You know the feeling? Everything sorted out, soulmate found, genes mixed nicely and hatched, growing like hell... And now what?

Age dependent holiday strategies 2.5

This time I will tell about going on holiday when the twins were 2.5 years old:

Since weight is a relevant parameter, back carriers were out of the question this time. The alternative was to go on holiday by bike. We chose a well-marked long distance cycling trail along the Dutch North Sea coast. (Southwest to Northeast)

Getting to the starting point was interesting. We were going on the train with two bikes with luggage and child seats, one cycle car stuffed with camping gear and two toddlers. Upon arrival at the train terminus in the port of Vlissingen, we found that the doors on the side we had to get out of our compartment were out of order. Since we could not get out any other way, one of the guards helped prise them open by force (leaving the problem of how to close them again for the return journey for the railway company).

Finally we were on our way, going from one small campsite to the next. We are member of a camping club that owns very basic campsites across the country, originally spaced within cycling distance. (Basic as in: Warm running water was introduced only recently)
In order to keep the weight down, we had two lightweight tunnel-style tents with a tarp suspended in between, creating one bigger structure with two sleeping compartments.

Because our twins were still at the age of daytime naps, we had double seating. While awake they were in their bike mounted seats, to enjoy the view. Sleeping was done in the cycle cart behind my bike. Since I have a recumbent bike, the kiddy-seat was fixed to my rear carrier rack, just behind my head. This meant that, just like the year before, my hair was within easy grasp and my ears at close vocal range.

One would expect that cycling in the Netherlands would not pose any problems of the mountainous persuasion. The trouble is that even a short ascent like going up a dyke or passing through terrain with dunes can put you to a standstill quite easily. I can tell you that getting off a recumbent bike under those circumstances is precarious. Clue: Never let go of the brakes until you can push forward and don't drop the bike with your kid still on it.

The advantage of the coastal path is that you regularly have a sandbox (beach) available for the breaks. Despite the high population density, most stretches avoid bricked over / concrete areas. An exception are the harbours and boulevards around the city of Den Haag.

To avoid having to go over the 32 km long and mostly straight and exposed 'Afsluitdijk' , we included two islands in our trip instead. (The 'Afsluitdijk', built from 1925 to 1932 enclosed the 'Zuiderzee' tidal basin and turned it into the current 'IJsselmeer' fresh water lake). First we went with the car ferry from Den Helder to the island of Texel. The camping ground at Texel is quite popular, so there were more kids to play with compared to the other campsites. The kids liked visiting 'Ecomare nature museum' on Texel. This is cross between an exposition about the sea and a recovery site for seals and other marine animals. I still remember the seagulls trying to steal a fish from the seal. None of the gulls could take off with the heavy fish, eventually one was smart enough to walk off with it.
The boat from Texel to Vlieland is a cyclists ferry which doesn't anchor in a harbour but has a long and high beach jetty on both sides to compensate for the tidal difference. Both jetties were only marginally wider than the track width of our cycle cart. Luckily, some helpful people wanted to lead our kids to the boat while I tried to get the cart across. The jetty on the Vlieland side is at the outer edge of a military proving ground, so after the boat it is still a nice trip with the dedicated eight wheeled beach 'bus' over the sand flats before crossing the dunes to safe territory. Fun fact: the tyre profile of the beach bus leaves poetry in the sand.

Getting off Vlieland, to the Frisian city of Harlingen was with a regular ferry again, so no trouble there.

The last, Northern stretch of the coastal cycling path mostly follows straight tarmac paths on top of the dykes. Of course our direction made sure we had a constant headwind. Still, we would have made good progress if it weren't for the regular gates, which had the regulation width of 90 cm to let wheelchairs pass, but also included a pole restricting how far the gate would open, which was just enough to block the cycle cart from passing through. The repeating actions followed: Remove the kids from the cart or seats, park them in a safe spot, decouple the cycle cart from the bike, move bikes to the other side, powerlift the cart to shoulder height to pass the gate, pick up bikes that have been blown over in the meantime, hitch the cart to the bike, put kids back and continue to the next gate to start all over… Maybe it is worth mentioning that the loaded cart weighs in at over 40kg.

At Pieterburen, where we left the cycling route, there is another opportunity to look at seals in the local seal rescue centre.

With our slightly traumatic experience of bikes in trains in mind, we decided I would go and get the car instead, while the kids played with the slugs on the campsite. Note: walking barefoot over slug-infested grass can be gross!

Caiman Raptor Elk

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