With our upgraded Lady M running smoothly and happily, our plan was to head north to Meppel – a convenient and interesting town to pick up some friends from the UK who were coming to join us for part of our southbound journey back to Wessem.
The weekend of our departure from Arnhem happened to be the annual commemoration of the Operation Market Garden landings of WWII, with much activity in Arnhem and its surrounds, lots of American and British visitors, and the city streets decorated with banners “Airborne in Arnhem“.
On Saturday 18 September we witnessed the flyover of six large military aircraft on their way to drop parachutists at the Ede landing site west of the city, and Arnhem itself was very busy in celebration mode. On Sunday morning before departing Arnhem we managed a bike ride out to Ede where the previous day the commemorative parachute drop had occurred.
Departing Arnhem, we were making 10.5km/hr along the Neder Rijn, then 15km/hr at the same revs as soon as we turned into the Ijssel with the benefit of positive current – what a nice feeling! Another bonus is the new AIS system, which allows us to see other AIS-equipped vessels (and for them to see us) on our navigation screen before they come into view – not essential but an added level of comfort.
A couple of nights spent relaxing in the quiet harbour at Giesbeek, located on the edge of a now-flooded gravel pit with water depths of 20m to 25m (a strange feeling as our typical water depth is 3m to 6m), and then off to the ancient town of Zutphen, where we moored up in the newly built Noordehaven, which we discovered is subject to a fair bit of wash from passing commercial vessels. We had over-nighted in Zutphen in 2019 specifically to visit the famous library at Saint Walburga’s church, but the church was inexplicably closed and we had departed feeling rather deprived.
The town of Zutphen has a welcoming feel about it – cobbled streets, a concentration of historic buildings and lots of pedestrian-only areas – even a section where you must dismount and push your bicycle!
Deventer is another town we had visited in 2019. This time we were lucky enough to arrive on the last opening day of the harbour restaurant’s season, and even luckier to get a reservation – the meal was excellent. The following day we missed the bus and enjoyed the pleasant 2km walk into town instead, doing our own self-guided walk of the town’s historic sites, visiting De Waag Museum (the town’s historic “weighing house”), and finishing with a late lunch at the Davo Brewery.
Onwards on the Geldersche Ijssel River on Sunday 26 September to the pretty town of Hattem. Along the way there were dozens of canoes, kayaks, sculls and the like all completing a downstream canoe day. A couple of smart fellows tagged onto our wake and slip-streamed us at 12km/hour for more than an hour.
In Hattem we discovered the Everyday Bread & Coffee shop, serving great coffee (with quirky bent spoons) and the best Flammkuchen we have ever tasted.
From Hattem we took a bus trip into the nearby city of Zwolle and Tim climbed the 236 steps (55m) of the “Pepperpot” tower of Our Lady’s Basilica to get a view from the external gallery at the top. The tower was built from 1463 to 1481, and the upper part was rebuilt with a new dome in 1828 after a fire, earning it’s nickname the Pepperpot.
More aerial views a few days later when we moored up at the Jachthaven de Molenwaard in Hasselt for a couple of nights to sit out some rather windy weather. This time from the tower of the Stephanuskerk, and only 177 steps to the top with a volunteer guide, and all for the princely sum of a Euro2 donation.
An overnight stop in Zwartsluis (only about 5km away, and barely time to get the motor up to normal running temperature of 80C) and then we were in Meppel on Saturday 2 October ready to pick up our friends Chris & Jo from the train station the following afternoon.
The following morning was rather wet and dismal before their arrival, but fortunately the rain ceased by the time their train pulled in.
A pleasant 1km walk to Lady M, and an afternoon catching up on news since the last time we were all together in June 2018, followed by an enjoyable dinner at the Grand Cafe de Wheem. This happened to be the first time we were asked to prove our vaccination status to enter a venue, as a result of recently introduced changes in the Netherlands, although since then we have found that this requirement is not universal, and seems to be largely up to the discretion of the venue itself.
Our first overnight stop on the mainly southbound journey to Amersfoort was an old favourite of ours, Blokzijl, to the west and just slightly north of Meppel. Just under 3 hours in good weather, and we were able to introduce our guests to the intricacies of a couple of locks and bridges, and the accompanying traffic light system, and a bit of boat handling along the way.
Next stop Kampen, and on the way we passed the very impressive boat building premises of Royal Huisman in Vollenhove, where there was much activity on the decks of the new super yacht Phi preparing for team photographs.
Rain and a bit of wind on the way to Kampen gave way to sunshine by the time we squeezed in to the town harbour.
The trip down to Elburg was another rainy start, but cleared along the way as the wind picked up. We traveled via a shortcut using a newly opened waterway entered from the recently constructed Scheeresluis about 2km along the Ijssel River south of Kampen, which allowed us to avoid the Ketelmeer. Restrictions were 3 bridges with 3.9m clearance (Lady M is 3.75m with the arch down), and a speed limit of 6km/hour. A very peaceful detour with plenty of bird life.
Elburg is a very quaint and tidy fortified walled town which prides itself on its history as a fishing port. It is also very compact, slightly less than 400m square, and its streets and squares are easily explored (including a walk around the complete perimeter ramparts) in a couple of hours.
Thursday 7 October was less than a 3-hour run south to Harderwijk on the vast Veluwemeer in clear and cool conditions after the morning fog had cleared. An investment of Euro 2 scored us a self-guided city walk which educated and entertained us for a good part of the afternoon.
Late afternoon Jo and Elaine did some sampling at a gourmet local produce shop and bought a selection of special cheeses and cold meats for our final lunch on board Lady M to celebrate the end of our journey when we reached Amersfoort the following day. A hearty dinner at the Dikke Dirck (Fat Dirk) restuarant in the evening – a very lively and popular venue with solid Dutch food like spare ribs and gourmet beef burgers!
Departing Harderwijk the next morning after the fog had started lifting in town, we found ourselves in a pea-souper (visibility about 50 metres!) after 15 minutes as soon as we turned into the vast expanse of the Wolderwijd. Fortunately our navigation system (PC Navigo) meant we could safely navigate from one channel marker to the next until the fog eventually lifted after about half an hour.
It turned into a beautiful sunny day by the time we reached the Eemmeer and turned south into the Eem River for the 18km motor into Amersfoort, and the end point of our journey from Meppel with Chris & Jo.
With Chris & Jo safely on the train to Amsterdam the following morning (after coffee and cakes in the old city), it felt slightly strange and quiet with just the two of us on Lady M. The pace of life on the water is good for the soul, and we enjoy being able to share this with friends and family when we can.
A timely place to end this blog, as we approach the end of October and Halloween celebrations in various countries around the world, which Wikipedia tells us is generally attributed to the celebration of ancient Celtic harvest festivals.
The days are getting shorter from both ends now, and the weather getting decidedly cooler too, with wind and rain days becoming more frequent as well. In fact, I am writing this from the shelter of Heusden where we are riding out some 30+ km/hour winds for a couple of days on our way back to Wessem to put Lady M into storage – but more of that in the next post.
We are scheduled to return to Australia in early November, and so our next post will be posted from there some time in late November. We are seriously hoping that by the time of our arrival in Perth, Western Australia will have embraced the safety and common sense philosophy of home quarantine for fully vaccinated returning residents like us, so that we can avoid the pain and the health risk of two weeks in a “quarantine hotel” – time will tell.
Our travels aboard Lady M 