Blokzijl 2013 Motortjalk Australia
Day
1
 |
Felder's
Boskje
to
Olderberkoop
 |
start due to last minute things like getting Ben to his
Orientation
days at his new school and arranging for Anneke
to feed the animals.
1100 departure from Felder's Boskje, a nice place to have left the
boat for about 8 weeks! A few sleeps on board, a
few day trips and now a venture in to new territory....
Waved
goodbye to our familiar bridge keepers
and made it to Sluis
III (lock
3) on the Tjonger Kanaal and headed off towards
Olderberkoop.
Janny had to be put ashore in order to find a Geocache that she and
Anneke
had been looking for. Found it and then a death-defying
leap back
on board and we were underway again. All my thoughts
are now
directed towards preparing myself for the trip to France.
Even the
coming alongside was bow first in order to keep the
propellor
out of harms way - little matter that Janny had to leap
over
stinging nettles and whatever else to get to the cache. (A book I read
recommends bow first in some of the French canals as they can be very shallow
close to the banks).
Good to
be in total relax mode - seems like our first holiday in
ages,
certainly the first time we have closed shop in 5 years. Just
hope all
our clients come back when we are open again!
4.5 hours to Olderberkoop.
Oldeberkoop Haven
Olderberkoop
haven has been renovated but still needs a bit of
settling
down after the new works. There is a good take-away food shop within 100 metres
and it has a bar, so that will be us for the evening.
Might stay awake long enough to watch a couple of movies on DVD, thanks to
Barry who sends me a seemingly endless supply.
0800 next day - out walking through
Olderberkoop. very nice
village
with frequent hello's from the mums taking kids to school.
Day 2 Oldeberkoop to Ossenzijl
Shower
and breakfast and then away by 1000hrs. Olderberkoop
really is the jewel in what is otherwise a fairly uninteresting stretch of water - the Tjonger kanaal.
Through the last lock (Sluis I) and on to Mildam, still in familiar waters.
Past
Mildam is the turn off to Heerenveen, a route we have taken quite
often. This time we go on past and finally enter new territory.
We are
still on the Tjonger until we turn off on to the Jonkersvaart
(also
labelled as the Helomavaart) taking a south easterly direction
towards
Driewegsluis (literally 3 way lock). Along the way the
Oldelamerbrug
is opened for us and a bit further the remotely
controlled
Oldetrijnsterbrug remains closed as the bridgekeeper
determines that we can safely pass under..... the boat in front of
us has to
lower his mast and ours was already down in anticipation.
The bridge height is
indicated at 2450mm and our safe passage is
reckoned
to be 2400 (actual 2350).
At
Driewegsluis the actual lock is named the Mr. H.P. Linthorst
Homansluis.
It is very busy in both directions and the drop is only
about
40cm, which surprised us; all the locks in the Turf Route
range
from about 1 metre to 1.8 metres.
Onwards
towards Ossenzijl, through the automatic Hogewegsbrug
and on to
our mooring at 1600hrs.
 |
| The bridge at Ossenzijl |
Travel time 6 hours for 39 kms.
We are
now inside the National Park De Weerribben. Walking
distance
to Ossenzijl and again a restaurant meal instead of cooking any of the food on
board.
"All You Can Eat Prawns"
on the menu.... but we stopped at 2 plates!
Up early
next morning for a walk and stunning photos.
Mooring
at Ossenzijl
Lots of
holiday houses, all built from the water as there are no
roads. Indeed, some of the houses can't even be reached on foot. A
lot of the houses have a small waterway leading to the backyard
boat
garage with a small removable footbridge at the water’s edge
to allow passage.
Some of
the houses look to be permanently occupied, so it must be a totally different
experience during the long winter months.
Day 3 Ossenzijl to Blokzijl
We leave
for Blokzijl at about 0930. Very leisurely pace, trying to
take it
all in. Lots of grand houses, many for sale and all very high
in the “location, location, location” stakes.
We are in
the Kalenberger Gracht then the Wetering, cross over the Giethoornse Meer then the Valse Trog and Noorderdiep in to
Blokzijl. At one bridge we had to pay
€2.10 into the swinging clog.
We
also passed a place called Muggenbeet (literally "Mosquito
Bite").
Arrive at Blokzijl at 1200hrs - 2.5
hours travel time
total 13 hours from Felder's Boskje.
At
Blokzijl there was a queue waiting for the lock so we ducked into a side channel and found the "ideal" mooring waiting for us. A lovely
chap took our mooring line after I had negotiated a perfect turn and
approach (so nice when it goes well and there is an audience).
A powered site with water and only 150 metres from the excellent shower and
toilet facilities.
The corner of land we are moored
on is actually an island
connected to almost the centre of the village by a very small bridge.It is unusual to have such a piece of land still free, but apparently it was owned by a local farmer who refused to sell it. He must
have since
died and his family have sold it to a wealthy local..... so it won't be
available for mooring next time we come.
The alternative will be to go through the ultra busy lock and try
to find a
spot 3 or 4 deep in the main harbour.
Busy lock at Blokzijl
Blokzijl
used to be a whaling village when it was on the edge of the Zuiderzee. It is
now in the middle of the famed reclaimed land of the Netherlands.
The
former exit to the Zuider Zee
Janny’s brother Sipke now lives in Blokzijl with his partner
Lucky(pronounced Lew-ky). They have recently acquired a small boat which is ideal for the smaller canals located in the National
Park. Sipke owns an Optometrist shop in Emmelord so we borrowed his car and went to order some new glasses. Surprisingly, my eyes haven’t deteriorated since my last pair. We spent Saturday afternoon on the grass by the lock where there is always plenty
ofaction in the form of boats coming and going, not to mention all
the other people.
 |
| Gunther ( German chap) with his very English wife doing the steering! |
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| We would hardly call this boating - but at least they are on the water |
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| An English flag - don't know why as they were all speaking Dutch. |
Now, one of the more unusual highlights of the trip came in the
form of......
The Dennis Burger – Lunchtime Menu
A hamburger with the lot as Aussies know it, is not normally sold in the Netherlands. So, this would undoubtedly be the best hamburger I have had here in more than 20 years! Some things seem to be more important when they are denied to you - just like a meat pie at the footy or a Sunday Roast.
Day 4 - a Weerribben Excursion
Weerribben National Park
This was the trip we did on Sunday afternoon in the
small boat. Perfect weather gave us the chance to really get a feel for it.
Very much a tourist spot, we couldn’t resist the
coffee and cake on offer at a restaurant along the way…..
Needless to
say, there are many bridges over the smaller canals. We wouldn’t
be able to bring our boat in here.
Being with
Sipke and Lucky, we had to eat out again!
I continued with my “find the best Irish Coffee” research and the others explored the cognac options – nice when no one has to drive home!
I continued with my “find the best Irish Coffee” research and the others explored the cognac options – nice when no one has to drive home!
Last Day - Blokzijl to Drachten
It was going to be a long day, but we thought we would
give it a try. We had to get through the last bridge at Akkrum and then it
really didn’t matter how late we would arrive.
We left Blokzijl at 0820 and arrived in Drachten at
2000hrs – with an hour waiting for the bridge at Akkrum. On the
main roads they keep the bridges closed at peak traffic times. It was a bit
annoying but it gave us an enforced break and a chance for a cuppa and
something to eat.
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