Made a brief stop to crane on the motorbike and take on fresh water. Half an hour later we arrived at the first swing bridge and Andy called on the VHF to request that it be opened for us.
Now, Belgium is a great place but the language is confusing. Belgium is a divided country : Flanders and Wallonia. They speak Flemish and Dutch in Flanders; French and something else in Wallonia. Both dislike each other and the French.
So, back to the swing bridge and the VHF. Silence. Then a torrent of....double dutch? Half an hour passed and the bridge was still closed. After several attempts we successfully made contact with the lock keeper on the telephone. The language barrier remained but we hoped that our pronunciation of Rattevallebrug sufficed. Nothing happened. Then, three small boats joined us and they waited too.Finally, after two hours, a little yellow van appeared and the bridge was opened by a moustachioed lock keeper who then beckoned us through and proceeded to follow us along the canal to the subsequent 5 swing bridges. Each bridge proved tighter and more awkward to get through than the last one.
Eventually we arrived at Plassendalesluis and asked if we could moor up for the night in the vast lock and take on more fresh water (mainly for the hot tub). The lock keepers came out in force and, to our surprise, they announced that Lobelia was the biggest barge that they had ever seen come along that canal!
BIG NEWS : Floating School started today. The boys are very excited about their new reading club and the associated point incentives; mildly interested in their spellings list; unusually hooked on fractions; and keen to write their journals.
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