We were looking forward to getting out of the tidal rivers and back to safety on the Canals so we pushed on up the Nete to Lier. Chris (No 1 son) had met us in Boom for the weekend and met up with us again in Lier (Kes being sick in the BMW - disgrace! The Red Cross parcel or three from NAAFI - a mix of essentials like Glenmorangie whisky and nice to have (cheddar and bacon). Plus a load of mail so it was Xmas in May. Even the navigator seemed to have recovered.
Lier has become quite touristy since I served there in the early 80's so we had no problem finding a 'good' restaurant - Angela has a talent for fund depletion (or is that all females). Once Chris had departed we headed off along the Albert Canal to Herentals where we moored by the Sluis. The Albert Canal was quite choppy and Angela who can get seasick looking at a bath was glad to get off it. The next day was a trek into town to stock up on 'kuchen' for the visit of Belgian friends. It is amazing how many people say 'how lucky you are' (having a barge lifestyle) - what has luck got to do with it - I thought it was just a case of itchy feet and a willingness to make it happen!
From Herentals we headed east along the Bocholt-Herentals Canal - It was mainly pine forests with not a lot of moorings. The canals were lined with pillboxes - good fields of fire but they don't seem to have done the job too well - I felt sorry for the poor squaddies who manned them in the dark and damp.
Then the run down the Zuidwillemsvaart to Maastricht on the Dutch border- all a bit boring until we had to find a mid River mooring on a River Maas (Meuse) pier. Once again Kes had to practice his ladder climbing over my shoulder every time he wanted to cock his leg!
Maastricht is a nice city with lots of sightseeing (and shopping) potential, unfortunately it was very cold (and I forgot the camera) but this is a farewell shot of St Servis.
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