A Little Hot in Venice

After a very hot night, we awoke to another glorious day. We walked the dogs around the park in Hillingdon which they really enjoyed, and then back to the boat for breakfast. Given that the forecast was for a lot of sunshine and it was already hot at 08:30, we put up the top part of the hood to provide a bimini - sun roof.

Dogs enjoying a bit of shade

We set off, passing through some lovely countryside even though we were deep into west London by now. As we travelled further however, things were tending to get worse, and the amount of weed in the canal seemed to be building up. No fabulous houses today, but we did see a few interesting sights.

A green man on a wooden bridge

This heron was sitting in a tree panting

A large dog pulling a guy on a bike, shouting at people to get out of his way!

A swan in less salubrious surroundings than those on the Thames

The weed became more and more of an issue, and we had to stop repeatedly to dive down the weed hatch and extract bags, weed and bits of wire from the propeller. Apart from that, we had an uneventful journey including traversing the aqueduct over the North Circular.

We were actually moving faster than the southbound traffic below!

The watery dual carriageway over the North Circular

We decided to head into Little Venice and seek a mooring, and then see whether we could find anywhere to walk the dogs. So, we pushed on through the increasingly built-up area, with increasing numbers of moored boats, noting places we could return to if there were no suitable mooring/dog-friendly places to stop.

A popular bridge with the pigeons

Art made from rubbish - no shortage of artist materials around here!

As we entered the waterway heading down into Paddington Basin, a boat coming the other way informed us that there were no spaces left. We had no option to proceed, as there is nowhere to turn before the basin, so we pressed on anyway. In the event, we did manage to moor in a slightly suspect place, tied to a floating platform at one end. Angela and I jumped off with the dogs, but only found a small patch of grass - not much fun for the dogs really. So, in view of the lack of open space and the dodgy mooring, we decided to retrace our steps back to a spot near Portobello Road.

We squeezed past this wedding group who stopped in the narrowest place they could find!

We found a nice spot, opposite a block of flats, but next to a park. A quick walk confirmed this would be fine for the dogs and us. While walking the dogs, we met a delightful Irish lady who told us a bit about the area and where to find the best fish and chips. Dan and I went off to get fish and chips, and Georges Potrobello Fish Bar turned out to a find - a favourite of Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Jamie Oliver with tons of cuttings about the shop from Time Out magazine, covering the walls. We left with a large hot bag and stopped off on the way back to get a load of cold cans of beer.

A cute coot with a really big nest

Tonight's mooring

We enjoyed the delicious fish and chips, followed by ice cream, chocolate sauce and chocolate liqueur. We spent the rest of the evening drinking the beer and more jugs of Pimms before we were joined by Hassan, an asylum seeker from Iraq. We had a fascinating couple of hours in his company, and learned quite a lot, including the virtues of camel's milk which is apparently a great asset to men with many wives! We finally packed up an headed into the boat to find it filled with mosquitoes and ants. It looks as though we will have another hot night (its 27.6c inside as I write this at midnight), with the added bonus of a load of bites!