Wednesday 27 June - Quo Vadis in Montech, Aussies in Castelsarrasin

Another hot one. Slept in, then pottered around with emails, reading etc. I am reading a novel recommended by Christine (from Hilda May), written by Ken Follett and describing the building of a cathedral, and associated activities, in England in the 13th century - "The Pillars of the Earth" is a very interesting read. During the morning, Rita called out for me to come on deck. I was a bit slow reacting and all I saw was a big red barge disappearing into the distance and tying up in Montech. After lunch we did a 180 degree pivot turn and headed back through Montech. On the way out, we saw the big red barge moored and, lo and behold, it was the tjalk Quo Vadis that we had initially considered buying in 2010. It was now red, rather than green, and was up for sale again. We immediately pulled over and went to see if the owners were on board, since we wanted to see what it really looked like inside. Alas, no one was there except the guard dog. So we took a few pictures and headed on our way. Maybe it will continue north and come into Moissac before we leave next Tuesday.

The trip back to Castelsarassin was fairly uneventful; we were feeling more comfortable and the downhill locks were much easier. We tied up again on the "free side" and renewed acquaintances with our family of ducks.

While we were sitting out on the back deck in Castelsarassin with a quiet beer, the Aussies on the hire-boat Damazan that was moored on the other side of the port called out "Tony", and then a little while later "Rita". Thinking we must know them from somewhere, we yelled back that we would come over to their side of the canal. So we cleaned ourselves up a bit, grabbed a few drinks and headed over. When we got there, it turned out we didn't know them from a bar of soap! Garry had googled Kanumbra, found our website and hence our names, and so thought he'd see if it was really us! After a few drinks, we then went out to dinner with Garry and Robynne, two of their friends, their parents and uncle and aunt. Two other young Aussies on the boat next door also joined us. A very enjoyable night, and a great example of canalside encounters.

A bit of lightning and thunder during the night, but only a couple of dozen drops of rain. It's funny how when it's hot and sunny you long for some rain, and when it's raining you long for some sun!