It was a bit overcast and cool when we set off this morning at a more reasonable  08:40.  We had a very short trip, with no locks, to Hill Farm Marina.  Peter skilfully managed the rather narrow entrance and then had plenty of pontoons to choose from.  We decided on the canal side of the marina to avoid reversing into the quite strong wind.  David Cooke was on hand to meet us and make us welcome.  He complimented Peter on how neatly he had managed the mooring.  By now the sky had cleared completely and it was getting a lot warmer.

Sarah and Toby arrived about half an hour later and after a quick cuppa we drove into Stratford-on-Avon to visit the River Festival.  On our way there Sarah pointed out one of the most difficult locks on the canal.  

Our first stop was to meet Richard and Jane moored in the Basin on “Casual Water”.  The temperature was still rising rapidly and we were very grateful for the iced drinks they supplied.

After a picnic lunch we started our tour of the festival.  It was incredibly crowded and blistering hot in the sun. 

We bought an Avon Licence for Monday, had a chat with a few of the exhibitors and Sarah introduced us to the first of the Avon River locks.  A useful insight into what we will face next week.

By now we were all feeling hot, tired and in need of something cooling.  We decided to head back to Oliver but not until we had first visited Hooray’s British Gelato Kitchen.  Large ice creams with lots of choices of flavour.  Between us we had coffee, salted caramel, chocolate, ferrero rocher and toffee.

After dropping us off Toby and Sarah drove back to Oxford and we had our first go at cooking on the Cobb.  M&S Best Ever Burgers, potatoes, carrots and beans all done to a turn.  Shame there wasn’t any more ice cream!