Brecht to Schoten

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Another beautiful morning and at just after nine ‘o clock we cast off from our odd quay

and a few hours later tied up on the bank just before the Jachthaven Schoten which is closed due to dredging.

The drive was interesting with 6 locks and 5 lifting bridges; through two of the locks we were followed by the lockkeeper on his bicycle and through the next three were followed by a tad overweight keeper in his car.

Lunch was a typical smoked ham, gorgeous Brie and biscuits affair

…and while we partook the traffic continued by – we are always surprised at the size of vessels traversing these smaller waterwats, and with such grace and serendipity.

Dashed into Schoten (a good 300m away over the bridge) for some provisions and then back to Elle to prepare for a visit by friends Frederik and Josephine who had stayed with us during their circumnavigation of Africa in their Land Cruiser in 2006 (?). As the Antwerp traffic had decided to tie itself into a knot, Frederik did a +60km round trip to fetch Josephine from their home and the two of them arrived on their BMW 1200GX with the panniers loaded with bubbles and a spread of snacks fit for royalty. Lovely seeing them again especially as they had been treated to a flight on Ian’s micro-light when they were in SA – much chatter and merriment until they departed into the night at around 10h30. Thanks Guys!

The new cheese supplement - delicious!

Ian, Frederik and Josephine (with Sian walking back to Njord)