Ahoy there. We've been on the canal for a good two days now, having arrived at our departure spot in Tamworth by 3 planes, a shuttle, and 24 hours of solid travel. An old guy called Rambo gave us a lengthy lesson on the workings of the barge, and we headed off, ballies on one barge and kids on the other.

The barge weighs about 12 tons, and is extremely long and even more skinny, hence the name 'narrowboat'. They don't go very fast, maybe a bit slower than you can walk, so we haven't been covering that much ground each day, but needless to say, it's pretty chilled. We started out in Tamworth, slept the night in Coton.. we cruised on past Lichfield yesterday, and slept in a forest last night. Today we stopped in a village called Spode, where they apparently make a very decent bone china. We are currently moored in a quaint little village called Rugeley, trying to get hold of some groceries. Luckily, it only gets dark around 10.30 in these parts, so the night is still young.

Runt is the captain of our boat, and has been driving, mostly. Luckily they are pretty indestructible, and don't really mind nudging a tree, bridge or another boat much.