So, here we are in the lovely, wooded boat haven at Giethoorn.

Mooring under a willow 

 EVERYONE had told us that this was a must. The Venice of the Netherlands, they said. And certainly there are a lot of small canals, and no roads, although the resemblance kinda ends there. But it is undoubtedly very pretty.

There were plenty of tourists, and businesses catering to them, but judging how many hundreds of hire boats/punts/rowboats there were still tied up to the pontoons, it must be a madhouse in high season with them all trying to negotiate the narrow canals. Would be fun to watch!

We took the bikes, but had to walk them around as narrow-path/lots-of tourists and Jaqui on a bicycle don't mix. There was an excellent rock shop with an extensive collection of stones and fossils from all over the world. We spent some time in there and came out with 2 fossils, very inexpensive.

These are the neighbours. Just about every third boat has cuties on board, especially the German boats of which there are LOTS. I heard that in the Netherlands it is the law that dogs have to be walked a minimum of three times a day. Suppose that's mostly aimed at dogs without gardens.

Making friends in Giethoorn.
 This kitty was totally unfazed by the tourists.

We have been pootling around this area for awhile now and at this rate won't even make Friesland, so the plan is to really push north tomorrow.

We're having a braai tonight so I'm off to peel potatoes - some things never change!

Spotted in Giethoorn.
I guess sometimes it's necessary to state the obvious.