From Herentals we headed toward the Dutch border. Our first day we had 6 locks each less than 3 m to go up. Each lock keeper looked after 2 locks and so we had a chance to chat with them. As it was a Sunday the locks didn't commence operations until 10am, and there were no commercials on the water and we saw only one cruiser on the move. We did pass a group of kayakers, and one paddled next to our boat so that we could chat. We moored as planned near the intersection with another canal. Near the intersection there was a jachthaven on a lake, a water ski club which was very busy and a viewing tower which we went up for a great view of the canals. It was a lovely afternoon to go for a cycle and a look around. There was also a pancake boat moored right on the corner so we had an early dinner there. To get to the other side of the canal from our mooring, we had to cross a bailey bridge which was a temporary bridge set up during WWII. One way at a time with traffic lights. The next morning I was still a bit tired from our late night at the bridge so we decided to set off at 10am. But a commercial went through before us so we had to wait for them to go through the lock before we could go. By the time it was our turn a cruiser had come up and joined us in all three locks for that day. The three locks were all "historic" and all around 5m rises. They were really fast too, so quite turbulent. We also learned that the green light on the lock doesn't have the usual meaning - i.e it is all clear for you to go. There was quite a bit of traffic on the canals and at one stage we were overtaken at the same time as another commercial passed us. Our mooring at Neerpelt was delightful. We stayed at Neerpelt for 2 nights as I had an appointment with the Orthopaedic Specialist at the Herentals hospital. Although it took us about 9 hours cruising to get here from Herentals, it was just a 40 minute train ride back. We caught the 7:30am train in order to get an x-ray before my 9:30 appointment. The hospital was efficient and I had my x-ray by 9:20, but they said I needed an echo (ultra-sound) too, so in the end I didn't see the doctor until about 10:30. But they were fine with that. The outcome was better than expected. My shoulder bone is healing but slowly, and should heal fully by itself. No need for any operation or cast. There is no damage to ligaments or tendons. And no need for physiotherapy either, as I still have good flexibility in the joint - although they did recommend I get a pulley contraption to exercise my arm. So we can happily continue on our planned journey. It was a cloudy day, so we decided to go out to lunch to celebrate, and found a nice bistro in Neerpelt. Our final day of cruising in Belgium was a delightful day. We went through two Belgium locks and one Dutch one. I finally convinced Howard to use the outside steering position only to find that the steering wasn't working on the outside. Oh well. Always something to be fixed on a boat. Our overnight stop was Weert where we had stayed for a night last year. This time we visited a windmill. We were lucky enough to visit on a day it was open, and had a great chat with a volunteer who had actually run the windmill for 40 years since the 1973.
1 Comment
Liz
9/6/2018 02:14:01 pm
Congratulations on your shoulder! Great adventures you are having.
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