Gorinchem

Pronounced Hhorikum, or something like that, this is a very pleasant and interesting town on the banks of the Merwede River where we have stayed two nights. This has been a strategic town since the 1200s and you can still walk around the perimeter of the old town top of the remains of the old fortifications. We had a pleasant trip down from Gouda with another stop in Montfort. The weather has turned rainy and we had our first half a day of navigating in the rain; not a problem. The waterways are getting bigger with more commercial traffic so we had to dart out of the small canal at Vianen, dash across the Lek river and into the Merwede Canal where we entered a large lock with a commercial barge. It followed us down the Merwede Canal which turned out to be a good thing as they coordinated with the bridge controllers by VHF radio so all the bridges opened for them, and us, as we got there. We have been travelling with Bob and Lois from Perth who have been coming to Holland for three years and made the same decision in Gouda that we did – to head for France. It has been nice to have the company and share notes and charts.

From the town we can look out over the Merwede River which is one of the major exits of the Rhine. It looks like a peaceful scene with the green banks and fields on the other side, but not for long. The big barges come by every couple of minutes and they seem to be going fast. We have to travel up this river for a couple of km before turning off to s' Hertogenbosh so more fun is in store.

After many years we have managed to contact Marco, who was a witness at our wedding 30 years ago and who we had lost contact with about 15 years ago. He and his wife Jill live near Maastricht but are only there on weekends so we need to do some planning to we can be there on a weekend to catch up with them. This will probably mean that we will be leaving Armida in that area when we come back; probably somewhere between Roermond and Liege in Belgium. More research is needed.