First of all an apology as we did promise a break from political jokes but a couple of unexpected opportunities presented themselves so after much discussion and moral wrangling we decided to include them but with an appropriate warning.
For the record we shall include a list of other broken promises (with one promising self control left out as it is not in keeping.)
The cheque is in the post
Never Say Never Again
I Honestly Love You
My Word is My Bond (London Stock Exchange on the need for regulation)
One Previous Lady Owner
I have every confidence in my (football) manager
We declare these set of accounts fit and in compliance with all regulations.
... No New Taxes
Go Back to Your Constituencies and Prepare for Government (Rt.Hon David
Steel MP now Lord Steel of Caithness)
The Lady is not For Turning (she did on exchange rate policy among other
things)
We are committed to reforming the house buying process in England and Wales
(The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown MP while in opposition)
Anyway on with the show and here we see the 7:09 departure for Hoorn, North Holland and a few early morning commuters.
I have to say once North of Haarlem the atmosphere changed to something less hurried and more relaxed and yes we began to feel as if we were on holiday. You change trains at Alkmaar for the connecting service to the port of Den Helder.
After arriving on time our inter-regio dubbledecker rests for twenty minutes before embarking on it's return journey to Nijmegen via Amsterdam, Utrecht and Arnhem
A ten minute wait for the bus to the harbour.
A few shots of seagulls taken on the way out
The island bus picks up some passengers from the boat.
... But we're off to hire a bike. Interestingly most people took their own but of you do travel by train it is cheaper and more convenient to hire one here and of course there are no hills and the island is small but the wind can get very nasty so bear that in mind when making a decision.
Instead of heading straight on to De Koog we take a right and immediately feel refreshed and free
I have to confess this one didn't come out the way I planned it as the bird is camouflaged against the sand but it does have some artistic value
A cannon. Presumably set at the wrong angle so that islanders don't feel tempted to fire at the tourists or perhaps it's to stop rugby players climbing in and attempting to beat the boat back to Den Helder.
Another one of those arty shots some people seem to like.
I have to say as I have been in the city too long I had to think what this vehicle was. Obviously it's a Massey Ferguson combine harvester,
Round to Oudeschild and back to civilisation. A very quiet little harbour populated with a few fish restaurants popular with older couples seeking peace and quiet.
Wind turbines - an attempt to reproduce the shots seen at the end of railway carriages.
More boats. I'm always worried about doing these as perhaps some of them shouldn't be there and can't just blank out the number plate. I mean one of them could be owned by the Beckhams or something and the island could be swarming with tabloid journalists or perhaps one of them may be harbouring a smoking bimbo (American joke.)
A shot of a wind turbine taken after a leisurely lunch hence the difference in weather.
With apologies to the photographic department of Vrij Nederland For the record this is not graffiti but the signatures of the painters of a mural (large painting on a wall).
I had to work hard to get this shot as although the other tow horses were quite happy to almost pose for the camera this older one seemed deep in thought.in a way that can only be described as statesmanlike. Laugh at me if you like but I'm sure they know something we don't.
This one was quite happy to have a bit of a joke with the photographer.
And finally this one behaved as if it was a supermodel though in case you were wondering looked much better fed.
A piece I'm titling Pi
It's probably wrong to follow this up with an English football joke but they do this sort of thing in top art galleries so why not
Here we see the Arsenal central defensive pairing have finally been put out to grass and are enjoying a light meal while discussing their post-career plans ...Back to the arty shots and as you can see we seem to be enjoying a filevrij (congestion free) afternoon
Ah I should have brought my radio
A1 't Horntje - De Koog bij de heide langzaam fietsen
The coast and back to the crowds. Though nowhere near as bad as Scheveningen.
Beech huts and a flag that signifies a welcoming cooling breeze.
Ah that's got rid of them - I never did like them anyway ... As you can see you can get a pint of beer here but I have to point out that it is a Dutch / German pint meaning 500 milliliters (1.125 imperial pints.) I think it cost around EUR 4 by the way. Ethically speaking I should say that the beer does not so seductive as it is half drunk though I have to say it did go down rather well.
More British influence and one of the many old style phone boxes that can be found in Holland. I can recall at least ten between here and Spijkenesse. I expect by next Summer everyone would have bought a World Com phone booth in the bankruptcy sale.
Time to head back to port before the avondspits
In case you wondered these were taken from the boat.
The cover shot in full with Den Helder in the background.
