Brief encounters, but no shopping

Lazy start, hot day, stop with friends, encounter with some others – doesn't make for as many miles as intended, but it was a good day. We called in at The Taft, where Peter and Julie Thorn have NB Maid of Oak moored at the bottom of their garden, just along from the Freeman's Diesel Boat, near Wolseley Bridge. Peter was out, but we had coffee and cake with Julie.

We left to get down to Rugeley for some shopping, but found ourselves passing a boat with an Antipodean flag on the cratch. I called out to ask how many stars it had – you don't want to mix up the nationalities of our upside-down cousins. It was only as we got to the stern that my brain clicked into gear and I realised this was Chris and Sharon on NB Krystyna, whom we'd met on the River Avon three years ago. So we pulled over and walked back to say hello. Chris was busy varnishing the cratch board.

That was a good catch-up. We talked electrics and grandchildren and their future plans (as I think we did in 2013). They still spend half the year in the UK and our winter back in New Zealand.

By the time we got to Rugeley it was was time for an extremely late lunch, and while my best beloved was preparing that I got involved in following England's one-day cricket international against Pakistan. It was absolutely gripping, and that, coupled with my best beloved dropping off into a post-prandial snooze, meant we didn't even think about going shopping until after the Fruit & Veg shop had closed. We wandered up to Morrisons anyway, to dump some rubbish, but decided we'd simply go back and do the whole job in the morning.

Then it will be on to Fradley. I'd wondered how we'd make the journey to Fazeley last four days. As it happens, it's turning out just fine!