Cycling around Lauwersoog.
The lady in the campsite gave us a wee brochure about some of the walking and cycling routes around the Gronnigen Wadden coastal area, none of the routes were short but it was clear that we could adjust the length of cycle to suit, so when we woke to a beautiful morning it was a no brainer to stay put and see what the area had to offer. Joyce was up with larks and was back from her jog at 8am, and I was up and had the breakfast pretty much sorted. There was no rush, and we discussed what to do. Theres a recognised loop of the Lauwersmeer, but at 44km we figured it would be too long for the boys, but they were keen to get out on their bikes and stretch their legs.
The bikes were duly unloaded from the carrier, seat posts were put to the correct level and handlebars were turned 90 degrees as getting them all loaded on the van neatly requires a fair bit of jiggery pokery. We have recently bought a bigger Isla bike for Callum and he hadn't even seen it before now so this was its maiden voyage for him, Logan has also moved up onto Callums bike so it was going to be interesting to see how they got on. Callum was soon carefully circling the camping areas level parking space and fearless Logan was immediately searching out any little steeper drops or ramps that he could cycle, the bigger bikes were going to work just fine. We set off mid morning in shorts and T shirts and lathered in suncream. We headed off along the route Joyce had previously jogged and then were soon onto new territory, the track was flat and smooth, and we weaved along through trees and tall grasses and between ditches and fields, its a habitat that is very rich in birdlife and I am sure plenty other life if we took our time to stop and look. Soon we emerged from the trees and were following the side of the Lauwersmeer and there were huge flocks of Barnacle geese feeding on the grass. We spotted what we think was a Marsh Harrier soaring above us, sadly no photo and a multitude of other bird species.
The boys were doing well, and soon we were at a little marina at a place called Zoutkamp (South camp) 11.9k from our start point. It was lunch time and the boys were also keen for a shot on the tree swing and the slides and seesaw. By this time it was roasting hot and more sun cream was applied, my legs were still nipping after getting a bit sun burned on the Hebrides. The boys had also earned an ice cream as they were doing well. I went off to get those and had a chat with the lady in the shop who confirmed the distance around the lake to be 44km....we decided they would (possibly) manage it but it would make too long a day and it would be rather committing once we were half way round if they were struggling, so we decided to take a shorter but meandering route back which turned out to be quite a contrast to the route out. We started out through farmland and across a rather busy road, most of the outward route had been on cycle paths or quiet and slow nature reserve road but now we were onto something a bit busier for a short section. The boys are getting good at staying at the side of the road when told. There are loads of wee campsites at lots of different properties around here, I just have no idea how you find them other than when driving past as they don't seem to be advertised.
Soon we were on a path again and cycling by tall fields of corn and hearing a strange rat a tat tat sound again. We passed through a wee village where we stopped at a roadside stall to buy some jam, there were other stalls at various road end selling tea cozy's and plant pots. We shared the road with quite a few other cyclists on all types of bike you can think of from road bikes to mountain bikes to cruisers which seem very common here. There were also some very interesting 3 wheeled taxi's ferrying tourists (I assume) around. We passed by a large windmill which was sadly shut today, it would be interesting to see inside at the workings. The lady at the shop had mentioned a military training area and soon we were cycling right through the middle of it along with plenty other cyclists. Theres a fake village and industrial estate buildings where the soldiers practice combat tactics and there was lots of shooting going on in various places. The wee red flags and Verbotten signs were up telling us the bits to stay out of. We saw a group of soldiers getting loaded into a truck and also an amphibious vehicle driving through a big river, all quite exciting stuff. It was still roasting and we stopped for a drink of water and continued along the last section which I had been looking forward to, we crossed a road and then up onto and over the large sea defence dyke and cycled along the edge of the Wadden Sea for a bit and back to Lauwersoog. Our total distance was 29.9km, not a bad effort for a 4 and 3 year old.
A refreshment and snack were order of the day now so we stopped at one of the resturaunts down by the harbour and had a beer, and some fried fish strips and chips, it was nice sitting in the sun and everyone we spoke to was very friendly and chatty. Callum and Logan had a play on the pirate ship and then wee headed for home. It was quite a surprise to see the camper van park almost full, quite a contrast to the morning as it had been almost empty, its the weekend though and everyone was making the most of it. There was a large party private getting going in the place and everyone was laughing a smiling. We decided to go back to the resturant for dinner, so I got the bikes loaded up on the carrier again which is tricky and I had to refer to pictures I had taken previously to see how they were mounted, I don't think I will get them on the the same way twice. Our neighbours were very chatty and we blethered for a while in between trying to load the next bike. Joyce and Callum had a shower and got ready for going out, then myself and Logan got cleaned up too, popped in to pay the campsite owner who's Dad was in the process of filleting some of his catch of Haddock and Dab from his fishing boat, Logan was quite interested in the flat fish. Then we were off up to get our tea, I went to order a drink and then food and girl said, OH, sorry we shut at 7pm......it was now 7.20pm....and all the other places shut at the same time too. Hmmm!! Not so good, we tried another place but no joy so it was back to the campsite for our home made curry that we fortunately had defrosted. It would be a late tea then.....However, the big boat shed door was open and there seemed to be a lot of action going on in there so I went to investigate. The fisherman who had been filleting fish earlier in the day now had 2 small deep fat friers going and was cooking up his catch. So curry was cancelled and 12.50euros later (total) we were all tucking into the freshest tastiest bit of haddock and chips we have ever had. It was so good we had to go back and spend another 5euros for 4 more bits of fish, lol. Its amazing how some things work out sometimes. We all sat outside and played a game of snakes and ladders as the sun went down, the boys played with a ball for a bit and made some new friends and then it was jammies and bedtime for them.
This has been a great day, in an interesting area, one that we will return to in the future. Holland was definitely made for cycling. Tomorrow we will move on. Destination unknown.
The bikes were duly unloaded from the carrier, seat posts were put to the correct level and handlebars were turned 90 degrees as getting them all loaded on the van neatly requires a fair bit of jiggery pokery. We have recently bought a bigger Isla bike for Callum and he hadn't even seen it before now so this was its maiden voyage for him, Logan has also moved up onto Callums bike so it was going to be interesting to see how they got on. Callum was soon carefully circling the camping areas level parking space and fearless Logan was immediately searching out any little steeper drops or ramps that he could cycle, the bigger bikes were going to work just fine. We set off mid morning in shorts and T shirts and lathered in suncream. We headed off along the route Joyce had previously jogged and then were soon onto new territory, the track was flat and smooth, and we weaved along through trees and tall grasses and between ditches and fields, its a habitat that is very rich in birdlife and I am sure plenty other life if we took our time to stop and look. Soon we emerged from the trees and were following the side of the Lauwersmeer and there were huge flocks of Barnacle geese feeding on the grass. We spotted what we think was a Marsh Harrier soaring above us, sadly no photo and a multitude of other bird species.
The boys were doing well, and soon we were at a little marina at a place called Zoutkamp (South camp) 11.9k from our start point. It was lunch time and the boys were also keen for a shot on the tree swing and the slides and seesaw. By this time it was roasting hot and more sun cream was applied, my legs were still nipping after getting a bit sun burned on the Hebrides. The boys had also earned an ice cream as they were doing well. I went off to get those and had a chat with the lady in the shop who confirmed the distance around the lake to be 44km....we decided they would (possibly) manage it but it would make too long a day and it would be rather committing once we were half way round if they were struggling, so we decided to take a shorter but meandering route back which turned out to be quite a contrast to the route out. We started out through farmland and across a rather busy road, most of the outward route had been on cycle paths or quiet and slow nature reserve road but now we were onto something a bit busier for a short section. The boys are getting good at staying at the side of the road when told. There are loads of wee campsites at lots of different properties around here, I just have no idea how you find them other than when driving past as they don't seem to be advertised.
Soon we were on a path again and cycling by tall fields of corn and hearing a strange rat a tat tat sound again. We passed through a wee village where we stopped at a roadside stall to buy some jam, there were other stalls at various road end selling tea cozy's and plant pots. We shared the road with quite a few other cyclists on all types of bike you can think of from road bikes to mountain bikes to cruisers which seem very common here. There were also some very interesting 3 wheeled taxi's ferrying tourists (I assume) around. We passed by a large windmill which was sadly shut today, it would be interesting to see inside at the workings. The lady at the shop had mentioned a military training area and soon we were cycling right through the middle of it along with plenty other cyclists. Theres a fake village and industrial estate buildings where the soldiers practice combat tactics and there was lots of shooting going on in various places. The wee red flags and Verbotten signs were up telling us the bits to stay out of. We saw a group of soldiers getting loaded into a truck and also an amphibious vehicle driving through a big river, all quite exciting stuff. It was still roasting and we stopped for a drink of water and continued along the last section which I had been looking forward to, we crossed a road and then up onto and over the large sea defence dyke and cycled along the edge of the Wadden Sea for a bit and back to Lauwersoog. Our total distance was 29.9km, not a bad effort for a 4 and 3 year old.
A refreshment and snack were order of the day now so we stopped at one of the resturaunts down by the harbour and had a beer, and some fried fish strips and chips, it was nice sitting in the sun and everyone we spoke to was very friendly and chatty. Callum and Logan had a play on the pirate ship and then wee headed for home. It was quite a surprise to see the camper van park almost full, quite a contrast to the morning as it had been almost empty, its the weekend though and everyone was making the most of it. There was a large party private getting going in the place and everyone was laughing a smiling. We decided to go back to the resturant for dinner, so I got the bikes loaded up on the carrier again which is tricky and I had to refer to pictures I had taken previously to see how they were mounted, I don't think I will get them on the the same way twice. Our neighbours were very chatty and we blethered for a while in between trying to load the next bike. Joyce and Callum had a shower and got ready for going out, then myself and Logan got cleaned up too, popped in to pay the campsite owner who's Dad was in the process of filleting some of his catch of Haddock and Dab from his fishing boat, Logan was quite interested in the flat fish. Then we were off up to get our tea, I went to order a drink and then food and girl said, OH, sorry we shut at 7pm......it was now 7.20pm....and all the other places shut at the same time too. Hmmm!! Not so good, we tried another place but no joy so it was back to the campsite for our home made curry that we fortunately had defrosted. It would be a late tea then.....However, the big boat shed door was open and there seemed to be a lot of action going on in there so I went to investigate. The fisherman who had been filleting fish earlier in the day now had 2 small deep fat friers going and was cooking up his catch. So curry was cancelled and 12.50euros later (total) we were all tucking into the freshest tastiest bit of haddock and chips we have ever had. It was so good we had to go back and spend another 5euros for 4 more bits of fish, lol. Its amazing how some things work out sometimes. We all sat outside and played a game of snakes and ladders as the sun went down, the boys played with a ball for a bit and made some new friends and then it was jammies and bedtime for them.
This has been a great day, in an interesting area, one that we will return to in the future. Holland was definitely made for cycling. Tomorrow we will move on. Destination unknown.
Awesome I’m mega jealous of those fish and chips and what a great price !😳
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