The rest of the Netherlands: Introducing the spotting things game

August 12, 2016

One great thing about cycling through the west of Holland was the wildlife

It was during our ride through the Netherlands that a new and exciting game was invented. It evolved from the windmill spotting game. The windmill spotting game was basically just spotting windmills and was fun for a day or two, but what it evolved into was a game that would keep us entertained for weeks and months to come. The new game was the spotting things game.

Interestingly the spotting things game was invented while sitting looking at this cloud-making factory

In a similar vein to the windmill spotting game, the spotting things game involved spotting things. It worked like this. Dea and I each wrote down ten things at the start of the day. Twenty pieces of paper went into the hat, then we each selected ten at random. These were the things that we each had to spot during the rest of the day. It was a really fun game. I spotted a green car, Dea spotted a white flower, I spotted a boat, Dea spotted discarded fruit peel, and the game was on.

As the day went on I'd done well to spot most of my things, though there was some disagreement about one thing. I needed to spot a pink bike and I was delighted when I saw one lying on the ground. Dea argued it was more purple than pink. It was clearly more pink than purple. The spotting things game could sometimes cause disagreements. Luckily Dea usually won anyway.

A bridge opening to let a boat through - spotted

We also stopped to play other games. Beach volleyball, for example, was a popular favourite whenever we could find a net. And when there was a football pitch we'd play a game of penalties. Dea usually won these too, much to my disappointment. I tried so hard, diving theatrically to try and save Dea's kicks but failing. Then she'd stick out one of her long legs and save all of mine, adding comments like "Oh, sorry. You try so hard," just to make me feel better.

One day Dea just needed to spot a cat to win the spotting things game, but she somehow cycled straight past this one. I really enjoyed that! Until she spotted another cat in a field and won anyway

We cycled north and crossed the Afsluitdijk causeway. For about 30 kilometres we cycled with what looked like the sea on both sides of us. In fact we were riding on a giant dam, to our left the North Sea, to our right, a giant man-made fresh water lake. I'd ridden here before, back in 2009 on one of my first ever bike trips, coming the other way. As I remembered, the raised flood protection to one side and the busy road on the other rather ruined the feeling of cycling across the sea.

One of our camping spots, ideal for a refreshing evening swim

Next we headed east to the town of Groningen. It was not as I remembered it from seven years earlier. There were not as many bikes (possibly because being a student town they were all on their summer holidays) and the central square was not as big as I thought. I also couldn't find the burger vending machines I'd told Dea so much about.

All in all the Netherlands had been good to us. The flat bike paths were just amazing and there weren't really too many motor scooters spoiling them. But it was soon time for us to cross the border into Germany.

You'll be waiting a long time for your bus here

12/08/16 - 70km

13/08/16 - 100km

14/08/16 - 103km

15/08/16 - 81km (51km in Netherlands)

Today's ride: 324 km (201 miles)
Total: 56,717 km (35,221 miles)

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