Meppel -Drenthe
We arrived in Meppel in time to do the washing and boat cleaning. For us it was to get ready for Ray and Beth’s visit and for Russel and Penny, to get their boat ready to leave for the winter before heading off to Frankfurt for the plane trip home. Next evening we picked up Ray and Beth from the station, it was only a 90 min ride from Amsterdam so a good place to meet.
We had a farewell BBQ on R and P’s boat and took a photo of them getting out of their pen to head off to the Yachthaven for winter. It hasn’t taken Russel long to get used to the boat and Penny is a very proficient deckie. They really had to squeeze out of this mooring.
The next morning we took a look around Meppel before leaving for the next part of our journey. We even had a windmill to start off their Holland trip.
We were fortunate to see the windmill working, it is run by volunteers who mill flour to sell for funds for its upkeep. The miller even went out to show us how the cap and sails are turned to catch the best wind.
On the side road across from our mooring a man had a 1 in 77 scale model of the 7 Provincien that he took 2 years to make, we saw a full size replica being built in Lelystad.
Geithorn- Overijssel
Off we cruised down the canal towards Geithorn. On the way we passed a pole erected to encourage the storks to make a nest, there were two storks in the nest so the idea seems to be successful.
We crossed the lake and made our way up to Geithorn where we moored in a beaut harbour with grass banks all around the moorings.
Geithorn is famous for beautiful residences and little restaurants lining the small canals which were only a short walk from the harbour. We had a walk around late on Sunday afternoon along with hundreds of other tourists either boating or walking.
It was a it like bumper boats at the royal show so we decided to wait until Monday morning to hire a small electric driven boat to have our turn to drive by the houses.
The houses do not have car access, they park the cars in a resident car park then use their private bridges leading from the main pathway. We asked one resident if he got sick of tourists ogling them but he said he wouldn’t live here if he did and went to the back garden if he needed peace and quiet.
Monday was lovely and quiet so we set out for an hour drive around the houses.
We found a good fish shop here and introduced Ray and Beth to Kibbling (small fish pieces ) and Paling(smoked eel), two common snacks here in Holland.
From Geithorn we cruised down to the lake again and stayed overnight on a pontoon mooring on the lake side. Next morning Kevin cooked a good aussie breakfast with bacon and eggs and the trimmings.
We left the lake and travelled to Blokzjil.
Blokzijl - Overijssel
We pulled into a mooring in Blokzijl harbour to be greeted with a car balancing over the wall, not sure if the driver was drunk, the brakes failed or the car really wanted to be a boat.
The visitors harbour in Blokzijl was the original harbour when Blokzijl was on the Zuider Zee.(see Noordoost Polder)
It is surrounded by many of the original 17th century buildings.
I loved the gable decoration on these three beautifully restored buildings.
Below you can see the building on the right is tilting into the street as the foundations are sinking. We have seen this in many towns where the water table has dropped. Many building have very long reinforced concrete piles to stabilise them. It is great that they are restored not pulled down.
This high water canon was used to warn of flood conditions in the old days when the locks were closed to protect the town.
We visited the museum and saw a very good film in English with lots of photos and explanations of the life in Blokzijl before it was joined to the Noordooste Polder. There was marker for the N.A.P. Normal Amsterdam Piel which shows the measurement of water level in Overijssel.
and a good map showing the placement of 400 known wreck sites found when the Flevoland and the Noordoost Polder were drained, each position is now marked by a red sailing ship.
Urk- Flevoland
While in Blokzijl we decided to take a bus over to Urk as mentioned in the Noodoost Polder blog. The bus system in Holland makes it easy to look around. The day was great as we were able to go up to the top of the lighthouse which wasn’t open last time we were here and take Ray and Beth to see the eel auction.
On the way back near Marknesse we were lucky to see a red ship marker indicating a wreck underground.
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