Today was to be our last full day riding in The Netherlands. We have loved it. What would today bring?

Firstly, another amazing breakfast. Looking out the backyard. Serene. Flower hot houses to the upper right. The geese and their small growing broods over the canal.

Darker skies but it’s not raining, tick.

The forecast includes strong SW. Our direction today? SW.

The winds were blowing. Ominous start as we had 106 km to ride today, heading towards the coast and across the southern islands of Zeeland.

Back through Delft and Schipluiden, we headed to the ferry at Maassluis, to cross the Scheur River.

Waiting for the ferry. It costs 3 euro for the two bikes.

The ferry heading to us.

Me sheltering from the winds on the ferry.

My hammerhead computer says we are off route!

The ferry twists and turns in the short distance, plus needed to give way to three larger vessels.

Today we are riding through South Holland, across many islands.

Only one ferry, the rest is a mixture of bridges and causeways.

Great places to be in 35-40 kmh headwinds as they are usually more exposed 😳🤣

The wind turbines are in their element. Always delightful riding along and seeing they are receiving the same wind direction. The wind turbines here are much larger than those I’ve seen in Tasmania. These are seriously huge.

Finally a small forest section, where we enjoy a reprieve from the wind. It didn’t last long. We took a break at a table here.

Up to the coast. Blowing like blazes there.

Tony looks, and he climbs up the observation tower.

What Tony saw.

At ground level, plenty of bike signage. A strand is beach. Along this section, there are about 9 access points. Like Poland along their Baltic coast, numbered and designated points.

Tempting to turn and head back to Rotterdam. We’d have a tail wind.

A lighthouse at the southern end of the North Zealand island, Schouwen Duiveland.

If you look at this map of Zealand, you can see the narrow slivers of land we cross.

From South Holland the bridge and causeway across. Then another two around the Deltapark.

There are some wonderful beaches at one end. Today paradise for the kite surfers.

On the other side, no sand, calmer and the windsurfers are enjoying it.

The pathway across one causeway. It looks calm but you can’t photograph wind. It’s blowing a gale with gusts over 60 kmh.

The path is built on the dyke. In places, my legs were being sandblasted.

The best I could manage was 12-13 kmh along this beautiful straight and flat section. Cyclists coming the other way were flying.

There is a tourist train! Does it take bikes???

More beach, kite surfer. This area would be brilliant in a nice summers day. Oh yes, it is summer now 🤣🤣🤣

I look for seals. I see none.

Riding into as much wind as we did today is physically and mentally hard. To help counteract the mental I count things. How many wind turbines? I got up to 39 with one view from left to right.

52.2 kmh wind gust on Tony’s bike computer. We also looked at the wind apps and no good news there, still 32-38 kmh SW for the area.

I’m still smiling….or is it gritted teeth? Rain jackets on as it started spitting.

We stopped to put our rain booties on with 20 km remaining. No more photos.

So then we had driving headwind plus rain.

We arrive in Middelburg and have a self check in. Good bike storage as they also do local bike tours.

Our room has a wall heater, plus we put a portable fan on a bedside table, in front of hanging space, to dry our clothing.

The smell of drying cycle shoes is a less pleasant sensation.

We head out hunting food. It is a quiet night here in Middelburg, the capital of Zealand.

The closest restaurant says no. The next restaurant says no….feeling despondent the Spar supermarket looks like the best bet. Then we spot signage to another. She said yes!!!

Third time lucky, I could have kissed her.

We left with a full tummy and had a wander.

Just under 1,900 km ridden now. Today was one of our tougher days courtesy of the strong headwinds.

It was tough and you just have to mentally break it down into bite size chunks. We ate all our snacks today speaking of biting chunks. We did stock up at that Spar on our walk home.

Tomorrow the forecast is similar, but we are not riding as far. Shorter day as we head to Bruges in Belgium.

I think the Netherlands does not want us to leave. It’s saying, turnaround, head north and we will give you tail winds.

Tempting, but our journey does need to take us in another direction. Surely the headwinds will give up eventually?

Let’s see what tomorrow brings 😳🙏🙏🙏

Thanks for reading 😁🚴❣️

An amazing breakfast, delivered to our table and more than we needed given we thought we were not riding.

Beautiful food, and I gazed out across the canal watching the geese with their young ones. The Dutch geese are plentiful, and many with young families currently.

We thought we were meeting Theo at 10am. He rocked up at the said time, on his bike.

So we quickly changed whilst Theo enjoyed a coffee here in the breakfast room.

We jumped on our bikes and headed off, armed with rain jackets.

The forecast was for about 8mm of rain today, with a moderate thunderstorm warning.

The neighbours have this carving. The bear looks sad.

So where did we go? We followed Theo! We had no idea and just watched our route grow on our bike computers.

The green dot was our start and finish point. 51 km was ridden in and around Delft and The Hague.

It had been raining and the paths were wet. In places, there were some quite big puddles.

Without our rear luggage on, water flicks up from the rear wheel onto our bums.

We passed many hot houses today. Theo tells us that many have been closed, or moved on, to provide for new housing.

The hot houses are mainly flowers but we pass one that grew capsicums too.

We ride through a large park, Landgoed Ockenburgh. The park is part of a country estate villa built in 1630 in The Hague.

A large lake, sun starting to shine.

We stop at a quaint cafe not far from the coast. It is frequented by Theo and welcomes cyclists, having a bar that you can hang your bike on (we prefer those to the racks you jam your wheels into).

There are a few other, seeming regulars, in attendance. One man sits on a pokie like machine inside, a few others enjoying a beer.

Theo orders coffee for each of us and asks if she has apple pie. This is the same as Jeroen in the north. I’ve deduced apple pie is a ‘thing’ here in the Netherlands for cyclists.

Cream is known as ‘slag’ here….far different meaning to home.

Theo is a friend from Zwift. We connected when he was recovering from open heart surgery, a few months after mine.

He has more recently had spinal surgery and has bolts and screws added to his collection. He rides well.

Zwift was a wonderful rehabilitation tool for both of us, and obviously with strong social connections as we have been fortunate to meet many zwifters on our trips now.

We sit for maybe 90 minutes at the cafe chatting away.

The skies start to darken and boom, down it came. 10 mm fell in The Hague yesterday and I would hazard a guess that much of that was just after 1 pm.

The cafe lady had a mop with a large head on it, pushing up the canopy over her entrance. Incredible volumes of water were caught weighing it down.

Maybe 20 minutes later, it eased up and off we went.

At the town of Schipluiden we said our farewells. Theo would head south to Vlaardingen, and us to the north east to Delft.

Theo’s jacket has lots of mud and very wet.

Thanks Theo for being part of our journey and trip memories. ❣️

Riding back towards Delft, further rain threatens.

We skirted around Delft, as Hoeve Buyten Hout is closer to the village of Delfgauw.

For dinner we walked about 500 metres to a delightful French cafe restaurant.

A lovely setting, we sit indoors as it rains on and off. We ordered a main course each and had eyes on the dessert menu, but neither had room!

We have so enjoyed our time in The Netherlands. Tomorrow is our last full day riding here and we will make the most of it.

We head south tomorrow to Middelburg, on the southern Dutch islands before Belgium.

Thanks for reading ❣️🚴😁

A nice breakfast, chats with some of the other guests, asking us about our trip. Going to breakfast in cycling gear tends to do that.

We rolled out quietly, crossing the cobbled pavement, heading towards Edam and Purmerend, then onto Zaandijk.

Lots of canals, nice homes and farms.

This stretch of road was beautiful. The houses all had such features with flowers. Clogs, scarecrows and stuffed jeans.

A dairy area too.

Lots of tourists were walking around Zaandijk.

Not sure what this is, but interesting structure.

We saw the kiosk and stopped for drinks. Buitenhuizen has a ferry to transport over the North Sea canal.

It’s free, and constantly going back and forwards. We just missed the first one, so enjoys our drinks and chatting with this super fit 70 year old Dutch rider.

He rides 800 km per week, on the road. His wife is still working four days a week, so says he rides all day, up to 150 km.

We stand just under the descending flight to Schipol (Amsterdam airport). A constant lineup.

We cross to the other side. We laughed as the three motor bikes are revving their motors.

An interesting point is that small motored bikes below certain cc are allowed on bike paths. We have been passed by hundreds mostly respectfully, but some at quite the speed.

An interesting church.

Our route goes through the side of Haarlem towards Leiden, following a path that cuts through villages and flower farms.

Many tulip fields that would have been glorious a few months ago.

A heavily picked over peonie field.

Not sure what’s growing here. Look like carrots but likely a flower.

Hand painted tulip bulbs.

Churches in each village.

Always canals and boats.

Old gateways into towns. This one is at Leiden. An interesting looking town, birthplace of Rembrandt.

Roundabout of the day.

Excellent pathway.

Heavily flowering peonies. There was a farm shop open at this one where you could buy produce.

Very modern homes back onto this canal, with internal spots for the boats.

The men were busy fishing here. We’ve not yet seen anyone catch a fish! Many of the men have quite elaborate set ups.

A lovely windmill renovation in progress.

We are riding towards Delft, riding through parts of The Hague. Many beautiful homes back onto the canal.

We don’t deviate as today, at 107 km to ride and it has been increasingly challenging with the unabated head winds growing stronger.

Around Delft there are roadworks in progress and we need to re route. Annoying as we are keen to get there, but easy for us to figure out with our bike computers.

We are staying in as all boutique style accommodation alongside a small canal. It has won many awards including a Netherlands National BnB award. It is likely the nicest overnight (well two in this case) we have stayed in on any of our trips.

The bikes are well secured with their loan e-bikes.

We pass by the rabbits, ducks and chooks.

We have our own enclosed yard, where the sun shone brightly, and enough breeze to catch the drying clothing.

The backyard extends down to a canal, a hot house with vegetables growing. There are also beehives.

The room is beautifully appointed, with a handwritten card and gift of local tea.

A little car we saw as we walked to the village. These are compact and have seen one on a bike path! There is a sign on the back indicating it has a limit of 40 kmh.

So here we are now in South Holland province.

Tomorrow is a rest day off the bike. after 1720 km in 18 days, good for our body.

I do have a route mapped, but there are thunderstorms brewing with warnings, and we have plans to catch up with a friend instead. Who wants a wet bum if you have options.

Thanks for reading.

Nagele is a quiet little modern village and we left after our breakfast, heading to the fields towards Lelystad.

The air was a nice 16C, little wind.

As we made it across to the great inland lake of Ijsselmeer , once opened to the ocean, but closed with land reclaim and the construction of dykes.

It is hugely popular for boating.

As we approached the lake, many wind turbines were evident.

Crossing a bridge, even transmission lines are on large water based pylons.

We then rode along a path on the dyke. A clearer view of the water based wind turbines.

The marinas were well stocked.

Heading towards that tall control tower that is actually a series of antennas. The tower for the canals is to the right.

We skirt around Lelystad stopping for a drink beside the canal.

We may have had a stroopwafel too 😁

We watched a very large oil or gas barge enter the lock plus two yachts. We then realised we should get moving as the bridge would need to lift for the two yachts.

Tony had just passed the first of four gate barriers when the loud warning bells went off for the bridge lift. He still had three more barriers to pass, loud bells sounding. Pedal faster Tony!

I stopped before the first barrier and watched the section of bridge lift.

The first of the two yachts passing under.

This was a very interesting section of today’s ride. The causeway or dyke is the longest we have ever ridden.

I was thankful that the headwinds were minor, and relief from the increasing heat. Being out in this 26 km or so causeway in stormy weather would be awful.

A blown up route map showing the causeway.

The area is also a national park. Certainly lots of bird life out here.

Reserve for dumping bikes too.

For the most part, we could not see the cars. This is very early on where the land to the right still clear. Ultimately we are mid way along the dyke, with some slope up to the left, slope down to the right.

Geese and ducks dominate.

And these gnat like bugs seen mucking up this photo. We ate them, breathed then and later when we showered, they were all through the various layers of my clothing.

In my bra, under my jersey, under my gilet. Strange how they get in as the jersey was zipped up.

Surprisingly just over half way across was a jut of land to the right supporting this cafe. It would seem rude not to stop and have a drink.

We ordered an iced coffee. Not sure where the coffee was in the drink but it was enjoyable anyhow.

English signage in the middle of the Netherlands.

As we left, this truck had interesting signage about the environmental benefits of a large double deck truck. The panel in green also espouses its benefits.

The last section of the dyke we reached a high point and could see over the road lanes to ‘the other side’. Vegetation had changed and it was quite sandy and grassy.

There were beaches on our side with sand, and people who had ridden out to swim.

Nearly across now as the town of Enkhuizen comes into clear sight.

There is another canal as the causeway area joins the mainland. Here there is a canal boat crossing the road! You can see the top of the canal boat to the left of the cement section.

The road and bike path descends under the canal. Pretty cool engineering.

We now follow the coast down towards our destination of Voldendam.

Pretty houses, canals, coastal scenes abound. Another pleasant section to ride.

The day has heated up to be in the mid 20’s.

This was interesting. There were three of three gangs working this field picking I’m not sure what. They worked in this line, and the music was very loud.

On the path Tony managed to snap this coffin on wheels. We’ve seen a few this trip. They move fast.

We noted the very neat hedge.

You can always pick a village by an area with a church spire.

Little beach area.

Mini me working windmill.

Nearby the big me.

We deviated into Hoorn looking for a supermarket. The town was a bit crazy being lunchtime Saturday. We took a few photos and headed back to the dyke.

We took a few photos in the market square area.

A large shell statue on the outskirts.

Following the dyke, on the inner side, as there was no path waterside, we noted these umbrellas. We presumed that people had gone up there with them. Closer inspection revealed that there were multiple umbrellas for the sheep to seek shade.

The Dutch look after their sheep better than Australia.

We are in Zeevang, per the map.

View from the top of the dyke, looking northwards.

Thee I am waiting for Tony to get off the dyke.

Some interesting modern homes.

The sun was in a bad spot when we took this one, but the statue is called Venus. She wears gumboots.

We detoured through Edam. This is looking down the canal. We may ride through Edam again tomorrow.

Now we are in Voldendam staying in a waterfront hotel. The bikes are down in a hold with the alcohol, food stores, laundry and adjacent to their kitchen.

The view from our bedroom.

We have to be inventive today drying our washing.

We felt it wrong to hang too much out given the restaurant and bar below.

A 101 km today. Our total is over 1500 km now.

We had a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant not too far away, being the first customer when it opened at 5 pm.

We then grabbed some gelato from the supermarket to finish. $1.99 for a tub versus over $2 a scoop at a shop.

Not sure why the eggs are coloured.

Some nice views out our window.

We are here for two nights. We are only 10 km north of Amsterdam. We will do a day trip there tomorrow.

Our route today.

Thanks for reading 🚴❣️😊

Another yummy breakfast made by our host Anneke. I love these cute mugs.

One thing about cycle touring, you don’t buy souvenirs, as you have to carry them.

Down to the ferry terminal, the temperature was cool and it was windy. Rain was forecast today.

The bikes are first onto the ferry, last off on the other side. They are simply leaned against the side which works fine as the water is flat.

Ominous skies.

Then just like that, the skies improve.

There is just one drive on deck for cars and trucks. We are amazed at how many big trucks were on both trips. Many walk on passengers too.

We head out of Holwerd and of course, a windmill.

Cruising along and we needed to stop here for five minutes or so whilst this very large herd of cows crossed the farm to the green paddocks ‘on the other side’.

An unusual letterbox?

Many beautiful villages today with gorgeous canals and waterside homes. All looks very peaceful.

Where there are canals there are bridges. These ones I do not like. They are steep. I push my bike up and with a degree of trepidation roll down the other side.

A super cute, young foal.

The biggest junk heap we’ve seen on the trip so far. Two boats that seem to collect …junk! But they are proud Dutch.

Villages and more canals.

This is coming into Leeuwarden the largest town we negotiated today.

A population of around 130,000 and continuously inhabited since the 10th century they, it was also a former royal residence.

These seven metre high white sculpture are called Love. The mist is meant to be around two metres in height, but I think the very strong wind played havoc today.The artist is Spanish, by the name Plensa.

We had been subjected to strong headwinds (a southerly today, and of course, our direction), since the start today. The temperature was in the high 20’s.

We stopped a few times to grab cold drinks.

Some shade was always welcomed.

We saw a few of these towers today, with bells.

A cat statue in a small roundabout. Tony thinks we should have one in Possum for Puddles ( RIP 2013) who was a local ‘identity’ or dog hazard as she launched out at dogs.

More churches. They all have clocks and this looks the right time.

We needed more water and stopped at this farm. Many farms here operate cafes.

A large working farm that has icecream. Very nice too, plus we topped our water bottles up in the bathroom.

Many canals have lift bridges. The first one we’ve needed to wait for.

This yacht sailed through, tacking multiple times to get the line right.

More pretty canals.

Time has moved on. 2.30 pm and another church.

This espalier is impressive.

I took this photo on my iPad. Whilst doing so, an elderly Dutch man approached me, chatting away. We had quite the conversation with neither having a clue what the other was saying. Smiling crosses barriers though.

Another bell tower.

With 34 km to go we stopped for more liquid at a supermarket. We sat outside drinking it and heard thunder. Yet the sky was blue.

Within 5 minutes it was raining and we had our jackets on. The wind was fearsome. I do hate riding when I hear thunder.

Then just like that, it stopped.

We motored on for about 5 km and had a tailwind.

Emmeloord looks like a nice town, but the thunder started again, and the winds got super wild and we were not stopping for photos.

The skies darkened and it was quite dark riding but I did not take my shaded protective glasses off as I needed to protect my eyes.

The last 9 km was unpleasant. We just rode and watched the lightning, counting to the thunder. Around 20 seconds so still a bit away.

The wind was coming from the side now. Gusts of 67 kmh per our data. We watched one lady on her ebike blow right off the path.

I was thankful that we were on a path and not the road where we had more space to control the inevitable sideway push. The trees were dropping twigs and small branches.

I kept counting. The time between the lightning and thunder, plus how many km remained. I was just hoping we could get there in time.

Dirt was being blown from dry paddocks.

In between thunder claps we did stop for one moment to take these two photos.

We were so relieved to get to our overnight destination just as the skies opened and the storm was on us. Our host quickly opened his garage.

Riding you don’t get such alerts.

Hoping for better weather tomorrow, as we wind our way towards Amsterdam.

We are now in a converted bank, including the original safe. It’s been very well done and the owners are a lovely younger Dutch couple who moved here from Rotterdam. They live in the attached former managers home and did this conversion.

There is lots of orange here, walls and curios.

There is also a large bath, and I did enjoy soaking in it last night.

Today we rode 106 km, bringing our total now to 1,419 km.

Thanks for joining us ❣️😳🚴