Day 3 Holland: From Gouda to Katwijk aan Zee

Day 3. 21 July 2011. From Gouda to Katwijk aan Zee.

I slept like a log/rose/bear what ever the expression is, I must have needed it. I felt well rested and after a good breakfast (delicious and plentiful) and more conversation this time about family illnesses, I left around 9.30 this morning. The sky was grey but fortunately there was no rain today and it got brighter and sunnier as the day went on. I have a bit of a sun and wind burned red face this evening. Today's cycle trip started with getting out of the city of Gouda and in particular the last part was very nice as it was along a narrow dyke with on either side small canals. Over these canals little bridges let to the houses along this street, it was a wonderful sight. I did try to make some photo's but they may nog have come out, some sights you just have to see for yourselves!! Anyhow, along the fields i saw a stork in a nest high upon a pole, what a fantastic sight. The trip continued through some small villages and past a recreation lake where there was one very little person (2 yr old) having swim as it was too cold for others to have a dip. I had my morning cuppa in a restaurant right along the lake and enjoyed seeing some sailboats in the distance.

I made one wrong turn and therefore had to cycle back and wasted 6km worth of energy but never mind that. After lunch I soon realised that I was getting closer to the sea as I could see and hear seagulls, the landscape changed and became more forrested again and before too long I found myself riding in the dunes. That was just wonderful, I loved the sea and dune smells, to see the dune grasses, plants and all the sand. There were numerous small lakes with plenty of waterbirds and lots more land birds and bird sounds. It was delightful to cycle through this area, highlighted by the fact that Graeme rang whilst I had stopped for a snack to tell me of his safe arrival in Kyrgyzstan. It did not even worry me that I was peddling against a strong head wind.

After a good hour and half cycling in the dunes I came to my end destination of Katwijk aan Zee. Katwijk on Sea is as the name suggest located directly on the sea. A delightful little town with a good vibrant atmosphere and plenty of tourist. I arrived at my accommodation at the same time as two other cycling ladies and after a cuppa and a chat we all were shown to our rooms. I have a lovely room and as we are fairly close to the beach I believe I can hear the sea (but maybe it is the wind and I am imagining things). I decided to forget the shower for awhile and headed straight back to the beach for a nice stroll. A fresh strong wind is always good to clear the cobwebs (not that I did have any after a lovely day on the bike). It was nice, there were other walkers, kids with kites and in the sea there were plenty of wind surfers (the types with a round kite, harness and smaller plank, different from a windsurfer on a lake). Katwijk aan Zee is also a traditional fishing village so for dinner I bought some fresh fish and chips (yes, again as it goes so nice with fish) with salad and later a magnum for dessert. Ghee, life is good.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to secure accommodation for tomorrow night so that means that I will cycle a bit further and sleep for a couple of nights at my mother's place before leaving again on Sunday or Monday.

Day 2 Holland, from Kaatsheuvel to Gouda

Day 2. 20 July 2011. From Kaatsheuvel to Gouda (city of cheeses)

Breakfast was early and a little meagre, a cup of tea with 3 slices of bread and cheese which is a tad light for a start of a riding day. No sooner had I left the house or a light drizzle rain started so before too long I had to put on my wet weather gear. But fortunately within the hour it became dry and by the middle of the day it was a beautiful sunny day. Today's cycling was a little challenging as with some of the direction points not in the right place due to road works I made some wrong turns and then there was the ferry which did not run which meant I had to cycle probably an extra 8 km in an other direction to catch an other ferry, all rather time consuming and confusing! This ferry was about to leave when it saw me racing over the dyke and luckily it waited and put down the gangplank again to let me on, very nice and much appreciated,. It was a short but lovely ferry ride to the old town of Gorichem. The cycle maps are fabulous keeping you on mainly country roads but this does mean that at times you don't go through a village or town which happened this morning which was a shame as with the light breakfast I was hanging out for a cuppa with something nice to eat but it was not to be! At lunch time I ended up finding a shop which sold a yoghurt drink and a nice salad and with some hot chips that made for a reasonable lunch.

Again it was a fabulous day riding along some dykes and little canals, I love seeing the water plants and water birds (even saw a stork in the field). Then there is the blue long necked water bird (forgotten it's English name) but it is a cheeky bird. At times you would think it is a statue as it does not move until it sees a fish or other tasty morsel to dive for. If close to houses this bird will eat the goldfish out of a pond. Then there are ducks, swans, geese and plenty of cows in the fields. Along this particular track there were a number of windmills, likely used to keep the water heights in check in the polders (land in between dykes are called polders). I thoroughly enjoy riding through the small farming villages/communities, the houses and farms are all build on large blocks of land and gardens and building all looks so cute. I wish I had a better vocabulary to describe all I see and enjoy. You always know when you are riding past a farm as it is the time of the year the farmer sprays their cow manure on the fields, phew what a smell!!

Bad luck, as I neared destination, only 8 or so km to go, the sky turned black and before too long I got caught in a huge thunderstorm! Too late for the wet weather pants! And with all the rain and more road works I got lost in the city of Gouda but with some help from passers by I did get to my accommodation. I am staying with this friendly older couple who immediately boiled the kettle on my arrival which was very nice but an hour and half later (we had our evening bread meal at that stage) I was still sitting (a bit damp still) politely listening to their life stories!!!!! We or I should say they covered religions, family dynamics, the war (service in Indonesia) and the neighbours (most muslims from Turkey and Marocco) and by that stage I was searching for a way to politely end the conversation and being shown to my sleeping quarters and the shower! But here I am allowed to sleep in as breakfast will be served by 8.30am. I hope I manage to be on the bike by just after nine. Tomorrow I am cycling to the coast.

Spokes and Lycra continues: Lia cycles in the Netherlands

Spokes and Lycra: :Lia's cycling adventures around the Netherlands

Day 1, 19 July 2011: From Heeze to Kaatsheuvel

One would have thought that I would have had enough of cycling after doing the 2000km cycling journey from Amsterdam to Budapest but not so. Holland is the best country for cycling in the world, the roads are very good and there are cycle paths everywhere!!!! Further, it is flat so there are no hills to tackle which is great but … we must never underestimate the wind factor! When the wind blows, and that is almost always in Holland, you rather wish it is pushing you in the back. If the wind is facing you and blowing strong you can compare it with climbing a fair size hill or even a mountain!

I have always had a love for cycling and was therefore determined to make the most of the opportunity whilst I can and so when Graeme left this morning for his work in Kyrgyzstan, I hooked the panniers back on the bike and left for a approx 3 week trip around Holland. We had been staying with my oldest brother and his wife in Heeze, Brabant which is located in the south of Holland for a week. Oh, I must tell you that whilst there we made a fabulous day cycle trip into Belgium and surrounding areas and we made a car trip to Brugge, both were fabulous outings. It was great to see a bit of Belgium and ghee, Brugge is a very interesting city!

Oh yes, I was telling you about leaving Heeze this morning (it was a bit difficult to say goodbye to Graeme as we have had such lovely weeks together). I have a book full of cycle paths all over Holland so you are able to plan a trip using various points or intersections leading you along cycle paths or country roads safely to which ever destination you want to go to and really, you can't go wrong (says I who has no sense of direction). With some guidance and assistance from Graeme I had done some forward planning and dotted down all the point/intersection numbers I would find along the way, so well prepared I set out this morning. And, I am happy to report that all went well, not once did I get lost!!!!! I must have cycled approx 60-65 km today and enjoyed every moment of it. Holland may be very small but each province appears to be different and so is the province of Brabant. Old farms with thatched roofs and the people speak with a soft melodious lilt. I cycled through farm landscapes, forested areas, some heath and dune type planes and small sleepy type villages, that is the beauty of these cycle maps, it avoids the busy roads and cities where possible unless of course you wish to travel through the cities. I met a number of groups of older cyclist along the way on a day outing. One group was made up of four older man (retirees) all wearing a red caps. At the time I was making a picture of a landscape through a man made picture frame which had been placed in the middle of a field. One of the men suggested I stand behind the picture frame and he would take a photo of me and so it happened. I asked if they belonged to a Man's red cap club but apparently they are a group of friends who cycle every week on a Tuesday.

I enjoyed my lunch sitting on a bench next to a canal and saw the bridge pulled up to let some leisure boats through. I enjoyed the ride today and was pleased that the rain which was forecast did not bring to much water. What daunted me a bit was sitting in a restaurant this evening and eating a meal on my own but I was determined not to let it bother me too much and I enjoyed my meal of pasta. After diner I went to my Friends of the bikes accommodation address where I now sit freshly showered on the bed writing this blog. Friends of cyclist is an organisation of which you can become a member and for a small fee you receive bed and breakfast in private people's homes. Tonight I am staying with a lady who enjoys long distance walking or cycling herself and she now enjoys being a host to people who enjoy the same. It is a cheaper way to travel and a wonderful way to meet local people.

Sorry folks, I am too tired to write more tonight.

Last day on the road, July 3

July 3.
Up nice and early to make sure we made it to the train to Vienna on time.  The host of our hotel had managed to get the proper spanner for the pedals so at last we felt totally prepared. 
The ride proved uneventful although for the last few kms we had the first headwinds since we were in Germany.  We stopped on the Danube for a few photos in front of the magnificent parliament buildings across the river.
Unfortunately neither of us had checked the actual departure time and we arrived at the station 5mins after the train had left.  Part of the confusion was that while we thought we had a ticket for the first part of our trip, in fact we had only been sold the second part.  This meant weer had to buy another ticket.  It was lucky that another train was leaving two hrs later and after buying the additional ticket we now sit on the train.  Talk about stress! 
We had left ourselves a good amount of time to catch the plane in Vienna so hopefully we are back on track.  Tonight we should be back in Holland after one month on the road. 

The above was written by Graeme and now I am pleased to report that we did make it to the airport on time and got ourselves checked in (this part was all hassle free)!  The plane was delayed but luckily stay able to land in Rotterdam eventhough it was after curfew!  Good, booked into the hotel at midnight, slept well, enjoyed a good breakfast, cycled to Delft for some sightseeing before catching the train home back to my family.  Cycle trip of over 2000km completed!!!

Time to reflect, sort some photo's (will insert some photo's of Budapest soon) and complete journal.  

Hummm, what next I wonder???????

There, but not there yet!

Day 28, June 30

Hallo readers, Today was another rather mixed day of riding for us, roads rather challenging at times in regards to heavy traffic on main roads as well as very poor road surfaces. As a result I had my second flat tire! We stopped to patch the hole in a place called Esztergom and when the job was done we had a look around the town and it's historic sites. The most impressive building in the city is the huge Basilica dedicated to St. Adalbert. Apparently it is the largest church in Hungary.

Franz Liszt composed the Grand Mass in this church. We later stopped for lunch Visegrad where we had a chat with another Aussie couple who were having lunch as well. It was nice to speak some English again and to catch up with people from 'home'. No sooner had we got back into the saddle or the sky turned black and before too long we were in a large thunder storm but with luck on our side we could shelter under an old bus stop cave. But the weather remained miserable so the final 10-15 km we cycled in the drizzle rain (not much fun on these roads, I can tell you). These last couple of km are rather challenging but we are now only 25km from Budapest.

I don't think I have spoken much about the accommodation we have stayed in along the way, nor will I as most of them have been good. But, as most of you may have remembered me saying that it was our intention to take a tent and to camp along the way. Before we left we decided against that as it was quite a lot of extra luggage to carry and as a friend said were we still interested at our (young) age to be sleeping on a thin foam sleeping mat? So, we have slept in hotels, pensions, B&B's etc which as I said were all good (some were better than others mind you) but when Graeme and I spoke about this yesterday we have both felt that we have missed opportunities of meeting other people , which is often a lot easier when you camp Staying in the above mentioned accommodation does not give you the opportunities to have a chat which we both find regrettable.

1 July, It is now a day later and it would normally be Graeme's turn to write but I thought we would just tack it onto to today. We did not ride today. We are staying in Szentendre, which is about 25km from Budapest. It is a gorgeous village on the Danube a bit touristic as it has many tourist shops but still very pleasant , there are lovely restaurants lining the foreshore of the river, it all has a pleasant and relaxed feel.

We decided to stay here and take the train into Budapest to sort out how to best get ourselves and our bikes back to Holland. And, here is where we find out how adhoc we are in planning our holidays (we don't plan). I wanted to cycle so we just loaded up the bikes and we went and would see where we end up. Good, that is part of the adventure but it also leads onto some frustrating times as it becomes more stressful to sort something out when you are put on the spot. Yes, you can put bikes on the plane and yes, you can put bikes on the train but each comes with cost and restrictions, ++++++!!!!! So, after stress and frustration we have now booked ourselves, plus bikes, on the train to Vienna on Sunday at present but are still not sure how we go about the next stage. Graeme is checking the internet for further options as I write this blog (but he rather be doing something else), and he just reports back that we can not book on-line the rest of the trip by train as it is too close to date of departure., so it looks like we will be flying from Vienna.

After we had booked the train trip we did wonder about Budapest for awhile, also a bit challenging as we did not have a map and there was not a tourist information centre to be found. Anyhow, we did end up at the Turkish baths for a bath and a massage which was well deserved after all these km of cycling! We plan to do another sightseeing trip into Budapest tomorrow and then cycle on Sunday the last 25km to Budapest railway station on our way back to Holland. I'll will inform you of our safe arrival (hopefully bike and all) and how that trip eventuated. Till then.