Part 1. Zeeland and Southern Holland 24th July – 31st July 2025.

Rather than head off somewhere that will become much to hot to safely walk, I’ve decided to carry on a bit from the Belgium border towards Amsterdam. Though, because I prefer to walk into the sun rather than have it on the back of my neck, I’ll travel roughly south west from Noordwijk, north of Scheveningen to Het Zwindorp on the border opposite the Zwin Natuurpark from where I started my crossing of Belgium some weeks ago.

Flight direct and simple from Belfast to Amsterdam and, as usual, my trusty chauffeur, Esme, and sidekick, Aurora, are along.

The Netherlands has much to recommend it. Like Belgium everyone speaks English. The food is usually good, but expensive, and it has so many miles of beaches. Here in Zeeland and South Holland it looks like the natives still come for their summer holidays. They stay in huge camp sites that are hidden with landscaping – static caravan-like things or small wooden huts – then rent bikes and scoot to the beach. They park in custom built bike parks and hoof it over the sand dune dykes to the sand and sea. Every three kilometres or so they are served with a beach restaurant.
There is a whole road infrastructure dedicated to bikes such that they do not feel it necessary to wear helmets or enact a nannying compulsory helmet law.
I enjoyed this part of the Netherlands as much as I enjoyed Belgium but have many more miles of beach to go before I hit the German border (if ever).

I think of the many miles past – thousands now – unremarked, unremembered, enshrined in no photograph, that are forgotten. Except occasionally when I get a flashback of some scene that takes me a while to pin down. Was it that place in Portugal, Spain, Malta? No, it was glorious Wales. Strange thing when it happens.