It was a beautiful sunny morning, but we were undecided as to whether to head further upstream or to turn around and go back downstream. Looking at the Guide Fluviale, we could see that there weren't many alternatives for overnight mooring within a day's cruising upstream, apart from the moorings at Port de Savoyeux just beyond the tunnel north of Ecluse 13, but we were unsure whether they had space for longer boats like us. If we got there and they didn't, then where would we go? But we saw a wild mooring at PK303, so we decided to head for there and then evaluate our choices again. So at around 1115h we headed north. Since we were spending a lot of time on the river, I got the opportunity to sit down and relax and use my feet for steering.

Two hours later, we  arrived at PK303 and found the "nature mooring" but unfortunately it was occupied, and there was no room for another boat. So we made the reluctant decision that this would be as far as we go up the Saone this year, and turned around. We will just have to explore the rest of the Saone another time.

As we came back downstream, we decided it was time to stop the boat and have lunch. So just beyond where a section of canal diverged from the river near PK298, we continued along the river a little way, stopped the engine, and hovered midstream while we had lunch.

After lunch, we backed up into the navigable section of the river, then turned left into the canal diversion. A short distance down this canal, the landscape on the left bank could have fooled us into thinking we were back in Australia. The flatness, the absense of paddock trees, the dryer colour of the grass, the wire fences and finally the windmill brought back feelings of home. A couple of kangaroos and the scene would have been complete.

As we cruised down river I also saw another reminder of back home, when we passed a tree plantation on the riverbank. Different types of tree, but similar layout to our tree plantation at Kanumbra (which is the town name which inspired the naming of our barge).

We continued through Rigny, because we had decided to give Gray a chance to redeem itself as a mooring location. We had planned to moor at the long mooring on the left bank just upstream of Ecluse 16. But as we prepared to do a 180 degree turn to approach the mooring, we saw many small "No Mooring" signs placed along the quai.  We were puzzled by the situation, but a later search on GoogleMaps explained the probable reason as being that it used to be a Hire-Boat depot and the "factories" behind the mooring were actually the workshop and hard-storage areas for the hireboat company.

Another practical advantage of this mooring is that it is within walking distance of a large Intermarche supermarket and a BricoMarche. So, soon after we tied up, Rita had her bike down from the deck and was up to the supermarket to stock up on supplies. In the meantime, I went for a walk up the quai to check out the other moored boats and to survey the general surroundings. I was impressed by the large number of swans, and the single goose, who were attracted as I walked along the riverside.

So in the late afternoon, we passed through Ecluse 16 and pulled up alongside the stone quai on the left bank, and were lucky enough to find a spot with electricity and water (which are free in Gray - I guess this is one of the attractions).

Since there were few locks to be encountered on this run, Rita got plenty of time to continue studying on the rear deck.

Later in the afternoon, as I was taking some photos of the swans as they were wandering around the port, I was photobombed by a spider spinning a web on the bimini on the rear deck. His movement even managed to capture the focus of the camera.

As the sun started to set, the river was illuminated with many different colours. To the East, the sky had turned pink...

...while to the West, the sky was a brilliant shade of indigo, pink and gold.

A little while later, the sky was red and gold (with a bat doing the photbombing this time!)

But my favourite moment of the day came after the sun had disappeared and the (near) full moon was starting to rise. I realised that with a bit of patience and a little bit of gymnastics to get the camera in the right position, I might get a very interesting shot. Gray is very picturesque at night, because the street lights on both sides of the river are placed not just for traffic safety, but also to illuminate the facades of the many older buildings along the river. But on our side of the river, just behind our mooring, one of the lights had failed and tonight it would be replaced by the full moon! Gray is turning out to be an unexpectedly photogenic town.