Dendre River and Blaton-Ath Canal in Wallonia 25-30 June After Geraardsbergen we were in Wallonia, and we had plenty of locks to get through to get to the end. We had a couple of hot days, but mostly we had pleasant weather, and took our time to go along this quiet stretch of waterway. We left Geraardsbergen on Tuesday morning and after one mobile bridge and one lock we were in Wallonia. From there we were followed along the river by a duo in their little van who opened every lock and mobile bridge for us until we got to our mooring in Ath. It was hot day (max 32), and all the locks were manual, so we gave them a couple of cans of beer for their efforts. The first few Wallonian locks were unusual as they had the bridge for traffic in the middle of the lock, so it had to stay raised all the time we were in the lock. The countryside was mostly rural and the canal was quite narrow with many bends so it was challenging cruising. After 7 locks we finally made it to our mooring in Ath at about 3pm, and set up our back deck canopy and had a nice lunch in the shade. Howard went off on my bike to buy a another hose fitting so that we could take on-board water, while I had a nap. He then had to mend a puncture on his bike. On Wedneday we had a look around the town of Ath. My first impression was that it wasn't as nice, or as neat and clean, as towns we had visited in Flanders. But it was still a nice town, even if the town square was now a car park. After lunch we visited the Giants museum. Giants are an important part of many festivals and parades in Europe, including the Ducasse in Ath. The museum, located in a lovely old building explained some of the history and folklore of the Giants, and had some examples on show, including one of Baden Powell the founder of the scouting movement. There were also some models showing the evolution of the town of Ath over the years. We did a small detour on our way to the supermarket to see the lock we would be going through in the morning (Lock 19). You could see Lock 18 only 250 m away. On Wednesday morning we had to go only 7.8 kms but we expected it to take about 3 hours as we had 5 locks to go through. We had told them we wanted to leave at 9am, however our team of lock keepers turned up at about 9:20. This time we tied the ropes off in the locks and drove on them with our engine. The lock keepers turned up the water full force each time, and even with the engine running at full steam, we were bumped around in the locks. We had a lot of trouble after lock 17 with weed, at one stage almost at a stand still. But we limped on to our mooring just after lock 15. It is a lovely spot, with water and electricity, our own picnic table as well. After lunch under our umbrella at the picnic table, Howard went into the water to clear the weed from the propeller, and then we went for a ride to see the local sites. This included a Basilica in the next town. On the canal we have seen very few other boats, in fact on most days none. So we were surprised when a commercial barge passed us at about 4pm. She was 39m X 5.0m and only just fit into the lock (which is 5.08m wide), even without any fenders. Another visitor was a butterfly that accidentally flew into our wheelhouse. The large ship obviously only went through the lock to turn around at the first possible point, as she moored the night on the other side of the lock and came through first thing. We left at about 9am with a new duo of lock keepers and only had to go through 4 locks in the first 3 kms, then moored up after only 2 hours 20 near Stambruges. Another delightful mooring, this time just before lock 10. In the afternoon we went for a bike ride to look at the nearby towns and the canal (and 10 locks) that we were to go through on Sunday. Saturday was the hottest day we'd had so far (33 C). We stayed an extra day at Stambruges so that we could visit the nearby Chateau de Beloeil, which is only open on weekends from 1pm at this time of the year. Howard started the day with a fish and then we cycled to the chateau, having lunch at the cafe there, before we did the tour of the chateau and gardens. We even took the petit train (the little train) around the gardens. Howard especially loved watching the big Carp in the moat (he assures me that they are lumps at 40lb +) On the way home we stopped for an ice cream, but were still quite hot. So we changed into bathers and had the occassional cold shower on the back deck, and had a quiet afternoon listening to the cricket (NZ vs Australia). On Friday afternoon and Saturday we had had many lock keepers ask what time we wanted to leave on Sunday. However when Sunday came around no-one showed up and when we called at 10am, they didn't seem to know that we were expecting them. So we ended up not starting until about 10:40. We only had 4kms to go to complete the 10 locks, but it took us nearly 3 hours. It was much easier as we were heading downstream.
We had done 26 locks in Wallonia in this section, many of them only 5.08m wide, so only 60cm wider than our boat. After leaving the Blaton-Ath canal, we headed off to Pommeroeul, where we will spend a couple of days, Howard wants to finish painting the back deck.
2 Comments
richard switzky
30/6/2019 07:42:05 pm
Amazing travels with fabulous photos. I love reading and looking at your stories with descriptions of travel and places that had been totally unknown to me. Your professional photography skills really shine through!
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Neil and Margaret
2/7/2019 01:44:19 am
Just loving reading about your adventures. N & M
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