A Sunbathing Cat and Kitty Balls in Friesland

For our penultimate night we are camping in the large garden of an inn in the village of Moddergat on the north coast of Holland. A short walk and a climb up the dyke (a cat was sunbathing on the steps) gave us beautiful views of mudflats and the Frisian Islands in the distance. We won’t have time to visit them but would love to return to do so. The dyke extends as far as we can see in both directions.

We cycled to Lauwersoog where the dyke continues and a sluice has been built to prevent flooding, cutting off an area of sea which is now Lauwersmeer. There is a large lock for boats to pass from Meer to sea, which involves a section of the road lifting to let them pass.

The highlight of the cycle ride was a friendly Dutch couple we met at a roadside honesty stall selling yellow plums. They told us in Dutch the plums are called “Kitty Balls”. It took them a while to make this understood and involved the man gesturing at his trousers.