Saturday, July 28, 2007
This morning my trip started. When I woke up at six in the morning, it
was raining hard so I decided NOT to leave very early today.
I stayed in bed for another hour and finaly, after a good breakfast, I left
home at half past nine, wearing my new rain overall.
Ready to go
I drove past the fishing harbour of Yerseke, through Wilhelminadorp and then on
the N255 on "Noord Beveland" to the "Oosterschelde kering", a part of the
famous Delta Works.
A fishing boat from Yerseke
The Zeeland Bridge
The Oosterschelde part of the Deltaworks is very special because to maintain
low and high tide in the Oosterschelde needed by the sea life in those waters,
the dam is made with big doors that slide down to close the dam with very high
tide but that stay open in normal conditions to let the high and low tide in
and out.
At the Isle "Neeltje Jans" I stopped to take a picture of the dam (and my GoldWing).
Big concrete blocks block this part of the dam but with a motorcycle, it is possible
to squeeze between the blocks and get to the other side of the dam and take a picture
with the Oosterschelde kering in the background. :-)
The "Oosterschelde kering"
On Neeltje Jans, I programmed the Tomtom to get me to Maassluis, a town near
Rotterdam. On the N57 I drove through Haamstede. That is where I had my first
refueling stop at the BP station.
From Haamstede I drove past Hellevoetsluis and at Rozenburg I got the ferry to
Maassluis.
Ships in the port of Rotterdam
A seagull at the ferryport in Rozenburg
Waiting for the ferry to arrive
While waiting for the ferry, I had a sandwich and a can of Redbull.
I programmed the Tomtom for the seaside in Katwijk aan Zee and to avoid freeways
and left the ferry, going through the "Westland" where all the greenhouses are.
Greenhouses in the "Westland"
Past Honselarsdijk I drove through The Hague, past Central Station and then
through Wassenaar. Past Duinrell and Valkenburg I finaly arrived in Katwijk where
I parked the Wing at the seaside to get a sandwich, a soda and to take some pictures.
Boulevard in Katwijk aan Zee
After this short break, I programmed Egmond aan Zee in the Tomtom and started the GoldWing
again. Again I avoided the freeways and on some nice roads I drove to the North.
In Bennebroek, I passed an old railway station that was no longer used by the railroad company
and is now used as an house or office. I don't know but it looked nice.
Former railway station
Past IJmuiden, Heemskerk and Castricum, I arrived at the seaside in Egmond aan Zee and
again it was time for a break. It has been four o'clock PM already and I planned to have
a hotel near the Afsluitdijk so I programmed the Tomtom to Den Oever, the little village
at the beginning of the Afsluitdijk.
Most of the time, I drove next to a canal. The scenery is very nice here. Not so much
people living here as in the part of the Netherlands that I live in.
The beach at Egmond aan Zee
The Wing with in the background some WW II bunkers
Yachts in the canal
And of course, a Dutch windmill
Past Anna Paulowna I arrived in Hippolytushoef and got a refueling stop, at
a Texaco gasstation this time. Just when I am inside, paying the gas, another bike arrives.
It is a special, one of a kind bike, made by the famous Dutch bike builder Nico Bakker.
The owner told me he choose this style of bike because he was fed up with all the
speed ramps that are everywhere on the roads in Holland. Well, it is a nice bike anyway.
Speed ramp special
After Hippolytushoef it is only a few kilometers to Den Oever and soon I arrived at a
little hotel just behind the sea dike. Hotel Oeverdijk.
Hotel Oeverdijk
I booked a room and the friendly hotel manager tells me I can park my bike behind the hotel
at the courtyard, to keep it out of site. I rode the GoldWing onto the courtyard and after
bringing my luggage to my room, I took a walk to the harbour, close to the hotel.
Walking in the fresh air makes one hungry so I got myself a nice tunafish salad and a coffee for
dinner.
The GoldWing behind the hotel
The harbour of Den Oever
Tunafish salad for dinner.
After dinner, I went to my room to write my travel log and watch TV. "Biker build-off" was
on Discovery Channel so I was lucky.
From Anna Poulowna on, my Tomtom was giving "low battery" warnings. That is strange because
it should be conected to the bike battery........
Later, after my trip, I checked the wiring. I used an excisting connector of the sigarette
lighter but found out that one of the two wires was not connected......
That is what you get with, "day before departure modifications". After I connected the
second wire, the Tomtom loaded its battery from the bike battery like it should.
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