The Netherlands portion of my biking journey took just over a week. I took only one day off, in Rotterdam, and the others I biked between 35 and 80 kilometers depending on the day.
To start off with, I took the North Sea Route, which follows along the Western Coast of the Netherlands. It regularly linked to beaches, and was a beautiful undulating topography of scrub and dunes, with a smooth bike trail. Every so often the trail would be interrupted by a holiday town, full of places to eat and people looking to relax.
I decided pretty early on that I wasn't interested in this route, mainly because beaches and dunes I have seen, whereas the canals and villages of the interior of the Netherlands are much newer and more interesting to a New Zealander (or at least this New Zealander).
I headed for a campground and hit my first rain in quite some time. However, it was pretty soothing to stay inside and read my book while the rain drummed tunes lightly upon the stretched canvas of my tent.
Turning inwards, I decided to make for Rotterdam. In Rotterdam, I found a lovely innercity campground. It was unusually affordable (6 Euros), and allowed me access into the city. I set up tent, my hammock, made dinner, and planned my visit into town for the next day.
Rotterdam was beautiful, and I meandered past canals, old windmills, wandered into galleries and museums, and generally explored the town. Late in the day I found a supermarket, got some groceries and had a picnic in the gardens of one of the museums. I was so lazy and so relaxed, that I made the first daisy chain since I was probably 10. Fantastic feeling to have absolutely nothing to do.
From Rotterdam, I went due south past Kinderdijk, an old milling area of the Netherlands. There are many windmills that remain, and a lovely network of trails. I'd long since stopped following the main routes, and was wandering my way via bike roads and marked intersections, to just using directional methods.
I really liked the beautiful vegetable gardens I found throughout this region. Who knew something productive and economic could look so beautiful.
From this area, I turned Westward again, and biked and ferried my way out onto Zeeland. I figured I needed to see the area from which my country was named for (the name Niew Zeeland comes up in Dutch cartography in the 17th century--from Abel Tasman's brief visit to our lands). True to life, as soon as I got into that coastal region, the grass seemed greener, the wind seemed windier, and sheep seemed to abound. Standard.
One thing was clearly different . . . roadside stands aren't a bucket with a lid and a hole for your money, and a pile of produce. The Dutch are tech savvy. I bought my tomatoes in the middle of nowhere, from a vending machine.
This is the lovely meal I made for myself with the above tomatoes. Yum.
A beautiful and a lovely lovely place to ride. If anyone reading this does go, check the dominant wind directions and go the opposite way.
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