Herbie Awards Best Gadget /Gubbins plus Scenery nominations

Well I’m clutching the golden envelope containing our Best Gadget winner.  Your last chance to place best as I tear open the envelope to reveal that the winner for 2018 is:

The YuYu Hot Water Bottle

(Bringer of Comfort and Joy)

Such a simple thing but so much better than the standard bottle, and it really does make winter nights on board cosy. Kath agrees but would also like to add a Highly Commended to our Outwell Folding Table.

Now on to the scenery, or perhaps we should name it Sights Worth Seeing and I have to start with an apologetic confession.  This year I have been too lazy to tote about my SLR camera which has a good wide angle lens and have relied instead on my phone camera, which although reasonably good cannot compete with the real thing.  So when it comes to my first nomination I can’t illustrate it in all it’s glory (and glory is the only word from it.

1. Port Meadow, Oxford.

Three times this year we cruised the length of Port Meadow and each time we were awestruck by the scene.  The sheer vastness of it for one thing, then the beautiful mixed herds of cattle standing in the water’s edge, and the wide , shallow river which on our trips was clear and glassy.  Gorgeous.  My only regret is now having a good photo to show it, so you’ll have to do with this one.

and perhaps this one, shot as we reached the southern end.

2. Cropredy Marina

Yep, there are evenings when Herbie’s home berth is all we need for scenery, because it get’s really good sunsets. like these in June this year.

3.  St Ives bridge (River Ouse, in case you think we can cruise to Cornwall!)

Hmm is this cheating?  I was at the helm of this narrowboat when I took the picture this year so it might be cheating because , the boat isn’t Herbie, it’s Bankside (now renamed Nb Egnabod), our son Richard’s boat.  Anyone who has been here will know that this is St Ives on the Ouse.  Going under bridges like this always seems a real privilege.

4. Newbridge  - R Thames.

Not a big bit of scenery, but a sight to see is Newbridge on the upper Thames. A really ancient bridge which still looks wonderful, again a privilege to cruise beneath it.  Here we’re going upstream

Oh for my proper camera instead of this hasty phone shot as we speed away downstream some days later.

There are lots of other places I could nominate, especially long the Thames, but any of these is good enough to win.

Results tomorrow, plus the competition for Scariest Moment.