Europe 2014: Ameland island

Today's distance: 30km (19 Miles)

Today is a short riding day (thus shorter post in the blog). We decided to camp out one night on Ameland, one of the other Wadden islands. Had a nice ride out from Burdaard to Holwert where we caught another ferry over to Ameland. It was a much grayer day out with a forecast for a couple showers. It felt more like late Fall with the temperature staying in the mid 50's. We were properly dressed for the occasion and only had to put on our rain gear once before we reached the ferry. There was a huge group of elementary school kids on the ferry heading to some school camp. Amazingly well behaved and quiet..

We rode off the ferry in search of a suitable campground. Wanted to avoid the typical Dutch campsite where everyone tries to put their tent or trailer as close to their neighbor as possible. They come with everything but the kitchen sink loaded in their little cars to make it look as close to home as possible. Our neighbor in the last campground had Christmas lights strung out in front. Not our idea of getting away from it all!

We found a "Nature" camping area not too far out in the middle of the island, near the dunes and a small forest. It was pretty much empty except for one tent. They ended up leaving later in the afternoon anyway. The campsite is obviously not staffed after September 1, since the sign said it was free after that date. Still had very clean toilets and shower facilities, but Linda was the first to find out that they also must have shut the hot water off in the showers too. I am definitely not as brave as her! I'll just put on more deodorant..

Spent the rest of the day walking around and exploring part of the island. The beach was pretty much deserted other than a group of kids and some kite surfers. I guess the conditions were good for that with a steady wind and surf, but a little too chilly for us. The group of kids all were out there in their swim trunks playing in the waves.. Maybe the junior Polar Bear club?

Tomorrow we head towards Groningen which is near to the German border. We tried to find a B&B in the city but were unsuccessful. Made a reservation for one about 10km south of the city. Our route there still goes through the city of Groningen so we will get to see some of it.