Biking with a purpose

On Friday Aug 29th we went biking again.

It was my sisters birthday, so we dropped in to say "Happy Birthday"


The weather was nice and we had lunch at a side walk cafe.









We had to bike a total of 33 km but it was well worth it


One of the sights along the way is this house which is almost standing on the road. Apparently it used to be a toll both and that is why the location.










That night we enjoyed one of the most beautiful sunsets during the last several weeks.

It was especially nice to watch from our remote and quiet anchorage.

The "Molenwaard"

The "Molenwaard" is a very nice marina.
Undoubtedly the biggest reason for it is the very friendly staff.
Aard Boesekool (left) and Peter van Blerk (right) made us feel at home like no other marina staff.
Thank you both.!!!

For more information over this beautiful marina go to
www.molenwaard.nl








Here we are at the end of the dock. Our usual assigned place as most finger docks don't offer enough room for the "wide" Kadey Krogen.

In the back you see apartments with storage for your boat under the apartment.

Also there are homes build around the harbor, overlooking the beautiful area of the "Zwarte water" and you have your own dock in the back yard.

I will post a picture on a later posting.

A refreshing dip

With the weather having been mostly rainy and cool the water has not had much time to warm up.

Joanne did manage to go for a dip, but did not stay in the water long.

A peacefull mooring

It is already nearing the end of August, and we came to realize that time is fast approaching that le reve will have to be prepared for storage before our return to Canada.

So far, we have had an amazing time in Holland, and have visited with many friends and family. It was very nice to visit with each and every one. There are many more we would have liked to visit with, however having had close to 100 people on board including 3 newspaper reporters and camera men, since our arrival in Holland, all this has left us with little time for our self.


We will spend the next few weeks
looking for more spots such as you see on the pictures, and relax before our return flight to Canada. It is hard to believe we are talking about the return flight, as it just seems like yesterday that we arrived.

We know there are many more who have expressed interest in coming to see us, and we really appreciate it, however time just does not permit this.

We will keep you posted (providing we have internet access) about our voyage, and love to hear from you via e-mail.

I know that some of you have had difficulty posting a comment on this blog, so I would suggest you use our e-mail address. In case you do not have it here it is bvlenthe@sympatico.ca








A view from the back deck.

More pictures around Hattem

A lovely walk along a trail in Hattem behind the marine we stayed in.














The trail led us to the river "IJssel"
When we ended our walk the sky was spectacular.

Cleaning from the side

If the ditch is not too wide, the cleaning is done from the side

Cleaning the ditches (from the water)

On one of our biking trips we encountered this unique piece of equipment.
As a large part of Holland is below sea level, it is very important to keep the drainage ditches clean. This machine scoops out the vegetation and dumps it on the side for later pick up and disposal. A section of auger is hydraulically.

Hattem

We could not leave Hattem without posting a picture of the old city port.
Hattem, although small has City status from way back.
It was fortified in 1400. One of the gates, the"dijkpoort" has survived, and is a proud heritage of Hattem's history.

Picture again

I just realized that the picture of the Schutte fam. had gone missing from the blog, so I will post it again.
As well We had the Baarslag cousins visit last night. Unfortunately we did not take a picture,to bad.

Thanks for your visit Herman and Willemien, and Marianne and BerendJan!!!! It was realy nice.

Intended track

We plan to move further up the IJssel in the next few days. Click on "journey" and you will see our present location.

Grand Parents gift

When we came home from our biking trip, we found a gift from my sister Riek and her husband Johan on board " biscuit met muisjes" (ruskes with "muisjes") and a bottle of wine.
Muisjes are sweets that are served on bread, or rusks. This is a tradition (in Holland) to serve after a baby has been born. Pink and white "muisjes" for a girl, and Blue and white "muisjes" for a boy.

Biking again

lOur trip took us past the forest of the "veluwe" and parts were covered with "heather"














Today we went biking again and went over the "revelingseweg" This only mean something to my sister and brother in law in Canada, as they used to live there. I remember visiting them there, but could not locate the place where they lived as everything had changed.

New grand daughter

Yesterday we became grandparents for the ninth time!!!

Victoria Anastasia (Tori) decided that nearly 8 months in the womb was plenty enough time for her to be in there!!! So she decided to kick a hole in the amniotic sack (must have been her as her Mother did nothing strenuous to cause this to happen so she tells us!!) and start the process of birth. Anyway after she ( Tori) decided "time to come out" she must have gotten a bit gun shy to face the world as nothing else happened. The doctors ( four days later) decided to give her a helping hand and give mom something to start the process. As a result on Monday Aug 18th just before 6.00 o,clock pm Little Victoria Anastasia was born.
She weighs in at just under 6 LBS but looks pretty good for a premature baby we think!!!

Up Date

I realized that the paper article " een drempel te hoog voor le reve" did not have the right link, so it is up dated. You can now see the article by clicking on "check out story" on the end of the earlier bloger report of Aug 9th on " Le reve in the paper"

Pictures

Just a little note:

If you click on the picture in the blog it will enlarge and will be better to view.

PS the weather is not very nice. Lots of rain. typical Dutch weather I guess.

Biking

When the weather is nice everyone (or so it seems) is out on their bike.

We to have joined Holland's most favorite past time "Biking"













bicycle paths are everywhere, and when you come to a river there is a bike ferry (like the one in the picture ) that will take you to the other side.

Hattem

Today we managed to pry ourselfs loose from the dock in Zwolle. We stayed there longer than expected, but there was too much to do and too many people to see!!! All and all had a great time.

Today we started to move up the IJssel. The first stop is just a few miles from Zwolle. Hattem is a nice place to hang out for a while. The unique thing is that a cousin and her husband were standing on the shore of the IJssel just before we entered the channel into the harbor of Hattem. They had no idea that we where coming to Hattem!! We recognized them and waved so!! Janske, and Geurt ( the cousins standing on the shore) come over to the boat once we were docked and had a cup of coffee with us. Nice surprises!!!
Le reve also made the paper again Click the "paper" on the end of this post to check it out
Paper

Still in Zwolle

We are having such a good time in Zwolle, that we seem to be stuck there!!!

It is nice to have people spontaneously drop by to say "hello". The other day someone knocked on the side of the boat, and asked if I recognized him. I told him "sorry" but no I do not recognize you. As it turned out, he used to come over with his parents when they came to visit my parents. We were just small boys at the time, and played together. He learned from the news paper article that we were docked in Zwolle, and when a bike outing with his wifes family( the Schutte Fam.) took him right past where we were docked they came by to say hello. We invited them for coffee and all ten of them came on board and had their morning coffee on the back of the boat. We had a real nice visit with them.
Thanks for coming by to say hello!

Le rêve in the paper

With our attempt to make it all the way up the little stream of "de Overijselse Vecht" and our consequent grounding in the lock Le rêve made the headline in the "Zwolse Courant (vechtdal edition) To check it out you can click on check out story

Our location

We will be in Zwolle for the next few days.
You can click on the "We are here" on the end of this posting and the google map will come up.
We are here

All we can do is tie up in front of the lock, and spend the night. The next morning we headed back down stream, and found a marina in Zwolle.

We ended up going to Dalfsen by car, and spend the afternoon at my sister to watch the opening of the Olympics.

Almost in the lock.

The lock keeper was kind enough to check out the exact water over the sill with his measuring stick.
It will be close at 1.45meter so we carefully snuggled up to the lock

Unfortunately we did not fit over the sill, so we unload the dingy and try again. No matter what we do there is just not enough water to allow Le reve to enter in.

Up to Dalfsen

From Hasselt we tried to make it up the Overijselse vecht. I was worried about fitting under the bridges, so we made sure the fuel tanks were full. We made it fine under the bridges but had other problems

The first lock had a "sill" and we did not know if Le reve would float over it

Visitors from Drayton

This past Wednesday we had visitors from Drayton

The Dekkers, and the Hesselinks.















It was not long and Bert took control of the wheel.

If you see him ask him if it was easy to keep Le reve in the center of the river.

An other visit to Zwartewaterklooster

Joannes cousin and her husband came to the boat for a coffee. Afterwards we went for a bike ride with them, and ended up in Kooster and visited the cemetery where my grandparents are buried.
















It is very unique in that it is very small (perhaps 100 graves) and anyone who was born in the village of Klooster has the right to be buried there. It is kept very neat by the people of Klooster.

Still in the area of Zwartsluis Hasselt

Sunday Aug. 3de we had family on board for a run to Zwolle. My Uncle (second row on right) is my Dads youngest brother, and the only uncle I have left.
Also on the picture are my cousin Wim van Lenthe with his wife as well as my cousin Dina Wennemers nee van Lenthe with her husband and son Jan Willem. Also in the picture are there friends Wim and Tonny Koersen.

Some more pictures

Four loaves and three fishes!!!

Lekker bekjes that is.









even on the boat we have to do laundry sometime






Yesterday we went from Zwartsluis to Hasselt, and stayed there for the night. This morning we went back to Zwartsluis and checked out the new battery charger. Something wrong with the battery charger as it does nothing after connecting it to the electricity. So Monday Mastervolt ( the supplier) will have a new one here. At least all the wires are hooked up, and it will not take long to install the replacement. Hopefully it will work, and we will not have to run the generator anymore to charge the batteries.

Back to the 17th century

Joanne in front of an old old house (bakery) in Hasselt.









The plaque says it all!.

Hasselt

Some pictures

I needed to cut down my steaming light, and a local man noticed I needed some help.









The Xenia a 38 meter bulk product carrier was very kind and helpful about explaining some of the rules of the road (water) on the inland waterways