From Veurne to Fintele and Ieper (Ypres) 19-26 September The season for us is now all but over. Our last cruise took us to Ieper (our winter port) via Fintele. We left Veurne on Thursday morning for the short trip to Fintele. It was a fairly straight forward trip with a few mobile bridges and just one (historic) lock to negotiate. One of the mobile bridges was broken and propped open. Unfortunately I must have eaten something that disagreed with me as I was sick on the way. We stayed 2 nights at Fintele, so Howard was able to do quite a bit of fishing, and we also went for a bike ride to the nearby town. We had lovely sunsets both nights. We left for Ieper for our last cruising day of the year on a sunny Saturday. Howard had become friendly with a lock keeper from Fintele, so when we had to wait 45 minutes for the lock keeper at the first of two locks (as he was opening a bridge elsewhere), we visited Fintele lock keeper's boat which is moored just above the lock. It is a work in progress, but his family are very happy living on the boat. In some places the Ieper Canal was covered in duckweed, and it looked like you could walk on it. As usual I was trying to get a good shot of a Heron, and with good sunlight and a few good "models" I got a couple of nice photos. When we finally arrived in Ieper we were pleased to see not only Lesley and Stewart on Caliope, whom we had been chatting with, but also Brian and his "lady friend" Brenda on Parahandy. On Sunday morning we dropped by to visit with Brian and Brenda, before going over to Caliope for coffee and croissants. Sunday was the last sunny day we had, with the clouds and rain arriving in the afternoon, after both our friends boats had left. On Monday our mechanic Davy visited us to work out our final plan for the new kitchen which he will fit for us over the winter. We even went to Gent to order the cupboards from Ikea. We think we will have a great new kitchen when we return. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent packing up and preparing the boat for winter. Of course rain isn't all bad, it actually helped Howard clean down the boat. Moondance moored in our winter spot at the end of the canal. On Wednesday night Howard and I went out to a nearby restaurant, de Fonderie, for dinner. It was fabulous and we'll be sure to return there next year. So this afternoon (Thursday) I head off to the station for the start of my journey to Africa, where I meet up with members of my photographic club for a tour. Howard will stay on the boat for another 6 days to do a few jobs and winterise, before heading off to Netherlands to catch up with friends, and to fly home.
I expect to blog about the Africa trip on my Deborah Keir Photography page, which you can check out here:
1 Comment
Hazel Toulmin
27/9/2019 02:12:27 am
Have a great trip to Africa Deb and safe travels home Howard xx
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