Fryslan (or Friesland)

Off to Fryslan via the 30km long Afsluitdijk to learn some about Holland’s ever-present fight with the ‘water wolf.’

This monstrous dam wall/road was completed in 1934 to close the estuary mouth and keep Holland dry. “Polders” were then constructed to reclaim living and farming land from the water - a dike was built around a large area of sea with a dense clay floor, then the water was pumped out, and after a few years of rain and settling the new reclaimed area was ready to farm, not too salty any more!  There is always some back leak through the relatively watertight clay floor, hence all the myriad pump mechanisms to keep it dryish.  One polder had a sandy floor, it failed because the water leaked back in too quickly for the pumping out.  Now the country pumps massive amounts of water off “land” daily allowing a scary 75% of the under sea level Nederlands to remain habitable. Safety nets exist in the form of a series of other inner connecting dijks at ‘Delta’ level (the further heightened level after the 1953 more Southern flooding disaster.) But what if terrorist activity saw fit to destroy the dunes!?

looking east from the Dike 

Into charming Olderbekoop 1 hour later to Irene, Eduard & Saartjie’s (the old blind & deaf affectionate golden retriever) beautiful home. What a tremendous privilege to enjoy the hospitality of such wonderful people we only just met in a campground a few weeks ago.

Eduard has only just retired from a busy career as principally, a cow vet. He prefers now to row around Europe and ride his bike with his amazing wife who was a geography teacher but now jams in voluntary palliative care and community service, rowing, bike riding, sharing in the lives of her 3 children, one of whom rows in the Dutch 8 & is Olympics bound.

They guide us into a driveway park near their frog pond and we dine on a thoroughly delicious salmon pasta & salad whilst talking about the origins of the Dutch language, studying maps of the changing land mass of Holland and ponder on why they are the tallest race on earth.

Kids in bed in Ed, we continue to talk well into the night (euthanasia laws, political assassinations, native habitats, rowing, the Queen, the challenges with immigration and that the stork also delivers Dutch babies …...)

6/6

Soft rain on the roof. Quiet.

We can’t wait to spend the day with our hosts the Hamburgers and their incredibly kind, generous, smiling eyes.

We gather after breakfast and plan to ride about some enticing spots despite the cold and rain. Love their style!

6 bikes, 4 loaves of bread and 6 passengers makes Ed feel like the real deal. A true bus, full of life and adventure.  Eduard has planned an incredible trip that we could only dream of. To begin with visit the Weerribben-De Wieden National Park, Europe’s largest freshwater marshland that throbs with birds, butterflies, flora and ancient human history.  The visitor centre runs some cool films showing how the area was shaped by peat digging, dairy farming and reed cutting for roof thatching and how all produce was moved about by boat.  Such hard living.  After a picnic lunch of shared goodies in Ed, we don the rain jackets and brave the elements together with our inspirational hosts on a 30 km ride through history. The wee fishing village of Blokzijl circles a small harbour and is impossibly beautiful.  We take the bikes over bridges and ferries whilst we explore at closer hand the old & new, the high & low Holland all possible with the exemplary engineering of dijks, polders, ribs, tjaskers (small tilted windmills with an Archimedes Screw mechanism) and dredging.  Glaciers in the ice ages and their relative absence now has also contributed significantly to land levels. Obviously, warming of the earth with subsequent melting ice, fill the massive European rivers whose mouths open to the sea & swampy estuaries in Holland.  Also, Holland shares a continental plate with Scandinavia & as the heavy glacial masses melt & form so the plate see-saws thus pivoting the Low Country (mainly downward). The landscape changes again to wide open farms, aromas of manure - always accessible with the omnipresent fietspad (bike path). At the half way point we wiggle through a jewel, Giethoorn, Holland’s little Venice.  Uniform dark wooden bridges zig-zag across innumerable photogenic canals outlined by thatched roofed homes, sumptuous gardens and cosy little water-side lover’s nooks complete with wooden benches & flower pots.

Irene and Eduard

Tjasker pump

Irene and Eduard suggest a warm soup to defrost the fingers & dry out before we cycle the other half circle back to Ed.

Utterly fulfilled, we head home to cook up a Dutch style nachos at Wilsen’s request & recount our pleasures.

To bed early as tomorrow brings further adventure!

7/6

rested & peaceful

J+J sneak out for a run through narrow tree-lined streets watched by curious black & white cows in endless watery green pastures. The landscape here is called ‘curtained’ as each new ‘stage’ or scene is revealed through rows of tall green trees.  We recall all the divine countryside we’ve run through this year - French Pyrenees, coastal Spain, riverside in the Black Forest, around the fortress walls of ancient Toledo, the foot of the Eiger, Seine-side Paris, rolling hills of Villers-Bretonneaux, through the UNESCO vineyard region of St Emilion, Rhein-side Germany, farming mecca of Holland……

back for brekkie and school. 

Morning school while Irene and Eduard run errands, get interviewed (he has just retired from his vet practice), clean house and then all into Eddie for lunch on the run and an organised tour of some of Fryslan’s highlights with our magnificent Dutchy hosts. Kel and Irenen eat playdough cakes for morning tea. 

  

First to the Wouda Gemaal, world’s biggest functioning steam engine, UNESCO listed, built to pump water in times of inundation to save the Fryslanders and their fields+houses+businesses.  This occurs when the southwest wind brings in the seas and the rains swell the rivers resulting in a real need to pump about once every 5 years.  In reality it’s cranked up twice a year to keep it sound and to keep the humans trained. Hundreds of other smaller pumps around Fryslan are usually sufficient pumping daily without needing this giant’s help.  It takes 8 hrs to start it up and 4 to turn it off using tonnes of coal/oil.  The fuel is burnt to heat the water, creating steam power that drives a pump capable of moving 4000m3/min, i.e. about 2 Olympic pools per minute!

20000yrs of change

Holland's problem and solution schematic

world's biggest functioning steam engine

1 of 4 giant piston cylinders

where the water comes out, must be a sight to see!

Then to Eduard’s birth town of Sloten, where Irene and Eduard were married.  First we saw the family farm of the Hamburger’s (sold 20 years ago) and then into the centre of the very old walled village where we saw the church they were married in, shared a coffee and a beer and a hot choc for the kids, wandered about admiring the yachts seemingly traversing the fields (wow?!) and admiring the picturesque kop-het-romp architecture ( head-neck-body) and beautiful windmill. 

Irene, Jeff and Eduard in Sloten

Sloten mill and cannon

money in the shoe for the lock guy

Irene and Kel

Sloten - Eduard and Jeff

Next stop,  to meet the elderly wheel chair bound folk that I+E had volunteered to push in a 5km community walk around the streets with thousands of kids too and marching bands and some rain. Kel took charge pushing our special old l;ady that reminded her of the Queen. It  took 2+hrs to walk the course with lots of traffic jams but the old people seemed to enjoy it. As it was the last of 5 such walks, flower shops had organised great buckets of exquisite, plump roses in all colours to share with the elderly (& volunteers).

Back to Olderbekoop for a coffee and a music recital by I+E ( she on an old folk trekzak and he on a bass clarinet ) with much great cheer and recognition of a very special connection and friendship that we hope to foster. 



8/6


Our hosts leave us in responsibility in their gorgeous home in the countryside and take off for a weekend with their friends biking and camping.  Our jobs are simply to feed the chooks, empty the mailbox and enjoy ourselves.Action stations! Wash and polish Ed, vacuum & clean out.  Empty cupboards and sort post for home.  School. Washing ++

Wil takes his bike, sans helmet, to the village for some nutty brown bread for lunch. He’s become more useful now that he is 8 ½ peat high.More of above!!Large salmon with pesto and nut crust baked to perfection on our small gas BBQAmused how far away we seem from each other on the other side of the kitchen tableBATH!!Warm floors in the kitchen…..cosy as we watch the drizzle and wind outside.

9/6
Rainy, windy and cold but we bliss out in Oldeberkoop’s warm hospitality.Walk as easier against the wind.Despite a large table inside, we chose an intimate familiar affair in Ed’s bosom.Maths NAPLAN for Kel; maths chapter test and speed test for Wil - terrific resultsMorning tea - local ginger cake.  Mmmm.Boys off for a bike ride & home via town with fresh bread & milk. Big cooked hamburger lunch at Huis Hamburger.Kel & I start sewing/embroidering a creative cushion.More school. Kel does some writing; Wil starts his project planning using fabulous internet for resources. He’s researching Holland’s water problem & preparing a keynote presentation following the format of Future Problem Solving, a school subject.Jeff and I attend to business, polish another side of Ed, have a few cups of tea and take an evening stroll noticing the beautiful homes with large windows. Must be double glazed in such a brisk cool environment.Light dinner, bath & movies - too fine!

10/6


exercise, school (reading/comprehension NAPLAN for Kel - awesome results & effort, maths for both kids; more project planning for Wil)Beautiful bike ride through countryside of Oldeberkoop in the sunshine. So many other bikers out there too.

sluice side chat, about dairying

clouds in the ditch

Back for a big cooked ‘linner’ of teriyaki chicken, salmon and salad at 1630.Kids play and we tidy up ready for departure north tomorrow morning.

11/6


long run with J - exhilarating 42 minutes through the fields & canals sucking in the cow scented air.  3rd visit to the wonderful local bakery for last loaves of brown, nutty but soft bread.Pack up and leave lovely Oldeberkoop.Jeff wants to see the north sea only 90 minutes away. Up there we found wind, salty skies, big industry, massive dijks, military presence, flat white-capped seas & free-wheeling birds catching the wind.

old and new

to the North Sea

As we trickle across the top of the land, sea views are frustrated by endless regular large mounded dunes and dijks - complete with grazing black & white cows. (Jeff wonders if they are bred these colours for visual pleasure against the juicy green grass!). The human landscape continues to be really pleasing with large,almost palatial farm houses set out with splendid symmetry.  Apparently this is quite a rich farming area as the soil here is at the end of old glacial moraines that are (even more) fertile! 

Farm house 1

Farm house 2, cows and pigs to the right

Packs of school kids on ever-present bike paths ride abreast to houses decorated with ribbons of orange flags marking a weekend of European soccer championships (they lost to Denmark). 

school commute

Crossed a bike disk where a posse of kite surfers were at it in the stiff breeze.  Adventurous lot, stunts galore, surprised to see one fall off several hundred metres out to see and then stand up, only knee deep!

Big Dijk

Kelly on the dijk

We pull into Dokkum, one of the 11 small charming terpen towns of Friesland. These terps,having been constructed by Holland’s indiginous people,are not allowed to be disturbed as they hold valuable archeological information with bits of pottery and clothing etc.  dice roll:Wil (best taste) promite on Dutch brown breadKel (natural wonder) pink flowers on rose-like bush near campsiteDad (best man-made wonder) - a glitter of colourful, high speed kite surfers on the Noordzee taking giant leaps & flipping about with astonishing ease.Jen(best part) - family bike meander around fietspads, canals and over bridges & sluizes ( locks) of Dokkum  admiring the small olde typical Dutch town perimetered by moats & pentagonal fortress lookout points and thatched roofed windmills.  It has such a unique and characteristic look with fairly uniform brown brick houses (dated mid 1500s) differing primarily in their ornate roof gables.A touch of modern sees large street facing triple-glazed windows dressed to kill with gorgeous glamourous flower arrangements in spectacular vases. Their age is evident however as they sit snuggly together in curves around narrow paved streets alongside canals. Boats park up next to bikes with the occasional car. It would be utterly splendid in the winter with the web of canals frozen over & sprinkled with brightly coloured ice-skaters. Jeff and I amaze at the Dutch industry and toughness: sailing in the wind, skating in the ice, marathon canal rowing between the small towns and bike riding no matter the weather.

Dokkum mill

Dokkum fietspad

Dokkum central

12/6 


UNCLE G’s and UNCLE JOHN DICICCO’S birthdays.run & 10BX session, schoolInto town on bikes to post books and the odd pamphlet back to Gren.Coffee stop at the bakery where we are entertained by theatrical Napoleon Bonaparte in character waiting for a pack of school kids on excursion. He proudly reminds us of the Australian Dutch connection with explorers Abel Tasman, Van Diemen and Arnhem.

Jeff is very enamoured with this wee town as well as the Friesian flag with it’s red “plommberplaatjies” (water lily pads) that look like little love hearts.Back to Ed where we chat with Mike & Shirl from the UK prior to making for Franeker, another old terpen town.  We park Ed and explore on bikes marvelling at the bent old houses slowly sinking into the adjacent canals as a result of the all the pumping activity to keep polders & terps dry. The pumping dries out the subterranean plant sponge making it shrink and as mentioned before, this ‘sponge’ (peat) was also mined extensively.

Bent house

Into Oudega and a cute canal-side campsite next door to Lotte’s parent’s holiday house. This is charming farming town is where Lotte spent lots of vacation time. It is also where she married her beautiful boy from Oz. Quiet settling sounds of tinkering boat masts in the wind make the place seem homey. The kids whizz about on bikes whilst Jeff and I take a stroll to where Lot & Steve held their wedding reception. As we start a game of ball, Paul & Judith spin around the corner on bikes, having just arrived from Amsterdam and ask us over for a coffee!Late bed as he sun only goes down at 2230ish.

Stevo and Lotte reception house - 1 great party!

13/6


Up for a run through the fields and back for school.Late morning, we cycle an enchanting 25 km circle past the church in Sanfirden where The Chillingham Conn’s made their vows, 

the church

the preacher

extra wedding photo of the absentees

onto Gaastmeer for a kroket (mini  softer chicco roll with mustard) on a sunny terrace over looking lake De Fluezen (shrinking over time with land reclamation & subsequent polder pumping).  

Back on the bikes, we pass dinky neat harbours full of polished, shiny wooden sailing boats with flat bottoms, round noses & wings & finally to Heeg for Paul’s favourite chocolate coated ice-cream.  Pretty houses perch on the canal banks as we come back into tranquil Oudega.  Great numbers of ducks quietly mooch about the canals, laying their eggs in artistic woven flask shaped baskets placed high by humans on broken forks of tree branches away from prowling cats.Our day is topped off with Dutch style macaroni, ball games on the lawn, soccer on TV (sadly the Dutch are done by the Germans) and easy company at the Verhoef’s. Paul shows us an intoxicating aerial ‘youtube’ video of outrageous outdoor ice-skating on the field canals in winter which has us enthusiastically planning our return. What a spin out!

14/6


Cold, grey day. Run. School.Work punctuated by kids zooming around on ‘lie-down bikes’ that Gies (the campground owner) lends them making videos & news reports.Jeff goes to the Verhoef’s to help out Paul and put on a load of washing whilst we wait for the sun to shine as promised.After lunch the boys bring a friend’s boat right to the front door whilst Jeff is skyping the Conn’s in NSW - we can turn the computer screen as they arrive to show Lot real time evidence of her father’s warm hearted & generous hosting.

Paul and Judith's Huis

The kids skipper us around the lake quietly in the wooden decked electric vessel as we observe small finch like birds perched right at the tip of reeds, making like small pendulums as they sing & nest build.  Buzzards swoop in and out, their claws bearing rats for their young.  Fuuts (Jeff’s favourite duck, actually a crested grebe) puff out the feathers of their cheeks as we threaten their territory.  Whilst the majority of Netherlands is man-made, they have terrific ‘natural’ areas with 20 or so national parks covering about 3% of the land mass.  In their national parks, the meadows are mowed to encourage beautiful flowers and the although they do leave part of the reed for the shelter & nesting of birds, a lot continues to be harvested for expensive roof thatching. 

Friesland flag

We separate for dinner and then squish into Paul’s car, full of anticipation for the finals of the Fierljeppen championships at Ijst, another gorgeous small Dutch farming village. This most serious sport, unique to Fryslan sees athletes sprinting along a jetty, leaping ferociously onto a large carbon-fibre pole wedged into a canal and then, like monkeys, frantically shimmying as high & as fast as possible up the pole as it arcs to the other (sandy) side. The coach runs behind them yelling and screaming….and stays at the edge of the jetty in case they fall backwards.  Well, there is considerable skill but….it’s just bloody funny.  The big boys wear zooties which Judith reckons, together with the thrust onto the pole, must be very good for the lymph!  We were lucky to see the Dutch champion in action!?!  We giggled all the way to bed.

the setup

leap at full sprint

now climb!

higher!

out of pole!

thrust forward

mouthful of sand