Hook of Holland, The Hague and Delft

After our little campsite shuffle on Sunday we think we upset our next door neighbour by having our door open on the wrong side.  In the camp grounds everyone has their door open on the same side as that then becomes like ‘their backyard’ and they have their awning plus chairs and table there etc and they don’t have to look at the next door people.  Well we like to back our van in and this means our door often opens onto someone else’s backyard (because we are right hand drive with the door on the opposite side to left hand drive vans) which hasn’t been a problem until now.  These people beside us didn’t like it.  They tried to tell us that we needed to turn around but we just said we weren’t putting chairs out and we wanted our bedroom to look out onto the hedge rather than the walkway.  They moved away the next morning.  I guess our name was mud for not following the standard convention but I was only concerned with where we look out from our bed and don’t care about their protocol.  We thought it was hilarious that it was that much of a problem.

Monday we biked into Domburg.  It is about 10+ kms away from Zouteland where we were staying.  There was still quite a bit of wind around and we hoped it was a sideways wind but unfortunately for us it wasn’t.  It was a tail wind on the way to Domburg making the return very difficult.   Biking along the top of the dike looking out over the ocean on one side and the flat country on the other side was quite cool.  The more you see of Holland the more you realise it is a country that would be put under water if global warming allows the oceans to rise and they didn’t have measures in place to keep out the tidal surges and rises.  There is already so much water that any rise in it would put much of the land under water.  It is very pretty though as you bike along and there are red poppies everywhere and daisies.  We have a mug with wild flowers in it on our bench top which is a nice little touch as it just adds a little colour and homeliness to our van.  Domburg had a market on in its centre so we parked up our bikes and had a walk around.  With hundreds of bikes everywhere you need to be sure that you park up your bike in a place that is easily recognisable as otherwise you would lose it amongst all the others.  The only difference about ours is that they are red mountain bikes and totally unlike anything the Dutch ride.  All their bikes are black/grey and have high handlebars and low seats so they all sit upright riding around.

I was trying to find another jumper as you just can’t fit enough clothes in a suitcase for a whole year and feel like you aren’t wearing exactly the same thing every day (although that’s ok for Scot – he doesn’t mind).  So we wandered around having a look at all the clothes for sale.  Here in Domburg the flavour seems to be nautical looking anything that has embroidered yacht club names or whatever on, plus say they are from Norway and have emblems etc.  Seems to be the trend and they aren’t cheap.   From 40 to 60 Euro for a fleecy thing that isn’t fantastic quality but is a little flashy looking.  With the current exchange rate that is about $65 – $95.  Markets always seem to be a little bit of an expensive exercise from what we have seen, but we did buy cheap raspberries (not as cheap as England though) and a few veges.  Markets here aren’t like Australia.  There is a large amount of things like cheeses, hams/salamis, veges, lollies (salted liquorice) plus other local products, but rarely do you see stalls with any Asian made products – I guess its too far away, but the markets are quite worthwhile looking at for supplies – this coming from me who doesn’t do markets normally!

We biked back to the campsite which was really a very hard slog – about 8kms with a blustery headwind – which wasn’t much fun really.

Tuesday – van repair day.  The van went into the workshop to get the problematic fuse issue fixed.  It turned out that the reverse light cables were faulty and both had to be replaced.  A very expensive exercise but one that we had no control over as it had to be done and we weren’t in a position to look elsewhere to have it done.  It took all day which we spent in Middleburg again having a look around.  Again today started out a little wet but the rain went away, but it was so windy and very cool.  We sat at the bus stop on our way back to pick the van up and we watched two guys with strange gas contraptions burning the grass on the side of the canals.  We wondered why they didn’t just use a mower or whipper snipper??  We think it may have to do with seed propagation but would like to know.  These contraptions have a gas cylinder on top like a lawn mower and they light the gas so underneath is on fire…go figure?

Wednesday – After a week in Zouteland we are finally off north towards The Hague.  We went over a couple of amazing bridges which are designed to control the flow of surge water inland during storms built in about the 1950’s – see photo below.  We knew when we were coming near Rotterdam.  The traffic increased ten fold and the highways got larger.  We were gobsmacked by the  enormity of the industrial and port areas leading up to Rotterdam.  They were the size of Brisbane – if not bigger and everywhere we looked were refineries, processing plants, warehouses etc – see photos below.  They just seemed never ending.  Scot says looked like Fishermans Island on steroids plus!  We didn’t even get into Rotterdam before we turned off towards the Hook of Holland (christened the Hood of Holland).  We got a bit confused by roadworks everywhere.  This area is the glasshouse capital of the world.  The equivalent of Rotterdams industrial area is a massive glasshouse growing area.  Miles and Miles of glasshouses as far as the eye could see.  Scot wondered if they were growing Weed for Amsterdam, especially those with clouded glass so you couldn’t see what they were growing.  Found an average camp for the night but it was getting late and we couldn’t be bothered travelling further.

Today, we travelled up the coast to The Hague.  We stopped in one area and walked over the dunes to a café on the beach – they are everywhere along the beaches.  The weather was magnificent today – warm but not too hot and not too windy.  We had our standard morning coffee with apple pie and slagroom (whipped cream).  We would have loved to have stayed longer and maybe had a swim (even though the water was cold) but we had to move on.  Could imagine this place pumping in the summer and so packed with no room to move.  The café had sun beds and lounge chairs I believe you would hire as I saw them move on a guy who thought they were free.  The Hague is a city absolutely chock a block with apartment blocks and very condensed living.  The area between The Hague and Amsterdam (Ranstaadt) is supposedly the most densely populated area in Europe and this isn’t a surprise when you see the amount of apartments that stretch in never ending rows – a bit like the glasshouses down south.   On the road again and we decided to go via The Hague centre – BIG mistake!!  We know why we must give cities a wide berth and this wasn’t a large one either.  The car traffic lights are difficult to determine from the bike lights and there are of course bikes everywhere and scooters and what a nightmare.  After going through a red light plus nearly taking out a scooter guy (when Scot wanted to do a U turn on the tram lines) who then gave Scot more than the finger and fist, plus the numerous road works and detours we managed to get out of The Hague and got to Delft, which is really only separated by a green belt and barely discernible.  What a difference.  We found a lovely campground 5 minutes bike ride from the centre (centrum).  We took a ride into Delft and what a lovely town it is.  The canals are so full though that you could imagine if they had a little rain, they would overflow into everyones houses.  But, they must have pretty good water control or there would be chaos.  We did the standard thing and had a beer in the market square with the hundred or so others.  Not sure if they are all also tourists or locals but it is certainly great people watching.  Crazy with the sun shining like midday and it’s still 7-8 at night.  It doesn’t get dark here until about 10.45 and will get lighter later as we travel further north.  Sleep will obviously be overrated then and we may have to stay out partying late!

Tomorrow off to Rotterdam to meet up with Kristie – awesome to be able to meet up with a friend while on the other side of the world!  Although we can get a campsite in Rotterdam we can’t find anywhere to camp on Saturday night yet as being the weekend everyone is full.  Who knows what is in store for us, but we are coming back to Delft on Sunday night for another look before heading to Amsterdam on Monday.