Our Canaling Adventures: May 2008

The flight to Bangkok was uneventful, we were fed, then fed and then fed some more. They certainly know how to fill 6 hours in. As we were leaving the plane Russel realized we had 15 minutes to get to our next plane. The next 15 minutes reminded me of the TV show “Airport” As we came out to the terminal we saw our name on a plaque, we were then hurriedly told to get in the motorized cart and this young Asian girl with her walky talky burned down the hallways as if the place was burning down. Gosh it was great – I could never have walked the distance and made the plane. The plane was being held up for us.

When we arrived in Frankfurt, my name was called out over the PA. We made the plane, but guess what – our luggage didn’t.!!!

We made the decision to get the train to Meppel and the airlines would send our cases onto Amsterdam. It was great – we didn’t have to cart our luggage on the train – a lot less hassle. However we had no clothes for that night. So we went to our boat and picked up the clothes we had left behind the last time we were here. We were so tired we ate and went to bed early.

Today (Thursday) we drove to Amsterdam to collect our boxes we sent over and our luggage that had arrived from Frankfurt. It was a long day. We had to drive to the Freight Company – then to customs then back to Freight Company then to airport for our suit cases - it took us all day. It was great in the fact that we didn’t have to pay custom duty.

Tomorrow we hope that our boat will be put into the water and we will stay on her.

We will also catch up with Bob Carr who has just brought a boat just 8 klms from us.

Arcturus was out of the hall waiting for us

We waited most of the day for our boat to be put into the water. We were told it was to be 1.30pm but our boat went in the water at about 4pm. Whilst we were waiting we spent the time cleaning the inside of all the cupboards and unpacking the four big boxes we sent over from Perth. After the boat went in we quickly set up our beds and went to Giethoorn to see the new “Carr” boat. We both loved their boat – a very well appointed boat. They like us had all the cutlery, crockery etc on board. After a toast to the new boat we went out to a local café for a meal.

Anemoon - The Carr's boat

Since then we have been moored at Meppel Marina. We have been cleaning, unpacking all our gear and putting the boat into some sort of order ready to travel.

Sunday we went for a drive around Meppel and discovered a few shops we had been wanting, so we spent the time browsing – I brought some herbs – parsley and basil and two geranium plants – so Arcturus now looks the part. We went pass where we moored last time and my thoughts went to Lynley – last time we were here so was Lynley and it rained and rained all day.

Monday we decided to install the washing machine – it’s in!!! – It took most of the day – however we found a leak in the “Accumulator” so have ordered a new one at about 50 euro!!! – They tell us that a boat absorbs money. It is coming from Grou so won’t get it until Wednesday, so no washing yet.

Our new washing machine under the seat

The weather has been slowly improving to the point that today was the most glorious spring day- perfect picnic weather. We sat outside with our drinks for the first time.The mornings are very chilly but as the day goes on it improves.

Tuesday we are installing the Waeco frig – it fits perfectly under the stairs – Russel had agonized about whether it would fit – it fits like a glove. Russel is at the moment installing a permanent plug so we don’t have an extension cord across the floor. He is also going to install an electrical socket in the bedroom. Its great having such a handy guy!! – He is however very expensive when we visit a hardware store!!!

The next job will be to install the rudder indicator. Then I think we will be ready to move.

You can see the Waeco frig under the stairs- Our DRINKS frig

We have to return the car tomorrow in Zwolle at 1pm - so the plan is to put bikes in the car so we can ride around Zwolle then catch the train back to Meppel and ride back to our boat. Thursday we plan to sail to Blokzijl via Giethoorn with the Carr’s – we all feel we need a bit of moral support to get our confidence.

We left for Giethoorn Thursday as planned and stayed in the same Yacht Haven as last year. The plan was the next day to leave for Blokzijl at about 12.00 pm after the Carr’s had purchased a new battery. We rode around Giethoorn and then packed up ready for the phone call that never came. We finally rang Bob and found that he couldn’t get his boat gears to work. As he was leaving a rope got wrapped around his prop and they had to lift the boat out of the water to get it off. After a cost of 75 euro we all set off for Blokzijl.

Blokzijl was as I remembered – a beautiful little town – we moored in the middle of the town surrounded by beautiful houses and trees. This weekend was a yacht race from Blokzijl to Giethoorn to Vollenhove and back to Blokzijl – should take them from 8am to 5pm- depending on the winds – they were not to motor but to sail or row or pole through the water – it was great to watch them polling these large boats through the water.

The Two Australian boats moored in Blokzijl

We decided to ride our bikes to Vollenhove to watch the boats but we waited and waited and then decided to come home and watch them come in to the harbour. We sat outside on the Carr’s boat having a few drinks and watched the boat come home. We were amazed at the number of young kids sailing with their grandfathers.

The centre of Blokzijl

A paddock of tulips near Vollenhove

Sunday we decided to go for a ride up to Kalenberg. Last year we sailed through this area with Lynley. It was about a 12 klm ride – very easy and very beautiful through the national park. We decided to ride home a different way – still 12 klm but it ended up going through the paddocks. What a mistake!!! We were riding straight into a very strong wind. I never thought we would get home, but we pushed ourselves.

We spent the afternoon recouping. The weather was absolutely gorgeous but this morning we have woken to a very rainy day.

Getting ready for evening drinks

Monday we plan to leave today and head south to Zwolle via Zwartsluis

We finally left about 12.20 and didn’t get pass Vollenhove as the bridge was closed until 1.30, so we decided to have lunch. I decided to put my computer on and see if there were any unsecured networks around. – And voila!! We sat for the next hour and half getting our emails and looking up the internet and so didn’t leave until about 2.30. We then sailed to Zwartsluis where we stayed the night. The weather has turned bad and it looks like rain until Thursday. We will use this time to get a few more jobs done and sail slowly to Zwolle where we plan to stay for a few days.

A lot have asked who the Carr’s are? We were introduced to them via the canal club as the last people to buy a boat in Netherlands. They emailed us and we invited them to Yunderup to let them have all our information. They copied everything we did – the motor home etc and bought a lovely boat in Giethoorn. We sailed with them to Blokzijl. We left them as they were sailing to Groningen

Me in the town centre of Zwolle

One of the bridges into Zwolle

We did get to Zwolle sailing via 3 bridges to get into the centre of Zwolle. Today is the Queen of Holland’s birthday so it is a national holiday. We didn’t realize how important it was until we finally decided to go down town to the VVV (tourist Bureau) to find most shops closed and the streets full of people dressed in orange and the streets full of games to play, rides and food. It was quite exciting to see so many people having a good time. The games were all home made and with a medieval touch.

I found more tulips in Zwolle

The weather here is like Melbourne. One minute it is raining, the next the sun is shining and it’s very hot. We have to fly wires on the boat, so at the moment Russel is designing his fly wires he is going to make. Looks like another trip to Gamma. (Bunning’s equivalent)

Zwolle got very noisy last night – a lot of people and a lot of booze, so we decided to stay indoors away from the crowds. At about 9 am the power went off and hasn’t been on since. We woke up this morning hoping to get some power and do some food shopping, to find out anything is closed as it is a free day!!! It seems to be one big holiday during this period – Monday 4^th and 5^th of May are also holidays – celebration of freedom – second world war.

Our batteries are so low we will have to leave today to charge them up. We intended to stay until Friday. Russel is out looking and the power situation and also chatting to the neighbors finding out the local gossip.

Well we were forced to leave Zwolle like everyone else – as there was no power.

We sailed for a few hours and arrived at gorgeous Kampen on the Ijssel. This is a very pretty historic little town. To top it off we woke up on Friday morning to the most glorious spring day. The sun shone all day and it made for great bike rides and at last the shops were open so we could top up on our stores.

Kampen by night

However the glorious day was broken by a flat tyre on Russel’s bike which after finding a bike shop cost 46 euros for a new tyre, tube, chain tightened – a big rip off, but what can you do when you don’t know the ropes.

These boats were parked next to us in the haven and were Croatians doing up an old boat that they intend travelling around Holland in.

A shot of Kampen from the Ijssel

Me on the banks of the Ijssel

Saturday we woke to the same glorious day, but we had work to do – our washing machine was leaking so we spent the morning fixing it, we then we rode into town for lunch. We had kippling – which is fish bits fried in batter and dipped into a mayo sauce – very yummy. Russel also had herrings in a bun.

The Ijssel with Kampen in the background

We plan to leave tomorrow as there are 21 Pickme Cruisers due here and they are going down the same route as us, so we want to be in front of them.

The Ijssel is a fast flowing river, but we are going with the flow so travel a little faster. It is a very busy canal and every time a big barge goes by poor old Arcturus rocks from side to side.

I had best go and cook tea – not sure where Russel is – he took off somewhere with is drop saw and a big piece of wood to cut out his fly wire inserts he is making. – It certainly keeps him entertained this boat.

We left Sunday for Elburg hoping to get in front of the Pick me cruisers. The day is just gorgeous and it is expected to be like it for a week, so out came the shorts and tee shirts. We traveled along the Ijssel canal leaving about 11.00 and arriving in Elburg about 2 pm.

Last time we visited Elburg looking for a boat, we stayed in the marina of the boat yard and it rained the whole time we were here so we never looked around. We decided we would come back and back we came. It is really a gorgeous place. We didn’t realize that the town went behind the marina. We went through a medieval archway to show us a beautiful walled city.

Monday was freedom day - like Anzac day – our radio went dead for a few minutes so we gathered they were having a minute silence to remember the fallen and the day they were liberated.

Spent the afternoon watching the band playing

We spent the morning connecting the new Waeco frig to the mains power. It is now set up to work off the 240 volt when its there and switch to battery when it isn’t. Nothing like getting the priorities sorted out – we now have cold drinks all day long.

We decided we had better do some exercise so rode to find the Boumarkt (Hardware store). We rode and rode but never found it. We were also very lost. We had no idea which direction was our boat, so after asking we found that we were not far away at all. We gave the Boumarkt away until the next day.

Tuesday we watched the 21 Pic me cruisers leave then spent the morning cutting the wood for a port hole fly wires. We rode into the main city to find Town Criers under a pavilion making lots of noise, however as we were unable to understand what it was all about we left. Tonight we are going to try out our new barby that we went over.

Our Barby was a big success!!! The sausages were great – we are going to look for a nice “Beifstuk” to cook next time.

You don't see Barby's on boats here. They worry about the gas. They buy littlle portabel charcoal barbys and have it off the boat.

The other thing about the barby was that it made us sit outside and we had a visitor. He stopped to see where we were from. An English man, married to a Canadian, living on Vancouver Island. They bought a very old barge and have had it done up over the last few years. We have been invited down for morning tea to look it over. I am looking forward to seeing in a barge.

One thing that really amazes me here in the Netherlands is that they do not wear bike helmets or even helmets on small motor bikes. The thousands of bikes on the road and no helmets!!!. They don’t even where a hat. We certainly stand out when riding with our sun hats on.

Just a few bikes that were ridden to a soccer match

The next day we visited the bardge.The barge was 20 metres, cost 308000 euro and had dish washer, washing machine, dryer, micro wave, oven, full frig and freezer and a drinks frig, 2 bedrooms with ensuite – what else would you want? It certainly was very nice but the problem is the length – it is too long to go into the place we go into.

We arrived in Harderwijk and there wasn’t much around. I would have moved on, but a man on the shore pointed to this little spot, so Russel maneuvered the boat in and the man tied up for me. It all worked great.

So here we are right in the centre of the town.

Harderwijk is a small town with lots of holiday makers to see the Dolphins perform. There is a big fare. It is school holidays at the moment.

A Typical view in Holland from our boat

Time to relax!!!

We haven’t been able to get our emails since we left Zwolle, so this time we were determined to find an internet. We turned the computer on and no such luck – no free sites around, so we decided to go for a ride near the homes and away from shops and businesses and voila!! We down loaded 63 emails – Thanks to those that wrote – it is always great to here news from home.

We left Harderwijk and headed for Spakenburg. We were told not to go to Amersfoort for the weekend as it was too busy. They forgot to tell us that Spakenburg is too especially with the 21 “pic me” cruisers taking the best spots under the trees.

One enters off a large lake (Eemmeer) into a small canal which goes up to the centre of Spakenburg. The canal is narrow and as we entered someone was leaving and we were told it was full further up, so we decided to take the only spot left.

Gosh I wished we hadn’t!!!. It was the beginning of a unpleasant weekend.

Beware of green grass in Holland - bugs will attack!!!

The nights however were gorgeous!!

As we were so close to the lake we felt every wave the water skiers and boat people made, it was hot and there were bugs, sand fleas etc everywhere. If you took a breath you would get a mouthful. At this stage we had made one fly screen so all windows had to be closed and we had one little fan.

Sunday we went for a ride and I got a puncture in my tyre and Sunday Holland dies – nothing is opened.

Russel cutting out the fly screens

a finish fly screen

Russel spent the weekend making fly screens and I spent the weekend with a wet towel around my neck and complaining about bugs and heat. – Saturday we did go for ride into the town and it really was a pretty little town with Saturday markets. I bought a cabbage and strawberries to add to my vege collection.

Sunday I decided to do some washing. I hung Russel’s shirts on coat hangers and put them outside on the line. I decided that they weren’t safe and just as I was removing them from the line a big gust of wind came and carted one of the shirts and hanger away. It sunk before we could get to it. Russel now has one shirt less to wear and I one shirt less to wash. If I keep that up I won’t have to wash!!!

Washing Day

Monday morning we woke up with no electricity again so decided to leave early for Amersfoort. We did the final touches to the fly screens and put them in place. I have put my order in for two more. However it means another visit to the Boumarkt and guess what – no shops open today either – it’s a holiday!! – not sure what for – could be May day.

This haven is electronic – to pay for the night , or for water and electricity you need to put your master card into a machine. It does it in English, however will not accept any other card other than the Holland card. A little man delivering a bag of literature for the tourist managed to contact the harbour meister and he came around to help.

Russel in the mean time was fixing our electricity connection – apparently a couple of wires had come off the plug and even though electricity was coming into the boat it wouldn’t get to the plugs – Mr Fix it has it fixed and I am back on electricity.

The trip down was the prettiest of all the canals we have been down. Sat chatting to Graeme and Amanda on the way. Amanda leaves for London this Thursday so it won’t be long now.

No shops open in Amersfoort so we had to walk into town. It has an old town and a new town. The old town is truly gorgeous and is made up of two rings of canals. We had lunch in the centre of the old city today.

The old town entrance

We fell in love with Amersfoort. We have stayed 4 nights. The weather was great until Thursday at about 3pm. We came out of the library after playing on the net to find it pouring. We were in shorts and tea shirts. We were very wet when we arrived back at the boat.

The first night we were here we went out for a meal. We haven’t done very much eating out. We like cooking our own meals. We had pizza and it was great.

Next day we rode around the town. Russel fixed my tyre and I also got a new one on the back. We then booked in for a boat ride around the two moats that surround the old town. It was very picturesque. We had a sheet written in English to tell us what all the old buildings were. Just before the trip we decided to get some more money as the euro was slightly up. The ATM ate Russel’s card, so we had to cancel his. It is always a good idea to have more than one card.

Going through a tunnel on the boat tour

The moat going around the old town

Yesterday we went for a 30 klm ride out to the surrounding towns and forest area. As we were riding we got phone calls from Amanda and Vaune. The world is so small. Matthew announced his engagement to Casey and 5 minutes later we were being told in Amersfoort.

Congratulations to you both!!

We left Amersfoort on Friday and sailed to Huizen, some 2 hours closer to Amsterdam. It rained most of the day and we woke up the next morning to the same. We are only 2 hours from Amsterdam, but we need to travel the Ijsselmeer and they say not to with a north wind of more than 4 beaufort, so we are told it is 5 today. We were advised to wait until tomorrow, so we are just having a lazy day, after spending some time in the local markets. We purchase a rack of lamb each at the cost of 8.43 euro - about $14.00 – doesn’t sound so bad- similar to home. Lamb is not popular here so this will be a real treat.

The lamb was great!! We realized we didn’t have a baking dish so had to remove a handle from a fry pan and use that.

We left Huizen on Sunday and wasn’t sure whether to go straight to Amsterdam or not but a text from Oliver to day he would be there at two made us decide to go over the Ijsselmeer and head to Amsterdam. This I must admit was a bit scary and it was about 3 beaufort wind. Russel assured me it was no worse that driving back from Rottenest on a windy day. I was glad when we got back into the safety of the canals. After a sluis we headed for “Six Haven “ where we new Oliver was.

Sailed in and tied up and then started looking for Oliver’s boat and realized we were parked right next door to him. I spotted a little flag on the side of his boat.

Oliver arrived a short time later and after many drinks and stories we went to bed a little worse for wear.

Entrance to Amsterdam- Our first big Sluis

Sailing into Amsterdam

Monday we heard that the Gilbert’s were arriving also in Amsterdam, so here we all are, three Australian boats in Amsterdam. It is great to have some company. Today we are going to do some sight seeing and go out for a meal. The Gilberts were too tired last night to do anything. They have been traveling up from France – driving 7am to 10 am and were a little frazzled, but I am glad they made the big dash it is great to see them.

The Sixth Haven

A cruise ship sailing close to the Haven

We spent 4 or 5 days in Amsterdam. It’s a very big place and hard to find your way around, but I just followed Russel and he navigated.

We left on Friday for Haalem. The Dickson’s (another Perth couple from the Canalier group) were traveling up from Rotterdam to meet us in Haalem.

Oliver leaving the Sixth haven

We left Amsterdam and went straight out into the Noordzee Canal. It was quite scary. There were huge barges, ferries, hydrofoils, all fighting for space. We however made it to the Zijkannal C to Haarlem and it was calmer and more enjoyable. I wasn’t feeling that well all day. I put in down to a bit of sea sickness!!!.

The Gilberts on Coulis following us

The Dickson’s arrived about 1 hour after us, so here we are in Haarlem - 4 Australian boats now – all lined up along the canal – and here we will stay until the weather improves.

Kevin on the Dickson's boat in Harrlem

We did intend leaving Sunday, but Monday now and we still are here. The weather has turned bad and the winds are up to 40 km/hour so we all decided to stay put. Russel is now hard at work installing a radio speaker upstairs, so we can have music as we travel. We wanted to go to Alkmaar then be in Den Helder by Wednesday so the kids could catch the train and meets us there. We would then travel back down with them.

Oh well no hurry. We will move when the winds die.

Yesterday we caught the train to Zandvoort- about 10 minutes by train. This is a seaside resort on the Noordzee. The beaches are certainly no that inviting. The sand is light brown and the tide looked like it was out. However as we wandered around we found the main town and the shops were open and there were market stalls down the street. It was a big carnival atmosphere. We wandered around then went home to our little boats ready to pack up and move off the next morning. Oh well we will move sometime.

Noorde Zee

We woke up Monday morning and the weather had turned really bad so we all decided to stay another day. We left Tuesday and headed back up to the Noordzeekanaal and then turned up the Zijkanaal D canal and headed to Alkmaar. On the way we fueled up and followed a big barge out so that the bridges would be opened for us. Most of the bridges are opened by you using VHF, and as we have no VHF it is a pain. We sometime have to ring on the phone or edge the boat up to a red button which is usually in a difficult position and I poke at it using the boat hook.

We left the others and made a bee line for Den Helder. We ended up at a 3 X 24 urn. We woke up in the morning and rode to the Noordezee which was a bout a 10 klm trip. We then headed for Den Helder. We had to get there as the kids were arriving at about 3 pm.

Den Helder haven

The kids are now on the boat. David arrived with a very bad cold and was not a happy chappy. He slept most of Thursday as we traveled down to Schagen, where we moored for the night.

The next morning we caught the train to Alkmaar to see the cheese market. This is where all the big round cheeses are laid out in the market square and are weighed and sold to the various merchants. It is very colourful and fun to watch, but typically Dutch style very little English explanation. They did however bring us samples to try.

Amanda and I having a rest

We caught up with the Gilberts and Oliver for a coffee and said our goodbyes for a few weeks. They were heading to Den Helder and we the opposite way.

We sailed until about 7 pm and ended up at the Alkamere ( lake) on the other side of Alkamere. Its hard work getting through all the bridges with out a VHF, but Amanda kept ringing the bridge keepers and they opened them even though it was peak hour traffic across the bridges.

Boat races held us up

Saturday we headed down the Zijkanaal G canal and got held up with some boat races that were in the canal – then the bridge wouldn’t open till 1pm so we had lunch then followed a barge all the way to Amsterdam and back to Six haven for the night. Tomorrow we are heading south. The kids are with us until Thursday so we want to keep moving to show them lots.

Today they experienced their first sluis ( Lock). We went in with a big barge and wasn’t

sure which side to go to until we heard “starboard” from the mike.

We left Amsterdam and headed down the Amsterdam- Rijnkanaal canal turning off into the Vecht. I have never seen so many huge barges all at once. Yvonne had always talked about the feeling of being in a washing machine, when traveling on these canals. I now know what she means. It was a wet windy day to top it off. I was really pleased to turn off into the attractive almost tide less river – The Vecht

One of the barges we passed

Amanda and Russel enjoying the canal travelling

Muiden

Weesp kanal

We traveled down slowly to Weesp where we stayed the night. We rode to a place called Muiden, which lies at the entrance of the Vecht from the Markermeer. We had traveled on the Markermeer from Huizen to Amsterdam so was interesting to see it from this direction.

Travelling down the Vetch

The next day we traveled slowly down the picturesque Vetch. To Breukelen where we stayed the night. Gosh there is money in these areas.

I never seen such huge houses . These were built in the 17^th and 18^th century by the rich Amsterdamers.

We then traveled into Utrecht where we stayed 3 nights. We entered Utrecht via a sluis and couldn’t go any further through the city as there were about 15 bridges all about 3.25 meters in height and we are 3.68 meters high. We can drop our canopy and windows and get down to a height of 2.7 meters.

Russel and I decided to finally do some touristy things and went for a tour over the Cathedral. We climbed 465 stairs to the top of the tower where we could see Amsterdam even though it was a foggy day. I took some great photos of the city.

We had dinner here

We stayed one night and was going to return up the way we can, until Russel came back after talking to the Sluis master and decided to go under the 15 odd bridges.

The kids had caught the train to Gouda and were going to meet us at Maarssen which was on the return journey up the Vecht. We text them and told them to come back to Utrecht where we were pulling down the canopy and removing the windows.

They don't look nervous!!!

We were all very nervous. We sailed through without any problems. It is the most picturesque part of the canal. We sailed through the centre of Utrecht pass all the restaurants which are on the same level as the canal and then there is the street level above. The bridges are arched and the canal very narrow. We had watched a boat going through the day before and he came so close to the sides that he tipped over a couple of tables.

We all enjoyed the experience but were relieved to get to the other side. We stayed on the other side of Utrecht a further two days. We then went to the local Religious museum and saw some great paintings of the crucifixion and religious cups and other things in gold and silver. It was quite interesting.

The kids left on Thursday and returned to London. I hope they enjoyed themselves. David was not well for two of three days which was a shame, but the last few days he started to look better. It’s always a shame to be sick on a holiday that you have planned for a long time.

Amanda had a drive of the boat. She didn’t find it that easy and said she would never take it on her own. She said Dad did a great job. It is getting a lot easier now for me. I am not as nervous as I use to be when coming up to the harbour side to tie up. Russel comes up slowly now and I am able to either get off or throw the rope around the bollard. I am getting a lot more confident.

We would have stayed in Utrecht longer but we hadn’t had electricity since Weesp and it was starting to get critical so we left on Friday and sailed out of Utrecht. However we didn’t realize that we had another two bridges to go which were 3.25, so down came the canopy and windows again. Lucky the kids weren’t with us as we weren’t happy about this and did it whilst we were floating around the canal grisling at each other. We then headed south, across the Amsterdam Rijnkanaal into the Hollandse Ijssel canal and onto Marnemoende where we have stopped for two nights. This yacht haven is between Ijsselstein and Montfoort. We rode to each of these places – about 5 klm each way.

Here we have topped up on electricity and water and have done heaps of washing and cleaning and we are now ready to head off on our next adventure. Russel has spent the afternoon with a guy on the boat next to us planning the rest of our trip. We rang Meppel today and have booked in for another year, so we need to be back there about the 9^th July.

We left Sunday and headed to Oudewater where we will stay one night and then go to Gouda for 2 days. This is where the cheese comes from. Its amazing that even a little town has a very big Kerk (church) in the centre surrounded by the cafes and shops. These churches are huge and very imposing. You can always see the spires from afar and know when you are nearing a town. We rode around Oudewater and discovered a museum so in we went as it was only 2 euro. It was well worth it. The museum was on rope making. This was the area that they made rode. Apparently they made rope for the replica of the Batavia. For those that don’t know – the Batavia was a Dutch boat that was wrecked just off the coast of Geraldton. They showed us a film then gave a demonstration of how to make rope. We came away with the rope we made.

Gouda town hall built in the centre of the square so it wouldn't be burnt down in the town caught on fire.

We are now in Gouda – an interesting town, but being Monday most is closed so we will leave our riding around till tomorrow. We are going out for dinner tonight. It is the first game the Netherlands are in of the EK Voetbal 2008. Russel tells me its soccer. I hope they do better than the Eagles!!!!!

We won!!!! Well Netherlands did. 3 goals to

Italy

nil. Wow the town was alive, especially after they won.

We decided to eat in town to see the excitement. The Netherlands colours are Orange and everyone had something orange on. It was great to watch. Every time they got a goal we would run in to this dark room to see the TV. It was so full of sweaty hot bodies, smoke filled air that we couldn’t bare to stay there. We went home to watch the last quarter. We decided it was better to be home before the drunks hit the streets. The town was certainly noisy and you heard all the kids heading home.

We stayed 3 nights in Gouda and we both really enjoyed it. We bought from the VVV a walking tour for 2 euro, but we rode it. Russel read the story about each site as we arrived at the site. On the way around I saw a hairdresser so made an appointment. And Russel found a barber so we are both now have short hair again.

Russel reading out the text

The next day we visited the Museum and the local church called De Sint Janskerk or in English – St John’s Church.

It is the longest church in the Netherlands – 123 metres. The church is especially famous for its stained glass windows “the Gouda Windows”. They depict scenes from biblical and national history. Parts of them were made between 1555 and 1572. Before they make the stained glass windows they make a full size working drawings called cartons. We saw some of these cartons in the Museum. Not many churches have the cartons of their stained glass window. During the war the windows were taken down and stored in wooden cases under ground. We spent a lot of time looking at this church. It was was worth while.

Thursday we decided to move on and go to Dordtrecht for three days. I expected a casual drive down the canal and didn’t realize we were going into some big and very busy canals. To top it off it was raining and the weather was not that pleasant. We arrived at the yacht haven and in the poring rain I had to get ropes around the poles. In the end I jumped off. At least I had a rain coat on, Russel didn’t. We have spent the afternoon holed up in our boat drying out.

Saturday we went down to the National Park De Biesbosch by fast ferry. We took our bikes so rode around taking in the peace and tranquility of the Park. We then hired a small dingy to go down the streams. We feel we have seen what we want to so have decided not to take our boat down. The canals are very shallow and everyone warns us to be careful. We have decided to stay another day in Dordrecht as I have fallen in love with this very old city.

The ferry we caught

Russel driving this very slow boat

We finally left Dordrecht on Monday and sailed down the Merwede Canal with all the barges and ships. It was a glorious sunny day. The tide was against us and slowed us down to about 8 klm but we made it to our destination or Gorinchem where we will stay 2 days. Today we are just going to ride around town and take a leisurely day. In fact most of our days are leisurely.

Dordrecht from the Merwede Canal

We stayed in Gorinchem for two days. This shows a photo of Gorinchem at night.

We then traveled to Leerdam , which was an hour off the Merwedekanaal . We spent the time in the Glass blowing factory. This area is well know for their glass products.

I just love their sunsets

We then returned the way we came back to the Merwedekanaal and traveled north to Vianen then turned east into the Lek. We arrived in Colemborg on Friday and stayed three days. It was a cute little place. We watched the first semi final – Nederlands and Russia – Russia thrashing the pants of us. So we are now out of the race and the orange is starting to disappear from the streets. It’s very sad!!

Culemborg town centre

These guys were off to watch the football

Today we traveled up the Lek, crossing the Amsterdam RijnKanaal and into the Nederrijn Kanaal continuing east until we arrive in Wageningen. We will leave tomorrow for Arnhem. Wageningen is renowned as the site of the German capitulation which was signed 5 Mat 1945 at the Hotel De Wereld.

We booked in for two nights in Arnhem Yacht Haven. Arnhem was leveled in the second world war and so there are lots of museums around about the war. We however decided to head for the Nationale Park De Hoge Veluwe. Rather than ride we caught a bus. They had bikes that you could ride all over the park.

This national park was donated to the state by the Kroller family. Anton wanted hunting grounds and his wife Helene wanted a museum. So they got both when they purchased this site. Helene was an art collector and the Kroller Muller Museum was built. So Zoe and Lyn you will be proud of me. We walked around the art gallery for a couple of hours and saw painting of Van Gogh (267 paintings) as well as paintings by Picasso, Renoir, and Monet. Enough culture to last this trip!!!!

The Hunting Lodge

We headed for Deventer and stayed the night. It was a gorgeous evening so we had a barby. No wind at long last.!!! It was a real barmy evening.

We woke the next morning to sunshine, but the wind was incredible. It took Russel all his boat skills to get us off the jetty and back out to the Ijssel, which was rough, rough rough. We had waves going over the front of the boat when barges passed.

We sailed up the Ijssel and passed Kampen ( the Gilberts had decided to go to Leystad instead) and out into the Ketelmere which was real scary. We weren’t out there long as we turned off into a sluis where is became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I was absolutely amazed that the weather could change so quickly. We headed down the Hogue Vaart Kannal to Dronten. The weather was perfect for drying clothes so I set about doing the washing. By the time we went to bed it was all dry. Folded and put away.

Thank goodness as we woke to torrential rain and it was cold. We arranged to meet the Gilberts at 10 am so we headed off in the rain. We arrived about 30 minutes late.

We are now on the side of the Gilberts boat in a very pretty setting about 4 klm from Leystad.

We are in the province of Flevoland. The whole area was man made. The first people arrived here in 1976 (the year we took over the business). This is very modern Holland – only 30 years of history here. Every tree and plant here has been planted. They have created very beautiful place with plenty of canals, forest, bike paths and very modern shopping centres.

Yesterday and today we rode to Leystad where we visited two museums – on about the building of this Polder and one was the Batavia Replica. Both were interesting and well worth while.

The Batavia Replica

The boys having fun

We left and headed to Urk. Urk was originally an island some 15 klms off the shore. It was joined to the mainland by the Noordoospolder in 1942. They were all fisherman that use to fish in the Norderzee so they now fish in the Ijsselmeer for paling (eel) and they have a fish auction every week day. We had gorgeous weather in Urk, so stayed three days.

Urk Yatch haven

Our friends (we met last year) John and Rinolda came to visit us. We had a great meal sitting on the back of our boat. It was great to catch up. They are a great couple.

We then left the next day as John warned us that a big storm was coming through and we wouldn’t want to be on the Ijssel. We had traveled across on the Ijssel on a very calm day when we went to Urk. So we left and caught up with the Gilberts and headed to Kraggenburg, which was a little village in the middle of a very pretty forrest. It was here that we could hear the thunder and the rain finally came.