An Easyjet flight flew us from Milan to Schiphol airport on the 18th June. Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol), built on the site of the former Haarlem Lake, is 4 metres below sea level – it is the second largest airport in the world.

Our hosts, Elin and Rick.

From here we took a train to Utrecht, about 50km south of Amsterdam where our Aussie friend Elin Powers, met us at the train station. Elin and her husband Rick Nothard spend their Aussie winters in Europe cruising the canals and rivers on their barge. They recently sold their 12m riverboat and then upgraded to an 18m steel canal barge.

Douwe, the barge.

Utrecht is a University town, so is bustling with young people. It was a short walk from the station to where “Douwe” their barge was tied up on a canal. Dutch regulations require the skipper of a 15 – 25m vessel to pass an exam for a skippers licence (Kleinvaart Bewijs) in Dutch, for which Rick had been preparing since the previous week.

Utrecht street scene.

Canal scene, 100m from where Douwe is tied up.

Now, Rick hails from Natal – the last outpost of the British Empire and his Afrikaans vocabulary is limited to a colourful list of swear words, picked up while doing his National Service in the South African Navy. Most Afrikaans speakers understand Dutch and Flemish, but Rick contracted a translator for the exam, to ensure success in this important matter. The translator pulled out at the last moment, but Rick still aced the exam the following day!

Suburban Utrecht.

While Rick was writing his exam, Elin, Annie and I cycled out through the woods to the village of Lage Vuursche in the country, where we had pancakes at a restaurant. A pleasant round trip of 32km over flat terrain – Rick and Elin have no less than 5 bicycles on board the barge. Bicycles sensibly rule the roads in Holland, where the cars are modest – none of the monster utes!

On the road again.

Pannekoekenhuis – Pancake restaurant.

The Stijl movement: Schroder – Rietveld house. Designed by Gerrit Rietveld and built in 1924.

We celebrated Rick’s success with a dinner and much wine in a bustling part of the city. The following day, we stocked up with provisions and filled the water tank before entering the first lock to enter the Lek River and from there the Vecht River. We now settled into a pattern – pulling in and tying up in a small village like Oude Zuilen for lunch and a walk afterwards. Motoring on, we stop and tie up at a village like Maarssen for dinner and overnight.

Celebrating Rick’s successful exam.

A bottle of wine and half of a Tarzan strength cannabis biscuit and I want to dance.

Entering our first lock.

In Maarssen, their friends Roger and Shirley, join us for dinner and a convivial evening. Roger, being a dead ringer for Bruce Willis! The weather played along and we enjoyed beautiful sunny days in the good company of Elin and Rick.

“Bruce Willis” casting me for the demented Russian assassin in “Die Hard 14”

Annie and Elin on deck with Rick behind the wheel.

Along the way we passed impressive old castles, houses and windmills. At some of our stops, the ladies cycled to some further afield, like the De Haar castle.

A castle or a house?

A windmill early morning.

A more modest house!

Slowly we made our way north, stopping and meeting other canal boaters in the evening, until we reached the town of Muiden through the ocean lock at the mouth of the Vecht River into the Ijsselmeer Lake.

Rick after having the other half of the Tarzan cannabis biscuit, teaching the neighbours how to Toi-Toi.

Scene along the river.

The Muiderslot, a moated 13th century castle at Muiden is quite impressive, as are the restored barges lying at anchor. After taking on diesel for the barge, we motored back to the town of Weesp to tie up at the marina.

Muiderslot castle.

A colourful restored barge.

The town of Weesp is very pretty and we enjoyed exploring the older part. Annie couldn’t resist taking a photo of a Dirk van den Broek supermarket, found all over Holland. Broek meaning trousers.

Weesp townhouses dating back to 1640.

House along the river.

My namesake – check out my new shorts.

We saw an interesting re-purposing of a church, reminding me of Robert Pirsig the author of the philosophical novel “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values”, where he speaks of the church of the mind. (A church could be anywhere) This particular church has now become a brewery and gin distillery, while the big parsonage next door, is now a childcare centre.

Weesp: Former Dutch Reformed Church.

Inside: Beer brewery and gin distillery.

This was our last stop before catching a train at Weesp train station, back to Schiphol airport and our flight home.

Weesp station – note all the commuter bicycles parked next to it.

After our epic nine day Camino Pilgrimage, which resembled an extended version of Chariots of Fire and another nine days of the Monte Carlo Rally style of driving in a VW camper, we needed to relax, befitting our age, on this delightful cruise: The poor, but sensible man’s version of a geriatric Carnival Princess cruise, down the Vecht River. Thank you Elin and Rick!

We arrived back in Sydney via Dubai on the 28th June, after six weeks away. Esprit will come out of the water on the 8th July for cleaning and antifouling, new rudder bearings, topsides polishing and a comprehensive engine service for an eye watering $8,000.

The plan is to sail up to the Whitsunday Islands end of July, to get away from a cold and wet Sydney for the rest of winter. We will keep you posted.

Cheers for now

Annie and Dirk