Voyage, voyage...

Tuesday, 13 June 2017

Netherlands - day 8 - Texel

Initially we wanted to see some more of the northern parts in the Netherland, but after Texel we figured nothing will be so beautiful and resting so tomorrow we are going home.

Today is the "lazy" day, for visiting the surroundings by foot and boat - first we're going to visit the Eierland Lighthouse and then go to the Seal tour. The boat route starts and finishes close to De Cocksdorp.

The lighthouse was built on top of a 20-metre high sand dune, and was lit on 1 November 1864. At that time, the distance from the lighthouse to the sea was 3 kilometres. During WW2, in April 1945 the lighthouse suffered heavy damage. It was repaired by constructing a new wall around it, so from the inside you can still see the the damage made to the (now) inner wall.

the lighthouse

inside of the lighthouse

view from the top

for booking tours

seal tour

seals

A bit more of walking...

sheep everywhere

what do you want?

chamomile

lots of shells, our B&B uses them as a decoration for the yard

a fiendly crab

lot of jellyfish today

De Cocksdorp

sign says it all

Monday, 12 June 2017

Netherlands - day 7 - Texel

The Texel island was originally made up of two islands, Texel to the south and Eierland to the northeast, which were connected by shoals. In the seventeenth century, the islands were poldered together.

beach near De Cocksdorp

near De Cocksdorp

Yesterday we drove by east coast so today we are going west, to the dunes and National park Duinen van Texel. About one third of Texel is a protected nature reserve.

De Slufter, where the tide comes in and meets the dunes.

bikes at OK Coral :)

the dunes are a unique habitat for wildlife

showoff :)

scarecrow

when opening the door in b&b

One thing I almost forgot to mention - Texel also has its own brewery. It brews couple of beer types and uses local ingredients – all of their barley is grown on the island, and the water is "dune filtered". Their most rewarded beer is the Skummkoppe, but we tried another 5-6 types and liked them all.

Sunday, 11 June 2017

Netherlands - day 6 - Texel

In the morning we got freshly laid eggs and fresh strawberries for breakfast. My birthday couldn't have started better. Last glance on the Gauda's town center and off we go. Price for 2: 38€+3€ tax.

Gauda's center

Today we are going to Texel island. First the train from Gauda to Den Helder and than ferry to the Texel.

Den Helder

View from ferry in Den Helder

We chose to change the trip route (Belgium, Luxembourg) and go to Texel instead after talking with few Dutch people who told us Netherland's north islands are worth visiting, especially Texel. Well, we didn't regret it a bit. Texel is really beautiful so after arriving here we decided to change trip route again and stay on Texel a bit more than we initially planned. Instead od 1 night, we will stay here 3 nights. This is the first time we won't be staying by Vrienden. Instead we are sleeping at B&B in the village called De Cocksdorp.

I will let the pictures talk...

Texel

Texel

Texel (de Molen beer we took from Bodegraven)

Texel