Vlieland, 15 June

Apart from about 14 miles of tarmacked roads, Vlieland has an extensive network of cycle-paths. These are paved with crushed shells, and lead through the dunes on the western side of the island. On Father's Day, we covered the 5 miles to the Posthuys restaurant through the dunes. Once there, I treated dad to some applecake & coffee. At the restaurant, an old, ginger tom made a beeline for our table (I attract cats like magnets do nails) and started to look interested in the cream on the cake. And the coffee cream too. After we had finished, he disappeared again. We did too, into the adjacent area of the Kroonspolders.
Civil Engineer Mr Kroon, who lived early 20th century, had this idea to reclaim the land south of the Posthuys. It never worked. It is marshland, and a wildlife refuge to date. On the other side, the Wadden Sea laps (at high tide) or stinks (at low tide). As we walked the dyke, large families of geese and goslings swam up the various channels. At the end of the wee dyke, we took to the saltlands bordering the Vliehors. Things became increasingly difficult, with no paths, and boggy. Bearing some resemblance to the Lewisian landscape of my acquaintance. So, we climbed a spur of low dunes and had lunch there. Afterwards, we proceeded west towards the barracks. This houses an artillery regiment known as the White Mice. Until a few years ago, soldiers would come here to practice firing tank cannon. The tanks have mercifully been removed. The Barracks lie 2 km / 1¼ miles southwest of the Posthuys, where we duly returned to reclaim the bicycles. We rode the 4½ miles back to the village, and on arriving at the ferry terminal, an oompa orchestra was tuning up for a very jolly occasion. As we continued east, towards the marina, their gentle strains followed us for over a mile. We proceeded to the Fortweg, the road to the fortifications. Until 1968, gun emplacements stood at the northeastern extremity of Vlieland, but a bit of gelegnite removed them.

One of the passtimes on Vlieland is to go and watch the sunset. The beach is only a few hundred yards away, but that evening the sun was not visible at 10pm, sunset time.

Pictures here.