Spring 26

 In late April, despite the dire NZ travel advisory, we flew up from New Zealand with Emirates in two of their superb A380s.  Transiting at Dubai and on to London, the pilots carefully skirted the war zones below. In the end, this was one of the most stress-free journeys we have made.  Our London destination was in order to catch up socially with a few folk before heading over to Antiope in Belgium

                           

At the Diksmuide boatyard, we find Antiope 

still snugged up after her winter sleep. 

Since my last post in September 2025, we have had a busy NZ summer. Alongside tasks at home,

In February we attended the annual gathering of Kiwi Cruisers in Europe, an eclectic group of like minded snowbirds. Charles has also skippered several sail training trips aboard Lion NZ and Steinlager. These trips can be challenging at times, however the rewards of seeing the students grow in confidence are worth it. 'My best job ever'!

The annual Kiwi cruisers meeting in the Bombay hills.

Steinlager 2 is no match for Team NZ 

and their foiling 40 

Taking students to sea aboard Steinlager2 

and Lion NZ is my best job ever

Another achievement has been to finally complete a model replica galleon, a task handed to me by my daughter several years ago. The final act being to see it installed safely in a glass cabinet at her home in Tauranga. 

Finished at last!

More or less authentic rigging,

Even the gun ports open.

Returned completed and safely behind glass.

While in London we found a warm spring day to visit the Chelsea Physic Garden, this having been on on Annie's bucket list for a while. The extensive walled estate owes many of its specimens to Joseph Banks' early voyages with Bligh and Cook. Exotic plants and trees have been nurtured alongside carnivorous and deadly plants for over 350 years, all in the interests of science and medicine.   

A flowering kowhai in the Physic Garden.

This Wardian Case once transported 

exotic plants by sailing ships.

    

A homage to my misspent youth.

 A pint in my old 'local', The Nightingale Pub

 

Another visit to the Suffolk seaside coincided with a Classic car parade in Felixstowe with over 600 vehicles entered and all ranged up alongside the beach huts.  

Even a 'Trabant' on show

A Dodge Charger...General Lee, 

an immaculate repro  

Hands up those who can remember the Dukes of Hazzard.

1953 Ford Popular. My dad had one of these!

This Morris Cowley is a century old

As I write we are back aboard Antiope, in Diksmuide having found her in good shape after a long winter sleep snug inside a large shed in the company of many craft of various vintages. Hauled outside, Antiope is currently sitting in a cradle on the hardstand while we complete some pre-launch tasks.

                                                                     STOP PRESS

 

We are back afloat 

 

On the Lake

Before heading back to New Zealand, we take time out to visit friends in Friedrichshafen on the shores of Lake Constance and use the time to explore the area.

We take a cruise on the Rhine !

It seemed bizarre to be to be on a cruise ship almost 400m above sea level. We were on Lake Constance known as the Bodensee to the locals. The lake is fed by the infant Rhine river close to where it flows from its source in the Swiss alps. Glaciers during the last ice age carved out this 536 sq km lake. The river then takes shape again after spectacular waterfalls and becomes the commercially navigable Rhine waterway to the sea just a few kms later at Basel.

The infant Rhine winds its way up this valley to the foot of the Swiss Alps. 

 In recent years we have cruised Antiope in stages from Basel to the sea, so it was an experience to explore these upper reaches.  

 The 'Santis' mountain peak seen from across the lake

On a day trip to the Swiss alps, we take the gondola to the peak of 'Santis mountain', 2502 metres above sea level and one of the highest peaks in Switzerland that is accessable by cable car. While there was October snow on the distant peaks, we learn that the alpine glaciers are receeding at an alarming rate.  It is no wonder that the lowland waterways, which are fed from the Rhine and Rhone rivers and rely on the alpine spring melt, are drying up each year.    

     

On Santis peak, among the clouds at over 2500 metres 

We are well rugged up 

 

                                                  

Global warming has left this alpine ridge with scant snowfall in recent years.  

               

              The Santis 'Schwebebahn' cable car

'Aescher' restuarant literally clings to the side of a mountain. 

Before flying back to New Zealand, we have been staying with friends on the German side of Lake Constance in Friedrichshafen and taking day trips up and down the lake and across the water to Switzerland and Austria.

The Bodensee is the German name for Lake Constance, the Swiss alps beyond

In 1900, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin made his first ascent in a rigid airship from Friedrichshafen. By 1935, the massive airships Hindenburg and Graff Zeppelin were circling the globe, carrying passengers in luxury.   

This 33m replica of the Hindenburg hangs n the Zeppelin museum in Friedrichshafen.

An Airbus A380 size compared to Hindenburg

Hindenburg and liner Queen Mary in same scale

         A modern small airship does tourists daily tours over Friedrichshafen .

A passenger boat trip down the lake took us to a bronze age archeological site showing a recreated stilt village. 

The materials needed to built the original dwellings would have all been found nearby.

This pile dwelling site dates back more than 3,000 years, and the recreated stone to bronze age village seemed eerily authentic. The remote area and shallow lake shore has revealed pile stumps, tools and pottery which all indicate a once extensive settlement.  

    

The remains of crude dugout boats were also found in the lakebed silt  

   

Another 2 hour lake cruise took us to the medieval town of Lindau.  It is now very much a tourist destination, however without the summer crowds we were able to take the time to absorb the atmosphere of lakeside life through the centuries. It was once a fortified island and to walk around the island would take less than two hours.    

Our lake cruise ship approaches Lindau 

The iconic Lindau lighthouse. 

 Lake Constance last froze over completly in 1963

                                         Next stop Paris before boarding our long flight home. 

Lest We Forget

 Our plan had been to finish our season at the end of September in Diksmuide where we had arranged for Antiope to be hauled out and hopefully tucked up for the winter inside a big boat store.  However the lack of rain all summer long was about to upset our schedule. 

A quiet evening mooring along the Zeebrugge waterway

A few kms north of Brugge, we turned off the main commercial waterway which continues to the coast at Zeebrugge. There was an eerie lack of cruisers or even hire boats around as we followed the lonely Passendale canal to Nieuwpoort where we would lock through onto the river Yser. We had intended to visit and introduce ourselves at the boatyard at Diksmuide, then continue up river before joining the Ypres canal to revisit the historic city town. 

Market square Diksmuide. "The little man from the moon" is from a local folklore tale.

It is hard to believe that this town hall and the market square has been rebuilt twice since 1917. Determined to retrieve the historic character of Diksmuide, apart from new bricks the archecture is true to a time prior to 1914. 

Diksmuide viewed from the top of the 'Peace Tower'.  Antiope is centre frame.

The Peace Tower overlooks the Yser river

The Peace Tower built following WW1 dominates the surrounding landscape. It  has 22 levels and houses a multi-level museum, the overwhelming message being- Peace, Tolerance, and Freedom. 

The Peace tower did not escape shelling in 1939

With some spare time, it seemed only right to visit the nearby 'Oerbier' brewery in Esen. This small brewery started brewing in 1835 and little seems to have changed since. It is now run by two brothers who endevour to follow traditional small brewing practice with all natural ingredients with understandably exellent results.    

This century old traditional brewery mixing vat is still in use 

Some special beers are aged in used wine barrels in the cellars 

Their regular brews range in strength from 4% up to 12%.

This is Belgium after all.

It has been a dozen years since we last visited this region. However, back then we did not spend enough time exploring and fully absorbing its turbulent history which spans many centuries. It is a sobering experience to walk through the preserved WW1 trenches lining the banks of the Yser river. This was the front line for three years, the opposing forces being only a few meters apart across a narrow stretch of water. The town of Diksmuide was totally destroyed by 1917, completely rebuilt, only to be largely destroyed again in 1941. 

Opposing trenches lined both sides of the Yser river

A section of the original sandbagged trenches  

This time out has been forced upon us by the drought and lack of water in much of Belgium's  canal system and effectively a widespread closure of navigation to all but commercial craft. Our own efforts to reach Ypres were thwarted by water too shallow even for Antiope. On the positive side, we have been able to secure an inside undercover spot for the winter as several regulars have been unable to get their boats home again to Diksmuide. 

Sept 15th, Antiope is hauled out at Diksmuide

'Lest we Forget'    

  

        

Classic Belgium

 We have come North again and crossed an invisible border from Wallonia into Flanders, which is the Dutch speaking region of Belgium. To greet someone here in our rudimentary French is likely to invite a bit of a frown. Fortunately, in Flanders, English becomes our default language as it is commonly used.

Seagoing vessels once offloaded here on the Ghent waterfront. 

Ghent historically marked the headwaters of the tidal river Schedt. The old town made rich by river trade is now encircled by a large deep commercial waterway with links to all of Western Europe.

  

Street mural. Belgium has a proud railway heritage.

Belgium once boasted more railways than any other European country. Even today, the frequent trains run on time and oldies, (65 and over) can travel countrywide all day for no more than € 8.50 ( NZ$16 ) 

Ghent castle, in the centre of town, was built in 1180. It has a dark feudal history.

We moored close to the centre of Ghent and spent a few days soaking up the classic architecture. Then cruised on towards Brugge, via the old Leie river, which is a delightful meandering river it was here that we were met by an international flotilla of 'amphibious vehicles'.  

We were warned to expect 80 'amphibians' coming our way!

Truly an international rally.

Along the Leie, we tie up at the picture postcard village of Sint Martens-Latem

Back on the main canal to Brugge, we spotted a bird floundering and near exhausted in the water. Once rescued, we noted it had a leg ring with a phone number. A phone call established that he/she was on a homing flight from France back to the Netherlands.   

This pigeon was making a poor job of swimming.

Turned out that this soggy pigeon had ID.

Dried out and ready to find its way home.

A week or so later we got a call back to say that this little pigeon had made it home. 

Next stop Brugge, and summer weather is still with us

Brugge is the classic Belgian waterway town. With the luxury of time this year, we spent a full week here.

Classic Brugge.

Touristy bit of Brugge

Ah, the 13th century Belfry. Yes, we climbed all 366 steps

 

The carillon drum at the top of the Belfry. 

As this massive brass drum rotates slowly, the pegs trigger a medly on the 47 carillon bells, quite magical to watch and listen.

Just a few of the 366 steps.

For a day out we took the touristy little paddle boat along what was the original waterway route from Brugge to the sea and stopped at the town of Damme.

 

 

        Damme, once a seaport, is now many kms inland. 

From Brugge we will cruise the less travelled waterways of western Belgium to Diksmuide and Ypres.