We imagine ourselves in the world of Harry Potter. We've done that all year round to a greater or lesser extent, especially the girls ... they've read all 7 books several times, seen the 6 movies several times and very regularly play a Harry Potter story with lego. But now we are also in an environment that belongs in those stories and that awakens the fantasy of the girls even more. Marinthe regularly walks around with her white blouse and HP tie, preferably also with her HP magic wand. It's great to be able to see some of the 'life' things in that world as a finale to this special year in which Harry Potter has had a central place for the girls. Like the steam train which is used in HP-2 and runs over the bridge of Glenfinnan (while Harry and Ron try to catch the train in the flying car). And next week on our way back home we make a stop in England (near New Castle) to visit Alnwick Castle which has also been used in many HP movies.

Well, and so we also enjoy the second week in Scotland. It starts a bit rainy on the day we are in Oban. But the following days it is almost always dry and even the sun shines every now and then. However, the temperature doesn't exceed 15 degrees Celsius. For Scottish standards this is just 'good' weather and also for us it is fine after a year of warmth and sunshine.

Oban is very touristy. We walk around a bit but soon decide to go back to the boat and find a quiet anchorage for the night. We find it on the north side of Lismore Island in Loch Lihnne ... a beautiful place between the mountains where we are almost alone (with the evening sun). The next day we sail away in time for the last 20 miles to Fort William. That is where the Caledonian Canal begins.

The Caledonian Canal is a world-famous canal and cuts right through North Scotland. It is 50 nm long and has 29 locks and 10 bridges. It passes three large lakes including the largest (and deepest) lake: Loch Ness. Through this canal you don't have to pass the very rough and stupid north side of Scotland to get (in our case) from west to east. The canal was built between 1803 and 1822, so more than 190 years old, by order of the British Navy at war with Napoleon. The idea was to bring the warships from east to west and back via this canal. Unfortunately, the canal was not ready soon enough for the war, which ended in 1815. The canal is so big and well built, that all the gullies are still in are in their original condition and all current pleasure craft and small cargo ships can pass through them perfectly. Only the doors have been replaced automatically and a few times. It is very special to be able to bring ships up and down like this via the water. Especially Neptune's Staircase, where 8 gullies are built together, gives a beautiful view of ships going up or down step by step.

We are lucky ... exactly when we arrive we can go through the first two locks together with three other boats. And after a short wait we can enter Neptune's Staircase in the afternoon. Quite an experience with a lot of people on the side. The four of us form a good team ... Eline and Marinthe are on the side in front of the lines (Eline in front and Marinthe in the back) and Toine and I do the lines on the boat (Toine in front and I in the back). After 1.5 hours of lock work we are upstairs and there is also a nice stop for the next few days. In the evening we eat a 'barmeal' in the pub and have a nice meeting with a Dutch/English family (he NL, they UK) with children of the same age.

At the beginning of the Calendonian Canal lies Fort William and from there every day a Harry Potter steam train departs through the Scottish Highlands to Malaig on the coast and back. When we arrive at the station everything seems to be sold out already and we can only buy tickets for the next day. So we decide to go ahead and rent a car for the day. That turns out to be a golden opportunity because with the car you can get a much better view of the bridge (with the moving train over it) and we see it just in time. The rest of the day we drive around in beautiful surroundings, stop every now and then and walk around a bit. In Fort William we do the last big shopping in a big supermarket.

And fortunately the next day we are in the train ... a nice ride through another beautiful landscape. In Malaig we have a lunch stop of 1.5 hours and then back again. As entertainment in the train we play card games (with an HP card set). At 16.00 hours we are back at the boat and nicely in time to go a little further up the canal to a new spot. Two locks and a bridge that has to be opened and then we are 1.5 hours later on the canal. a very nice spot with next to the boat a laundry room (with washing machines) and campers on the field opposite who made a campfire. Those washing machines are very handy ... quickly I do the last two washes of this trip. The girls (inspired by the campers) want to sleep in the cockpit (with cockpit tent on it). That's alright!

The next piece of 'canal' goes over the lakes Loch Lochy and Loch Oich with again three locks, two bridges and at the end a staircase of five locks in a row. Yes, we have already passed the highest point ... 32 meters above sea level. The sun shines regularly and it's good to be on the boat in such beautiful surroundings. The last part we sail for another hour on Loch Ness and find a beautiful anchorage in the middle of the lake where no other boat is moored. Brrr ... exciting though, with the monster around ... would we get to see it?

No, unfortunately not, and neither the next day when we continued across the lake to the last stretch of canal with one lock, two bridges and a staircase of four locks to arrive in Inverness. We're already experienced lock keepers and certainly going down is a cinch, so in no time at all we'll be 'down' again and only two locks remain for us to go back home tomorrow. But first we stay another day in Inverness. That's a nice place, so it's fine to have a day here and we also have to wait for good weather, because now the wind is against us and from tomorrow (Saturday Aug 7) noon it's good 'departure weather'. For the trip of 240 miles to Blyth ... there we make a stop (for the castle of HP, but also for the weather). In the middle of next week we hope to be able to start the last stretch of 280 miles to Zeeland (Roompot) and thus arrive in Bruinisse in time for the 14th of August. We are looking forward to that!

We regularly get the question whether we feel like going home, or whether we would rather continue this life a little longer. Well, we can reassure you ... we really feel like coming home, to see you again and to pick up the 'old' life again. Of course we had a fantastic time and we will really miss things from this beautiful life. But all in all the feeling is that it's nice to be back home again!