Nederland

Days 42 – 46  15/8/16 – 20/8/16

Day 42, Monday 15/8/16
Left campsite and had a funny feel to the back wheel, stopped to check and found the quick release skewer was loose, I must have caught it while I was loading the panniers I crossed the border after about 10 km but not sure where as I was on the coast cycle path and no signs. I bought a map and found a campsite to plan my route for the next day or so. Total distance today 36 km.

Checking out the doggy shower

The campsite even had a dog bath.

But she did not like it

I went for a 5 mile walk in the afternoon to give Pippa some exercise

Day 43
10 km ride to Bresten where I had 1 ½ hour wait for the ferry. Approaching the ferry terminal I received a flat tyre on the trailer, I replaced the innertube on the ferry but felt uneasy as I was in the Netherlands and every Dutch person watching me must have changed hundreds of tyres, I hope I did it right. I checked the tube but could not find a puncture, I checked the tyre, inside and out, but could not find anything so I just replaced the tube and decided to check it properly this evening. In town I found a tourist office to buy more maps, and an Aldi for food. 2 km up the road I had another puncture in the trailer wheel, but I had no more tubes, so time to fix two punctures. This time I found the hole, so I narrowed the search for the hole in the other tube to 2 places. With a guide from the puncture I also removed a sharp stone resembling a fossilized shark tooth from the tyre. At the campsite near westkapelle haveing cycled 36 km. Pippa had a fan club of over 10 children, I was given a beer later, from the dad of one of the group’s of children, proberly for giving him some peace for a bit.

Day 44
A nice ride along the coast, but with a headwind all day, over a 2 km bridge with sea either side then onto an 8 km dam, I stopped by a little cafe half way across for a cold coke, then 6 km later I made the 1000 km mark.

1000 km 

I stopped in the woods at Boswachteris Westenschouwen to have a brew up by a bench, then decided from the map that there would not be a campsite for at least 7 km, so wild camped and slept on the bench. 37 km today and a total of 1004 km.

My bench for the night

Day 45

Up at 6 in the morning and backtracked to a car park that had a toilet. I made it to the car park at half past 6, but the sign on the toilet block sign said open at 8, I tried all the doors and the disabled door was unlocked. I saw a small herd of deer then cycled up the coast a little and stopped for a tea and my morning porrage. Stopped for an second breakfast at 11. Another long dyke with a headwind. At Ouddrop tourist office I bought a map book with maps around the whole country and camped at Stellendam. Today 49 km.

Day 46
Another dam to cross with more headwinds a looking for a campsite for an easy day, but no dogs so I carried on to the port at Maasvlakte, where I got another ferry to the Hoek van Holland where I checked into the campsite for 2 days as I needed a rest. It rained very heavily during the night and I thought the site might flood. Today 41 km, total 1094 km, 3 ferries and 2 punctures.

Careful position of bike to get the flag flying on the ferry