Zeeland here we come..

Without noticing, we left Zeeland on Friday and, according to our instructions, we are going back today.

Cycling out of Willemstad in the morning sunshine was rather pleasant. The Met Office assured us of good weather and now over half way through our journey.

Having finally accepted that people with children on the front and shopping on the back of their bicycles will frequently overtake us, today it was the turn of Lycra clad road cyclists. It is a little disheartening to be the slowest on the road…. other than the slugs that are numerous after the wet weather.

Our first challenge was the climb back over Volkerakdam, still as steep but so much nicer in the dry on a quiet Sunday morning. We stopped and watched the locks in action and were tempted to stay longer but we’d only covered 6 of our 50 km route.

A punishing 7.5 km straight, flat section followed mainly alongside the N59 as it hugged the banks of Haringvliet. There are no photos of the road disappearing into the distance because that involved stopping. Kim was not prepared to stop under any circumstances. Her challenge was to get to the end without sobbing, it was that exhausting.

Our route continued along the top of dikes and through pretty villages.

After a couple of hours, and almost at our halfway point, we stopped at the first cafe we found in Oude-Tonge. The sun was shining and we basked over a cuppa.

It didn’t last, as we left town the rain started and the wind became stronger. Fortunately, the weather seemed a bit halfhearted after yesterday and we were cold and uncomfortable rather than soaked through.

We cycled along the Grevelingendam, luckily on the land side and sheltered from the wind. The sun had reappeared so we stopped for lunch at a waterside restaurant overlooking the Grevelingen.

Our timing was definitely out today, as we left the restaurant, the rain started again.

More cycling along dikes followed and it really highlighted how flat the area is.

We arrived at our hotel just after 3. It’s been a long day with a couple of unplanned detours. Bottoms are sore and legs weary…..but the hotel is the nicest so far

Our room is quiet and spacious, and there is a pretty little garden with bantams riffling through the flowerbeds. At dinner we were given the option of being told what we were having or it being a ‘surprise’. You guessed right we were indeed cowards. What followed was beautifully presented, tasty and hadn’t come out of the lobster tank we’d passed on the way in.