Posts

2 - Bridges and Sunsets

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Wednesday 6th June 2018 Our first day of cruising begins late. There is shopping to do and we are in no kind of hurry. Finally we set off across the Pikmar Lake and south down to Akkrum and the first of the many bridges we will navigate during the next few weeks.  This is the bridge at Nes and like most of the bridges it is automated. Passage is controlled by a traffic lights system. As with road systems green is go. One red light means stop. Red and green together means the bridge is opening, but wait as there may be another boat coming through in the other direction.  Lastly two red lights, one above the other, means the bridge opening is not in operation. Bridges are closed at night and often close for an hour at lunchtime on the less travelled backwaters. Morning opening times are often quite late, 8 or 9 am which allows school and work traffic a chance to clear. Many bridges are manned when open although an increasing number are fully automated with remote controlled came...

1 - Getting There

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Tuesday 5th June 2018 One of the many good things to be said about Amsterdam is how easy it is to get there. There is a flight from my hometown airport, Robin Hood Doncaster-Sheffield, that takes around an hour and this year costs £89 return. My mate Bob drops me off there after a 15 minute ride from my house and a couple of hours later I am there. Flybe plane waiting for me at Robin hood Airport It’s a small airport, no queues for travellers or planes, and my Flybe flight is on time. The selection of beers in the bar is rather impressive, but it’s early so I stick to coffee. Impressive selection of beers From Amsterdam’s Schipol airport I have a two and a half hour train journey, with two changes of train to get to Grou in Friesland in the north of the Netherlands. The train station is in the airport. My ticket to Grou costs €25.30, all trains are precisely on time and at 8:30pm I disembark at Grou-Jirnsum station and make my way on foot to the boat haven whe...