Back in holland, we did some final planning for the cycling trip that I have been planning for the last six months. Living in Australia makes it difficult to get a sense of the childhood lives of my parents, on a rural island in the Netherlands. So I decided to spend three days riding across the island with my brother and retrace the lives of my parents.
So you can imagine my excitement when I walked into the living room and see my mother there wrapped up as a Christmas present. Secretly arranged between my mum and her sister, she surprised us all by discreetly making her way to holland to be here for this trip. This was fortuitous as she was able to provide a real personal touch to the trip.
The following day we left Delft and headed through Massland south toward the Rhine delta that makes up the southern part of holland. Travelling across dunks and through fishing villages we started to collect the many stories of how the Dutch and reshaped the landscape and brought the waters under control trough dijk's, locks and windmills. After a brief coffee, tea and rain shower in Maasluis we headed across the river toward Brielle and Hellevoetsluis where the weather looked clearer.
We stopped briefly outside of Brielle for lunch before heading into the fort to have a look around. We didn't stay for long as we had a log way to go.
Cycling through the field and agricultural regions we started to get a taste of life on the island but we had to get through Hellevoetsluis and over the artificial sea wall that had been part of the Deltawerken. The Deltawerken was a large construction project put in place after the floods of 1953, which my mum experienced. This, the worst flood in Dutch history did huge damage in the islands of south holland and killed more the 3000 people. So this wouldn't happen again the Dutch spent billions stregthening the dijk's and sea walls that essentially separate the delta and the sea into two system which the flow between them can be controlled.
Arriving on the island we reached our destination for the day , Stellendam. This village was wiped out in the flood and so there is little left over from the past and is now a popular weekend destination for sailors, wind surfers and other water loving people.
We checked in at our privately run B&B before jumping back on our bicycles to the coast. On the west (coastal) side of the island are dunes where my mum used to go walking with the family. We cycled there as the afternoon sun faded. Arriving at 't flauwe werk' as the evening sun was setting and the lights of boat waiting outside of port started to light up.
We cycled back in the dark stopping at a lit up windmill in Goederede were we chatted with Tom whose friend is the manager. He, clearly on the way home from the pub, invited us around for a cup of tea. Unfortunately it was late and we had a big day tomorrow and so we headed by the shortest route back to our waiting beds.
The following was the first of September and my mum arrived at the B&B to join us for breakfast. The hostess was happy to add another plate. Breakfast was a plentiful continental breakfast like I had never had one!!
It just happened to be my birthday that day, and so the attention was squarely as my mum gave me a beautiful photographic book as a present and that was just the beginning.
We left as a pack and headed toward Mellisant where an old family friend managed a nursery setup to give mentally disabled people meaningful work. The nursery setup from scratch over fifteen years is testament as to what is possible with a little leadership. We sat and had tea and chatted before getting back on two wheels.
The day was filled with many moment of which three stand out. Firstly, going to a narrow lane only to emerge in a graveyard that contained the grave of my mum second brother who born in the war died after 9 months. To everyone's surprise the grave was still there and had a new plaque on it. It is a mystery as to who created the plaque.
Second was walking up past the church to the town hall alongside my mother. The same path she walked with my dad 30 years ago the day they got married. I could imagine them all walking together like a parade garnering to attention of the whole village.
Lastly it was the afternoon drinks along the harbour of Middleharnis. Sharing a drink there with loved ones was splendid, radiant that we were, in the summer sun.
The evening capped off what was a majestic day as we are near the restaurant (it was closed) that my grandmother took me when I visited some years ago (kofje kookertje). To my surprise, our little tour group was joined by my Aunt, cousin and friends. The meal was great and the atmosphere fulfilling. The staff there were excellent. When it came to dessert mine was the last to arrive. When it did finally come it arrived with dimmed lights, and small flaming firework on the plate and with Stevie wonder singing happy birthday just for me. It was a moment not to be forgotten! No words can ever capture the thanks I would like to give to all for that experience.
But it wasn't finished yet. While my mum returned home with the my aunt and family, our little tour group continued on for another day. This time starting in Oude Tonge where my dad lived in his formative years. We had stayed in a country B&B that included 'bedstee', which is a bed in a cupboard that was used to keep warm in days gone by. Sleeping in here was quite fun. In the morning we ate breakfast in the fields next to the goats and chickens and overlooking the endless rows of corn.
We were on our way around 10 am where we headed east and off the island. Along the way we passed a 'gemaal' which was named after my grandfather how managed the dijk's of the area from 1925-1955. My dad also played there as a child.
We cycled in though the fields and through the smaller villages of the island before taking to long straight road and bridge off the island towards Willemstad, another fortified city. Along the way we saw more of the sluice gates, bridges and locks that form the deltaworks. Watching the many transport ship carrying goods every which-way.
Willemstad is one of the best preserved fort towns in holland and it is a beautiful city. I would want to be there o. The weekend as it would be packed. But being there on a Friday we stopped in for am ice cream and viewed the battlements. Renee particularly enjoyed the bunker which had been built over many years; most recently during the second world war by the Germans.
The rest of the afternoon we spent riding through the open agricultural fields of the region feeding sheep, horses and cows all while avoiding the rolling tractors transporting potatoes.
In the late afternoon we arrived and the train station of Zevenbergen, where a kind conductor allowed us on the trains with our bikes even though it was peak hour, so we where home early for dinner which was rice with meatball sauce that my mum had cooked for me on request.
The thing to learn from all this is that family is something worth exploring and holding onto!!
