So it was off on the night ferry again. We met some guys who were also cycle touring but had never cycled around Holland before. The ferry was new this time but the layout was pretty much the same as we remembered from last year's ferry.
In the morning, we got the usual wake up call and then it was off the ferry into beautiful warm weather. It was lovely being able to get off the ferry and know where you're going without feeling lost. First stop Monster (yes that is the name of the town) and found the same bakery from last year where we had breakfast. Then onto the Hague for the VVV (tourist info) for maps and the Travelex at the central station to exchange some money.
Next stop Leiden, where we found a Lidl, Grace dropped the camera (luckily only filter broken). Lovely lunch by river with an interesting wooden bridge. We checked out a church and the citadel.
Continued on our journey north where we started seeing tulip fields, had a bit of difficulty finding our campsite but got there eventually. Friendly hosts, got our green camping guide, lots of bird noises but no toilet paper or soap - mental note need toilet paper for Dutch campsites. Complimentary tea the next morning from our friendly campsite hosts.
Off to the Keukenhof gardens to check out the vast array of flowers that the country is famous for at this time of the year. More tulip fields on the way to Haarlem. Found an organic supermarket - Naturwinkel, so lots of nice (but expensive) food. Tinned salmon for lunch on bench under tree. Route through natural park on way to Velsen. Once again had difficulty finding the campsite, a nice Dutch man showed us the way (by bike of course). We rode into town and checked out the North Sea canal and locks, we had planned a longer route but road works foiled our plans. Was planning on heading to Zandijk but had overestimated our ability to cover the distances so didn't go there.
We had planned to head around Amsterdam, but ended up pretty much going through the outskirts because of closed cycle paths. Found a lovely cafe for lunch. Went through a few parks, lots of people out and about on another lovely warm sunny day. Was so hot that we called into a small dairy in a housing estate for ice creams and water. Small campsite around an old fort, friendly host, a few other cycle tourers there too.
(Day 4 - Easter Monday?) Stopped at a middle eastern shop in Amersfoort for supplies as there weren't many shops open. Ice cream in a proper ice cream parlour, we had to pay for the toilets and tried to cheat the system but didn't work, the system was too clever! Lunch was by the river behind a church tower. Large campsite at Otterlo where we were staying for a couple of nights. Great spot in a forest area with a table which made Andrew's day. Ice creams again from the campsite shop - a testament to the hot weather!
Today was spent at Hoge Veluwe national park. First stop though was the bakery and Spar. We entered the national park, which is fenced off and there is an entry fee. We checked out the Kroller-Muller museum which we knew was well known for it's Van Gogh collection and a featured artist Jan Fabre who had interesting (in a weird way) sculptures. Lunch by the cafes where they had the famous white bikes which were free to ride around the park. We did a loop around the park (on our own bikes) and by the Jacque huis where we stopped for ice creams. Out of the park we stopped for coffee and appelgebak (apple cake/pie) and stopped at the Spar to stock up again! Can you tell that we eat a lot on our cycling holidays??
A bit colder today and a long day cycling. We had originally planned to go to Odijk today but decided to head further to south of Linschoten. Bread from campsite reception, had a hot chocolate at Scherpenzeel (the shop was just opening so it took forever). Stopped at VVV in Montfoort for directions to the campsite, but the lady didn't speak English! The first Dutch person we had met who didn't speak a single word. So as Grace came out of the shop exclaiming this fact, another Dutch lady who was passing by stopped and helped us. In fact she was so friendly, she even offered us a room in her home that night. Finally got to the campsite, essentially a farm, nice and quiet, and it rained that night.
Cold again. Short ride to Oudewater where we got bread from a bakery had a bit of a walk around the village. Headed to Gouda (took us ages to find a parking spot and then park up!). VVV for more maps and then the cheese shop of course! Walked around the main square, lunch on a bench under an umbrella. Into St Janskerk which had beautiful stained glass windows. Coffee and cake at an overpriced restaurant on the main square (should have guessed). Saw the old kaas waaghuis. Schoonhoven for the night, nice spot by the dijk, friendly host whom Andrew had a cup of tea with while Grace had cold shower.
Schoonhoven to Middelburg (includes train). Caught ferry across the river and then had the wind behind us down the river towards Kinderdijk. We finally made it this time after not quite making it last year. We walked/cycled amongst the windmills and saw some operating, then continued onto Dordrecht with another ferry in between. Had lunch by the Oudehaven, then stopped at Christa's cookies where we picked up brownie and lemon slice. She was very friendly and was watching the royal wedding! Down to the train station and got our expensive train tickets to Middelburg. There was another man on the train with a bike as well and he suggested lots of things to do in Zeeland. We found an organic supermarket in Middelburg and then went to the campsite via Veere (which was not planned but actually a good thing as it took us in the right direction for the campsite). The campsite was unmanned in the middle of a forest park and just set up camp on a spare site (lots of available sites, and couldn't understand the signs).
Went across to the next bit of land and stopped at Brielle for a cup of tea and more cake. There was another couple there who were very interested in our bikes and wanted to start B&B bike touring. Got a bit lost trying to leave the town. Many roads, tunnels and bridges near big tank farm. Ferry to Maasluis and lunch in a square. Took the long way to our next campsite as we couldn't cross a dijk along the route that we'd planned. We pitched up and had a shower before heading into Rotterdam for dinner at De Ballentant (recommended by the Lonely Planet). Back to the campsite via Schiedam.
Last day back to Hoek van Holland for the ferry. Stopped at lots of bakeries in De Lier, bit lost near the Hook as there were roadworks. On day ferry back to Harwich, which seemed to drag on a bit...
