Our days in the Roubaix area at an end, nine o’clock found the boys ready and waiting at the lock and Gratis was raring to go. Lines off, down she motored and straight as an arrow in went Big G. What a beautiful old bridge was this! On exiting Lock 11, we were greeted with […]
It was time to deal with sorting my backups by reorganising and removing all of the copies. Eight years’ worth takes quite a while. It’s all done now, so I am ready to start on the blog once more.
Travel the Nieuwpoort – Dunkerque and Furnes Canals Summer had at last arrived and with it, the duckweed!!!! With clear blue skies and a heat that rivals that found in Adelaide on a normal summer’s day, Gratis was on the move once more. What a difference to last year’s cold and rain! In order to […]
A Small Town With A Lot Of History After a week in Corfu where we visited our possible second yacht, Bob and I returned to Veurne. Having spent a short few hours here last year, a was a delight having the time to explore past the town’s market square. The town was founded in approximately […]
The Lovaart (Lok/Lo) Canal What an exquisitely beautiful fourteen and a half kilometre section of waterway and countryside. Having spoken to the lock keep er the afternoon before, 9am saw the lines released, and the heritage Fintele lock entered. With its sloping bricked sides aligned in blooming masses of colour, the water slowly rose. The […]
Situated in the low foothills of the Kemmelberg, a formation of hills in Western Flanders, and a mere fifteen kilometres from Fintele is the village of Poperinge. Our destination for the day, our journey’s path also led us through some beautiful farming villages. The township itself has some beautiful buildings, cells where British soldiers were […]
Continuing upon the Ijzer, the day’s destination was Fintele, a short 6km away. We didn’t think the scenery where only distant church spires denoted the presence of townships could become any more picturesque, but it did. With a depth of mostly 1.8m, there was only one point at which Gratis gently rose and fell: we […]
Yesterday we discovered that for 13 euro each, we could see both Ín Flanders Fields and the Yeper Museums, so Bob and I purchased the tickets to both: that for the latter was valid for three days, such a bonus! As with ‘In Flander’s Fields’ Museum, this too was situated in the old cloth hall. After yesterday’s emotional […]
Flanders Fields contain so many monuments, cemeteries and museums dedicated to those hundreds of thousands people killed that it would take a person months to view it all. Bob and I have decided to focus on just a few places on the list, and several are in, or near, Diksmuide. Just across the river Ijzer, […]
Having exited our night’s berth, I turned Gratis away from the lock and motored her to the bottom of the marina. Turning to her to port we followed the channel down to the entrance of the Ijzer. Our destination of Diksmuide was only a couple of hours motor down the track. The peaceful river wound […]
A pleasurable sixteen kilometre round journey from Brugge led us first along the Damme Canal, then through stunning countryside full of crops to the medieval township of Damme and back. Although its 7 star shaped walls are currently in the state of restoration, sadly much of the original old town has disappeared, the casualty resultant […]
Travel back in time to the denouement of the last ice age when, with the warming of the earth, waters rose as the melting of the ice caps commenced: this was the birth of the North Sea we know today. From this event, the great northern European rivers of today were created, which in turn […]
Unlike previous years, there are no set dates – besides departure to Oz, that is – ahead, so the aim is slow and enjoy. So, a lazy start behind us, mid – morning it was time to depart upon the Gent Terneuzen Canal for our second year running. From Vlissingen, this is the quickest way […]
A Busy few weeks as I have updated the home page map and created a couple of videos to replace the text. Click the link to take a squizz. http://www.gratisaustralis.com/ Would love to know what you think.
It’s been a while, and you are probably wondering, ‘what are the plans for Gratis in 2019’? The simple answer is, we’re really not sure. Bob and I are still hemming and hawing…….. Do we complete our travels in Belgium, or do we take the bull by the horns, return to Port Napoleon, pick up the […]
Why, take a trip to Turkey, of course! The bone numbing cold was indescribable…… After practically 12 months of 20+ temperatures, neither of us – myself in particular – were dealing with it well. A week of 30+ degrees was sublime, the countryside and history beyond belief. We shall return. Despite the modernity of […]
It has been a busy few weeks for us. A quick trip down to Southern France to check out the mast. It’s there, and now Bob is looking for a carrier to bring it to Vlissingen. A quick trip into Italy. Wow Factor! I lost count of the tunnels and bridges. A detour through Pisa […]
Check out the new posts on our Belgian page link below. http://www.gratisaustralis.com/museum-aan-de-ijzer-diksmuide-belgium/ PLUS link detailing the 2019 journey to date. http://www.gratisaustralis.com/2019-2/ Keep an eye out for those still coming: Ieper (Ypres), Calais, Gravelines, Boulogne – Sur -Mer, Dover and more……..
A little something to whet the appetite whilst we work on the posts to come. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seUmD8VMmLY&t=5s
