Tues 16 July - Tysons, Young Doctor, L'ecu, Mass Combi, Tavaux, drinks till late

Had a message last night saying that Phil and Kathy Tyson were arriving in SJDL this morning, but as I was having breakfast I got another message saying they were only 10 minutes away. So I wandered down to the river, just in time to see them steaming into port. I stood on the boat ramp wall to catch their attention and direct them to the mooring rings on the side of the ramp, as they turned and came back to the ramp.

But after tieing up there, Phil went down to the steps in front of all the cafes, and found that someone was leaving, making a space for Effie to tie up there. So after a bit of boat manoeuvring, they tied up there after about 30 minutes. Since we had a bit to do this morning, we agreed to meet for lunch. I then came back to our boat and waited for the H2O electrician to arrive to install the new Mastervolt Mass Combi. While I was waiting, I thought I would Google a bit to find a video clip that Peter Vizzard had mentioned the other night, in which Judy Lynne appeared in an episode of Young Doctors along with a 12-year old Russell Crowe, making his first TV appearance.

Judy Lynne was immediately recognisable, if a bit younger, and the other "doctor" was the spitting image (in this picture) of our local GP in Marysville (and baritone player in Pans on Fire) Lachlan Fraser. Judy is even more recognisable when you listen to her speak in this YouTube clip.

As noon approached, and the electrician had still not arrived, I sent a text message to the H2O Atelier, saying that we were going out for lunch, and could they come over in the afternoon to do the installation. This happened to suit them as the laptop needed was being used on another job in the morning anyway.  We then met up with Phil and Kathy and went up to L'ecu for lunch. Another fabulous and filling meal for next to no money. We got carried away with talking, and waiting for the next course, so I texted H2O and told them we were running late. Around 1430h, we headed for the boat and soon after, the electrician arrived. He then got busy de-wiring the old Mass Combi, switching over the units, and then re-wiring and testing the new Mass Combi. We drew his attention to the fact that the battery charge had gone to 0% over the past week, but he didn't seem worried and just said he would come back and test all the batteries tomorrow.

In the late-afternoon, Rita went for a ride up the Canal de Rhone au Rhin again, to go to the piscine at Tavaux. Around 1800h, I wandered up town to catch up with Phil for a drink, and we sat at one of the riverside cafes and enjoyed a cool ale or two. We then joined Kathy on the rear deck of Effie, and were later joined by Rita when she returned from Tavaux (after finding the piscine was closed when she got there). We all enjoyed a couple more drinks and a lot of chatting, until around 2330h, Rita and I returned to Kanumbra and let the Tysons get some sleep.