Since we had not played the pans all week, some thought it might be a good idea to have a practice session on Saturday (given that our Castelmoron gig had been cancelled after the organisers postponed their event without telling us), before we played at Toulouse on Sunday. But the idea was voted down since some had already arranged to do other things on Saturday. I was not too unhappy, since it would mean that I wouldn’t have to unpack and repack the truck again.

Since the weekend looked like being busy, and Kanumbra was needed on the canal next Monday for a training session, we decided to bring Kanumbra back up to the canal from the river today. As we got to our reserved mooring spot near the Capitainerie, we realised that the space available was slightly too small, since a newly arrived hire boat had encroached on the reserved space. So we made a quick decision to moor on the other side of the canal until the space near the Capitainerie could be increased. As we moved Kanumbra into position, a guy from another boat offered to do the ropes for Rita. We are never too happy with this because we could do it ourselves, and different people have some very different ways of handling the ropes. But it’s always hard to refuse an offer of help, so Rita threw the back rope to him to wrap around the bollard. Unfortunately, as we went to grab the rope, his hand knocked his prescription glasses off his nose, and they flew straight into the canal! Rita apologised profusely, but there was nothing else we could do, so we tried to ignore it while we completed the mooring process. A further round of apologies ensued, until he said he had another pair of glasses on his boat and that we should not worry any further. As all that was happening, Kaz and Iain appeared and pulled the hire boat out of our reserved spot, so we un-moored and moved across the canal.

When we had got there, Rita felt that it looked like we were running away from the “glasses incident”, so she decided to go diving for the glasses. Iain lent her a pair of goggles and a bouyancy float, and then she swam across the canal and went diving. Despite many dives and some assistance from the man concerned, she was unable to find them, since the visibility in the canal was zero, and she could not feel for the glasses with her hands and continue underwater for any length of time. So after 8 or 10 dives she gave up and returned to the barge. At least she tried!!

The other reason for bringing Kanumbra up to the canal was that we could receive a wifi signal there and this afternoon was the scheduled time for the AFL Qualifying Final between the Hawks and the Cats. These teams have been great rivals over the past 7 years, and so it looked like a very tough game. But after a very even first half, the Hawks ran away with the game to win 104-68 and so proceed further in the Finals.

After many false leads, we finally found a storage shed where we could store the beds, the catamaran and other paraphernalia from the house and barge over winter, while the renovations were being completed at the house. It is at a tyre repair workshop on the edge of town, and is also used by Frederique, our house painter.

That evening Veronique had arranged for a campfire on the banks of the Garonne River, just before it joins the Tarn. Most of the band attended, along with several friends of Veronique’s, who sang and played music through the night. I was still a bit worn out so when the mosquitoes arrived, I retreated to the car and promptly fell asleep to the sound of French music. But not before I got some great shots of the sunset over the river and the campfire.