I was awake at the crack of dawn, not helped by cramp in my foot which made me hop out of bed quickly to relieve it. It was already light and the birds were chirping. Then I started fretting that I only had 0.3GB of data to last 6 days and before I knew it, I was definitely awake. It was 5.30. I lay in bed and read for a while, then got up and crocheted a butterfly, then made tea for us both, telling Chris it was nearly 8.00 Rome time (ie 6.45!).
Anyway, by 8.30 Chris had topped up the engine and were ready to explore Willen Lake.
The public art here has an alternative religious theme, starting with the Peace Pagoda, the first of its kind in the Western hemisphere and built in 1980 by the monks and nuns of the Nipponzan Myohoji, a spiritual movement. It enshrines sacred relics of Lord Buddha presented from Nepal, Sri Lanka and Berlin and the frieze tells the story of Buddha – here he is The first of its kind in the Western hemisphere and built in 1980 by the monks and nuns of the Nipponzan Myohoji, a spiritual movement. It enshrines sacred relics of Lord Buddha presented from Nepal, Sri Lanka and Berlin and the frieze tells the story of Buddha.
The Medicine Wheel was designed by Roy Littlesun in 2000 and consists of two concentric circles of stone inspired by the legends of the Hopi Nation in North America whose prophesies foretell an age of peace when all nations live in peace and harmony. The design pays homage to British traditions of building circles alongside meeting places and important sites. Two extra pairs of stone situated north east and south west of the circle align with the needle stone alongside the lake and join the ‘Midsummer Line’, which follows the Midsummer sunrise that runs through the Tree Cathedral to the Belvedere in Campbell Park, along Midsummer Boulevard in Central Milton Keynes.
The Willen Labyrinth is a turf maze based on an enlarged version of the Saffron Walden Rosicrucian Maze with an oak tree at its centre and bronze faces in its lobes like this one and was laid out in 1988.
Finally we followed the edge of the lake, past the waterskiing winch and a series of paths and underpasses in search of the Tree Cathedral. We could have picked up a couple of scooters on the way, but unfortunately didn’t have helmets to hand.
The Tree Cathedral initially just looked like a glade of trees and as we entered a couple of bunnies ran across the grass with their pale fluffy tails catching the light. Inside there were aisles of trees forming an arched roof which apparently depicts Norwich Cathedral, peaceful, and certainly different.
Returning to Daisy, we made a start, and saw several more of the Gyosei art works from the canal – a life size steel Shire Horse whose steady toil propelled the barges of yesteryear along the towpaths …
… Three Post Bench illustrating wildlife of the canal such as coarse fish, and water birds but also smaller inhabitants such as water beetles, snails, insect larvae, floral algae and amoebae …
… and finally a beautiful white barn owl in glass mosaic swooping to capture its prey.
We then chugged slowly through Great Linford Park and Stanton Low Park which we hope to see more of on our return, and on to the New Bradwell Aquaduct, which carries the canal over Grafton Street. I’d read it was possible to get off the boat, nip down the towpath and over a parallel footbridge to take a photo of our narrowboat crossing the aqueduct … and it is possible!
Chris was so excited by starring in the photo, his steering briefly went a bit to pot!
Coming into Wolverton there were a few more urban views …
… including a mural alongside the station …
… and several boats moored up beside a wharf development of new houses beside a footbridge which conveniently leads to a good size Tesco, no doubt stocking up on groceries.
Not much further and we arrived at Ouse Valley Park and moored up just before the aquaduct. We’d had a couple of short bursts of rain on our way, but now the sky was getting very dark, and I think we arrived just in time.
After lunch, the sky soon cleared and the sun came out and we went for a walk. Steps took us down beside the Iron Trunk Aqueduct which dates to 1811 and is the oldest broad canal iron trough aqueduct. It was the 4th attempt by the Grand Junction Canal Company to cross the River Great Ouse as earlier attempts collapsed. A horse tunnel leads underneath … so we walked through to get a view from both sides …
We then headed round the park, taking in the river floodplain filled with flowers …
… and grazing ponies …
… until we reached the brick-built Wolverton Viaduct, constructed by Robert Stephenson in 1838, carrying the railway from Euston northwards …
… before looping back as the sky became grey once more and we were back to Daisy for a cuppa and cake before the rain.
We wanted to take a turn round Cosgrove, just a mile away, billed as a typical canal village, but also wanted to make a good start next day, so once the rain stopped we took a chance and set out. This time we weren’t so lucky, so most of our walk was in the drizzle, down to the lock, a snap of the Ornamental Bridge, through another horse tunnel and back, but I’m not sure it would have been much more exciting on a lovely.
We were pleased to get back, dry out and sit in the warm with stew and red wine for supper.
The Belvedere rises in the centre and offers views across Bedfordshire and there is a wild flower meadow in the middle which is apparently grazed by sheep in the summer! The original vision was that the park would also be the cultural centre of the city and there are a number of works of art and sculptures throughout, the most prominent being the Light Pyramid which replaced the original basket beacon which was destroyed by lightening. It is made of steel and painted white and was first lit for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on 4th June 2012 and is still lit to commemorate special local and national events.
Even this was easier said than done as drawing the boat in to the bank at the right angle to end up alongside in one go looks like it will take a little practice! I went with the chap from the other boat to look at the lock and figure out what we needed to do and we quickly established we weren’t too confident at all! A couple of other boats had moored up behind us and Jim came forward to rescue the situation. He had also hired his boat from Wyvern, but had done this before and got us organised as to who should do what when and I even managed to take a few pictures along the way …
The only time I’ve worn a fleece this trip, was on the air conditioned ferry, so this time we opted for economy instead, not realising that this meant sitting outside at the back!
It would have been fine, but Chris was sitting right by the engine exhaust so ended up standing at the back, and while the spray wasn’t noticeable, we arrived almost caked in salt, so took a shower as soon as we arrived at ABC Hotel.
The ceiling is painted with scenes showing the arrival of Magellan and the planting of the cross …
We had a pretty good idea what it looked like up close as there were images all over the city in the run up to Sinulog, the festival honouring Santo Nino and there were still decorations remaining from the festivities last weekend.
It was quite a long journey to get here … a ferry from Siquijor, via Bohol to Cebu, then a taxi to Danao where we stayed the night …
The islands are named for the camotes or sweet potatoes which thrive on the rocky topsoil here. We arrived on Pacijan, the largest of the four islands and are staying at Santiago Bay Garden Resort, an older hotel built into the cliff overlooking the white sands of Santiago Bay with an interesting aesthetic which relies on painted concrete. We arrived on the Chinese New Year and there were lots of Filipino and Korean families there for the weekend, with the shallow waters of the bay ideal for small children.
We then crossed the 1.5km causeway surrounded on both sides with mangrove trees to the second island, Poro, home to Santo Niño de Cebu, the oldest church in The Camotes.
We also headed north to Esperanza where we hired a boat to take us snorkelling.
It took us all the way round the smallest of the islands, Tulang Dyot, meaning ‘Little Tulang’ which is certainly appropriate at less than 1 sqkm, stopping twice. Another great experience, lots of fish, as well as a blue striped sea snake and towards the end a jellyfish, which was a little scary after last time. At the second stop, there were huge shoals of tiny silver fish all around us, catching the light, as well as a large shoal of bigger fish much deeper.
We stopped briefly at the beach at Tulang Dyot, but there wasn’t much there and it was too hot to linger.
We were given hard hats and descended a number of concrete steps, took off our sandals to wade through some water, then reached the cave itself.
Unsurprisingly, Chris chose not to swim and I couldn’t resist! As we emerged, some schoolgirls were tucking into a post-school snack of a crispy disc with what looked like chocolate sauce, but was coconut syrup … yum!
Off Travelling Together 