Plassendale to Oudenburg

A lazy rainy day.  Didn't do much of anything except read a book.

I took this photo last night of Ian chatting to a local fisherman who was fishing for eels.

We waited for Lynn and Shaun to catch up with us; they arrived soon after noon and together we moved about 6 km to Oudenburg in the Nieuwpoort-Plassendale Canal. 

This canal has a number of low bridges and specific opening times.  By forming the boats travelling along the canal into a convoy there is minimal disruption to the road traffic.

There are two low bridges at the entrance to canal, one each side of a very old lock (17th century) which is no longer used to control water levels.  Our convoy of 6 boats waited in the lock, tied up against the side, while the convoy from the other side went through -  12 of them, including one charter boat whose driver has not yet got the hang of steering a boat, wildly over correcting and bouncing from one wall to the other at the narrow entrance and exit of the canal.  These charter boats have dozens of fenders, permanently fixed, so I guess he is not the first one to need them.

Had a chuckle at this road sign.

We moored against a small quay in Oudenburg, also a free mooring but with free electricity and water too.  How's that for a good deal! 

Poppies

We are on the outskirts of Oudenburg, there are a few farm houses here and not much else, no shops.  A couple of farmers came round selling their wares.  One had potatoes, onions and eggs, the other had rhubarb.  I bought some eggs, great big brown free range eggs with grass stuck on them. Lovely.

The rain set in within minutes of our arrival, so out came my book, and the electric heater!