Gongoozling

Okay, first up - gongoozling is a real word. I would not ever try to use words which otherwise might only exist in my head but I know that occasionally you might look askance at a word or turn of phrase. This one is both pukka and kushti. Look it up if you doubt me!

Gongoozling is what I've been doing today. I took myself to Teston and sat by the lock looking at the sights and relishing the sounds. It was one of those glorious days when the sun shone and people stopped for a chat. First up was a gentleman with whom I had a chat about a tractor we'd watched inching perilously down a steep bank across the river to cut the grass. 

Then another gent who told me he'd been watching kingfishers. We then discussed cars and motorcycles - he'd bought his first bike in 1961 and was down from Eltham today to test one of his current rides. He still has a VW Passat engine in his garage having been a VW mechanic in south London for all of his working life. He told me about travelling around Europe in a VW camper during the 1960s and 1970s when there was far less traffic on the roads. Cars and bikes are not an area where it takes long to exhaust my knowledge but when we moved onto pubs in Ramsgate I was on safer ground and when we moved onto discussing JD Wetherspoons I was home and hosed. 

He moved on when an elderly lady and her daughter came along - we both stood to let them use the seats - but I hung on to grab some more shots of boats using the lock. They started discussing recent church outings and I'd have been better off discussing flange-webbing on the outlet ports on a Yamaha YR5 (or something) so I just enjoyed the sun and sights again.

The photo shows a crew member from The Kingfisher Trust (in yellow) and, I'd guess, a member of the party they were carrying, winding up the lock gear on the tail gate of the lock in preparation for the boat to enter and lock down from the Wateringbury level. Guess based on her not wearing the Kingfisher uniform and because he was talking her through the process. Check out the link for more details of what this charity does and for images of their boat; the Kingfisher.

One of those glorious days when it's good not to have to get out of bed to go and sit in an office however much money is involved.

Extra shots from the same place looking along the river