0235 departure on time from Brisbane Airport to start our 2017 European trip. Warren manages to get an aisle seat which makes him happy and we have a few short naps on the first leg to Singapore. The flight takes 8 hours and we arrive at 0830 Singapore time.
Changi Airport
Misty when we landed. We had about an hour to stretch our legs before we were back on the Boeing 777-300 for the 7 hour flight to Dubai.
Another hour in the airport before boarding a A380 for the final leg to Birmingham. Unfortunately it was another hour before we left after a medical evacuation required 15 bags to be found and offloaded. With 600 passengers, this was no easy task for the ground crew.
We didn’t make up any time during the 8 hour flight so we landed an hour late in Birmingham, where we were met by our friend Jane. A long wait for the bags was not great after the 27 hours since leaving Brisbane.
We visited the site of the 1403 battle between King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Henry Percy from Northumberland. Over 6000 men were thought to have died and a chapel was built on the battlefield.
Battlefield 1403
There is a good museum telling the story and although the King lost more men, the death of Henry Percy was the turning point in the battle.
Battlefield 1403 museum
Prince Henry, Prince of Wales was shot in the face with an arrow. Well worth a visit if you are near Shrewsbury (also a great farm shop with local produce).
Good zoom on my new camera
Drinks at a friend of Jane’s house (complete with peacock) and then on to Whitchurch for dinner. Great start to the trip.
Tintagel, United Kingdom
0530 and we are on the road to escape the M5 and M6 holiday traffic. It was a good move as we were in the village of Boscastle by 1100.
Boscastle
This is a picturesque village built in a gorge leading to the sea. We walked up to the headland overlooking the inlet and were glad for the calm winds.
In 2004, Boscastle suffered a terrible flood after heavy rain in the catchment lead to flash flooding similar to what Toowoomba suffered several years ago. Residents had to be airlifted from rooftops and cars washed away.
Flood devastation – No loss of life luckily.It looks cold and it was.
After a Cornish pasty for lunch, we headed to Tintagel castle, where legend says King Arthur was conceived.
Not sure about that but it was the site of a dark ages village and Middle Ages castle. Lots of steps but beautiful views.
Steps and more steps
Stopped at Port Isaac for a quick look. Tide was out but the crew of Doc Martin were there filming for the day.
Tide is out in Port IsaacDoc Martin crewRugged coastline of Cornwall
Our accommodation for the night was St Benet’s Abbey. Beautiful building and rooms though Jane did appear to be in the outhouse!
Saint Ives, England
We left the Abbey after breakfast and headed to Falmouth to visit Pendennis Castle.
Pendennis Castle
This was a large site with a castle built by Henry VIII, a large former barracks building with an interesting WWI and II display and a gun emplacement below the castle.
Protecting Falmouth
It also gave us a great viewpoint of the many yachts sailing in Falmouth Harbour.
This is the third largest harbour in the world behind Rio de Janeiro and Sydney. Next on the agenda was a trip to the National Maritime Museum of Cornwall.
Bligh’s 23 foot launch
There was a special Bligh display and a recreation of the ship’s launch . Bligh’s voyage in the launch was an amazing act of seamanship. 15 men and provisions for a 47 day trip to Timor, a voyage of 3618 nm had this ship down to the gunnels. All done with just a compass and quadrant – no charts or chronometer. Only one man lost when they were attacked by hostile natives.
From here we drove back across Cornwall to North Cliffs which was rugged and COLD.
North Cliffs
By now the wind was up to about 30 knots and our stop was just long enough for a few pictures. On to St Ives then to find our accommodation at the Sloop Inn. Several attempts using the Sat Nav (car and Google) where we ended up in lanes so narrow we weren’t game to proceed and we resorted to calling the Inn.
Jane’s room at Sloop Inn
We eventually found it, unloaded our bags in drizzle and what now felt like 40 knots of wind in the laneways and enjoyed a sundowner. Not a popular term here as the sun doesn’t set until after 9pm.
Sloop Inn – We had to duck to get to our breakfast table.
Dinner at Alba restaurant overlooking the harbour was a treat. Jane had been given the tip to book early and request a table by the window. A nice end to the day.
We had a bad start to the day when we went to get the car and found a flat tyre. Jane called AA who were there within the hour and removed the large bolt and did a temporary repair.
Scrabble while waiting for AA
Jane drove Warren and I to the Telegraph Museum while she drove back to Penzance to get the tyre fixed.
WW2 Tunnels
The museum was very interesting about the history of morse code, cable messaging and undersea cables. There were also displays in the World War 2 tunnels next to the museum.
Minack Theatre
From here we visited the Minack Theatre. This theatre had been created into the hillside by Rowena Cade. It is a fascinating place that is a testament to the determination of its creator who carted much of the materials by hand to the unique site.
Next was Lands End on a cold and windy afternoon.
End of EnglandLand’s End
Our accommodation for the night was the Glenleigh BnB in Marazion. Dinner was at the Hotel Godolphin, right on the water overlooking St Michaels Mount.
We started the day with a trip across to St Michael’s Mount. This estate has been in the same family for 600 years and the current Lord still resides here.
St Michael’s Mount Castle
From the top of the castle the Spanish Armada was first sighted. We did a short walking tour of the village next to the harbour and discovered it is home to 35 people (workers and their families). In 1846 Queen Victoria made a surprise visit and was entertained by the housekeeper as the Lord was away.
Queen Victoria’s footprint
A bronze cast of her footprint commemorates the occasion and this tradition has continued for monarchs and heirs.
Giant bromeliad in the gardens
The gardens were beautifully maintained but we cut short our visit to catch the last boat back to Marazion. We had just enough water to get to the pier and it would be another half hour or more until the causeway was open to foot traffic.
Waiting for the tide to go down
From here we went to The Lizard after deciding Dartmouth (ancestral home of the Kerswills) was too far. More beautiful rugged coastlines.
Cornish CoastOld lifeboat stationBeach below the LizardCadgwith Cove InnA real fishing village
Jane was worried about our accommodation for tonight in the small village of Cadgwith. The hotel was great and after beautiful freshly caught fish for dinner we enjoyed a fun trivia night with the locals. We didn’t win but did not disgrace ourselves either.
Newport, United Kingdom
Dinner at The Fox pub for our last night with Jane before heading across to Belgium for our bike and barge trip. On Wednesday morning Jane dropped us a Stafford railway station for the 2 hour trip to London to catch the Eurostar to Brussells.
This is a 3 hour trip including about half an hour under the English Channel and the trains have a top speed of 300 km per hour. From Brussells it was on a local train to Bruges for 3 nights before joining the barge Zwaantje.
We were looking forward to our time in Bruges as everyone we had met who had been here loved it. Of course, sometimes you can be disappointed after such a build up, but this was not the case with Bruges.
City of Bruges flag
We had 3 days to explore and we started with a free walking tour of the old town. This gave us an overview of the main sights and museums and a brief history of this well preserved medieval town.
The golden era for Bruges was during the 12th to 15th centuries when trade flourished and the resultant wealth was used to build many impressive churches and buildings. Around 1500, the channel to the sea started silting up and trade declined. Lack of money meant that many of the old buildings and churches were not renovated and retained their original features. Bruges survived both World Wars with little damage so by the second half of the 20th century, restoration of many buildings led to a surge in tourism.
Bruges is sometimes referred to as the “Venice of the North”. There are canals around the old town as well as several through the town.
Gothic Hall inside City HallStill in use today by Council
After the walking tour we purchased a 3 day Bruges Museum pass and started with a trip to the City Hall built in 1376. Highlight was the Gothic Hall with its late 19th century murals and impressive vaulted ceiling.
Mechanism that controls the ringing of the 47 bells
The movie “In Bruges” featured the Belfort which is 83m tall and contains an impressive clockwork mechanism and a carillion with 47 bells.
366 steps to the top
This belfry was added to the market square around 1240 and housed the archives and served as a watchtower for fire or other dangers.
The Groeningemuseum provides a history of Belgian art and masterpieces from the Flemish Primitives including Jan van Eyck. They were in stark contrast to some of the modern art also on display.
The Church of Our Lady has a 115m high brick tower and a valuable art collection that includes Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child.
Reliquary
The Chapel of the Holy Blood was built in the 12th century and houses a relic brought back from the crusades that is said to be the blood of Jesus. There is a Procession of the relic on Ascension Day each year. The reliquary used for the procession was made in 1617 from 30kg of gold and silver and more than 100 precious stones.
Belfort
We also did an evening walking tour that finished at a small local pub. Another great guide who expanded on the history of the town. The lights on the buildings at night made for some beautiful photos.
One different experience was a visit to the Historium which features a story of life in Bruges in medieval times. You travel from set to set and view films as the story unfolds. We finished our visit here with a Virtual Reality experience that included a flyover of the old town.
Stepped gable on most buildings
Bruges has narrow streets but few cars are allowed in the centre so walking the streets is enjoyable. There are lots of tourists but no one was trying to sell us a selfie stick. It definitely was as beautiful as we had heard.
We joined the crew of the Zwaantje at 4pm and were shown our cabin for the next 2 weeks, cabin 12. Captain Martijn introduced the rest of the crew, wife Marjorie (boss), engineer Michael, chef Keith, hostess Nadine and guide Fred.
Captain MartijnCycling Guide Fred
Also on board was mascot Gaston, a friendly King Charles mix. There are 20 cyclists on the tour, 6 Australians (including friends David and Jenny Boxer), 10 Americans and 4 Canadians. Our cabin is small but has an ensuite and comfy double bed.
Day 1 of our cycling began with overcast skies and a temperature of about 10 degrees.
Morning tea stop to warm up
It was an easy 53 km though on flat roads with a nice tailwind all day. We had 3 falls, Paula, Kate and Barbara but luckily no serious injuries. We arrived at Ghent early afternoon and Fred took us to a small chapel beside St Baaf’s cathedral that was built in 942. The church was huge after the confined chapel and we marvelled at the money that must have been required to decorate the interior.
Church is hugeThis was a very wealthy areaThis statue took my eye
The crypt underneath the church was from the 12th century. We then went for a walk around the old town and visited the castle which had fabulous views over the town.
Fred in front of the castle at GhentGhent skyline
Who ‘s the king of the castle?
Trams running through the town were a stark contrast to the old buildings.
