Golden City Club Shoot.

I truly miss being on holiday.

These two weeks that we have been back have sucked us in the the hurried world we live in again.

This is the first time this week that I have been able to write about last Saturday's shoot and that is only because I grabbed my computer so that I can post on our way to this week's shoot.

Last week was a real difficult shoot for me after the long lay off but as usual as long as we are shooting we are happy chappies.

Thanks Belinda, William and Deon - had a super time with you guys.

Witwatersrand Lodge - Charity Shoot at Hippo Creek

It didn't take us long to get back to shooting since we are back. There is an entire weekend planned.

Saturday we attended a fund raising shoot organized by John Beare. All funds raised go to the Casitas Home and what a superb day of shooting.

John, who is the chairman of the Lowveld Collectors Association, has a vast knowledge of guns. You want to know anything about a gun - you ask John, so I don't think we were all that surprised when we attended a day of shooting like this and saw that he had organised a fantastic day that went off whithout a hitch.

After all the clays were broke a scrumptious lunch and prizes galore.

The old to the young - ladies and gents - the good and the not so good shooters - gun collectors - spectators - we all had a wonderful day.

Netherlands - Amsterdam

This post is a week late and we are still trying to find our feet back here in South Africa.
Our last night in Amsterdam was a bitter sweet affair.

Usually when we holiday, we are ready to return home to our own bed and bath by the second week. This time I was like a kid not wanting the holiday to end.

We had a day flight back, which to me always seems longer and busier. People are up and about and chatting and all I wanted to do was get my nose in my book.

Will we go back to Netherlands - 100% yes.

Will we barge again - 100% yes.

By the way, it was good to get back to our own bed and bath again.

Netherlands - Woudsend

Marina at Wousend

Today was our last day on the boat and tonight our last sleep on the water.

We spent the day cycling round Woudsend visit the Flour mill where they still use the old wind mill to grind their flour. 

 

We have really had a good rest this week, just reading and

Flour Mill Still In Use

enjoying the last few villages.

This boat trip has been a fabulous experience and it is something we will definitely look into doing again in another country.

The Streets of Woudsend

Le Boat has just been so helpful and professional. Right from our very first booking in South Africa, to Monique and Wilco in Strandhorst to the staff in Woudsend, to the boat – we cannot fault anything.

Tomorrow we are off to Sneek where we will take the train to Amsterdam and spend the night and then it is home to South Africa.

Netherlands - Woudsend.

Collecting Our Toll In A Clog

A Working Windmill In Woudsend

This morning we just waited for the sun to show it's rays and
off we scooted to Woudsend which is a short 45 minute trip.

I was able to get an almost identical scene on my photo this

Woudsend

Where Are We Going Today

morning when we exitedSloten as the one I took of the picture at the church in the village centre. Not much has
changed in over 400 years.

Today also we could get a picture of our bridge master collected is money in the clog.

Doing The Hard Work

We were a bit unsure - moor here in Woudsend for the night or through to Sneek - but the weather made our decision. All of a sudden it was raining and we moored off for the day.

It is very windy and you can see the winter is creeping in but so far we have been very lucky that we have not been rained out 

We might just explore here tomorrow if the weather is not good.

Netherlands - Sloten

Sloten

This morning we decided to hibernate on the boat with our books as it is over cast and doesn’t look too good out there.

At about 2pm we went for a cycle to find the local supermarket and to find somewhere to eat.

Town consists of a cafe/supermarket, two restaurants and an ice cream/take away shop.

Today only one restaurant is open (but not for too much

Sloten Home Built 1763

longer) so tonight we will be making pasta and sauce in the galley.

That was it for today – just curled up with our books in this drizzle.

O by the way - I fell off my bike today. Haven't laughed so much in a long time. Thank goodness there were no tourist in town today to see this.

Netherlands - Sloten

This morning is overcast but what was strange was that there was not much dew and moisture on the boat as usual. Normally we have to dry off the top side before we leave but not much this morning.

Sloten Main Canal

Last Windmill in Sloten

Before we left Lemmer we decided to look for a museum of Indian Bikes that we saw on some brochures. This took us on another one of those ten to fifteen km bike trips that we have been doing. The GPS is fantastic. I just program wherever we are going, put the Samsung in the carry basket and off we go. All bicycle paths are marked and the navigator picks them all up.  

NG Kerk in Sloten

The Indian Museum was a bit of a story – think it is just someone with some Indian Bikes and a workshop. He only opens on a Saturday from 1-5 and you can see not many people actually visit out here,so that was a bummer to ride out all this way.

Sloten in the 1600's

Kids Romping About in the Harbour

It is only an hour to Sloten our next town where the entire town as it was in the 1600’s has been preserved. Sloten was founded in the 13^th century. The central canal is lined with ornamental lime trees. Sloten is one of the stops Elfstedentocht (The Eleven City Ride) this is the world’s longest and largest speed skating competition conducted throughout the eleven Friesian Cities when the Dutch winter permits sufficient natural ice along canals, rivers and lakes.The church still has its Sunday services and all the houses are as they were then. 

We might just chill here another day.

This is they way our children back in South Africa should be enjoying themselves - and this is after 7pm on the waters.

Netherlands - Lemmer

Busy Waterways Today

Last night I was just too tired to switch on and blog.

We woke up to a beautiful day of sunshine and decided to make Lemmer our next stop.

The Ocean at Lemmer

Leaving Echtenerbrug we crossed the Tjeuke Meer and headed for Grutte Brekken which is a commercial canal with major barge traffic on their way to sea.

Being a Saturday there are just hundreds of yachts and

motor boats out. We have now come to the conclusion that there are more boats than people in the Netherlands.

Beers and Tapas at The Beach Pub

Lemmer is very modern and commercialized. We had three marinas to choose from and eventually spent the night at Lemmer Binnen.

Off on our bikes again and went to Woudeagemaal which is the only operational pumping  station in the world. Since 1998, the pumping station was put on the UNESCO Heritage List.
The pumping station was opened on October 7, 1920 by Queen Wilhelmina.

Pumping Station.

 

On the way back we stopped at the beach pub and had “Beers and Beachhapjes” (a lovely platter of chorizo, salami, smoked hams, croquettes, stuffed pepper dews, olives, etc) looking out over the ocean.

The wind came up late evening and the water was very choppy, also we were moored in the through way so we would still pick up some waves as the small boats passed during the night so we had a bumpy night.