All in the interests of community spirit

It's that time of year in the Netherlands when everyone with young children gets inordinately excited over the arrival of a very ancient, white-bearded bishop from Spain. This gentleman is known as Sinterklaas and his purpose in life is to travel around the country on a horse dispensing gifts to good children and admonishments to the naughty ones. His whole trip culminates on December the 5th when the children receive their gifts on pakjesavond, after which he disappears back to Spain again. How he does this has never been made clear to me, but his arrival by steam boat is always a big event.

Sinterklaas turns up every year in different cities around the country (he's clever like that 😉) and in our area, he comes to the harbour where Vereeniging has her mooring. In fact, this year, he wanted to use Vereeniging's gangplank, so we were asked if we'd move our old lady in time for the grand reception yesterday. In the interests of community spirit, and all, we were happy to oblige and on Friday, in the most perfect conditions (meaning no wind at all–a very rare event), we fired up the engine.

Vereeniging, with Koos's expert help made a perfect manoeuvre and a full turn to land gently against the side of our neighbour, thus leaving a space free for his venerable and ancient lordship to disembark.

Seen from the other side

She's coupled up to the neighbour

 

leaving the gangplank vacant

Just a nice view. Well, I think so!

Our move left the way clear for a tugboat to arrive bearing his nibs, Sinterklaas. To our surprise, the good bishop has moved into the modern era and far from using a traditional steam tug for his tranport, his ship was a rather modern commercial tug, such as we often see working on the waterways here. Anyway, the kids didn't care and traditionalists merely frowned because the crowds that gathered to greet the saintly man were full of good cheer.

Koos went along to take some photos for the record and managed to capture the lively scenes on the shore in some sunshine. As you can see, everyone had a jolly time and the event was well attended.

Today, with all the fun over, we decided to move Vereeniging back to her spot again. Well, that was a different story and something of a comedy of errors. We decided, for some reason best known to neither of us, not to use the engine and just to haul her over with ropes, which wasn't the best decision we've ever made...

Long saga short, the wind was blowing hard and one of us...ahem...forgot to attach a retaining rope from Vereeniging's front end to the barge we were lying alongside, so with only one rope at her stern to pull her across, her bow was blown round and out into the harbour, leaving her at a 90-degree angle to our mooring. Pulling her back in would have put an unshorn Samson to the test, let alone two humans of a certain age, one with dodgy knees and the other with a rickety wrist. That 'ten-minute job' ended up being nearly two hours even with the help of a kind soul who happened to be watching and ended up taking much of the strain. Of course, we won in the end, and we both realised that hindsight is about the only good thing we could have taken from it, especially as we were both shattered by the time we'd sorted all the ropes out and tidied the decks.

Still, Vereeniging is back where she belongs facing out into the canal, which means she's ready to depart for any new adventures. It won't be until next year, of course, but let's hope the winter won't be a long one. Our brief spuddle on Friday got those faring juices going again.

Have a lovely week allemaal, and I hope the weather's kind to you wherever you are.

Estuary shores and sandy paws

Estuary shores are a bit different from real coastal beaches, aren't they? I grew up in London with the Thames not far away, and I remember loving the wildness of the foreshore at low tide. Seeing the mudflats and the birdlife gave me more pleasure than going to play at the pebbly Channel coast. Of course, the Welsh beaches where we spent most of my childhood holidays are incomparable, but even so, there's just something about a river estuary.

The Westerschelde Estuary

We happen to live close to the Westerschelde (Western Scheldt) estuary and it's a lovely place to take the dogs for a walk. The spot where we like going best is just to the west of Terneuzen where it's a cross between beach and tidal marshland. When the tide comes in, the land is mostly flooded but at low tide, there are large areas of grasses, tiny creeks and wild plants – great for doggy snuffles, with their pools and rivulets. You can see a little of what I mean from this Google map satellite view here.

The shady area is the sand and grassy parts mixed. There's
also a big sandbank out in the estuary that shipping needs to be
very careful to avoid 

Last weekend, my daughter and I took our pups there for a good run. It was a lovely morning and the dogs had the best time ever charging about between the rocks and into the undergrowth. I think Zoe ran more than I've ever seen her do and even, almost, got to zoomy stage, something she's not known for at all.

But I think I'll leave the photos to speak for themselves...

The tide was coming in when we were there

Happy dogs

"Hey, Lulu, this here's a good sniff!" "Yeah, Zozo, gimme a load of that!"

There are pebbles too as well as lumps of small stones
apparently glued together with sand

Just a track through the grasses here

The incoming tide brought some lovely pools for the pups

And out in the estuary, a massive container ship heads for Antwerp

To the east, a chemical factory, which I can't help finding quite beautiful

More doggy pics from daughter's perspective

Such good friends

We are now into a spell of grey and gloom and it's cold in that damp way that makes me feel unwell–real November weather. I'm not a fan, so fingers crossed the sun peeps through again soon. I've told the weather gods that cold and sunny is fine, just not this endless misty grey. They really need to do something about it. Anyway, enjoy the rest of your week, allemaal, and the weekend too!

Catching my tale

It's been over two weeks since I posted my last travel blog, and again, I find it hard to accept that the time has passed so quickly. However, I do know where it's gone: for once, we've had a spell of lovely dry weather, as well as some gloriously sunny days here in the Netherlands. The consequences for me are obvious. I've been working on the boat maintenance chores needed before winter sets in.

Still, that doesn't tell you about all the other things we've been doing since we arrived back from our holiday, so here's a quick summary.

Right at the end of August, we had a visit from a very dear South African friend. I've known Bobbity (her nickname) since the early nineties after we moved to Johannesburg. She and I became close throughout the decade and I spent many a day at her out-of-town smallholding in Krugersdorp with my girls. Since I moved back to Europe, I've been back several times but haven't always managed to see her, so it was a real delight when she decided to come and see us during a visit to her son in Munich this summer. For most people, travelling from southern Germany to the Netherlands for a weekend would be quite something, but Bobbity is South African used to long distances, and for her, it wasn't a big deal. Nevertheless, I was humbled and hugely grateful she made the journey.

I met her in the beautiful city of Middelburg on the Friday, where we roamed the centre and had coffee at a lovely café. Then, we went home and shared news, walks and chats. On Saturday, we took her to Ghent (compulsory, of course), where we had lunch and a stroll through the beautiful historic centre, which we all loved. Sadly, on Sunday, she had to go, but it was worth every precious minute to see her again.

Bobbity with daughter 1, Jo, in Ghent

The castle in Ghent

The castle from the water

Just over a week later, on September the 8th, I took a drive to the charming traditional Dutch town of Willemstad (no, not the Curaçao one) to join daughter 2, Mo, for a Shanty Choir festival. In truth, it was more a chance to walk the dogs around the lovely old fortifications and have a natter, but the shanty choirs were fun and the town was thronging with people enjoying the sunny, festive afternoon. Here are a few photos I snapped on the day.

View of the moat with a fountain from the fortifications

Willemstad village viewed from the path on the fortifications

Willemstad

Festival goers enjoying the lovely weather

Heading towards the shanty choir stage

One of the many shanty choirs performing

Singers and the public mingling together

Ten days later, Koos and I had a few away days in France. On September the 18th, we drove down to the Haute-Marne where Mo has her house and spent a few gloriously hot, sunny days in this area we've come to love. We have definite ideas about spending more time in the region and also bringing the Hennie H down the canals to Joinville or Froncles, both of which have good moorings. 

We visited the villages of Laferté-sur-Aube, Bossancourt (about 10 km north west of Bar-sur-Aube) and also a few villages along the Marne, notably Villiers-sur-Marne, which has the Koos ideal of a level crossing and a canal close together. I can hardly believe what beautiful weather we had because in the interim, it was pretty wet and miserable. Anyway, we were really lucky and had a lovely time. Here are a few photos of our adventure. The first five photos are of Laferté-sur-Aube and the next, including the one of Zoe are of Bossancourt. The sunflowers were in a field on our way home.

We returned home on the 22nd and the rest of September was quiet with rainy weather to accompany the resumption of my teaching work. I am busy with some PhD students, giving them guidance on writing their theses in English. It's what I enjoy doing as I learn so much from the subjects they're studying.

However, at the beginning of October, I had to go up to Rotterdam to the dentist, which also gave me the opportunity to visit some friends and enjoy yet another beautiful day in my old home town.

Bikes galore as usual

Trams, tracks and cables are another familiar feature

Some of the remaining pre-bombardment city houses on
the Oostzeedijk

Hotel barges in one of the inner city harbours
The Wijnhaven

The end of the Wijnhaven leading into
the Leuvehaven

On my friend's barge

His adorable little dog, Bruce

Then on the 6th, Koos went off on a photo trip to Slovakia, which gave me some fun time painting walls, clearing clutter and working on the boats, in between my teaching, of course. All of this work was facilitated by having dreary weather, and I was particularly pleased with the little shoe rack I made from pieces of scrap wood we had in store.

I've since added an extra shelf because we
needed room for six pairs of shoes and slippers

While Koos was away, poor Zoe developed a huge abscess on her neck. It came up literally overnight and within 48 hours, it was the size of a tennis ball. Luckily, our vet opens on a Saturday morning, so even though I had an appointment for the Monday, I was able to rush her in and get it seen to. We started her on strong antibiotics and, thanks heavens, she responded to them well. By Monday, when I took her back for a check-up, it had reduced significantly and there was no need to drain it. Such a relief, especially as she didn't seem to be in any pain. She was just very tired from fighting the infection.

Extra drinks needed on our walk
Don't you love that tongue?

Feeling much better now, thanks Mum

With Zoe recovered I've spent my free time in the last week catching up with essential boat maintenance. Since Koos returned, the sun has come out again and it hasn't rained at all. It's been quite lovely in the harbour and we have the best view in the world. These photos below are some that I've taken in the past days when we stayed on Vereeniging so I could take advantage of the lovely days. The mornings were cold and the dew very heavy, but at least I could get the decks painted, a big achievement, although there's still lots to do—there always is. As they say here, koop een boot, werk je dood (buy a boat, work yourself to death...yes!).

But it wasn't all labour. We also took took the chance for a short spuddle on the Hennie H, which is always exhilarating on a sparkling day.

A spuddle to visit Vereeniging is always fun

Being out on the canal is a joy

I love all the canal 'furniture'

Back on the towpath the sights are just as good

And the best view is from Vereeniging herself. This
monster shop came past while I was deck painting

So, allemaal, I've finally caught up and am back in the present. It looks as if we're going to have dry days until next weekend, so you can guess where I'm going to be. Enjoy your week wherever you are and I'll be back with an update as soon as I can drag my hands away from scraping, sanding and painting.