October 3rd. To Paddington Basin!

12 miles lock free boating to the very end of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union today, after a quiet night at our parkside mooring. It was another dry day which warmed up in the afternoon. The first few miles were accompanied by green parrots squawking and swooping across the canal. There was a lot of them and they made an exotic addition to what is a rather boring bit of canal. Then it started to feel more like London with the appearance of red busses and lots of canal side developments.



Nowhere to go for this cat!





We crossed the North Circular by aqueduct, a very surreal experience.

Going over the North Circular Road.

A heron sits at the entrance to the aqueduct over the North Circular Road.

 As we approached Little Venice, the numbers of boats and people (and both in the form of paddleboarders) increased and some were strange....



Paddleboarders everywhere as we near Little Venice


We stopped briefly to empty the bin and the loo but there was nowhere to moor, however we did get a photo of Harold at little Venice!

 

We turned right down to the end of the Paddington Arm, past the station and to the basin itself where we found a free 7 day mooring. Turning round in the basin was an adventure itself as we nearly rammed a canoe with 2 blokes in taking photos of 2 scantily dressed women paddleboarding and not looking for oncoming narrow boats! The mooring is very dramatic, we are surrounded by high-rise glass buildings which definitely makes a change from hedgerows and trees. Robin took Scooby for a walk and found a park right next to Paddington Green Police station (Scooby had better behave himself).  Strictly and the Rugby tonight so we will be well entertained in our posh new (albeit temporary) home and maybe we will be able to catch up with London friends.