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Extras. Karen's notes.

Day 1 : What I remember about the first day of the Easter trip is that the campsite was a very long way! And that the final stage was a little tricky in determining where we were with respect to the map (let alone getting one's eye in for the miniscule, hidden LF10b markers). But the lunch at the café on the beach (Katwijk) was great.

Day 2 : that stunning section of cycle track running coast-side of the sea dyke. The seemingly endless Afsluitdijk (and my inability to pronounce the same). The sweet little campsite that evening (with the very noisy chickens who got up early the next morning).

Day 3 : That little church we had an unexpected tour of on Easter Sunday at lunch. The section of road that unexpectedly smelt of baked potatoes (until Damae explained that we were passing a big chip manufacturer). Cycling through the firing range....

Day 4: Not being overwhelmed by Delfzijl's architecture. The last bit from Delfzijl to Nieuweschans I just remember being flat, fast and easy to navigate. The odd little bit of fun when the road went through slots cut in various dykes. And then getting to the train station to realise that although I had plenty of money, I didn't have that much change for the ticket machine, and could only just afford to get to Groningen.

Impressions : What the trip did do was remind me that cycle touring is a great way to get to see the countryside at a reasonable speed - fast enough that one gets somewhere, slow enough to track and enjoy the changes. The camping just adds an extra self-sufficiency to it that really appeals to me, plus the fact that one isn't necessarily cycling late into the night to get to pre-arrranged accommodation.

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