Nestled Near The Dunes At Julianadorp.

JULIANADORP.

The heavy rain has stopped and the sun is shining this morning. After a quick breakfast, we're off on the bikes. There is a lake about 5 miles away. As we approach the lake, we pass a young woman with two children. Her accent is definitely English so we stop to chat. Her husband works locally and she is visiting him. She staying in the holiday village by the lake. However, the buses don't extend to the lake until the summer so she had a 3 mile round trip to the shops.

The cafe at the lake is closed so we try the clubhouse at the golf club opposite. A coffee each and a shared piece of Dutch apple pie costs only 5.50 euro. We talk to a lady waiting for her friends to finish their game of golf. She was married to a sea captain and visited the UK several times.

The couple that arrived yesterday decide to get their bikes out. Unfortunately, dark clouds appear threateningly. We take the hint and rush to shower, finish loading the bikes and fill with water. As a result we are on the road by 1:30pm. Heading for Den Helder on the north west coast. A journey of 107 miles on mostly motorway, including the 15 mile stretch across the sea. We arrive at the site mentioned in the camper stop book but it no longer exists. We try further down the coast but there appears to be a clampdown on wild camping between 9pm and 6am. We settle on a campsite called Hoeve Ons Lust. Rosie agrees to stay once she learns that it has a, yes you guessed it, washing machine.

Enjoy a walk along the dunes before dinner. A fabulous stretch of coast but it is very windy. The sun was shining when we arrived but it soon clouds over. We learn on the walk that much of Holland is below sea level. The dunes are maintained to provide a barrier from the sea.