Leaving our home in Brighton on 1st April we arrived back in Brugge on the 2nd. Yes it is a long trip, with 6 hours in HCMC to break the tedium. Normally we start the engines of our Joie de Vivre within a few days of landing but as we know all good plans of mice and men habitually go astray. Sylvester, our very competent maintenance man still had a few jobs to finish off, including the final fitting of our TV satellite dish (yeah, I have TV again!) And then as it always seems to happen, we had a battery issue. We woke in the morning to a strange plastic smell in the boat, and on raising the bed found the bow thruster batteries had blown up and were sizzling with heat.

The old batteries were quickly removed, and we waited for the delivery of new replacement batteries.

Not wanting to be idle a trip to Brussels was planned, final destination Groot-Bijgaaden Castle, which each year hosts a tulip festival.

But we came here to see flowers and were not disappointed

Our next outing via train was to Lille, to again address issues with our Free WiFi account. All fixed until next time!

Between trips to the market, boat cleaning duties and drinks parties our 3 weeks in Brugge have not been wasted. We plan to depart the port this week, direction Ghent.