August 11: Tullamore to Lock 29

 

It was time to leave Tullamore. I ran a few errands and while I was gone, the weed-cutting boat came through the marina, churning up all sorts of muck and debris. We were not thrilled about driving through this sea of refuse. Our first objective was to move our boat a few spaces down and fill our water tank. Sarah took a line and pulled us around the two boats. By the time our tank was full, things had settled a bit.

The first lock was just a short distance along in town. There were people hanging out at the lock, and moved aside to allow us to open the gates. Other passers-by stopped to watch. One couple ended up helping to open the lock gates when we were ready to go. As we moved out of the lock, we scraped over something significant. Looking, I could see that the water levels were low. I should have called the lock keeper to ask a day ahead of time.

We had one more lock in town, before we were in the countryside. Tullamore is not large, so that came quickly. Our destination, Lock 29 was a couple miles ahead. We came up on what we later learned was a cattle crossing. As we passed, the boat pushed up and scraped over the bar under the water. Again! I was not happy.

We passed Srah Castle, "built by an Elizabethan officer, John Brisco, in 1588." (Guide to the Grand Canal) Only a mile or so on, and we were at our destination: Lock 29. There were a couple houses here, and the lock was surrounded by flowers. A beautiful place to stay. 

 

I called Leo from WI and he said he would ask for the water to be turned up as the next level looked woefully low.

We then took the whole pack and walked West along the canal. We passed Ballycowan Castle, a ruin from the early 1600s. Just past this, we came upon the aqueduct that brings the canal over the Tullamore River. It was a beautiful day for a walk. 

Andrea taking Payton for a walk

Ballycowan

The Huband Aqueduct over the Tullamore River

One-lane aqueduct ahead

A pack walk

Later in the evening a mist settled in. We could feel the humidity shoot up, and the damp permeated everything. The mist was still hiding the landscape when we got up in the morning. 

 

Mist on the canal

With a bright flash of blue, a kingfisher flew out of the mist and landed on the railing just outside our window.

A kingfisher!

The next day I called the next lock keeper and asked about the water level. They called upstream and water was released for us. In the morning, we would be good to go.

We took a couple more walks along the canal. Being only a couple miles outside Tullamore, it was very well used and we had lots of company.

The canal at night