Susie's Report No 41

 

 

Hello to All,

 

On leaving France, we head into Belgium to a town called NIEUPORT:  Great local markets and every man and his dog riding a bike. Bikes have preference on the roads and pedestrian crossings. They even have a special light for bikes at the traffic lights, bikes go first. 

 

 

Next day into the Netherlands, a town we have been to before, SAS Van GENT. We park along the canal and watch the canal traffic transiting to and fro.

 

 

It's the weekend, so all the weekend warriors are out in force. We are so tired of vans parking 2ft away from us - so I decided I would put out an "imaginary" force field it worked !!!!! ( the Germans are the worst offenders). We could be in a field, paddock or anywhere and with loads of spaces, but no, they will come and park right beside you, it drives me NUTS !!. 

 

 Anyway, we went for a scenic ride along the canal and there was a fishing comp happening - The World Feeder Fishing Championships, 36 teams with 5 people each, this was set along the canal for a couple of klms, it was very serious stuff, no one was talking just watching their rods, and waiting.We talked to Shaun from the English team, who after day one were leading the competition.

 

 

 Meanwhile these huge ships were pottering by sending their wake crashing into the banks as the men fished on....On returning to H.H. my force field was still active - Terry thinks I might have a hidden talent ( time will tell).

 

We were going to do a story just on Canals, because they can be unbelievably beautiful, intriguing, colourful, scenic, busy with traffic or very quiet, wide or skinny.

 

 

We just love them but I guessed you already know that. We have have some stunning photo's, mostly you can ride your bikes along them forever. It’s never a dull moment, there's ducks, geese,swans, cranes, frogs and this time of year lots with babies.

 

We met a lady walking along the canal, on her arm she had two exotic looking birds, we stopped for a chat, the birds are from Brazil. They even had tiny harnesses on, these we're tethered to her arm. She said she loved the Australian cockatoo and we said YES BUT !!! They are extremely noisy and can be very destructive ( we should know they tried to eat our back veranda, and b.b.q setting). She was on a 85 meter working boat, they have a contract to carry Pet Food along the canals. She said it can get very lonely being on the boat for along time, her birds give her great joy.

 

 So, here we are sitting beside the canal and watching the red poppies swaying in the breeze, and just finishing a cup of tea thinking life is not to bad at all ( we are lucky to be doing this ) and at 6pm we'll pour ourselves a nice refreshment and celebrate another nice finish to another nice day.

 

 

Now…. I might have mentioned that I am NOT a tunnel fan, but we have just driven 6.6 klms and it's all under water. I'm always looking for that light at the end, and wishing it would really, really hurry itself up. Holland has so many islands to skirt around this was the way to do it quickly.

 

 

We ended up at KATS near COLIJSPLAAT: settled in, then rode around the Dyke for about 25 klms. Scattered along the bike trail was broken bits of oyster and mussel shells. Intrigued we watched the big gulls drop their plunder from a decent height, it smashes, on the dyke wall and then… Bon appetite (very clever).

 

 

Back at the campsite we took pity on the local stray mother cat with 4 kittens, for breakfast she had, a small cube of cheese, 2 slices of ham, and a scoop of Bolognese meat sauce. She then wandered off into the fields looking for some mice. I now have to add cat biscuits to my shopping list....

 

Signposts in Holland are mind boggling, The pronunciation and spelling baffling, it looks like all the alphabet jumbled up into one long word.

 

 

ALBLASSERDAM: The windmill district. In the olden days there was 150 working, now only 48 remain and these remain as watermills. There job is to adjust the flow of ditch water at the side of the canals.

 

 

They bring the water higher to the low basin area, a fabulous site and a good ride around the area. Lots of geese, I'm not sure if these are migratory, there's so many of them and with babies.

 

GOUDA: What a lively and bustling town, we were lucky it was market day, we had a great morning of wandering around, and had our first taste of Kiberlings, bite size bits of cod or haddock. We are now pleasantly addicted. YUM......Gouda cheese of course features everywhere, giant wheels of yellow and lots of wooden clogs en mass, bright and colourful, with lots of pots of flowers and loads of bikes.

 

 

The cheese is not to bad if you like not a lot of flavour, give me a good old mature cheddar any day.

 

We are at a campers stop on the outskirts of UTRECHT: This town is the start to Tour De France, we will be back here for the trials and start. 

 

 

AMSTERDAM: What can I say - The Capital City.  It's Saturday, so many people, so busy, so alive, so good, so hippie, so cannabis, so seedy, so many bikes. The city of pleasure and hospitality, and oh… the canals.  It has a great public transport system with trams, trains, buses, boats and bikes.. bikes..bikes.

 

It's our wedding anniversary, so back into Amsterdam we go for a canal cruise, a meal and just to enjoy the atmosphere. We wandered through the red light district in daylight unfortunately. You can choose your lady from out in the street, she stands in the window bay, parading her wares. I coax Terry along  ( he's happy to stand there a bit longer ) and we go on our canal cruise, extremely entertaining.

 

 

This is where all the boats go to rest or die. The legal ones have power and gas, the illegals none, some are giants some so tiny.  

 

 

The apartments have a wonderful history also, each one is about 5 stories high. When built there was a huge tax on the width of the building, so the frontage had to be very narrow, hence very narrow internal staircases SO !! Each building has on the roof it's own gantry, very like a block & tackle to haul things (furniture etc) up and down through the windows.

 

 

It's been going on for centuries. The council also had to go to great expense because of the cars making along the canals. They had to put in guard rails to stop cars/bikes driving straight into the water, they say they still on average lose one car a week into the drink.

 

Terry did miss out on interesting times at the red light district , the girls would not accept any I.O.U's as payment for their services  - spoil sports !! Ha !! So we went to have dinner instead, great choices to be had, but we settled on Ribs, Salad and fries washed down with a Heineken. Prior to leaving we wished each other Happy Anniversary with a bottle of Italian Prosecco. We caught the tram back to H.H. Thank goodness it was good walk back from the station.  Amsterdam a great city....

 

EDAM: Pretty as a picture, and of course renowned for it's red ball cheese. So many small canals with traditional drawbridges, it was actually a fortress town. The cheese and shipbuilding trade has played an important role since the 16th century. As we cycled by, one of the locks leading to the town was full with a rally of great little canal boats.

 

 

VOLENDAM: Is a quick ride from Edam, and is an ancient fishing village on Lake Ljssel. The photos of the traditional boats called Botters tell the story.

 

 

This is a busy tourist town, thank goodness we rode there as we had Kiberlings for a snack lunch again, this has got to stop but, they are sooo....yummy.

 

HARLINGEN TERMINAL: Another good overnight stop in the heart of the shipping area. Great riding along the dyke wall. We came across this familiar looking boat, it looked like the one from the movie  "The Boat that Rocks”, a relay ship for a pirate radio in the sixties.

 

 

It was a sunny day so lots of boats (Botters) doing touristy things, car ferry's out to the islands, pleasure craft everywhere.

We are really enjoying Holland, the people are so friendly and they speak extremely good English (this really helps), the roads are brilliant, their gardens vibrant with flowers, all the towns/villages have flower pots everywhere along the roads.  We have travelled a lot of klms now and this country is very "house proud”, no rubbish anywhere, streets,roadsides, no litter to be seen. It's very green with lots and lots of trees, boats and bikes… bikes… bikes.

 

GEITHOORN: A very affluent town, large homes and properties with an incredible amount of tiny canals, with boats for hire.

 

 

The pathways and little bridges were so narrow we walked with our bikes to get around some of this area. Lots of restaurants, lots of tourists, lots of dairy cattle.

 

 

ALMERE HAVEN: Summer has arrived and it's the last day of June, hot and nice.  The marina is very pleasant with room for 16 motor homes and there is an Amusement/Sideshow setting up shop down the road. ( you know the ones, you have to spend hundreds of dollars to win a $1 fluffy toy or a plastic whatever?).

 

 

Riding our bikes has become less fraught with danger i.e. Terry's new frame is obviously carrying the load easier ( no punctures/flat tyres ) yet !! And I had to get 2 new tyres, which cost an arm and and a leg with fitting and labour. Mine had perished. The rubber had cracks all around the rims. I was just hoping they wouldn't burst open while riding, it was just unfortunate we had to buy these in Holland as by law you have to have a reflective strip in them, even though we do NOT ride at night. These tyres are so good they'll live longer than I will.

  

NOORD IJSSELDIJK:We are at Jachthaven MARNEMOENDE ( try pronouncing these - good luck ) awaiting the Tour de France, 5 days to go.

 

  We ride into UTRECHT to catch up with Wayne and Liz (Aussie friends) to watch the presentation of the riders for the Tour de France and the entertainment in a local park. Well !!!! We got terribly lost on the way in and likewise on the way home (1 3/4hrs each way). Needless to say we missed catching up with them.  We watched the events, found our bikes and rode off into chaos again. 

 

 

We finally found our way back to H.H. at 9.15pm with a thrashing storm behind us, thunder and lightning very very, frightening. So with a glass of rough red and rum and coke we reflected that it had been very interesting, very colourful, along with lots of swearing!! Ours, that it. Actually most of the riders are petite, extremely slim and fit.

 

 

The M.C at the park asked a rider "so what do you eat" answer - lots and lots of carbohydrates, so that got me thinking ( We'll just have to peddle faster and do lots of longer distances) and probably cut out the evenings refreshments and canapés. YIKES !!!. Not likely to happen........

 

It has been so hot here, all of Europe is in heatwave conditions, 38 degs. Thank heavens we have a portable fan in H.H. We would of not been able to sleep, I'm surprised it affected us so much, and as much as I love the canals I would not swim in them, just dangle legs over the side.

 

Sunday and it's race day, we ride into MONTFOORT:

 Not game enough to attempt Utrecht again plus some roads/streets are blocked off. So, we peddle in to claim a patch on the side of the road for race viewing. There’s a grand old tree just waiting to have our flags draped all over it.

 

 

That done we settle in for a couple of hours of waiting and waiting. But there’s plenty of entertainment.

 

 

 Countdown…. as it's all timed with precision where the riders will be, Helicopters coming across the fields, then BAM!!!! It's all over in a blur......of very fast riders. 

 

 

Even the promotional, cars, trucks and vans sped through in a flash of colour throwing out items, nothing to heavy as the crowd would/could of been maimed/wounded or actually got run over as they were scurrying for a souvenir.

 

 

I managed a SKODA cap that I had to push a child out of the way to get (just kidding-sort of) he already had a handful of stuff, he was not into sharing.

 

Well that's it ....now the other fun begins, thousands of people with bikes trying to leave the area, we end up with a BIKE JAM.....it's a fabulous sight, luckily we didn't have far to go.

 

 

Next day we catch up with Wayne and Liz, they pull into the marina on their boat "True Blue VI" heading down the canal to Gouda. We'll catch up again as the boat is based in Europe. 

 

So off they go with the Australian flag flying in the breeze. We wave goodbye also to a wonderful Dutch couple Cobi & Roel who we were parked beside us. They have been invaluable with information local and afar. It was one of those hugs and kisses days....

 

 

I am now signing off from a town called GORINCHEM:

 

 

The next couple of days we'll head into Germany-Deutschland to buy H.H. his new steps, and have them fitted. He’s gone without them for a while now. He/we have suffered long enough.  We risked life and limb only a couple of times slipping and sliding off the plastic one. They don't sit too we'll on gravel... Anyway...goodbye to All, love to All,  Susie, Terry & H.H. x x x

Susie's Report No 40

 

 

REIMS:  Another lovely town.

 

 

 

We hear the mighty DAF engine as she's chugging down the canal, the M.V. Vagabond has arrived, lines tied to bollards, it's time to relax. Stuart's comes in from the north, us from the south. It's been a long day for all of us it's time for an aperitif and a riperian meal and some other nice liquid refreshments. 

 

 

That day Stuart had purchased from the Eclusier (lock master,) a lettuce and strawberries, (most have veggie gardens), and fabulous houses.

 

 

On leaving his boat he hands me the lettuce, I stow it in the fridge. Next morning I noticed that some little critters had been happily munching away all night on the leaves, I discover 1 x French Slug and 1 x Escargot. Hmm....Terry decided to put said slug into the long grass and I decide to give the Escargot to Stuart. We are all killing ourselves laughing as they had really done a number on the underside leaves, it really was a mess.  

 

We wave Stuart goodbye coughing.

 

 

The DAF has just burped out some tear inducing fumes, but he is indicating (if you can read sign language) that he has already lost his Escargot that HE'D left on the table.

 

 

 We think......, it has snuck off somewhere probably to his bed, to give birth to a million tiny snails, then take over the boat. Actually it sounds like a Hitchcock movie in waiting, he said he will probably have nightmares till it's found.....I'll keep you updated.....

 

Now we have to speed up, and get to GRAVELINES for our departure to the U.K. The ferry leaves from Calais.  This is an Aire and of course on a canal, this area is a very old walled town, we stay here as it's not far from Dunkirk also. They have 6 meter tides, visually it's interesting to see the boats - now you see em - now you don't…. They also have some interesting statues!

 

 

 

We are in the line up at Calais Port and I still cannot believe there is NO security checks, No checking underneath, or inside H.H.

 

 

We could have 1,000 illegal refugees hiding inside ( Just a little exaggeration) but seriously all you need is your passports and H.H's boarding pass at least that is done now, I can make us a cup of tea and toast and wait to board. I remember a few years ago when we flew into Hobart from the Gold Coast we got fined $220 for having a lemon in our luggage! Here we are with a fridge full of vegetables and foodstuffs. Come on Tassie….. drag yourself into the 21st Century!

 

It's a daggy old day for the crossing, raining, so we can't see the white cliffs of Dover on arriving but here we are back in the U.K. With a little sign reminding us to drive on the left. Terry's version of this is just drive with the steering wheel in the ditch attitude, I'll just keep taking the B.P tabs I don't know how he copes with all the changes.

 

CANTERBURY:   I just love this town.

We stay 2 days at the park & ride and then onto POOLE for our M.O.T. (Pink slip & rego), H.H's health check. Thanks be to God or whoever he got a good result with just a few minor nips, tucks and refills and thanks to whoever again we passed on the tyres. This will probably be next time if not before. .....ouch.....!!

 

POOLE:  The town is fabulous, we are given a very small courtesy car, so off we go with Terry's legs up in his chest, and the peddles are so close for his big feet, but he does manage to find brakes when needed ( that's a bonus) anyway I digress!! He mastered it so we end up at the Harbourside. We wandered around and across the river spied "Sunseeker Yachts”.

 

 

Huge plastic (stink) boats worth a lot of pound sterling. We then had takeaway Cod & Chips (batter dripping in oil) and the seagulls had the leftover chips.

 

 

Walking back to the car we noticed the Life Boat Museum and went in, this particular one was involved in the Dunkirk WW 11 rescue of soldiers & civilians by 700 small ships and craft, an extraordinary feat.

 

We wish our dollar/ pound ratio was just a tad better cause it would mean we could stay longer but alas no go....Diesel fuel is a shocker of a price, $2.45 Oz... when you have to double the price of everything it hurts. But the weather was great, we were able to see lots of gorgeous villages and countryside and skinny roads!!

 

 

We drove past HASTINGS: If I remember there was a very fierce battle that occurred, not so long ago (1066) ....history, history everywhere you turn..

 

Now, we have to make our way back to Canterbury again, it has been so good to shop and be able to buy things and read the labels/contents without guessing, I have made a few bo bo's (some good - some not so). The canals here are so pretty, crystal clear waters. This originally was either a river/moat around this ancient walled town

 

Ok back to France we go, pass through customs, passports & boarding pass, still no security checks going the other way. Dover is in sunshine, seas are calm the ferry is running 80 minutes late, time for a cup of coffee.  France is having monumental problems in Calais.  After disembarking we notice a lot of Gendarmerie chasing a lot of Black refugees down the road and also into the bushes. They have put a vast amount of razor wire along the roads with still a lot of work to go.There is a tent city set up farther down the road in the bushland there's been a lot of fracas.  We have been told that the Gendarmerie have been using fire houses to stop the organized riots & illegal boarding of the ships going to the U.K. It's pretty nasty for all concerned, these people are coming down through Italy to France. This is happening day and night.  As I am writing this the dock workers are on strike, causing the semi trailers to slow down and stop. The refugees are lining the roads trying to jump on or under the trucks , they are fighting amongst themselves for position on the road, the people smugglers are having a field day. Australia isn’t the only place with refugee problems.

 

Well that's all folks - we are now on our way to Belgium & Holland etc...stay with us for our next blogger thing - there's always more to come.....lots of love to all, Susie, Terry & H.H. X X X

 

 

Susie's Report No 39

 

Hello to All,

It’s now the middle of June and I don’t know where the time has gone, this blog takes in 4 Countries, France, England, Belgium and The Netherlands (Holland) I might break it up to lessen the load, maybe.  We were going to do a blog just on canals “but” we are here there and everywhere, so here we go……….

AMIENS:   France, a beautiful historic town, the Cathedral is an amazing site to see. It also flies the flags of Australia, Canada, New Foundland, New Zealand, U.S.A. & South Africa in the apse. They also tell us that in the Somme today, the older residents still recall the friendly, young men and their characteristic appearance of the famous hat with the turned back brim. “Lest We Forget”.

 

We mentioned before about the “French Passion” well we decided to try another one, this was on a farm at Sains Richaumont.  

 

They ran lots of Beef cattle etc, and Wheat and Barley fields.  Lying in bed at the farm I was woken by what I thought was a cookoo clock - my immediate sleepy thought was what time is it, and also why has it not stopped cookooing, till finally realising it was the said bird in the tree beside H.H. I think the clock makers got it’s call perfectly.

 Another interesting sound was the chickens, they “cock”……. but they are missing the "doddle do", you sit there waiting for them to finish but it doesn’t happen, it’s like they have forgotten the rest of it …..nature never ceases to amaze me ….. Did you know that Fawns can swim…… Stuart in the mighty “Vagabond” helped shepherd one to shallower water on a canal, it was obviously a bit disoriented.  What a good lad!!!!…..

When we have wi-fi and we can watch old shows on the internet, we opt for “Allo Allo” with the French sub titles  it’s certainly helped with learning little extra bits of the language and lots of good laughs. Anyone that does park to close to us must wonder what is going on in THAT van (keep them guessing I say)…….

Moving along and we are now in the charming CHAMPAGNE region and  Lac du Der & Giffaumont - Champaubert area. We stayed at these  Aire's for a couple of days each and rode a 40 klm  circumnavigation around the lake.

 

It was a stunningly warm day of 26 deg and ended up with sore backsides to say the least.  Next day temps dropped dramatically back to 16 deg each day is so different.  We are always in our bags searching for the right days clothes - one day hot - next cold.  The european weather changes quickly (except Spain & Portugal) our clothes start out neatly packed, then It’s like a mad women has been thru them, Well!!!!!! I guess she has……and..we do love our puffa vests…...

It was another grey old day this day, the sun trying to fight through, this is a place full of activities, biking, yachting, kitesurfing, Jet skiing and of course walking  and so off I go, Terry’s doing his research or having a well deserved nap so he missed this fabulous site and I didn’t take a camera with me, NO pictures!!!!!!!!! I walk around to the next bay and here are Men & Women wearing wet suits (otherwise you would freeze your what’s its off) anyway I digress…..people are all shapes and sizes and they have dogs of all shapes and sizes but mainly they are like a smaller version of a “new foundland” I wish I could speak French & ask questions, but I can only watch on, and there is a small crowd developing. Anyway…..these dogs have harnesses/jackets strapped on with biggish yellow rubber rings on either side the owners/trainers go into the water, swims out, then call the dogs, this is obviously training for sea/lake rescues, they then grab the rings and are brought back to shore, the dogs love it and its fabulous to watch.  They even had a little Jack Russell doing his bit for the team, he was very entertaining up against the big dogs, he did his bit…..

There are lots of UNESCO world heritage sites in this area, and lots of history.  The Kingdom of France began in Champagne with the Baptism of Clovis in the year 496 ( god that was along time ago….) with lots of Cathedrals built through the middle ages (they were obviously always busy building things & restoring things )  and now especially after all the Wars.

 

FRONCLES & CHAUMONT:  lovely canal towns, we rode lots of K’s.

 

They even have early morning bread deliveries…. lovely.

 

You would think we should be ready for the Tour de France trials but alas I think we have to cut down on the baguettes, never mind… Carbs are supposed to be good for elite athletes like us ?????? aren’t they…..

LANGRES: This town was a fortress in the region of Champagne & Burgundy. It has tall ramparts, 12 towers, 7 gates, and 7 bell towers, it has 2,000yrs of art & history along with the famous philosopher, critic and writer “Denis Diderot”. 

 

It’s a couple of Klms to walk around the perimeter of the city.  It’s also very entertaining watching some women trying to navigate the cobble stoned streets in Europe wearing very high heeled shoes and boots and bone & teeth jarring when you are riding a bike. It’s worth a Kodak moment……..

Nearly made it to AUXERRE:  We had 2 attempts at trying to get there by cycling along the canal. BUT….  Terry’s seat decided to part from the frame and SNAP OFF…….it was just like a can opener had got to it. It could of been very painful and dangerous - so back we go ...( picture this),  him balancing on the peddles as he couldn’t sit down for fear of you know what !!! It was an interesting style to watch for a couple of klms , personally I was ready to chuck it in the canal, but we probably would of been fined for littering or fouling the waterways, anyway, problem solved (sort of)…he jammed (with great force) the seat post back down into the broken  frame, he now rides with his knees up around his ears (another good look) so off we go again (sorry no photo’s) and complete the ride with a picnic lunch even though  I forgot my fork for my salad, fingers work just as well.  We returned UNSCATHED the seat still in a precarious position.

BRAY Sur SEINE: We were sitting outside H.H. watching the world drift by, down the canal comes a rather large barge 110 metres, it pulls up alongside, lines thrown onto bollards by the wife while the husband mavoeuvres it like a dinghy! The next minute we see the same couple, now dressed in their sunday best (rapid clothes change, hair brushed/combed) hop off and head into town for lunch. 1.45pm back on board, back into working clothes, lines pulled in and off they go to the next lock that re opens at 2pm. (the locks, like the rest of France are shut between 12.30pm and 2 o’clock!)) so lunch it was - way to go. These big monsters just do their thing…

 

I also did my good deed for the day…..I had to run after a van that was leaving and stop them from doing grevious bodily harm to themselves, they had left UP their aerial on the roof (TV) the next low bridge would of changed that configuration for them.  Just as well we don’t use ours…….???

We were going to visit Paris on this leg but we never made it, but we did have drink on the Seine.

 

CHATEAU THIERRY: Driving along and we see the bright light in the distance for “INTERSPORT” the cursed shop, where we bought our bikes! This is our day!!!!!

 

We think it’s  now or never…let’s do it……we turn H.H. around, armed with his guarantee and paperwork,Terry goes into the store to do business or plead insanity with the manager that this bike is a major health risk (me ! mentally). Terry has learnt that when one can’t speak the language charades DO work.. he tried to explain how the seat post could of ended up in a really nasty painful area.  So we sit in that car park for 6 hrs while they take photo’s and send off to whomever? Also the 2 hr lunch break (shop closes down) finally after much discussion in French we end up with a new frame (yah hoo) so, with all the old bits put onto the new frame. Hopefully this will last another 16 months we leave (shame it wasn’t a whole NEW bike). We are now off to meet Stuart somewhere on the canal in Reims he’s coming in from the north and we from the south, we have both decided we have hardly seen any Champagne grape vines anywhere -  him on the water us on the road it must be an urban myth of this region.

 

Champagne region ..without the grapes!

We finally catch up with Stuart at Reims….

 

 But that’s another story…… I’ll have that for you soon.

Lots of love, Susie, Terry and HH