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| River Notec - Wikimedia photo by Pit1233 |
Cold overnight –0.3º C. Sunny but windy and cold.
Set off upstream again, it was 8.25 a.m. by the time we’d untangled the ropes
and planks, etc. It was very cold sitting out on the stern, with a bone
chilling wind blowing from the east. Lots and lots more signs of beavers,
chewed trees and bark missing from branches. At 10.35 a.m. the river swung
through ninety degrees to run toward the east, then we’d got the wind directly
in our faces as we approached Dresdenko. The river ran at the base of some low
hills on our left, with the road and railway alongside. After a few little
farmsteads and groups of houses, a large wood yard occupied the
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| Church at Drezdenko - Wikimedia photo by Stazek99 |
space between
the river and the road, wafting a tangy odour of sawn timber in our direction.
The posts on the grassy bank at Drezdenko were still there, as we’d marked them
on the map from our visit by car five years earlier. They were set a couple of
metres back from the water’s edge and, with the wind blowing in my face, I had
trouble throwing a coil of rope over one of the posts. In the end Mike and I
swopped jobs. I took
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| Buildings in Drezdenko - Wikimedia photo by Stazek99 |
over at the tiller, keeping the bows stuffed up the bank
while Mike lassoed a post, then I swung the stern end into the bank and he put
a plank off to reach the bank and took a couple of ropes round the next two
posts. Bill brought Rosy alongside and we attached ropes. I got ready while
Bill ate his lunch as it was just midday, and Mike went to have a look across
the road bridge to see if there were any shops on the left bank – no, the shops
were all off to our right. I found my anti-pickpocket bag and rucksack, and
Bill wheeled his bike as a carrier for his groceries. First stop was at the
Post Office, where I posted a small
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| House in Stary Bielice - Wikimedia photo by Danuta B |
package to Peter and Bill posted similar to
his friend Molly with additions to his website. Our 150g packet cost 10 Złotys
(£1.67 or €2,50) cheaper than in Germany! We’d seen signs that advertised an
Intermarché, so we kept walking, ignoring the small local supermarkets in the
town centre, it was 1.8 kms from the edge of town closest to the boat to the
supermarket on the far side of town. I’d started out dressed as I had been when
I was sat on the back of the boat with woolly hat, scarf and gloves on, but soon
dispensed with the scarf and gloves as it was warm in the sunshine sheltered
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| Railway bridge in Stary Bielice - Wikimedia photo by Danuta B |
from the wind by buildings. We found the Intermarché and I bought bread (3 Zł
or 50p for a big round sliced white loaf and 1,90 Zł or 30p for a small brown
loaf), cheese from the deli 18,99 Zł a kilo or £3.17 (the girl spoke to us in
German!) plus lettuce and a green biro for Mike (the ones he bought in EHS were
too pallid, he said) and a new coffee mug (filled with Polish coffee) for 9,89
Złotys (£1.65 or €2 ,47). On the way back I spied some geraniums, just what
Bill wanted for his window boxes for Rosy’s roof garden, so he bought six
plants while I kept an eye on his bike. Back at the boat at 2.10 p.m and we set
off upriver again at twenty minutes later to find a better mooring place as our
boat had been sat on rocks where we’d been moored at Drezdenko. The railway
followed the river, still on the left bank, the road also but now on the right
bank and set well back from the river. Where a branch line from the main
railway crossed the river the embankment grass had been set on fire and a thick
pall of smoke drifted down the river for quite some distance. As we went under
the bridge it was burning quite well and, when Rosy got there, Bill called on
VHF to say the fire brigade had just arrived to extinguish the fire. Under the
174 road bridge at Stary Bielice and we started looking for a mooring place.
There were houses atop the high bank on our left, with long sloping gardens
down to the river. Three small lads spotted the boats and came racing down the
bank, followed by their dog, whooping and shouting “wow!” as they ran. We waved
and Bill sounded Rosy’s horn as we went past. Round the next bend and we tied
to a dead tree that poked out three metres towards the middle of the river. It
had metal spikes in it and marks where it had been cut with a chainsaw, but it
had resisted and had not been removed. It made an ideal place to attach our bow
lines and made a good deep mooring. Bill brought Rosy alongside and secured.
Mike had put a plank out from our stern and put stakes in the bank. Later Bill
potted up his geraniums.
(As you can see I struggled to find photos to illustrate today's journey as we took none ourselves that day)
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