Must have been going uphill until yesterday as all 18 locks we went through today were downhill. It’s really easy compared to going upwards. We went through a couple of towns - St Quinton & Chauny but most of the day was through forest & countryside. Still seeing a couple of cormorants, loads of herons, kingfishers and swifts darting around the boat. I even saw the first lizard but didn’t get a picture - even at 4kts if the camera’s not ready your past too quick. Most points for the day was for spotting a beaver - and I did get a picture, although everyone will say it’s a rat as you can’t see it’s flat tail - but it did have one. It started to swim out to cross the canal, but realised half way across it wasn’t going to be quick enough to get past us and turned back.
We would have been finished by 1800 but for getting stuck in a shallow bit while looking for somewhere to tie the boat to. Luckily after shifting all the water containers and waiting for another boat to come past to makes some waves, we just managed to reverse off, but the engine took a real hammering. Now moored just outside the first lock gates on the canal de L’Oise a’ L’Aisne which we’ll be joining tomorrow - if we don’t get crushed by a barge as it’s really narrow and your not supposed to park here.
