7th - 10th October. Up the Vecht to Utrecht, then across the Amsterdam-Rijn Kanaal to Oudewater.

Elaine joined us in Weesp, and we sailed up the river Vecht. This unusual double lift bridge is in the village of Loenen.

All along the Vecht, but especially in Breukelen, splendid houses can be seen. We are told that the very rich people from Amsterdam live here.

Work is always going on somewhere on the rivers. This crane seems to be lifting as much water as mud.

From Maarssen, we walked across to look at barges on the Amsterdam-Rijn Kanaal. This is not a waterway for The Puzzler!

We sailed on to Utrecht, where The Puzzler is  passing the waterside cafes. The canal winds its way through the centre of the city, with the streets at a higher level.

Some of the bridges are an unusual shape, but this only adds to quaintness of this waterway.

Further on, there are houses at the lower level. The trees by the canal make this an attractive part of our journey through the city.

From Utrecht, we have to cross the Amsterdam-Rijn kanaal. Two barges had gone past, while we were coming down in the lock, and as a result it was quite a rough crossing, even though they were long gone up the canal.

We were lucky enough to arrive in Oudewater at the start of Oudewater 750. This is a year long festival to celebrate the town's 750th anniversary. With most people in costume, the street market had a really good atmosphere.

There were many craft stalls, with  a lot of demonstrations going on, but our favourite was the waffle stall. The waffles were delicious!

Oudewater is famous for its Witch house. In ancient times, if a husband wished to divorce his wife, then he would accuse her of being a witch. The crowd here are only too willing to help to take her to the scales.

The suspect witch is put on the scales. If she weighs light enough to ride a broomstick, then she must be a witch!

Having been found guilty, then she is tied to the stake, ready for burning.

The burning of the witch at the festival was quite effective, though the firemen came just in time to save her. Apparently the scales were found to be faulty, so she was deemed to be innocent, and received a certificate to state that she was not a witch. Once anyone had this certificate, they could not be tried again, and were safe forever.

The whole street behind us is lined with vintage fire engines.

It was surprising to find how tall a Friesian horse is, once you are close to him. This one must have been about 17 hands.

The mayor and his family are enjoying a concert. The lady harpist was sitting at a window, high above us, with the carillon, and other instruments, up inside the church tower. We would have liked to have seen them, as the music was good.

This was our first mooring in Oudewater, but it was rather close to the parked cars.

We moved on through Oudewater lift-bridge the next day. What a contrast in the two moorings, which are only a couple of hundred yards apart!

24th - 25th May. The city of Utrecht.

The streets of Utrecht are full of bicycles, like all towns in The Netherlands. The main canal can be seen below the road at a lower level.

The lower street level, beside the canal, is full of cafes.

In the evening light, the great tower of the Dom looks very impressive. At 112 metres, this is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands.

Early on Sunday, we set off to cruise round the Singel, a circular route round the edge of the inner city.

Access to the Singel is restricted by the height of the bridges.

The bridges just get lower!

Back on the main canal, going through  the centre of the city, there are very few boats about this morning. The canal here is much wider.

The street lies up there above us, behind the cycles, with the houses towering even higher.

At one point, the canal goes right under the street. There is a wide bridge above us at this point.

Having returned to our previous mooring, we then walked across the city, to find the Railway Museum, which was very interesting. There were many old Dutch steam trains there.

On the way back, we found this narrow street. No space wasted here!

We sailed through the centre of the city again, and by mid afternoon the cafes are getting busy. There are several boats about too, making it more interesting through the bridges!

On the way out, we passed through this lock. The whole area shown is one immense lock, dropping us about a foot down to the river below. We sailed on out of the city.

24th May. Crossing the Amsterdam - Rijn Kanaal and on into Utrecht.

Tree surgery is a real art in The Netherlands, with many interesting shapes being created, by training the branches.

We have to cross the Amsterdam - Rijn Kanaal, a major waterway which is best avoided. A barge crosses ahead of us, but will be gone soon.

Now on the way across, we should have plenty of time to be clear before the next barge gets to us.

We are safely across before the barge passes, well behind us.

We thought The Puzzler was small to be crossing the Amsterdam - Rijn Kanaal, but this little boat crossed, just ahead of us! He has just bought this boat, his first boat, and is taking it back to Amsterdam. Not far beyond the lock, his engine failed. It was a good thing that this did not happen when that barge was coming, a couple of minutes ago on the crossing!

In Utrecht we moored to the south west of the city, on Singelgracht, where there is plenty of room for boats.