Cruise to Furrin Parts - Day 8

It's been an uneventful day really.

Once again, we were not exactly rushing to be up and about so after another late breakfast we set off to explore Nieuwpoort on foot

Our first port of call was the big modern chandlery, almost a rival in scale to Fox's, where we escaped with the contents of my wallet intact on account of them not having a solution to the mainsheet traveller problem in stock

We then trekked off into the centrum of town with its magnificent town hall (I think that's what it is) and church



It dawned on us that everywhere bar the bars and bistros was shut fit lunch. Very civilised! As we'd not long had breakfast lunch held no appeal so we kept walking.

Back to the river, we set off down the boardwalk towards Nieuwpoort Bad (Bad apparently means "bath" according to my translation app but I suspect something may be lost in the translation)

Another chandlery beckoned, this one an Alladins cave of boat bits but still no joy. Never mind, the weather was warm and sunny and it was a pleasant stroll

We watched a yacht sail in and then be handed a black ball fender by the following orange cabined RIB which then zoomed off ahead



Quite what that was all about we couldn't imagine! On we went into the main street of Nieuwpoort Bad where the occasional old building stood out amongst the modern shops and apartment blocks



We stopped off for some ice cream. Rather bizarrely it was billed as "Australian Home Made"! It certainly travelled well and judging by the logo one presumes it's made from genuine Australian kangaroos. It might be best bit to dwell on which bits.

Our next stop was a mini supermarket where we loaded up the bags with sine essentials. We've not eaten out as much as we expected so a couple of additional meals in tins were needed plus plenty of chocolate for the long passage over the North Sea

Our next stop was an Apotheek as painkillers aren't, it seems, sold anywhere else here. Both Rik and I have been plagued by headaches this past week and the medicine box read running low on paracetamol

The stuff might only be sold over the counter in an apotheek, but they knock them out in 1g tabs and boxes of 30 at that. That's effectively double the quantity you can buy in the UK

It was back to the river again to catch the gratis ferry to the other bank and the final leg of our epic hike through the nature reserve and right around the (apparently) largest marina in Northern Europe (I believe them!) before arriving back on board

I was struggling for the last mile I have to admit. My legs were giving me some real trouble but I made it albeit slowly at the end.

After a coffee and a bit of a rest I went for a shower and then we headed up to the clubhouse for drinks and a meal. We were nearly disappointed as strictly speaking the kitchen had closed just before we got there but they very kindly stayed on a bit late to knock out three excellent helpings of spag bol.

Back aboard we put the kettle on and reviewed the homeward passage options. I'm still hoping for a first light departure on Wednesday morning but it very much depends on the forecast winds tomorrow abating in time for the sea conditions to improve to tolerable