Pretty Kampen was left on a Tuesday the 3rd of May -no longer an r in the month's name so we can stop drinking cod liver oil (a childhood trauma for many)- at 12:04PM, crossed the river IJssel and cruised consecutively the Ganzendiep, the Goot, the Scheepvaartgat, the Zwolsche Diep, the Zwanendiep, the Kadoelermeer and the Zwolsevaart. On the go we tackled 3 locks: the Ganzendiepsluis (no noticeable difference in Level) the Voorstersluis (over 4 meters/around 14 feet down, entering the former Zuiderzee, nowadays Noordoostpolder, part of the youngest province Flevoland, 1986, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flevoland) and the Marknessersluis (over 1,5 meters/5 feet down again). So, the difference in level between the ‘old land’ and the ‘new land’ (won by partial reclamation of the former Zuiderzee, the latter renamed IJsselmeer, after the creation of the Afsluitdijk) is well over 5 meters/16 feet. After a cruise of over 4,5 hours -long for us!- we stopped at 4:37PM at Marknesse. It’s a pleasant mooring-spot, next to a sort of ‘forest’ where its good for walking the dog while listening to a vast and continuous singing ‘bird-choir’.

Speaking of walking, the three of us (crew of 2 and our dog) walked daily around Marknesse -initially called ‘village B’ in 1946- see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marknesse. While walking in Marknesse’s landscaped forest sometimes a view to the north opened up and extensive flower nurseries came into view. We miss a drone to be able to take a more spectacular picture of it! Note the uninterrupted flatness of the landscape.

Still in Marknesse on the 4th of May we took a picture in the evening of a street where many flags were flown at half-mast. After all, it is Remembrance Day in the Netherlands on that day. The photo is not suitable for publication due to the lack of light. However, on May 5, the Netherlands celebrates Liberation Day. Here you see a photo of the same street, now with all flags ‘in top’.

On an information board: 'Austrian house'. This wooden house was built in 1948. Then made available by the Ministry of Reconstruction. Bartered for fish and potatoes with Austria, and more than welcome in a time of great housing shortage and shortage of building materials. The expected service life of 15 years has been amply achieved! (The flag gives away the picture was taken on the 5th of May.)

We left enjoyable Marknesse on Friday the 6th of May when it was almost 11:00AM. After finally reaching Emmeloord, the ’capital’ of the Noordoostpolder, finishing the Zwolsevaart and temporarily skipping the Lemstervaart we entered the Urkervaart where its possible to moor. Here we are now, pretty close to the centre of Emmeloord (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmeloord), initially called ‘village A’ in 1943.