28-30 April Veurne is a lovely old town, that avoided much of the devastation in the two World Wars, and was even the capital of Free Belgium during WWI.
The day we arrived was fine so we made sure to have a look around. Including a walk around after diner.
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26-28 April We left Ypres on Thursday - the day after Anzac Day, however we were only a couple of minutes away when we decided to turn back as we were getting almost no water out of the exhaust - a similar problem to what we had last year. The wind was quite gusty at Ypres so after getting caught by a gust in two attempts to moor in our original spot, we moored against the wall.
We thought that the problem with the water was probably a blocked inlet, so Barrie and Howard tried to clean the bottom of the boat with a broom, which wasn't very successful and looked dangerous. 24 April As we stayed a little longer a Ypres in order to attend the Anzac ceremony, we took our hire car out for 2 days instead of just one so that we could do a day trip to Dunkirk which is only about an hours drive away.
16-25 April From 1914 to 1918 Ypres Salient was on the front line of World War I. As I understand it Salient means bulge and the front line bulged around Ypres.
Many people died here over the four years and the countryside is scattered with cemeteries - mostly Commonwealth as other nationalities mostly repatriated their dead. There are even 2 cemeteries in the city itself. 16-22 April The city of Ypres was devastated during the Great War, but like Diksmuide and Nieupoort they have rebuilt. It is now a lovely city with plenty of history. Including one of the most impressive city walls in Europe.
20 April We have decided to stay in Ypres for the Anzac Day services. So yesterday we went to Kortrijk for the day on the train. The weather was again delightful and we had a pleasant day walking around the town.
16 April On Monday we travelled from Diksmuide to Ypres (Ieper in Flemish). As I was incapacitated, we called on help from the WOBs (Women On Barges) network and ended up with 3 crew delivered to the boat by 9am. 4 barges lined up in Ypres port - Moondance in front, Silk Purse (Barrie and Carol), Rotterdam Diena (Alan and Sarah) and Eliza.
9-15 April We have been in Diksmuide for almost a week and plan to leave for Ypres tomorrow morning.
The week has been filled with work on the boat and some touristing. 7-10 April We are now back on board Moondance. We flew from Australia on Thursday and then spent the weekend catching up with friends in Rotterdam, before catching 3 trains on Monday to arrive yesterday afternoon. Here is Howard showing off the extra bollards we are getting fitted to the back deck.
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AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
August 2023
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