Having spent the last year putting our affairs in order in Great Britain, and the last month or so concentrating on the trip across the sea, we find ourselves sadly lacking in information about the Belgian waterways! (How could we have overlooked something so crucial?) We forgot to warn Nieuwpoort Lock Control that we were leaving for Plassendale and thus the first lift bridge (not boater operated) took one hour for the lock keeper to arrive and open. After that things were easier, until we reached Plassendale where Bridge Control, it became clear, changed hands. The guys behind the smoked glass in what turned out to be the control tower (BW weep) saw us, but we couldn’t see them. We flailed about for a bit while we tried to sus the scene and a phone call to Nieuwpoort put us straight: we were through immediately. Bit of a steep learning curve this foreign boating! Moorings in the basin were reserved for potted plants, but out on the BIG canal, we spent a couple of quiet nights.
A short bike trip of half an hour or so the following day to find supplies and canal maps, turned into a 5 hour round trip to Ostend - a surprisingly nice place, complete with Scottish bagpipes on the bandstand in one of many lovely squares. The park we rode through on the way back to Plassendale was just lovely - and catered equally for pedestrians and cyclists.
Next stop Bruges.
8 comments:
Bonjour bonjour - or should i say hallo. Sounds like things are going smoothly(ish) although I can't believe you didn't research how the Belgian waterways worked! Kerry says hi, she says to try the moules frites in Ostend. Let us know when you get to Brussels, we'll come out and stay. x
So one week in, and you have hopefully found your feet, recovered from the crossing and put your jet-lag (barge-lag) to bed. Now is the time to titillate and coerce your daily comings and goings into a blog of publishable proportions. These days a published blog is the natural outcome of writing one in the first place. There are people writing blogs purely as a way of getting published. So I think we need to look forward to "Exciting Adventures of Bargees" or something similar! It seemed in England hardly a day went by without some story or catastrophe befalling the venture - here is the place to tell all the truth about European canal cruising. Jamie
We love reading your blog. It makes domestic bliss very predictable! Enjoy everything!! Much love D,B,C xxx
I heard a rumour photos were coming- ooh, I want photos!! Where are they?
Roll on Bruges/Brussells and a deluge of family visiting...
x
We have found you Alex, keep an eye out for another Night Heron!!
ATB
Darren @ Squirrel
Right you two - excellent work on the blog but your text about Archers withdrawal symptoms has left us worried! I am downloading every episode automatically for you (should give the marketing analysts something to talk about - there can't be many Chris Moyles fans who listen to the Archers as well) but there's no point me e-mailing them to you as it would take us as much space on your dongle as you just downloading themselves.
However, if you are at an internet cafe once a week, or you want to use your dongle, here is the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/archers/
Each episode is about 12 MB, which means for your 1GB a month of "bandwidth" which means it would take you about a quarter of a year to reach your limit. Anyway, they will quietly download here until you need them. x J
Good to hear that your are safe and well. How is the food? bet you are glad of your little food store. The cycling sounds fantastic and safe. Michael suffering from withdrawel symptoms from his wine buddies.Hope you like Bruges I thought it was really nice City. Go and see how the beer is made its really interesting and I think you get free beer as well! Keep on texting is good to textm&s x
Hi Alex and Louise
Glad your journey is going well, watching your progress with lots of interest keep the blog updated as we now have broadband hahahaha.
Jeff and Elaine
Methley Bridge
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