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Kerr Barging Blogs

We have spent a fair bit of time cruising in the South Pacific aboard our 33 years young 11.1metre yacht, Pastime of Sydney. We are now cruising through the canals and rivers of France on our old barge, "Anja", which was built in the North of the Netherlands in 1903. Anja was 110 years old in May 2013 and we celebrated with good French Champagne- but the boat did not get any! In 2014, for Anja's 111th, we took her back to where she was built in the North of the Netherlands.
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2 minutes reading time (355 words)

The River Vecht

Our Cruising Guide describes the Vecht River as one of the most beautiful waterways in the Netherlands. From the moment we entered it we were delighted by the houses along its banks with gardens full of flowers which seemed to spill into the river. This continued through almost the whole 40 kilometres. Wealthy people from Amsterdam had built country houses here in the 17th and 18th centuries, and that tradition seems to have been maintained. There were also many houseboats and some join it to the East.

IMG 9419The River Vecht

IMG 9423The River Vecht

We stayed at two towns along this stretch. The first was Breukelen, said to have given Brooklyn New York its name as many Dutch settled there; it was a busy town on a Saturday afternoon with a number of specialty shops such as an excellent cheese shop and also a baker we sampled the wares.  The gardens were spectacular and for the first time in our lives we were bowled over by the hydrangeas which were flowering prolifically in a great array of colours and shades.

IMG 9431Breukelen Cheese Shop

The second town we visited was Weesp, chosen because it allowed an easy 20 minute train trip to Amsterdam and to Schipol Airport for our family's return to Australia. This was a very pleasant town, again with good shops and the best ice cream shop we have found in Europe. The five of us (the baby was thought too young to try yet) sampled a wide range of delicious flavours for a very reasonable price. And best of all, the park was almost like an adventure playground, with cubby houses, a slippery dip, swings and even an old- fashioned see- saw. There was plenty of room to play and our baby, 9 months old that day and a demon for balls, enjoyed crawling around chasing hers, wearing herself out for the long journey home. Meanwhile the 3 year old created an imaginary world in the cubby house. We were very sad to say farewell the next day.

IMG 9443Anja, very comfortable atr Weesp

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave

IMG 9434Grand House, the Vecht

IMG 9433The River Vecht

Location (Map)

Weesp, The Netherlands
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Thursday, 28 March 2024

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