Well here we are in the Noordwijk area of the Netherlands.

After a smooth overnight crossing from Newcastle to Ijmuiden we left the ferry and parked up whilst we set up our new friend Tom Tom, which took us without any hitches to our first stop over. Our camp site is a lovely quiet place surrounded by bulb fields and plenty of cycle paths although no hills like home. Both feeling tired after a late night on the ferry, tiredness showed when we set up on site I spent over 30 minutes trying to set up the TV via the satellite dish until I realised I'd put the coax cable in the wrong socket, swapped it round and it worked 1st time.

We are both amazed at the cycle routes around the area, proper cycle paths separated from the main roads, Kath feels a lot happier to be away from cars. We intended to spend this first week chilling and taking it easy however we have been out cycling every day, with one of the days doing a 16 mile round trip with a break for a 4 hour walk.

Whilst here we have cycled to NoorwijkerHout which has a lovely

white church dating from 1200AD and is a very peaceful place to have some quiet time, Noordwijk an Zee which has over 8 miles of beaches so plenty of walking and 2 naturist beaches (too chilly to try them out). Kath has introduced me to the delights of Apfel kuchen (apple cake) and coffee in the afternoon, she says with all this cycling we can burn it off!

A trip to the Netherlands would not be complete without a trip to the Keukenhof Gardens so off we set on our cycles again. The bad winters which we have all experienced has slowed down the tulip growth, so gardens had plenty of crocus and daffodils but not many large tulip displays however the indoor displays were extremely colourful.



One of the days we decided to go to Amsterdam so an early start as we had to cycle to Voorhout to catch the train. This was a pleasant experience, trains are clean, efficient and on time. armed with our map we set off on foot to explore the Old Quarter and marvel at the canal systems. In the afternoon we took a trip on a canal cruise to see the city from a different perspective. Finished off our trip sat outside the oldest pub in Amsterdam enjoying a beer watching the world go by.

Our first week has seen us settling into a nice routine of being back at the motorhome in time to sit in the late afternoon sun with pre dinner drinks. One of the evenings a bird of prey swooped over the van and down onto an unsuspecting young crow, parents managed to drive the predator off but unfortunately the young one did not survive. Nature can be both wonderful and sad in the same moment.

So thats our first week and tomorrow we move north, we have enjoyed our stay here in Noordwijk and hope you have enjoyed our ramblings.

Speak to you soon. Love H&K xx

Planning our trip

Here she is, home for the next 12 months as we take our OAP gap year. Our aim is to see as much of Western Europe as we can and have a few adventures along the way. We will have our bikes on board so that we can get off the beaten track, meet the locals and sample the food and wine of the regions we travel through.

Kath and I will endeavour to update this blog on a weekly basis so that you can follow our progress.

We leave Scotland on the 21st March 2010 and our first update should be available by 1st April. Speak to you then, bye for now.