflies, the odd Lizard and some good bird species, we even managed to stay dry. After Pinail we took a drive around the locality and stopped at La Roche-Posay for a coffee and lunch. On the return journey to the house we managed to spot a Stone-Curlew, quite a bird rarity and only a few miles from the house, plus an almost white Common Buzzard, something I've never seen before!

Tuesday we set off mid-morning to Parc naturel regional de la Brenne. The Brenne is a patchwork of fishponds, heaths and red sandstone outcrops. Looking very natural, it's landscape has however been transformed by man, as early as the Middle Ages. Today with more than 2000 man made lakes, traditionally used for farm-fishing, the Brenne is of international importance for it's rich wildlife. The area has many hides and natural trails all waiting to be explored and we spent the remainder of the day visiting the hides and lakes.

We also enjoyed a glass of wine and lunch overlooking Etang (man-made lake) de la Gabriere in lovely sunshine before returning in the early evening.

Our flight back to the UK was uneventful but before leaving France we stopped off at Intermarche, a large supermarket at Poitiers to purchase a bottle of Pineau, one of Dee's favourites, which will go nicely with the various preserves her mum and dad had kindly provided us with. In fact were enjoying some marmalade (lemon & Lime) right now with our morning toast as I write this entry, delicious.

Were Back!

Hi everyone and welcome to the re-designed 'Narrowboat Quidditch'. Yes were back blogging after quite an absence and after completing new templates for this and our sister blog 'Birding Afloat' were once again raring to go.

The canal at present is at it's busiest but we've managed to get out on numerous occasions and spent last night watching the Perseid Meteor Shower at our favourite mooring spot near Flecknoe, about a 90-minute cruise. You can check out the results by visiting 'Birding Afloat'. Dee has now settled into her new job at E-Global Drilling Corporation and has the title of  Procurement and Travel Administrator, very sophisticated indeed. Of course with the new job comes the inevitable new car and so tomorrow we become a family of two Peugeot's when Dee takes delivery of her new 207.

As for myself, as well as being a boat husband, I'm still into my conservation work at Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve and still spend several days a week on site. In fact the other members of the team are getting a little worried as I'll soon be taking over chain saw duties at the reserve, In order to qualify Ill be attending a five day course in October so hopefully that will abate thier fears.

Soon we will set off for a four day visit to France to visit Dee's mum and dad, and I'm personally looking forward to the fantastic cuisine over the period, shame the Cherry crop was ruined this year by the rains, I'll miss my pre dinner wander down the orchard. I also look forward to the birding and hopefully a bit of warmth as this month in the UK has been dreadful.

Looming fast is our trip to Canada at the back end of September, leaving from Heathrow for 2-weeks touring in a RV. The plan is to set off from Calgary, heading into the Rockies and from Banff, where we got married last year, the plan is to end up in Vancouver a fortnight later, taking in several National and Provincial Parks.

1st Anniversary

Well it's been a considerable time since our last post and I did say that if there was anything worth posting about we would. Our trip to Spain and Portugal recently went exceptionally well, considering that the day before we were due to fly to Faro the airport was closed due to the ash cloud, and even during our weeks stay in Spain UK airports were also disrupted, including a closure at Birmingham.

Having arrived at Faro on May 13th we picked up our hire car for the week and headed across the border into Spain, then on to our destination at Isla Canela, about an hour later. We were booked into the Riu Atlantico Hotel a nice 4* hotel located next to the beach in this very idyllic part of Spain. On arrival the weather was decidedly chilly and as we explored the locality on our first evening fleece's were worn, by the time we left a week later temperatures were in the high 20s.

The holiday itself was mainly to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary, yes it's been a year, but Dee and I managed to establish a happy medium with lots of birding and various sightseeing. For our birding exploits you can visit my birding blog linked here. On our first day we visited Donana National Park, a huge expanse of natural lagoons and forests, ideal for birding. On the Saturday we stayed local with a walk around the marina and then took a short drive to nearby Isla Christina, apparently Spain's busiest fishing port. The weather had begun to improve with the fair weather cloud dissipating to produce a cloudless sky, fortunately it stayed that way for the rest of the holiday.

Sunday 16th was our anniversary and we took a lovely, if not long and tiring walk near the town of Castro Marim, having driven back across the border into Portugal. The evening was spent back at the hotel and a lovely dinner to celebrate in the restaurant, followed by more drinks in the bar later.

Monday we made our own pilgrimage to what has be to one of the most amazing towns in Spain called El Rocio. The El Rocío pilgrimage is the most famous in the region, attracting nearly a million people from across Andalucia and the entire country, and beyond. Every Andalucian city, town and village has its own pilgrimages, for its patron saint, virgin or other much-loved local figure. But the El Rocio has cult status, and is the most important and most colourful.
The town of El Rocío is a sprawling, pretty Wild-West-style place (you tie your horse to a wooden rail with a sign saying "Reservado Caballos" - reserved for horses - while you have a drink or a meal), with sandy, unpaved roads (easier on the hooves). For a few days in late May or early June, Catholic hermandades (brotherhoods) and countless others flock from all over Andalucia, Spain, and beyond, to the town, to pay tribute to the Virgin del Roció, housed in her own church in the town (pictured above).

A 2-hour drive to Seville (pictured top right) for sightseeing on the Tuesday with temperatures in the low 30s. A provincial capital, seat of the government and parliament of the Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía (Regional Government). It has more than 700,000 inhabitants, nearly half the population of the whole province. The city is located on the plain of the Guadalquivir river which crosses the city from North to South and there are a large number of churches, cathedrals and religious buildings to be found in this historic city, well worth a visit.
So a fantastic weeks holiday with some excellent birding and cultural visits, plus no problems whatsoever with our flights, sometimes I think were just blessed.

Blog on hold?

Over dinner yesterday evening Dee and I had a quick conversation regarding our blog and the reasons why I hadn't updated it for a good while. Well to be honest I said, one of the main reasons was that the blog had originally been designed to keep our relatives and friends up to speed with our travels while moving around the waterways.

Although 'Quidditch' is our home we haven't had the opportunity to take her out for the past 2 summers, except for holidays and weekends, and so therefore there hasn't been much to report in that area. Trying to find material to blog about on everyday life issues such as work etc can be challenging, and boring too for our reader.

Currently I'm very heavily into my conservation work at Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve and Dee, who I'm proud to say has recently been head-hunted, is just about to start her new venture in the oil and diamond drilling industry, phew, that sounds impressive! Those who know me can see that all of my blogging time is now dedicated to my birding and conservation work, a blog which I call Birding Afloat and thoroughly enjoy producing and which surprisingly enough has many subscribers, including the RSPB and Wildfowl Trust.

So to the reader of this blog I can only apologise that the updates have been thin on the ground of late, but I can promise you that if anything of interest is worth blogging about, such as our next trip to Portugal and Spain and our tour of Canada in the autumn, I'll certainly let you know. This blog is not completely dead yet!

Another Year

So here we are, almost at the end of another year and due to other commitments, not the very least getting married, I suddenly realise we've had very little time out on the cut this year.

Our travels have taken us to France several times to visit Dee's parents, which also included a visit aboard Narrowboat-Hoddydod with our dear friends Pat & John, where we cruised the Canal De Bourgogne and the River Soane. We also visited Dee's dad in Spain where we had an excellent time and Dee had a fantastic trip to Lapland earlier this month. Our close friend Dave has now returned from Dubai and positioned back to the Hague in Holland and while Dee was visiting her gran in Aberdeen on a couple of occasions I took the opportunity to visit him twice, dragging him around all the good birding sites of Holland!!
However, the highlight of the year was getting married in Banff, Canada, a wonderful experience, especially our trip aboard The Rocky Mountaineer and a real thanks must go to everyone for their gifts and best wishes, especially my best man Dave who flew out for a week to join us.

As far as Quidditch is concerned she had her regular bi-yearly hull blacking in April at Welford but now over 5 years old I'm sad to say that her beautiful paintwork is now beginning to bloom and lose that well polished shine. Having said that she's still immaculate inside and this spring it's my intention to bring her back to life externally with a good pampering and try and restore some of her original beauty. She still remains our home and we wouldn't change that for the world, living on the water was the dream and still remains so!

We're now settled into our Christmas cottage, mum @ 90 this year can't really manage hoping on and off the boat, and with more plans to visit France, Portugal and Canada once more in 2010 it only remains to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

From Spain to France

Over the past couple of weeks Dee and I have had an excellent time visiting relatives in Spain and friends in France!
Firstly we spent a week in Spain with Dee's dad Gordon (pictured with Dee) and his wife Jane in Torrevieja, a 45 minute drive from Alicante. We flew out to Alicante with Monarch from Birmingham on September 13th, returning the following week.

It was a good job we didn't visit Spain for the weather as we were treated to some spectacular thunderstorms on most evenings but the temperature remained comfortable throughout our stay and at least one of us (me!) took the option of a swim in the pool during our stay!

Early in the week we visited Gordon and Jane's new flat, which is on the 17th floor of an apartment block right in the centre of Alicante. A beautiful outlook (Pictured top-left with a good view of the bull-ring) but not something that really appealed to me as I'm terrified of heights!!

Having hired a car for the week we were able to spend some time at La Mata Natural Park Nature Reserve on a couple of occasions, a full report available on my Birding Blog. Midweek we went bowling with Gordon, Jane, Miranda, Dee's sister and her boyfriend Carlos. Both Dee and I played appallingly, however we did get our own back on the pool table later in the evening.
On our final night we were treated to an outstanding meal at The Budepest, a fantastic Hungarian restaurant on the outskirts of Torreveija. Disappointingly for me, due to horrible man-flu which I'd picked up earlier in the week I couldn't taste a damn thing!!
Thank you to Gordon, Jane and Miranda for a fantastic week and for looking after us so well.

After a few days back aboard Quidditch in the UK we took the Eurostar from the new International Terminal at Ebbsfleet on the 20th and picked up with our dear friends Pat & John in Dijon, after a further 2 hour rail journey. (pictured below) J & P have been our boating friends for over 4 years and in 2006 transported their narrowboat across the channel to Calais and have cruised the French system each summer ever since.

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After joining we cruised from Dijon aboard Hoddydod (pictured left) along the Canal De Bourgogne through to St Jean De Losne where we joined the River Saone and headed north. Unlike Spain the weather was absolutely outstanding with cloudless skies and temperatures in the mid 20's, which meant we could BBQ on two occasions. It's amazing how different the French system is in relation to our own with the French canals and rivers still being used commercially, there also a lot wider and therefore so are the boats! Having said that we encountered more narrowboats on the system since our last visit 2 years ago but as ever the narrowboats always get the attention! Our journey ended when we put in at St Jean De Losne on Friday afternoon, which is also HoddyDods home port. Yet another excellent week on the French system!