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Given that we have just read Erskine Childers’ excellent The Riddle of the Sands, we have decided to spend our last five days on Texel (pronounced “Tessel”), a small island about the size of San Juan Island located on the North Sea about 3 hours north of Amsterdam. Childers’ novel is thought by scholars to be the first of what has become the popular spy novel genre. We take a train/bus/ferry combination from Amsterdam for 17 euros each, and spend another 7 euros to take the Texelhopper to Hotel Molenbos at the far northern tip of Texel in Cocksdoorp. We picked this hotel because it is next to a nature preserve and has lots of good biking and birding opportunities.

Texel is the westernmost of a long string of barrier islands that stand between the mainland of The Netherlands and the North Sea. The tidal range here is about 2 meters, yet when the tide goes out, the sea recedes to the horizon in some directions. “Mud-walking” is a sport here but careful planning, a weather-eye for fog banks and a guide are recommended.  The bottom of the sea here, when revealed, is seen to be sculpted by currents into lovely mounds and sinuous rills upon which countless seabirds peck and stroll.

The first day we rent bikes from the hotel and head south along the coast on a paved bike path. Val estimates that the wind is gusting to 30 mph at times! No wonder our hotel clerk said that the bikes had 7 gears “because of the wind”; Leslie almost was blown over by the head-on southwest wind or blasts from the side.  We stop to have the most blustery picnic imaginable, marvel at the pastoral scene of sheep grazing placidly on the polder, and continue on for several miles of strong intermittent gusts. We then decide to bike in the other direction, below the dike and somewhat out of the wind. We are rewarded by watching a busy spoonbill fishing and a graceful great blue heron walking delicately in the water nearby. An unfamiliar large duck appears with an impressive red beak and rust-colored band around its breast and we learn from the owner of the local bird store that it is the Bergeend, or mountain duck. Most handsome! Why is a mountain duck here in this most sea-level of countries?

 

On subsequent days we either bike (yes, it’s still windy, but we do 20 miles with another strong wind, this time from the north) or hike. We bike past colorful tulip farms, through numerous large farms, along country roads and several short stretches of noisy highways with large tractors and huge trucks zooming past us. We end up in a brown cafe in the small village of Oosterend and reward ourselves with a traditional hot sandwich, the toasti, and our favorite warme chocomel met slagroom, or hot chocolate with whipped cream. Another day we hike along the north coast to the lighthouse, climb to the top, and enjoy watching Dutch families relaxing at the beach on a lazy Saturday. On our return trip we watch birds on the sand and mudflats or on several calm lakes in wetlands and dunes. We see lots of familiar birds: mallards, oystercatchers, dunlins, stilts, gannets, horned grebes, common coots, and a cormorant drying its wings in the sun.

 

Our trip ends as we head back to Seattle from the Amsterdam Airport. We have loved the friendly and calm and tall Dutch people, the quiet beauty of the land and seascapes, the wonderful art and the biking and hiking options. We appreciate having free bikes or rental bikes at every turn. The de-emphasis on cars has been refreshing. But we don’t understand why so few bikers wear helmets, and why there is so much smoking in a country where good health is emphasized….

Travelling in the fairly unstructured way that we love is many things. It is challenging at times when you can’t read the signs or the menus or you don’t know if some machine will understand your credit card (not having ‘the chip’ in our cards as those from developed counties do). It also is so fulfilling at those many times when things work out so much better than you could have planned for in the comfort of Internet at home or through some travel service. Locals at hotels, shops and restaurants and on the streets have been our ‘guides’, and this has made all the difference!