Sun 30 July - Hawks, away at 0900, fishermen, Manuka, Auxonne, Test, sunsets

Given the improved weather forecast, we had decided to get away from Gray today. But before then, the Hawks are playing St Kilda in an early morning (for me) game. But apart from an early flutter in which the Hawks led for a little while, they weren't really in the concert. While the young players are trying their best, their inexperience is causing them to be unable to counter when the other team gets a run going, such as St Kilda scoring 8 goals to zero in the second half of the first quarter. Their cause is also not helped by some experienced players (yes, you, Frosty) giving away multiple silly free kicks in front of goal (rant over).

We were away at 0900h, not knowing how far we would get today. But after finding fisherman and their families camped on the mooring pontoons at St Pierre and Heuilly, we decided to push on and go all the way to Auxonne today. It will make it a long day of cruising, but at least we won't have to look for a mooring spot along the way. As we cruised along the Saone, we saw another Piper barge, Manuka, heading north. We have been tied up alongside Manuka at Auxonne for a couple of winters, so it has been unusual for both of us to see each other moving for a change.

We arrived in Auxonne at 1500h, and were pleased that Alain had allocated us to the hammerhead mooring at the end of Pontoon A, which will be good for us when we start doing some work on the barge next month. It also gives us a nice waterfront view of the Military Barracks buildings, rather than looking at the side of another boat beside us.

Once we had done all the usual tasks when arriving at a new mooring (securing ropes, connecting shorepower etc), I watched a bit of the 4th day of the 5th Test cricket, only to learn that Australia had got to 0-135, before rain arrived and play was suspended for the day. It sets up an interesting conclusion to the Ashes series tomorrow.

As always Auxonne did it's best to welcome us home with some dazzling sunset scenes (another advantage of the hammerhead mooring, which gives clear shots of the sunset across the port waters). I took many shots and it was difficult to decide which was best, so I've included three below. The second one is my favourite. A nice way to finish a few weeks of cruising.