L'Avenir - cruising Europe's inland waterways

We might....... get a uniform ... grow a garden .... ...or even finally make it to France - one way or another! Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to follow our trip over this summer. Join us again next year when it'll be even bigger and better!!

Last close encounter. Last barbie. In the rain but we had a pile of chops and sausages in the freezer which we'd been saving for a (non) rainy day. Last kibbeling (deep fried pieces of cod) - with mayonnaise of course. A hugely popular snack sold from fish vans at markets. This was at Leiden. Our second visit there. Last time was at the height of summer and the town was crowded with tourists. Last port before home - Leaving Leiden harbour. Last moments of voyage. Arriving at Kempers Marina, Leimuiden. L'Avenir's berth for the winter. Last drama. Cleaning the mud off the bikes after fishing them out of the water where they'd been blown during a storm. Fortunately the water was fairly shallow. And finally- Last goodbyes. Winter covers on L'Avenir and our bags packed.

As we near the end of this year's trip there are the inevitable 'last times' for things. Sometimes those occasions make us feel a little sad and others evoke (from me anyway) a sigh of relief, a silent thank goodness that's over and a not so silent 'Don't ever ask me to do that again.' The final in the latter category being crossing the main shipping channel of the Amsterdam Rijn Canal . This is the main North South route for commercial traffic, is exceedingly busy and pleasure craft are advised to use alternative routes if at all possible. We needed to cross over it to get from the canal from Utrecht to the canal and river (Hollandse Ijssel) taking us to Gouda. It's not far - a lock taking you down a metre or so to the level of the channel, a couple of hundred metres directly across it and then another lock up onto the Hollandse Ijssel. I often think that locks are a bit like the Tardis (ok that might be a bit of a long shot but we've been watching...

This is our second visit to Gouda and we were a little surprised to find the lovely square throbbing with the loud music and lights of a fair. So we joined the crowds and fortified by a little Dutch courage in the form of a large G and T (thank you Mike and Nicky) took to the skies, flying high above the spires of the church and the stadhuis. Not quite as scary as anticipated but beleieve me it's cold up there. No pictures of the amazing view from the top because - you've guessed it - we were clinging on for dear life. and this is how it looked by day. This manic waltzer - The Break Dance - was actually scarier despite being at ground level. My back is still sore from bracing myself. With the usual Dutch efficiency this was the scene in the square first thing on Monday morning - all traces of the fair scrubbed and polished away.