(6 April) Today was a big day - over 300 km on the road following a plan researched by Lisa to visit the popular village of Giethoorn, where the roads are (mostly) replaced by canals. The route would ultimately take us in a large loop right around the Lake of IJsselmeer and back to Haarlem. The 1,000 square kilometer Lake was a large bay until in 1932 the Dutch built the 32 km dyke which now separates it from the North Sea. The flow from the Rhine has since flushed out all the salt water and it is now a fresh water lake.
We rented a car from a little place close to BakernesserGracht, and set out for Giethoorn. As the only licensed driver I had to drive all the way. At Muiden we stopped for a coffee, and found ourselves right beside a lock with yachts and launches passing though. At Kampden we had a great lunch at a little restaurant, and mingled with the crowds in the streets and watched an up-beat brass band playing as a local marathon passed through the streets. Giethoorn was the the main destination. We hired a drive-yourself boat and Adam piloted us through the village waterways and across the lake. On the home stretch it became crowded as boats jostled for position in the narrow canal. Some knew what they were doing; others did not, so it was rather chaotic.
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| Lisa selected Muiden, with its old fort, as a good place to stop. |
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| We found Muiden also has a lock, and a bridge which swivels open to allow boats to pass. |
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| These cargo bikes are everywhere, often ferrying loads of children to and fro. |
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| After reviewing the ticket price we decided to admire the fort from the outside. |
Eventually we moved on, with the day running out and still a couple of hundred km to go. We chanced upon fields of tulips, and stopped to admire and take pictures. The landscape there was filled with huge wind turbines, creating a dramatic scene.
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| We stopped at this spot beside the road, where a patch of tulips surrounded one of the wind turbines. |
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| There are water channels everywhere. |
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| We found a very nice lunch in Kampen. |
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| We took to the water in Giethoorn, with Adam on the tiller. |
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| Out on the windswept lake. The house on the island has very little freeboard. |
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| Cruising past the backyards of Giethoorn. |
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| Bridges like this provide access to each home. |
We pressed on into the failing light, interrupted by a duck which made the extremely unwise decision to walk onto the motorway. The duck was no more, and left an expensive hole in our radiator grille. We made it home to Haarlem in the dark, completing a great day out.
