I forgot to post some photos from our walk around Gouda on Sunday night. It was a beautiful town, and believe it or not, the wind had died down, no rain and the sky was clear. Why couldn't it have been like that during the day! Oh well. 
The day's ride took us through Kinderdjiik, which is the home of many windmills, which are all still operating. It is a case of necessity to keep the water level down in the canals.
We were able to go into one windmill, which is set aside as a tourist site. It was surprisingly large inside and had all the creature comforts, (well some anyway).
After leaving Kinderdjiik, the weather deteriorated, the wind blew, it rained and it was a hard slog at times. The scenery on this part of the ride was much more pastoral with more animals in the paddocks. Some farmers keep their cows shredded all year round, others only do so during the winter. A few sheep, goats as well but mostly dairy cows. This is the land of cheese and milk! A funny thing about that though: when we first got on board, we had a cuppa. I was looking on the table for the milk, but to no avail. I asked for some and he pointed to the jar of powdered milk! Being a smaller boat, storage is a bit of a premium, so real milk only provided at breakfast. I had some uht which I brought up the next day (I asked permission first as you are not supposed to eat/drink your own things in the open areas on board). Now, each time Arno sees me, he brings out a small jug of fresh milk.
Our lunch stop at about 1pm was a welcome rest for the bottom as well as a time to dry out. Ate our packed lunch in the city square then followed it up with a piece of local "Apple taart", absolutely beautiful. Full of chunky fruit, but so light. Mmmmm.
We did have a river crossing by Waterbus. Built to accommodate bikes. A few seats gut not many.
Back on the bikes and it bucketed down. A group decision was made to take the shorter route to the boat (reducing the day by 15km). A very popular decision, even to the "Cadel Evans" of the group.
When we finally reached our boat, it was a welcome sight. Especially after our guide, Wiko, took a few wrong turns! He is a guide for four to six weeks each year, so may only do this trip once or twice a year. He is a lovely fellow.
Once everybody was on board, the boat took off cruising to our night time destination of Willimstad.
After shower and dinner, an evening stroll into the town was the choice for most. 
It was the most beautiful town, a great marina right in town with a windmill next to it. 
The houses were so well kept, it is apparently a very wealthy town.
This morning we have left our berth at 7am and heading to Antwerp in Belguim. This river/canal is quite large and there are many cargo boats transporting goods. It has a two way loch further up, but one loch is out of action for the week, so it will be much slower for us to get through. More about that tomorrow. Bye all.
PS, great win by the Cats the other night (sorry Jess).
At least it was a good game though, we even managed to get free tickets on the ground level. Looks like you're both having a great time, the photos look amazing!!
ReplyDelete