A lovely rainy day in which we motored toward the tiny town of De Rijp. The final bridge was, sadly, too low and not a lifter, so Bob motored Gratis into a free berth in front of the closed B&B. There, we spent the afternoon relaxing, whilst the rain continued falling.

The first part of the morning was spent wandering through the Medemblik castle museum. During the late thirteenth century, Count Floris V of Holland gained control of West Friesland. The local populations balked at his rulership and continual attempts were undertaken to wrest their land from his hands. Deciding enough was enough, the count had […]

Pleasant walk Bob and I are gradually wending our way along the 11 Frisian Cities route. The towns are generally more like a typical Australian country town or German dorf. According to the Sneek tourism (VVV) website: ‘Where in the world are the cities smaller than villages? In Friesland of course. Our cities do not thank the […]

It was Little G2 day as we motored through the waterways of this beautiful landscape. Sadly, it must have been the wrong time of year to view the animals – or else it was just far too busy. Lazing in the dinghy after midday, a barge appeared on the horizon. Imagine our surprise to find it […]

Resting on the shores of the Wadden Sea, Harlingen is an historical fishing/seaport, that is today a mecca for the tourists and a connection point for those wishing to visit the Frisian island of Terschelling. Some hours were spent exploring the tiny waterways of the township: quite different to those of Leeuwarden, these generally came […]

A short 8km motor brought took us to the outskirts of the port side town of Harlingen this morning. Just past the Konigsbrug, we exited the Van Harinxmakanaal and found ourselves winding past a multitude of moored boats – which Bob intently studied in passing. On arrival at Industriebrug, Bob phoned the bridge operator, who […]

Terry’s three week visit had rapidly come to a close. After dropping her at the railway station where she would depart, Bob and I headed out for a day of relaxing countryside exploration in Little G2. Narrow waterways that led to shallow waterlily clad lagoons. Farmhouses. A child’s playground delight! Travel came to an abrupt end […]

We experienced a rare day of exquisite sunshine as we explored the  canals in and around Leeuwarden in Little G2. Narrow canals with low bridges and their  rounded arches – beneath a few, were once signs of once used entrances – and where the occasional waterlily was to be found. Out of the town centre onto […]

Weather prediction. Morning: mostly cloudy with some rain; Afternoon: mostly cloudy with some sun. 11am, all looking good, off set we: destination, the church. What was that? A spot or two? It couldn’t be! Looked up; pretty clear, a drop or two won’t hurt. On to the church – yes, there was one on the […]

This was a day of exploration. Originally surrounded by a moat – some of which still survives – Blokhuispoort, was originally constructed as a fort – like structure by the Saxons. This enabled them to govern the Friesland region. From 1580 until 2007, the structure was used to house prisoners. The Frieslanders have looked outside […]

The weather not at all promising for Dokkum, the decision was made to continue to Leeuwarden rather than go on the planned bike ride up to Holwerd and other northern townships. Here, if the forecast proved correct, it would be possible for us to explore during the afternoon. Frisky cows, raunchy cows, Loved this one […]

This morning Gratis took us along the Dokkumer Dijp, followed a few kilometres later by the Dokkumer Grutdjip Canals. With the bridge operators taking time off for lunch, we dined on the canal bank for the midday break. Upon the canals today white swans dined on their culinary delight of water weeds and small critters, […]

This is the region of the Wadden Sea: a seascape of blue that turns to a grey – brown silty slush during the ebbing of the tide. Today, it’s a series of UNESCO World Heritage parks that cover the North Sea coastal regions of Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany. We have been informed that the best […]

This day’s journey took us upon the Zoutkamperril Canal. Today the landscape became significantly different to that of Germany’s Ost Friesland: so much so that it is difficult to comprehend. From what we are experiencing, the weather patterns and rainfall are dissimilar: maybe it’s effects created by land formations, ocean currents and so forth???? For […]

12:30pm and the time for us to depart had arrived. The kindly couple behind motored out so as to provide more room in which to manoeuvre Gratis as Bob backed her out of the marina berth. There are times set for boats to be led convoy style through the centre of the township. This particular […]

This superb museum led us through 1500 years of maritime history in a few short hours. Room 1 Covering the northwest European trade that took place between the 7th and 10th centuries, the ships most used at this time were the knar and hulk. There were also some interesting artifacts on display. Room 2/3 By […]

It was a beautiful warm return journey to Emden: until the rain set in, that is. Bridge operators cycling hard to keep up. You can just see him operating the controls on the bridge. Past us went the boats. Drehbrucke opened. Out the other side. Remember that raft with the wheelbarrow, chairs, outboard motor and […]

A short seven kilometre bike ride from Aurich is Moordorf, and it is here that the visitor finds the Moormuseum. Located on just over three acres of peat land, this is an open – air museum that leads one through the colonisation of the town: as dictated by the Prussian Kaiser, Friedrich II, in his […]

There is only one drawback to the Ostfriesland region: it rains every few days. The general pattern appears to be 3 days sunshine – the third of which becomes hot and humid with no wind, then a day or two of grey with continual rain and little wind, followed immediately by a change in wind […]

This was our day for journeying upon 25km of the Ems – Jade Canal to Aurich and a delightful one it was too, with its lifting or turning bridges, and a lock or two. The kilometre markings at the commencement of the journey slightly unclear, and no names on the bridges, the first of the […]