Defeat on the Waal

Utrecht to Tiel

We decided to top up the water tank before setting off – you never know what you're going to find in the way of facilities, so it's best to be safe:

Then the short trip out of the city, following a rather slow hire boat through the three bridges and one lock onto the enormous Amsterdam-Rhine canal. Not the most exciting or inspiring of landscapes, though the Dutch have planted thousands of trees to help:

Tied up before one of the two big locks of the day, we were amused to see this barge family chilling out:

Somewhat less amusing was the sight (and smell) of this farmer spreading manure on the canal bank, presumably to improve the crop of hay he harvests there. The wind was not in the right direction!

The varied origins of the containers at this port on the canal seemed to encapsulate what globalisation really means. I wonder what came over in those boxes from China:

At the second lock, we were preceded by this vast Swiss river cruise ship. After we had slipped in behind, we were followed in by two large barges. Rather disconcerting, since pleasure boats usually stay well to the back, but that's what the lock-keeper told us to do – in his immaculate English, of course.

This is how these huge double-chambered locks look from a distance:

After we reached the end of the canal, we emerged onto the Waal River, which is the major distributory branch of the Rhine in the Netherlands. We needed to go up it about 30 kilometres to reach Nijmegen. But it was not to be. The current was fearsome, and we were making almost no progress at all. So, accepting defeat, we spun round and found a nice mooring just a little way downstream at Tiel. This was our first sight, and we were greeted by a friendly harbour-master.

Tiel has a railway station with a connection to Nijmegen, so we plan to let the train take the strain tomorrow, staying tied up here for a couple of nights. Then on Saturday we'll buzz downstream to Den Bosch, where there is a light show on Saturday evening marking the 500th anniversary of the painter's death, and also a major retrospective exhibition of his paintings. And we are meeting our friends Ruud and Clara-Mae on Monday.