Homeward Bound

We crossed the German border into The Netherlands at Bourtange.  The name should be familiar to you, as this is where we crossed on the way north.  Not only was it conveniently on our route, but we wanted to return to our favourite campsite.  The site at Bourtange is huge but divided into separate areas with good thick hedges.  It is also delightfully quiet (families seem to be put in separate areas) and it has lots of shaded pitches.  We were thrilled that the manager recognized us (well, let’s face it, we Brits stand out like a sore thumb!) and even happier to return to the self-same pitch that we’d used 2 weeks earlier.  Given that it’s high season, it was busier than before, but still far more space between campers than many of the other sites we’ve stayed on. 

The Hanseatic town of Deventer in the Central Netherlands was our next stop.  Once again, an enormous ‘quick-stay’ campsite with far too many campers squeezed in  (the motorhome next to us was about 2 ft away!), but with the convenience of being able to visit the town without driving.  In fact, there was an efficient and very frequent ferry which crosses the River Ijssel for foot passengers. 

It’s a delight to just wander the lovely narrow streets and take in the many styles of architecture.  Apart from the odd blip, Deventer seems to have maintained its prosperity for centuries.  The main square, known as The Brink, is full of cafes of all sorts which comes alive as the sun goes down. 

Zwolle is another Hanseatic town (there are nine on the River Ijssel) which we visited by train (air-conditioned, Oh Bliss! We’re suffering the same heat wave as you are!)  Its original fortifications were a sort of star shape, as are the canals that surround the town.  Only one of the original gates is still intact – and very impressive it is too.  We spent some time in the museum (again, a good way to escape the heat) and looked at an exhibition of Nature & Humanity. It was eye-opening and reminded us very much of our visit to the Floriade, way back at the beginning of this holiday.

We spent our final night on a small campsite, on a farm.  After the very busy site at Deventer, it was bliss to sit and watch the cows coming in to be milked!  Sadly our final day in The Netherlands was a wet one  – only the second rainy day of the five week holiday, so we couldn’t complain.  A good excuse to visit the local village of Oudewater – such a pretty little town with several canals running through it – and enjoy a long relaxed lunch. 

I’m happy to report that we had NO queues at the ferry terminal, NO problems with passport control and a thoroughly comfortable cabin for our overnight crossing of the North Sea from Hook of Holland to Harwich – we’ll definitely be using StenaLines again whenever we can!

Thanks to all of you for following our adventures – and for the many lovely comments.  See you again soon. . . . . . .