Back in Delft
Arrived back at the lovely campsite in Delft where we started out exactly a month ago. Had enough time for one last trip in our Kayak along the waterways near the campsite and a nice meal in the old town of Delft.
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.
Van Gogh, Cycling and Wild Boar
We drove from Delft to camp in De Hoge Vewule national park. Here we cycled through a variety of different landscapes and visited the Kroller-Muller museum which has many wonderful Van Gogh paintings and an amazing sculpture garden In the evening we hopped back on our bikes to look for the wild boar the warden told us were about but we only saw deer. Let’s hope I don’t meet any if I need to visit the facilities tonight.
New ways to park one’s bike.
We cycled into Delft today. As with many Dutch cities finding a vacant spot to park one’s bike can prove to be tricky. Happily we did not need to resort to this.
A Day in Delft
A glorious day exploring Delft. We saw the Old Church with its leaning tower, and graves of Vermeer and Van Leeweunhoek inventor of the microscope. Plus the new church and a boat trip on the canals. Like Amsterdam without the crowds.
A mad dash to Jumbo
We arrived at our beautiful campsite Delftlandhoeve near Delft and jumped on our bikes to race to the local supermarket called Jumbo. It was 2 miles away and closed in 30 minutes. We needed food for supper. We sped along, guided by Google maps, on single track paved roads (no cars allowed) where we met pedestrians, rollerbladers and a pack of cyclists who looked as though they’d got lost on the Tour de France. The countryside was spectacular and we cycled over canals and under the railway. We were within 1 min of Jumbo but kept going round in circles. Only 10 minutes to closing time. Finally we found it, locked our bikes and ran round gathering some basics as the staff packed them away. We rode back more sedately and enjoyed our supper.
Delftlandhoeve campsite
Day 1 Harwich to Hook of Holland
Left at 530am to drive to Harwich. A lovely day cruising on a flat sea, most of the time spent on deck in the sun.
Leaving Harwich
Arriving at Hook of Holland