Tuesday 16 August The Last day in Holland?

The bridge, open

The Sun was already halfway up the sky when we surfaced to yet another glorious day.  A check on the weather confirmed our decision to delay departure, as it was blowing a Force 5 in the Dover Straits. The forecast for tomorrow is still good, so we sorted out another night’s stay with the very apologetic harbourmaster (He had been told that there was always 4 metres clearance). 

Then, we set off for a day out on the bikes, which first needed a good sluicing down to remove the salt which had gathered on the way from Scheveningen.

West side boulevard

The town and surroundings of Vlissingen, and its 2 yacht-havens could merit a full holiday on their own account, and we certainly hope to return here. We stopped for a late-morning breather  on the”Bad Strand” which is actually not bad at all—brilliant, in fact.  Then we rode off on a roundabout way to Middelburgh, our first inland stop by boat some 7 weeks ago. It was still just as lovely, sitting in a streetside café on the main market square watching all of Holland gliding past on their bikes while tourists of all nationalities took pictures, horse& cart rides, and lunch, as we did ourselves.

The "Bad Strand"

A tourist attraction

It took some basking in the Sun to let the lunch go down before finding our way to the Walcheren Canal, where we retraced the first canal trip, this time by bicycle.  The “tow-path” is actually a 2-way cycle track, and quite busy.

Along the Walcheren Canal

We were pedalling along at what we thought was quite a spanking pace, but all the while we were being overtaken by children and their grandparents, all looking very relaxed and at ease at about 20mph. Cycling is a huge feature of the Dutch way of life, and their attention to cyclists is tremendous.

Now, for us, a 12km cycle ride is a marathon, and we felt quite chuffed as we rode back into Vlissingen to do a bit of shopping before returning to the boat for some preparation for sea. Liferaft out, cycles in, passage plans checked, waypoints permanently recorded, and, of course, a bit of blogging.

Another marina guest

Dinner on board, and a last stroll around. Early start tomorrow (weather permitting), and so to bed...