Etappe 5  Burgh-Haamstede - Middelburg

21 July 2011


Shortly after leaving Burgh-Haamstede, we rounded a corner and found the bike path blocked by a small herd of about 10 ponies. Our friends from Jena were already there and we took photos of each other with the ponies. They showed no signs of moving so we carefully threaded our way through the herd and carried on our way.

Once again we arrived at the coast to find the wildest sand dunes of the whole trip. The bike path led through towering sandy hills (in Holland... ! ) twice signs warned us of a 10% gradient and we had to get off and pushthe bike up the hill.... coming down down was fun though!

The next unforgetable experience was the Delta Werk, the Oosterscheide Flood barriers. This incredible structure was built after the flood disaster of 1953 to protect the Zeeland region, a chain of giant flood gates and hydraulics which in the case of storm or high water, can completely seal of the entire region and hold back the North Sea from the lowlands.

We rode on through the busy little town of Veere with it's pretty houses and gardens before reaching our destination for the day, Mittelburg the capital city of Zeeland and our Hotel for the night, the Auberge Provencal which was built in the year 1530. The restaurant was in the cellar which was even older and dates back to the year 1265..... incredible !

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