Deinze to Kortrijk

26 km, 2 locks

Clear skies and sunshine this morning, but a little bit nippy at just 7.5C.  

After 2 days of inactivity we were keen to get moving so, as soon as the supermarket opened at 8.00, I bought some fresh bread and milk and by 8.15 we were ready to roll, just to discover that the Tolpoort bridge in Deinze doesn’t open between 8.00 and 8.30. 

Our route took us up the wide, canalised Leie River – one of the main waterways between France and the big Belgian ports so we saw a lot of big commercial barges.  

Thalassa, an old friend which we have seen 3 times before.

Down in the bow and heeling to port!

100m long and very wide 

We have seen lots of big flocks of geese getting ready to migrate, flying in V formation.  I think these are Canada geese.  

There are 2 big locks: St Baafs-Vijve is 140m long and 16m wide, and Harelbeke is 115m by 12m but it is currently being enlarged.  Last year when we passed this way we used the old lock and could see a new one under construction alongside.  This time we used the new one (also 115m x 12m) and the work on the old one is already well under way.

We shared both locks with a the rather large “Amazone”, and the smaller Harelbeke lock only just fitted us both in.

Very close to the turbulent water rushing into the lock

Amazone right behind us

By lunch time we were tied up in the passantehaven in Kortrijk:  €8 per night including free electricity and water, and in sight of the ancient Broeltoren, remnants of the gates in the old city walls.  

The Broeltoren

A town has existed in this spot since Roman times seeing it was at the crossroads of 2 major Roman roads and the navigable river.  In the 9^th century it was fortified to repel the invading Vikings who came up the river from the North Sea.  In the Middle Ages it became a prosperous centre of the flax industry.

Deinze

We have spent 2 days in Deinze.  Yesterday was laundry day. We were promised some sunshine so I washed a few t-shirts, etc, by hand and left them festooned around the railings to dry then went to the laundry with the sheets, etc.

There was another young lady in there with a 1 month old baby and we got chatting.  Turns out she is from Syria.  She studied in Italy (she teaches ceramics) and her husband is an advocate.  She arrived here with her 2 older children just over a year ago.  She is studying Nederlands because she must speak it reasonably well to get a job as a teacher.  Her husband cannot work here as an advocate but hopes to get work “with computers”.  She didn’t talk about the war in her country much, apart from saying they fled because of the war, her city was bombed and her brother-in-law severely injured.  She even invited us for dinner next week but unfortunately we will be gone by then. Interesting.

On my way back to the boat I heard a cacophony of horns, hooters and sirens and a convoy of over 50 trucks (horse without trailer) drove along the canal and into the main road.  It turned out to be Truck-fun day!  The trucks were gleaming with polish, LED lights and various other decorative bits. Pity I didn’t have my camera.

Today it has rained all day.  We watched the F1 Grand Prix, read books, and went for a very quick walk between showers.

The Krommeleie

Well, words fail me (almost) so here is the story of our cruise from Ghent to Deinze along the Krommeleie in pictures. It is all about houses (mansions), gardens (park-like), statues and a couple of other incidentals.

“Eurocanals” describes it thus: The Leie is very much like the Vecht River in Holland, just narrower and curvier and the houses are even more spectacular.

Be prepared – there are 39 pics (I took 128!)  Remember, click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Oh, it is 28 km from Ghent to Deinze and the weather was very cloudy, cool andcalm.

Note the dark, gloomy conditions

This one is definitely not a mansion, probably only 12 feet wide and the whole waterfront is a dock.

One of our favourite statues - it's just so cheeky!

A hippo!

This house was for sale last summer - I guess it got bought.

Ooph, that is a lot of leaves to clear up!

We can but dream

A huge bank of pretty flowers dividing the park-like grounds from the river

More African animals

It's for sale

Belgian Blue cattle - or "fat bottom cows" as I call them - how much meat is there in that rump.

Now, if we had a few million, this would suit us just fine

A very big house with reclining buttocks in the garden

Isn't he fun!

No comment

A life-size green cow

An exceptionally ugly boat...

...and the house isn't much better

The marquee which we saw under construction 2 days ago - and it still looks as if it is under construction.  It is massive.

Topiary, topiary and more topiary

Just a few of an enormous group of school kids canoeists, most of whom had no clue. We had to go into reverse at one stage to avoid a collision and then the poor kids got so panicked they nose-dived into the bank.

Definitely not a mansion -probably still worth a couple of million.

Astene Bridge

A day in Ghent

There was a change in the weather today: heavily overcast, windy, much cooler and some rain in the evening.  All in all, a good day to stay in port.

Actually, the region could have done with a lot more rain; we have noticed that the water level is lower than usual and the harbourmaster confirmed that it has been a very dry hot summer.

Anyway, it was a day to crack on with the chores that always accumulate on a boat.  First off was the double glazing

Then Ian replaced the mosquito gauze in the companion way doors and added the new wood trim which he had made back home, and I cleaned the barbecue.

And we went for a walk.  I must admit that Ghent is not our favourite city, not nearly as charming as Bruges, and really very dirty.  There is rubbish lying around everywhere – predominantly takeaway food and drink containers.  Well, it is a university city so we’ll blame it on the students!

The Ketelvest

How appropriate for a balcony alongside canal

Back home to make curry for dinner - Pork Vindaloo!