Our time in Europe is slowly coming to an end. The last full week we spent on the Dutch coast.
It is a part of the Netherlands we hardly get to, as most of our family lives in the centre and east of the country. This western part is absolutely worth a visit, and now is the perfect time to do so.
We started off in the province of Zeeland, where we spent time in Westkapelle. We made lovely walks on the beach, enjoyed sunsets, and we even found a street named after us ;) Well, maybe not after us, but still fun to find!
We drove over the Oosterscheldekering, which is between the islands Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland. It is the largest of a series of dams and storm surge barriers, which is called the Delta Works. It was designed to protect the Netherlands from flooding from the North Sea. The construction of the Delta Works started after the North Sea flood of 1953, which caused a lot of damage and many lives were lost.
We spent a day in Rotterdam, where we took a tour of the harbour. The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of East Asia. It is very impressive to be on a tour boat, passing these towering ships!
After a night at friends', we drove to Delft. The historic square with the new church on the one end and town hall on the other, is just beautiful. We, of course, had to eat a few Dutch treats, like the herring Raija eats and the tompoes Myron tries to eat without being too messy ;)
A fast way to get from the West of the country to the North, is to take the Afsluitdijk. It is a fundamental part of the larger Zuiderzee Works, damming off the Zuiderzee, a salt water inlet of the North Sea, and turning it into the fresh water lake of the IJsselmeer.
In Leeuwarden, a city in the North, we found the Slauerhoffbrug, which Myron had learned about in his science class. It is such a fun way of homeschooling to be able to locate things we learned about and to expand our knowledge past the books and online materials.
Before a quick stop at my mom's, we visited a cousin of my dad, who lives in a beautiful area up North.
It is always a pleasure to be here, as the company is good and the surroundings are beautiful. I spent many days here as a young girl, exploring the barns, playing with kittens my sister and I found.
Time has come to pack our bags, clean the campervan, and get ready for the next leg of our journey.
After careful consideration, and lots of research on the African countries we hope to visit, we have decided to leave Kleintje, our home for the last 7 months, behind in The Netherlands. Due to the rise in fuel prices and the unrest in eastern Europe, prices have gone up fast. The shipping of our campervan, together with the Carnet de Passages (a passport for your vehicle), and the insurances, came to roughly 33.000 Euro, which is about 47.000 CAD. And that is only to get it to and from the African continent!
That amount of money we rather spend on other things than just transportation.
We now have booked a 4x4 truck with two rooftop tents, for the first 10 weeks of our stay! We are very excited!
AFRICA, HERE WE COME!!!
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