The sun woke us up beaming through the porthole at 6.00am, so as we were awake we got up and set off at 7.30am. It was a lovely day and we made our way through the first few locks.
We got to Reading at 10.30am and some of the wino's were still asleep at the lock before the town centre.
It was still quiet as we crept through the town.
It was quite sad to leave the K & A as we have had a lovely time on it and will be back for sure.
We turned left on the Thames and pulled up outside Tesco's and topped up with loads of goodies. yum!
We then moved up to Better Boating marina and filled with diesel, at £1.01 a litre, and also got a gas bottle.
We needed water as we emptied the tank doing some washing on the way to Reading, so we made our way through Sonning and on to Shiplake lock where they have good facilities for water and pumpout.
It was here we found out that the regatta was taking place at Henley. With this not being our thing we turned round and returned to a nice mooring, by the Black Swan (not the pub) we had spotted on the way up.
We had to stick Derwent6 in the bank and tie up to the trees, but what the heck it's free.
Al put a couple of pizza's in the oven and we sat in the cratch in the evening sunshine watching the rower's, canoes and boats go by. That's what we love about the Thames, there's so much going on.
They went to an Italian in Broadstairs and soon polished off a couple of bottles of wine. Late evening Al made here way to her Mum and Dad's and stayed there for the night. Del changed the engine oil and then spent the best part of the day watching tennis....lazy sod!!!!
The weather was just the best it could have been, with temperatures in the 30's. 
There were all sorts of planes, boats and wheels in the world of miniature. 
Even the Daleks turned up. 
We all got a bit burnt though... Del got back to Derwent6 at 9.00pm. We have been joined by n.b Festina Lente and ended up chatting with Rita and Scooby till it got dark... We never got a early night, but we might need a lay in the morning...
We got the train to Paddington station and then had a walk to Hyde Park Corner. As we turned the corner we could see the stage of the Hard Rock Calling festival and Bon Jovi were headlining it. We managed to be 23rd in the queue as we picked up our fan club golden circle tickets. We then headed off to get breakfast in McDonalds before getting back in line to go in. Yep we were right on the barrier but it meant standing in one place for eight hours. 
It all started at 2.00pm and we watched four other bands before the Big one. Bon Jovi came on at 7.00pm and played through the sunset for three hours ten minutes, till 10.15pm. 
Were they good? don't ask silly questions!!! they were brilliant. The atmosphere was as brilliant and the band didn't want to leave the stage and the crowd wouldn't let them..
We then dodged the army of people leaving the arena and made our way back to Paddington with a portion of chips on the way. We got back to Reading and then found out that engineering works meant we had to get a cab back to Derwent6 (courtesy of first great western). We got home at 2.00am in the morning, shattered!!!
We then went back to the wake and like every funeral you see all your old friends. It's a shame you all meet upon occasions like this, but we planned to make amends, and all agreed to meet up in the future. We got the train back to Derwent6 at 6.00pm and arrived home at 7.15pm exhausted from the day........ memories live on.........R.I.P Spider
Aldermaston Lift bridge was going to be out of action for three days and we didn't want to be hanging around for that length of time. We knew that you can't use the bridge between the hours of eight and nine because of rush hour and we had to be through before the Berkshire council workmen turned up (probably midday then) but we got there for seven and the bridge was working ok so we made it with a sigh of relief. 
We took it easy after that and got to Tyle Mill to fill with water and sort ourselves out a bit. 
Del jumped on the bike and took a ride down to Theale to see if there were any moorings, and there were loads. We got through the last lock and swingbridge before we moored up. 
We had some brunch before we had a little walk into town. It took about fifteen minutes and we were surprised how many shops it had and also a few pubs. 
We got back to Derwent6 just before it started to rain. Al then got a call saying her mum had been taken into hospital feeling dizzy and unwell. So Al was on the train like a shot to see her. When she arrived she had been discharged after loads of tests. Al stayed with her Mum and Dad overnight to make sure they were ok.
It is now a two mile area where cows sheep and horses roam and where people can bike, walk, run and take their dogs out. You can still see the runways and also the nuclear bomb bunkers, along with the peace camp memorial.
Even the control tower still remains. 
He got back to Derwent6 at around 12.30pm and Al had a nice roast Chicken waiting when he got back. We watched a film in the afternoon and sat in the cratch in the evening. It was a good job we did, because as a boat went past us late (around 8.00pm) we shouted where are they heading for tonight. "Oh we're trying to get through Aldermaston lift bridge, as there is going to be a stoppage tomorrow for three days". Blimey we never got an e-mail from BW about that one, and no wonder it has been so busy round here today. Sure enough they were right, so plan B went into operation and by the looks of it an early night!!!!
The barometer showed it wasn't going to last for long so we pulled the pins at 8.30am and headed down the three locks to Woolhampton. 
We were lucky enough to get a mooring on the 48 hours next to the pub. We had heard that a couple of steam trains were coming through in twenty minutes so we quickly rushed down to the level crossing and managed to get this photo of the Bristolian. 
We then walked into the village and picked up a paper and sneaked a few cakes back to Derwent6. The heavens then opened as we had lunch with the papers.
Later in the afternoon the rain stopped and we went for a walk to see if we could see the steam train coming back. Well it was twenty minutes early and we missed it. All we could get was this half train half Al shot (this time of the Oliver Cromwell). 
We carried on our walk and did a bit of geocaching in the process. This made us thirsty, so we had a quick pint in the pub before we got back to Derwent6.
There were patches of blue sky on the horizon so we went for a walk to investigate the area. We first went to Thatcham nature park where we watched the birds on the lakes. 
We then made our way into the town centre. It has everything you need here but we were amazed at the three Co-Op's, why three!!
We got back to Derwent6 for lunchtime. The showers just got heavier in the afternoon which turned into storms and the river here was starting to flow with a stronger current. Great news!
When it all passed over we walked down to the Swan pub and found a nice spot on the sofa and had a few beers. It was a lovely evening!!! 
We walked back to Derwent6 at 10.30pm.