Belgium
Zonnebeke

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    • Day 6

      Tyne cot cemetery

      July 2, 2022 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      The cemetery was named after a barn at the centre of a German strong point called "Tyne Cot". It was captured in October 1917 in the advance. It contains 11956 graves compromising of 8961 Brits, 997 Canadian, 1368 (soon to be 1369) Australian, 520 NZ, 90 South African, 14 Newfoundland, 2 British West Indian and 4 German soldiers.

      The cross of sacrifice is placed on the original Pill box and there are two other pill boxes in the cemetery.
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    • Day 63

      WWI Battlefields - Tyne Cot Cemetery

      July 4, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      Tyne Cot is the largest Commonweath war grave cemetery in the world. There are 950 in France and Belgium. It is on the site of the Battle of Broodseinde, which involved Australian and allied troops in 1917.

      The heavy battles took place in this area as the Allies attempted to take control of the ridges and high ground from the Germans.

      Tyne Cot contains 12000 graves, 9000 of whom are unknown. The walls list the names of 34000 British soldiers with no known grave.
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    • Day 1

      Oha, ein Unfall. Und auch noch ONroad...

      July 17, 2020 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      Wir haben einen kurzen Stop zum Telefonieren gemacht, leider muss nach so einem Telefonat das GPS wieder neu zu sich finden. Ich fahre also vor, die Nadel mit meinem Standort dreht sich munter wie ein Brummkreisel. Der Track biegt nach rechts ab, ich fahre geradeaus. Als ich merke, das ich hätte abbiegen müssen, fahre ich rechts ran und stehe fast. David schaut in diesem Moment ebenfalls auf seinen Navi und erwischt mich links am Auspuff. Sein Motorrad war nicht schnell, vielleicht 15km/h. Trotzdem bekam ich mächtig Schub von hinten und ging ab in den Graben. Dort versank das Motorrad im weichen Erdreich und ich bin mit einem Salto nach vorn abgestiegen. David hat sein Motorrad ebenfalls abgelegt.
      Keiner verletzt!
      Aber wir haben sozusagen einen Reparaturworkshop zuhause, mein Auspufftopf muss neu, der Sturzbügel von Dave vielleicht auch.
      So ein Mist. Keine wichtigen Teile haben Schaden genommen. Der Auspuff ist dicht, alles an Abgasen kann raus.
      Vor lauter Schreck haben wir erstmal ein "Pannenbier" getrunken.
      Nun beenden wir im kleinen Städtchen Ieper unseren 1. Tourtag nach ca 550km.
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    • Day 3

      Sanctuary wood Museum & Ypres

      October 5, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      This morning we didn’t get up until 8:30am. I was laying in bed just watching the clock and suddenly I realised I hadn’t changed the clocks and it wasn’t really 7:30 it was 8:30.
      Ofcourse it didn’t really matter, we weren’t in any particular hurry and were still debating whether or not to even go to our first destination as we hadn’t found ticket prices.
      Just after 10am we left our parking spot and headed for the town of Leper. This was our first real border crossing of this trip and had we not known we were going to Belgium we would never have known as there was no signs to say welcome. Infact we only knew because the signs changed language from just French and English to French, English and Flemish, which I think is the European equivalent of welsh.
      Our first visit of the day was the Sanctuary Wood Museum and the original trenches of the British military in World War One. The museum was full of artefacts found in the trenches including guns,knifes, bayonets, buttons and various tools. Grenades, mortar shells and various items of clothing had also been retrieved. All of these items were displayed in glass cabinets around all of the walls. In the Center of the museum were two large tables with 12 chairs around each table and at every chair, on the table was a big wooden box with what looked like the viewfinder for binoculars on the outside.
      Both Ellie and I sat on separate chairs and we looked through the viewfinder.
      The pictures we saw were from 1914-1919, all in black and white or sepia, and they started off quite mild, showing family life, Farming, people getting married and just general life. The pictures in each box progressively got worse as the war started and finally ended up showing the trenches, dead bodies strewn everywhere, soldiers that had horrific injuries and even dead animals.
      Neither of us particularly enjoyed the boxes, but we do appreciate the cost of the war and the sacrifices made.
      From the museum we headed outside to the trenches. They were amazing to see and the fact that we could walk through the trenches and original tunnels with no lights in the pitch black really gave us a sense of the horror that took place here. Whoever was here in that time period must have been terrified.
      We left Sanctuary wood museum both feeling a little depressed and decided that even though we had the flanders fields museum on the list we would skip it. We had seen enough death and destruction for this trip.
      Our next stop of the day was Ypres, and almost all the way there we passed war graves of British and Canadian soldiers. Once you pass one of these cemetery’s you start to realise how many people were sacrificed. Once you pass 20 that cost of life is really unfathomable.
      We arrived in Ypres just after midday and found a great parking spot right in the edge of the city. We walked in and headed straight for the cloth hall. This is the home of the In Flanders Field museum but we had already decided we weren’t going to pay for entry as we didn’t need to read or see any more about the war, but the building itself is amazing and so was Ypres.
      Most of the shops were closed for lunch between 12 & 2pm except for the cafes which were bustling with people. We noticed lots of independent shops selling clothes, Food, or housewares. The town itself is a mixture of modern and old architecture with the focal point being on the main town square where the cafes and churches have been rebuilt to there original design pre war. Ypres was all but totally destroyed in the war and every single night at 8pm the last post is played. There are also bronze keys placed on the floor outside civilian homes that were killed in the war. It really is a remarkable city and we enjoyed it.
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    • Day 4

      Hooge Crater museum

      September 8, 2019 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      Has nothing to do with the actual crater. Food was quick a decent (rowdy kids aside :-)). Museum was okay but short and didn't have much to add to other museums in the area. I was hoping for a Crater but didn't have time to go hunting for itRead more

    • Day 1

      't hof Bellewaerde

      April 27, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      Best een drukke rit met veel vrachtverkeer gehad. Na een lunchhapje op een parkeerplaats bij Gent zijn we aangekomen op de camping vlakbij Ieper. De velden zijn nog te nat, dus iedereen staat bij elkaar op de verharding. Nu ja, we hebben een plekje aan de rand met een eigen grasveld. Straks via de knooppunten fietsen we nog even naar Ieper.Read more

    • Day 4

      Tyne Cot memorial

      April 30, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Tot slot komen we op de route langs Tyne Cot memorial. Een grote begraafplaats van de geallieerden. Vernoemd naar een kleine schuur (tiny cottage) die op deze plek stond. We worden iedere keer weer weemoedig van het bezoek aan dit soort plekken. Terug op de camping kunnen we voor het eerst onze nieuwe stoelen proberen.Read more

    • Day 2

      Tag 2

      July 18, 2020 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Nach einem leckeren Frühstück ging unser zweiter Tag entpannt los. Aber auch nur die ersten Kilometer, 50% Strasse (Feldweg), 50% Schotter.

      Astrein! Wir haben richtig Strecke gemacht, es hat nur so gestaubt. Leider geht der TET an einigen Stellen zum Beispiel in eine Sackgasse, man durchquert Bauernhöfe und findet sich dann auf einem Singletrail wieder. Aber sowas von Singletrail, das man in der Spur bleiben sollte. Links und rechts Stacheldraht, eine Wurzel über die man eigentlich drüber springen sollte usw.
      Wir haben unsere Motorräder heute insgesamt 5mal abgelegt. An sich kein Problem. Aber die Motorräder finden das nicht so klasse. Gut, wir haben beim ewigen Aufheben echt ordentlich geschwitzt. Die Motorräder quittierten, bei Klaus: abgebrochener Kupplungshebel, verdreckter Bremslichtschalter hinten (nach Fehlersuche und Reinigen wieder o.k.), Wackelkontakt am Bremshebel mit Dauerleuchten des Bremslichts.
      David: Tourenscheibenhalterung gebrochen.

      Wir haben nach diesen Faux-pas erkannt, das wir das mit den grossen Maschinen so nicht wollen.
      Ich hätte gern meine kleine 350er racing hier. Da waere das alles nicht so schlimm.
      Fazit: kein TET mehr mit den GS.
      Wir entschliessen uns, Nebenstrassen durch Adventure routing von Garmin auszuprobieren. Keine ellenlange Landstrassen, eher Nebenrouten.

      Nachdem wir das Waterloo Memorial besichtigten nächtigen wir heute in Waterloo.
      Die Motorräder stehen im Hotelhof und wir besuchen den Griechen im Ort.

      Yammas!

      Was bleibt:
      Die Belgier, die uns begegneten, waren durchweg sehr, sehr freundlich!
      Hundehalter
      Reiter
      Bauern
      Jogger
      Mountainbiker
      Passanten
      Rennradfahrer
      Man grüsst sich, hält den Daumen hoch und schenkt sich ein Lächeln (unser Lächeln war wegen des Helms nicht sichtbar, aber da). Man gibt sich Platz, für die Pferde hiess es für uns Motor aus und warten. Alles eine Frage des Respekts.

      Da können sich die bornierten Deutschen mal eine Scheibe abschneiden.
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    • Day 62

      WWI Battlefields - Polygon Wood

      July 3, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

      The Battle of Polygon Wood began on 26 September. 1917.

      The 4th and 5th Australian Divisions attacked the German lines with huge losses. The battle ended with victory on October 3 1917.

      After the war the 5th Australian Division built its memorial in Polygon Wood, overlooking the Buttes New British Cemetery.

      Polygon Wood was completely flattened in the battles. The trees in the woods were replanted after the war and have regrown.
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    • Day 18

      Day 15 - Tyne Cot Cemetery

      July 15, 2022 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      This was an event we were all looking forward to. The funeral of an Unknown Australian Soldier who was discovered 5 years ago when the local council were digging an irrigation ditch. His uniform tells us he is an Aussie Digger and his DNA tells us he was 25 years of age, 5 foot 7 inches tall, dark hair, pale complexion, blue eyes and probably born in Scotland.

      It was a touching ceremony and well attended by dignitaries as well as the local community. This was our opportunity to say, 'rest easy digger.'

      After last nights Menin Gate event, once again the Jonathan Church recipients were outstanding in their role requirements and their efforts made it a truly memorable service. Their care and concern for our digger was obvious in their bearing and also on their faces.
      We are still unaware of his identity but we know where we have laid him to rest.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Zonnebeke, Зонебеке, Ζονεμπέκε, زونوبوک, Sonnebeca, Зоннебеке, Zunnebeke, 佐内贝克

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