There wasn’t so much driving today as I started heading West, towards Calais. No longer in Germany, so I’m speed restricted all the way home now. Despite this, in less than 3 hours I made it to Zierikzee on the Dutch coast in the Zeeland region, where I will spend my final night abroad.
Before heading for Zierikzee I went backwards in to Germany to take advantage of their cheaper fuel – Dutch petrol is expensive and the difference in price is noticable.
The short drive meant that I had a good afternoon in Zierikzee, a chance to explore it properly – although I’ve been here twice before, this is the first time I’ve seen the town in Summer.
I took a walk down the footpath which follows the 2km channel linking Zierikzee to the Sea. It was windy beside the sea and there was a good view of the Zeeland Bridge which links the island to the rest of the Netherlands. It took half an hour in each direction.
I walked back in to the town centre and found somewhere for a late lunch, and wandered the town’s narrow streets.
I am staying in a small, family run B&B opposite the harbour, in a room which is a bit lile a beach/summer house. There’s just 2 rooms at the B&B so nice and small – and there’s a shop on the ground floor selling all sorts of souveniers, postcards etc.
This evening I went to eat at the Greek restaurant in Zierikzee, I had some bread with gigantes beans, and kokkinisto with beef. I was full up after that!
Back at my B&B and I’m just being a little lazy tonight – I’ve watched Dad’s Army (BBC 1, 2 and 4 are all available on TV in the Netherlands – as are Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4) – I do feel quite at home in this country and Zeeland is probably the area of the Netherlands I like best.
I am surprised that not more Brits come here. 3 hours from Calais, it’s the closest bit of the Netherlands to Calais by road, English is wideley spoken, there’s lots to see and do in the area – yet the Brits seem to completely bypass this area. Despite being so easily accessible by car from the UK, I’ve seen just 2 other British cars here in the last 2 years!
That said, on the roads the last couple of days I saw more British cars than I’ve seen all week – Brits do drive to Scandinavia, but it is possible to drive all day and not see another English car on the roads once you get North of Hamburg. By contrast, this morning when I joined the motorway at Venlo, 4 GB cars overtook me while I was still on the sliproad.
I quite like going beyond where most British cars go. Certainly a good conversation starter on arrival at a hotel, motorway services or petrol station and they see my numberplate!
More travelling tomorrow – it’s about a 3 hour drive back to Calais but my ferry isn’t until after 4 so I’ve got plenty of time to do it. Once my ferry gets in to Dover I’ve then got to get used to driving on the left again.
It’s about 10pm here. I want to be on the road by 11 tomorrow which should give me plenty of time to get to Calais and maybe stop on the way if needed. Breakfast at 8.30 and if the weather’s nice I might squeeze in a trip to the beach (maybe at Renesse) before I head for Belgium and France.
Goede Nacht.
FH.
Today’s Mileage: 131
Accumulative Mileage: 2404.1