Making it to Middelburg- (18/06)

Little image of Middelburg Station here, it's a busy place!

Well and truly in the province of Zeeland much of our way was along the water’s edge. As the name suggests most of the province is below sea level, consisting of a number of separate islands as well as a strip bordering Belgium (but we cut that bit out!). With an affinity of water comes one of wind, the two being intrinsically bound, so slowly but surely wind turbines became a regular sight and our pace in the burning heat suffered. It wasn’t the only one, our camera too seemed unable to cope and ceased to work! Through too many toils to list we wound up with great relief in Middelburg, the capital of the province.

The Maas- (10/06)

To kick of the day we had a look around the city of Nijmegen. A bit of a climb up the high-street led us to a good many market stalls which were lovely to look at. Yet further uphill brought us to a park with great views along the canal that was to join the river Maas. Exiting the city we started our southerly descent right along this beautiful river. Following LF3 we, perhaps unnecessarily, hopped back and forth across the water throughout the day making great use of the little boats that make the journey non-stop on demand. 

Time was very well spent at our campsite relaxing our ragged limbs on the grassy river-bank.      

De Hoge Veluwe Park- (09/06)

Having set up camp in the outskirts of Arnhem we found ourselves perfectly placed for a day at the Hoge Veluwe Park. It’s the largest privately owned nature park in the Netherlands with 5,000 hectares of woodland, heathland, drift sands and peat bogs.

With 1700 free white bikes, visitors can make use of the 43km of bike paths to explore this extraordinary place. Happy to ditch our bikes for the day we loved cycling around the park load-free! The weather was naturally windy but with the sun out we spent a relaxing hour or so sunbathing by the many helpfully placed picnic benches. 

The 13km to the Visitors Centre from the entrance was worth it for the information about the animal habitat, methods of maintenance and history. From there the Kroller-Muller Museum and Sculpture Garden satisfied my artist interests. A great day out for the family. I highly recommend.   

Going to Groningen- (03/06)

With probably over 300km cycled we were very happy to have a day where more time was spent sightseeing than cycling. A brisk 40km under the sun bought us to the city of Groningen, the largest town of the North but definitely not what Brits would consider large. Our cycle route took us straight from the countryside into the central square with its town hall, tourist information and church all in immediate sight. 

It was really refreshing to see some youthful faces as the rural cycle routes were very much dominated by quick middle-aged professionals or meandering elderlies. Let’s just say I wasn’t at all surprised to hear that students make up around 25% of Groningen’s population! With the weather still warm we plucked up enough courage to take an evening dip in our campsites lake to top off a great day. Yet another stunning natural campsite to add to the list and not a stone's throw from a bustling city.