And today I did a lift-and-shift from Belgium to Holland. I was seriously considering heading down to Caen to see the D-Day beaches and do some of the WW2 museums but the weather is starting to turn, plus it’s becoming difficult to actually find a campsite that’s open as many of them have now closed for the season. So as much as I wanted to stay on the road until the end of October I’ve decided to head to Holland and then catch the ferry back to the UK sometime next week. I can visit Normandy next year on the way to Portugal….
I left my campsite at the south of Belgium this morning with a cool but clear blue sky and headed north. I could have gone straight for Antwerp and then north for the shortest trip but I decided to head up to Ghent and then follow the coast road towards Rotterdam and then north east to my campsite. The ride was 215 miles and for most of the day it was a sunny 20 degrees. I was hoping to get some twisty-bits once I got into Holland but it was a pretty boring ride really, with all their A-roads being quite narrow and quite slow, but it was nice to be on smooth tarmac again as the Belgian roads are a bit hit and miss, with some great and some less so.
The roundabouts in Holland are interesting, with some having a kerb within the roundabout to divide the lanes. The Dutch don’t seem to be very good with moving onto roundabouts, a bit too hesitant, but they’re still better than the Belgians who don’t seem to care which direction they’re going and don’t indicate. An then there’s the French, who seem to be a law unto themselves when it comes to roundabouts….
Around lunchtime I stopped at a roadside snack bar in Holland and had some delicious chips in curry sauce. Delish…! And my deepest respect to that particular greasy spoon for that culinary delight, and it was a pleasure to sit outside in the sunshine looking at the view over a large blue lagoon.
My campsite is at Lunteren, which is halfway between Utrecht and Arnhem. It’s attached to a farm but the farmers wife keeps a small zoo and she insisted on taking me around to see it, all the time jabbering away telling me about the animals. She couldn’t speak any English and I can’t speak Dutch so I just nodded and smiled a lot and made lots of oooo and ahhhh noises. And as well as birds of all sorts, squirrels, rabbits and goats – she also has two Alpaca’s – and she’s put me on a pitch right next to the two Alpaca’s – which I’ve nicknamed Chas and Dave. I just hope there’s no singing tonight on the Jo’anna tonight…
Tomorrow I’m off to investigate Utrecht and some of the villages around the area as I believe there’s some lovely architecture to see, and then on Monday the delights of Amsterdam. I’ve been to Amsterdam several times when I was in the RN, but to be honest, I’ve never seen it in daytime and never sober… On Tuesday I’m going over to Arnhem to see the bridge and a few museums, and then on Wednesday I may head for the ferry at Rotterdam. It was another long day today with a pretty straightforward ride, but hopefully some culture tomorrow.
