Windmills and wetlands

Posted on September 7, 2026 by Jo F

We left our campsite near Delft around 10.00 on Friday, September 4. Not sure how it took us two hours to get ready with showers, filling up with water, emptying the grey and black waste. The campsite had a wonderful machine to empty and clean the toilet cassette where you popped the cassette in and it did it all behind a closed shutter then popped out all clean with bio toilet solution already in it. Wonderful!

We drove about half an hour to the windmills of Kinderdijk. The car park was about a 30 minute walk from the windmills so we got the bikes out and cycled there in storm force winds. Still, it was easier than walking. The windmills are a series of 19 windmills which were used to keep the area from flooding. Before the great St Elizabeth Day’s Flood of 1170 there were only dykes to keep the river and rainwater at bay. When the flood broke those defences and hundreds lost their lives, they realised they needed a method of drawing the water out, as the land was well below sea level. The first windmill was built in the 17th century and the others around 1740. The name Kinderdijk comes from the legend of a baby girl in a wicker basket being saved from the floods with a cat balancing the basket through the torrential waters.

It rained most of the morning so we did all look like drowned rats at times but the windmills were fascinating. All bar three of them are still lived in by millers. To supplement their income, they harvested the reeds as well as the peat.

We left the windmills to make our way a few miles towards Dordrecht, the oldest town in the Netherlands. We had found a camperplaats, called Kinderdijk (P4N#385169) where, whilst basic, was perfect for exploring the area. Once sorted, we jumped on our bikes and cycled into Dordrecht about 6 miles away. Part of the journey was by ferry for the princely sum of €4 return and bikes go free! We had a lovely wander around the old part of the town before a quick beer and heading home to supper on board. The statue of William of Orange shows his devoted dog who, according to legend, wasted away after his master’s assassination and was buried with him.

We had booked a river cruise for the Saturday lunchtime at the Biesbosch nature reserve. This is a series of creeks and rivers that make up the wetlands of Biesbosch. The name means forest of reeds as reeds and willow were harvested by hand from there in what must of been back breaking work. The river tour was all in Dutch but luckily Google live translation came to the rescue. Beavers became extinct in the area by the 1900s as they were trapped for their meat and fur. In the 1980s, German beavers from the Ruhr valley were reintroduced and there are now some 500. We didn’t see any on our tour but we did see two sea eagles soaring above us. It was lovely just walking along the paths enjoying the quiet and being with nature.

We departed Biesbosch around 14.45 to drive north to continue our adventures but that’s for the next blog!

Miles this trip: 170

Miles this blog: 54

Delft

Posted on September 5, 2026 by Jo F

We finally managed to leave home around 16.30 on Tuesday, September 1st. We weren’t sure we would even make it away with various family medical emergencies in the previous couple of weeks. However, we did. We drove across to Harwich and parked up at the ferry terminal for the 09.00 crossing the next day. Stena Line kindly allow you to stay overnight by the check in so that you are virtually in the queue when it opens at 07.00. We are travelling with our friends, Maria and Jane, in their Adria Twin so it was an easy way to meet up.

The crossing itself was uneventful but long as it takes 7 hours. The entry into The Netherlands was easy enough as we had already submitted our biometric data back in June when we visited Spain. They just checked our passports and we were on our way. Our first stop was a lovely campsite just outside Delft which we had booked the day before. Camping de Drie Morgen (P4N#196346) was just a few kilometres outside of the town so a perfect spot to explore from.

It seems that in The Netherlands you can’t really wild camp. You can only stopover where they explicitly say it is allowed. Consequently, I think that we will be on recognised sites and aires for our two weeks here. It’s not that much of a hardship although you don’t tend to get the same views you can find wild camping. However, what they have invested in is zillions of bike paths. Everywhere. So far, we have only had to be on a road, a minor one at that, for about 5 minutes. Wonderful and the traffic stops for cyclists at roadabouts and most junctions.

Anyway, back to Delft. It would have been a 30 minute cycle into Delft and the weather had been atrocious overnight and during the morning. We had booked a walking tour for 13.00 so we all chickened out and caught an Uber taxi into town late morning. There was a lovely market in the main square so we stocked up on fresh vegetables, a cooked chicken and, of course, cheese! We even found the oldest shop in Delft (1782) which is a chemist and it sold salted liquorice by the kilo!

The walking tour by a lovely woman called Astrid was highly informative covering both the famous ceramics as well as the murder of William of Orange (father of the nation) in 1584 during the 80 years war with Spain to gain their independence. The town has two churches, the new one built in 1381, with imposing spires although the Oude Kerk is definitely at a jaunty angle. Delft is also famous as the birthplace of Johannes Vermeer but sadly the painting of the Girl with the Pearl Earring is on loan at the moment.

After the tour we needed a beer or two at the local microbrewery, naturally, before having an early dinner at a canal-side restaurant. Apparently, there were over 200 breweries in the 16th and 17th centuries when the water was unfit to drink. Back to the vans and a relatively early night as we wanted an early start in the morning.

Miles this trip: 116

Killarney

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Jo F

We left Molls Gap around 09.20 to make our way to Killarney, where we were going to base ourselves for a couple of days. We were now on the Ring of Kerry and you could tell it was on all the bus tours of the country! Suddenly, there was an explosion of people, cars and buses. Very different to the previous couple of weeks.

Our first stop was Looscaungh Lough viewpoint. It wasn’t on the list for tour stops so it was easy to park. Next onto Ladies View where allegedly Queen Victoria’s Ladies in Waiting stopped to look over towards Killarney. It is a magnificent view and part of the National Park. Then the Torc Waterfall where the car park was rammed so we turned around and went back up the road to a quieter one and had a lovely walk along paths to the waterfall. It was quite sweet but not a patch on other waterfalls we’ve seen on our travels. I know, we have been spoilt!