We spent the next several days based at Auxonne, just lazing around and filling in time waiting for insurance and visa activities to be dealt with.

Wed 17 Aug

Rita was up early at 0100h for a three-hour Zoom seminar back in Australia. She then came back to bed and we both finally got up at 1000h. It was relaxing to be back in port again, with no fixed agenda.

We spent the afternoon catching up with various admin activities, including sending the quarterly statement of account to the tenants at our Moissac house. In the mid-afternoon, the elderly couples on the two boats ahead of us took one of their boats (Gebroaders) out for a short trip on the Saone just to make sure everything was still working OK (with the boat and themselves). Rita and I then went for a walk up the Saone, but were brought to a halt before our intended destination by a tree that had fallen across the path in the recent storms.

While the weather was looking threatening, we avoided any storms today and instead were treated to sunsets in various directions around the port.

Thurs 18 Aug

This morning was my turn for a Zoom meeting in Australia, but at the more civilised time of 0800h, when I spoke with Kim Croxford about the Forum she is planning in connection with the Forestry Transition plan. This triggered me to write some emails to Sebastian Klein about possible participation in the Forum and to Bronwyn Chapman about the report I submitted to the Shire Council about the Marysville MicroGrid project. While Rita worked on her thesis literature review during the morning, I got to work with the CIF creme to polish the paintwork on the port side of the boat (which was next to the pontoon to which we were tied). Surprisingly it does a pretty good job of getting rid of the layer of oxidised paint and restoring the shine to the paintwork.

In the early afternoon, the two older couples ahead took the other (bigger) barge out for a run on the Saone. However, their major problem was extricating the 35m boat from their mooring and manoeuvring it without hitting any of the nearby moored boats. As in all such situations, slowness and patience was the key, and they did a great job with the manoeuvre. It's great to see people well into their eighties still enjoying their barging.

This afternoon, I started reading a new novel by Jeffrey Archer "Hidden in Plain Sight". I had heard a lot about this author, so thought I should give his books a try. We'll see. Dinner on the rear dack and more reading brought an end to a lazy day.

Fri 19 Aug

There was overnight rain that cleared to a sunny day. We drove over to St Jean de Losne to check the mail (from the Prefecture), but nothing had arrived. So we continued to the secure parking area to collect some items from the campervan. Along the way, I followed the Storm game back home where they flogged the Brisbane Broncos 60-12. While this was a good result, I was somewhat worried because after their big 70-0 win earlier in the season, they then went off the boil with four straight losses.

When we got home, Rita decided to fix the flat tyre on her bike that she had discovered on her last ride. She is now becoming quite an expert at this, and the umbrella hole in the middle of our deck table is perfect for holding the axle steady while she does the work.

We then rode our bikes to the lock down to the Saone, where Rita went for her obligatory swim. On the way home, we stopped at the Ginguette for a drink, where I got this great shot of a monochrome sunset.

By the time we have got back to port, the sunset have changed to its usual golden colour, as relected off the boat.

Sat 20 Aug

Overnight rain gave way to very cloudy conditions this morning. If I thought that the Storm's win yesterday was big, then my childhood team of Wests were thrashed by an even bigger margin today (72-6 by Easts) to record their biggest ever loss. While the weather in Auxonne had changed to sunny by the end of that game, there was nothing sunny in the forecast for Wests.

While yesterday we saw some delicate manoeuvring by a big barge in port, today was a different type of manoeuvring when Alain and Roy shifted a barge into another position using their rubber dinghies. Great teamwork by the current and former Capitains.

After Rita went biking in the afternoon and I arranged for some money transfers via OFX, we decided to go out for dinner. But we had left our run too late, with every place we tried booked out for the evening. Even our favourite Asian restaurant was overwhelmed with takeaway orders, and the owner apologised for not being able to attend to us at a table. So we headed down to the river to the Ginguette, where we knew we could also get something to eat and drink.

Sun 21 Aug

The day started bleakly with the Hawks losing the last game of the season to the Dogs, 87-64. During the morning Rita continued work on her thesis lit review, and then in the early afternoon we drove over to Le Chatelet where an old car exhibition was being held near the Cascarot Hotel, that used to be owned by Ruth's friend Elizabeth, and where I took one of my favourite accidental photos.

The "old" cars were not all that old, but most of them were French, and as we walked around I was surprised how often I said "I used to own one of them"!

After we'd run out of cars to look at, we headed over to Seurre, where there was an art and music festival taking place and where we'd arranged to meet Sarah and Albon. The art exhibit was not all that special, and the music was mostly recorded, but at least we got a chance to have a good look at Seurre, which we'd only seen briefly when we came north up the Saone in 2018. We were surprised by the number of different mooring sites, catering for boats of all sizes. But we couldn't find Sarah and Albon, until Rita phoned them and found that they were by the side of the Saone as it branched off before the ecluse into the canal. So we headed back to the car, navigated through Seurre with lots of closed streets due to the Festival, and eventually found them. While Rita and Sarah went on a Pedello ride up the Saone, I did some reading in the shade, while Albon (who'd had a heavy night last night) took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep.

Mon 22 Aug

We made a decision to use the campervan for an extended trip over the next few weeks, to escape the continued heat on the boat and to explore a bit of France that was not accessible from the boat. We also wanted to go catch up with Phil and Kathy Tyson, who we had not yet seen this year, and to collect some things from Moissac. But today we had a few tasks to attend to before we left.      

While Rita finished off a section of her lit review, I did the laundry and hung it out to dry on the rear deck. We then drove over the St Jean de Losne to check the mail (nothing there), and then went on to the secure carpark to check the size of the luggage door on the side of the van, to see if we could fit the small fridge that had been left on the van after it was recovered. Unfortunately, the door was too small, and so our idea of taking the fridge to give to Nico came to an end.

While the day had been pretty boring so far, we thought we were in for a bit of excitement as we entered Auxonne on the return journey, when we followed a hay truck around the ring-road . At various points, we thought the whole thing was going to go base-over-apex, but luckily for the truck driver, everything remained vertical.

After we had drinks and dinner by the river with Sarah and Albon, we headed back to Auxonne where we were greeted by the family of swans who were inhabiting the port and the surrounding river. The three baby swans are cuteness personified.