Week in the Flatlands

[Dazshep]

We are just back from a week long trip to Friesland in North Holland.
We sailed from Dover to Calais taking in a stop at Camping Memling in Bruges. This is our second stay here and is a great site with clean facilities and a nice walk into the city for various chocolate and beery treats. The only main change since our last visit is it has a computerised self check in that seemed to work really well while providing a few laughs at how nervous and aggressive we seem to get dealing with a machine and not a person. The Swedish bloke in his swish motor home was a classic!
After a good nights sleep that was due to the pleasant amount of Zot we consumed we set off to drive through Holland . The drive went without any dramas and I enjoy driving in Holland but please keep an eye on your mirrors as 99% of drivers seem to stick to the speed limits but the other 1% think they are Jos Verstappen.
We arrived at our site, Camping Hindeloopen after a small detour due to 16000 cyclists passing the main entrance and booked in. Much mirth for the Mrs as as I am now north side of 49 I pass as a senior and receive a 1€ per day rebate off the site fee. Result!
The site is well divided up with trees and shrubs offering decent shelter as it tends to get a bit windy due to the site being on the coast. The site has a lot of seasonal pitches at the rear of the site and touring pitches near to the front. Ours was obviously flat and in the corner of a bay that had about eight pitches with electric hook up. There are plenty of toilet facilities for the various areas of the site and also a shop that sells a good range of goods to survive on. It also has an on site bar but we didn't get round to that as we loved the local village. For families there are play areas, a couple of tennis courts and an on site wind surf and kite surf school for the adventurous.
The toilet facilities were kept really clean and tidy and a hot shower is on a meter for 50 cents.
This area is a fantastic place to visit for the water sport dudes and also for cyclists as the LF system of cycling paths is absolutely awesome. The local towns are fantastic with some really good local restaurants.
After our four night stay we headed off back nearer the ferry and stayed at Camping Groenpark at Donkmeer in between Gent and Antwerp. This is a quiet site well situated just off the main road network. The facilities were mainly mobile toilets but immaculately clean and a small block of showers. This was just an over night stop but we saw enough to lure us back for another longer visit soon.
All in all, the Friesland area is a great place to spend a holiday at and we would go back in a heartbeat.