Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Near Harlingen, Netherlands.


Monday, July 19, 2021

More planning for next month's trip back to Canada

The sun was shining all day again yesterday, but after lunch a cool breeze picked up. We had planned on spending a couple of hours on the beach, but the breeze made it feel too cool. Still, we did get out for a couple of hours walk in the morning.

The weather sure isn't what we were expecting for mid July. The highs for the next week are only between 20C to 23C (68F to 73F) which is fine... just not what we were expecting. It's actually really comfortable for getting out and doing something, and it's supposed to go down to 12C (54F) tonight which is great for sleeping. Might be a little chilly when we get up tomorrow morning!

Yesterday morning we walked down to the locks. As we were heading there, we noticed three big towers, but didn't really think anything of it. Looked like some kind of industrial complex.

There are ore big marinas in this area.

Here are the three big towers we had seen from a distance.

We had been standing there watching things happen, when the three big towers began to move! We hadn't realized that they were being transported on a barge and the barge was now moving through one channel of the locks. They are the towers for a windmill. We laughed at each other.

The windmill towers heading through the locks.

The bridge to the causeway opens up.

It was a kind of an odd set of locks because the water level hardly moves at all... it seemed like only a couple of inches from one level to the next.

Back at Max, we had some lunch and then I did some more planning for our trip back to Canada next month. 

The flight tickets are bought, and the car rental is arranged. But we leave from Dusseldorf airport and we will be dropping Max off at the dealership in Dulmen which is about 95 kms (58 miles) away. Our flight is early morning, we so need to be at the airport at somewhere around 4:00am.

It turns out there is a direct regional train from Dulmen right to the airport! You don't need to book regional train tickets in advance (although you can) and there is no money saving to be gained by doing so. It's not cheap, at €21 ($31.50 CAD, $24.75 USD) each, but it's the best way to go. The German train system is very efficient.

But because our flight is so early, we decided to book a hotel room close to the airport and go there the day before. It won't feel so rushed that way and we can try to get a decent sleep. It's not cheap either, but all things considered it's not bad at €54 ($81 CAD, $64 USD) for the night.

So now, everything is organized and booked and we are all set for the trip.

Black headed gull.

The beach. 
Even with the cool breeze, it had been fairly busy in the afternoon.

Fun play structure for the kids.

Sunset at Lelystad, Netherlands.

Moving on again today. We are going to check out another National Park.

Picasso Magnetic Building Tiles for kids. Great deal on this popular set.

And in Canada...

Record low deal on this Anker Bluetooth Speaker.


  1. Great plan. The hotel is a good deal and as you said, you won't feel so rushed and you'll be refreshed to travel.

    1. Yeah, but I think we're getting soft! In the old days we would have taken the midnight train in order to save the cost of the hotel!

