Dee Family Tour of the Netherlands 2004 - 2 |
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1: Harwich to Maastricht | 2: Rides around Limburg | 3: Venlo to Schaijk | 4: Winterswijk |
5: Lochem and Urgchelen | 6: Kootwijk to Amersfoort | 7: Last days at De Haan | 8: Miscellaneous |
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We camped two nights at Heerkuil which allowed us to have an easy day ride with no luggage on the Sunday in the border region of Limburg. Here we are at the top of a hill to prove that the Netherlands are not flat! This was on the road between Mheer and Noorbeek. İStephen Dee 25 July 2004 ID P7257812 |
Further proof that the Netherlands are not flat - the view from a bit further down the hill where the above photo was taken looking across the valley. İStephen Dee 25 July 2004 ID P7257814 |
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When we got to Slenaken, they had the local band and the flags out for us! In actual fact we had come across the tail end of a religious festival, and the band was outside the church. See below for some view taken of the participants. İStephen Dee 25 July 2004 ID P7257819 |
İStephen Dee 25 July 2004 ID P7257821 |
İStephen Dee 25 July 2004 ID P7257822 |
İStephen Dee 25 July 2004 ID P7257823 |
A nice tradition in the Netherlands, is the celebration of visits by the local stork! In our trips to the Netherlands we have come across many of houses decked our with flags celebrating the birth of a child. İStephen Dee 25 July 2004 ID P7257811 |
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Another birth celebration was at the bar at the top of the hill coming out of Slenaken. İStephen Dee 25 July 2004 ID P7257828 |
Hotel Kreutzer - at the top of the hill out of Slenaken. We had lunch here. Inside the bar were hundreds of cards to the proud parents of Julie. İStephen Dee 25 July 2004 ID P7257829 |
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After lunch we headed south across the border into Belgium, This is Ceri summiting the hill out of Remersdaal towards the N648. İStephen Dee 25 July 2004 ID P7257831 |
Our return back into the Netherlands was by a nice track. Here is Melissa and Brünnhilde straddling the border. The border between the Netherlands and Belgium is marked by a series of posts dated 1843. This is post number 28. The significance of 1843 is that prior to that date Belgium was part of the Netherlands. İStephen Dee 25 July2004 ID P7257843 |
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On the Monday we headed north with all our luggage
along the Maas valley following from Maastricht the long distance
cycle route LF3b. One nice thing we have found on the continent are the
fields of wild flowers. Here is a very broad border of poppies. İStephen Dee 26 July 2004 ID P7267876 |
There are many cycle routes in the Netherlands.
Many of them sponsored by the ANWB, the Dutch equivalent of the RAC/AA.
These are sensibly signed posted with the signs indicating the direction
you are going by use of a "a" or "b" suffix. İStephen Dee 28 July 2004 ID P7287924
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One wonderful feature of the Netherlands are the
numerous ferries large and small that are used to cross rivers, canals
and estuaries. This is the ferry across the Maas between Berg in
the Netherlands and Belgium. This ferry I would class a "small to
medium" sized. Having crossed the Maas we left the LF3b and
cycled along the LF7b to the next ferry before rejoining the LF3b. İStephen Dee 26 July 2004 ID P7267885
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Some of the ferries are for cyclists and foot
passengers only. This is the next ferry up from the one above
between Belgium and Grevenbicht in the Netherlands İStephen Dee 26 July 2004 ID P7267887
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Many of the ferry crossings on the Maas are border
crossings. Even though this is a small cycle and foot crossing, on
the Dutch side there is an old border post. İStephen Dee 26 July 2004 ID P7267891
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Page last modified 25th December 2004