Day 9 - Pangbourne to Benson - Back Where we Started

We woke up extra early today and headed right into the first lock, just minutes from our mooring spot. Since it was before 9 am, there was no lockmaster, so I did the honors!

Then we were on our way! We headed to Goring, where we'd spent a night in a hotel earlier in the week. As we docked our boat, we ran into the family we'd met and had drinks with in Henley. We said our hellos and headed into the town. This time we were all more relaxed and spent some time exploring the different stores. We also stopped for coffees. Then David and Barbara bought tote bags at the Goring Grocer.

Interesting scenery along the way (above and below)

Another lock (above and below)

A map of the general area

Soon after, we were back on the boat heading to Wallingford, where we'd shopped for provisions in the supermarket just last Saturday. We decided to eat lunch on the boat since we still had lots of food left.

In Wallingford, we started down a footpath which took us to the middle of town. David headed off to the train museum and Barbara and I went to see the Castle Gardens and the Castle Ruins. The gardens were the old gardens that had been outside the old Castle in Wallingford. It was a very pretty and hilly place and there were several young mothers playing there with their toddlers. The Castle ruins was just a small part of a wall.

These are part of the Castle Gardens.  There were little kids rolling down that hill!

The little bit of wall is all that's left of the Castle.  Where I took the picture was looking down to where the moat once was.

                                               

Then we headed out to the Wallingford Museum. There we learned about the British civil war and what the Castle once looked like. Wallingford was also the home of Agatha Christie, so there was an exhibition about her. There was also a cartoon exhibit. After the museum, we went in and out of shops buying souvenirs. We ran into David in our travels and stopped for sodas. Finally we headed back to the boat and to Benson.

David visited the train museum.

We were fascinated by fascinators!

Is that the Queen up there?

We passed by the spot where the old boat "died".

As we pulled into the Benson lock, there was Carlos, who'd given us our instructions on the first day of our trip on the other boat. He greeted us like an old friend! He hitched a ride with us from the lock to the marina, where he challenged David to dock in a tight space (which he did). Then we spoke to the manager about what had happened with the other boat. Carlos showed us our old boat and told us that the entire engine had broken and they had to do massive repairs.

Waiting to enter the Benson lock - our last of this journey!

The weir alongside the lock

David and Carlos

The dead engine of our old boat

We hung out on the boat for a while and then went out to dinner at The Three Horseshoes, a five minute walk away. We had a very nice dinner there, and after dinner, Barbara and I struck up a conversation with two couples at the next table. Then, we spent the rest of the evening packing up to go home!

Our last dinner!

David had a "proper pie", which was a beef and kidney pot pie.

Barbara with the two couples we chatted with