Destination: Dinteloord
My plan for today was to head towards my first campsite near Rotterdam. The ferry crossing had been quite quick, so it wasn’t long before we were called to our vehicles. Having learned my lesson on my last trip, I immediately set the co-ordinates for my campsite into Waze. No ‘sightseeing’ tours round Calais for me this time!
Although a lot more confident of driving in Europe this time round, I have to admit to a few moments of uncertainty as we rolled out of the port. But as with before, by using Waze and keeping to the curb, it wasn’t long before it came naturally.
Stop 1: De Poel
A couple of hours later the little amount of sleep and delays on the ferry were taking their toll. So I decided to stop for some fast food at a place called ‘De Poel’ just off the A38 in the Netherlands. It was a pretty decent place to stop to be fair. There was a small retail park just off the main road with a lovely outside seating area. I grabbed some coffee and a veggie burger, and took some time to check out my progress. It was a very warm day, but there was a lovely breeze, so it was good just to be out of the car for a wee while.
At that point I wasn’t quite sure of which way Waze was taking me as it hadn’t seemed the most direct route. I’d been directed through a really long tunnel, that I later discovered was the Westerscheldetunnel. I’d not known about this before my trip and thankfully there are no tolls for cars!
Having researched a bit more since I’ve been home, I’d quite like to visit the Zeeland Bridge next time I’m in that area. And possibly also the storm surge barriers at Oostersheldekering as they look absolutely incredible.
Stop 2: Jachthaven Waterkant, Dinteloord
For my Rotterdam camping, I was going to be a little way outside of the city as there were not too many available sites any closer. I’d found what appeared to be an interesting site via Pitchup which had decent transport links to Rotterdam. It was located at a marina on the Dintel river to the south of Rotterdam, and was called Jachthaven Waterkant.
I’d wanted somewhere nice as I was intending to spend a couple of days exploring the area around Rotterdam. And I had struck absolute gold with this site, it was amazing!
The site was easy to find, and felt really secure as most people at the marina seemed to know each other. There is a small brasserie onsite and a play area for children, and the facilities are superb. Best of all, the camping is literally right at the waters edge. It is so tranquil and peaceful, the only issue is that once you are looking at the water, you are captivated. Having set up my TentBox, and said hello to some fellow travellers, I literally just didn’t want to move.
Stop 2: Dinteloord
But I equally wanted some cold beer and had been in the car almost all day, so needed to stretch my legs as well. I decided to walk into the local town, around a 15 minute stroll along a really lovely quiet road through farmland.
On reaching the town, I bumped into my campsite neighbours, James and Rebecca who’d cycled in. I had quite enjoyed my stroll, but it was very warm and I was definitely thinking I’d rather have cycled. That is 100% a lesson for next time as the cycleways in the Netherlands are awesome.
James kindly pointed me in the direction of the local supermarket, ‘Albert Heijn‘. This is the biggest supermarket chain in the Netherlands and has a great range, especially for veggies and vegans. Not to mention the local beers of course.
While I was in town I had a little wander round to get my bearings. Dinteloord is a lovely place, very well kept and with some great art installations. It had suffered much destruction during WWII and one of the installations was part of a bomber that had gone down. This had been mounted in the town with a plaque to remember the very many people who’d lost their lives for our freedoms.
As with so many of the small towns in the Netherlands, Dinteloord is based on a series of waterways. One of which runs right through the middle of the town and provides a really pretty focal point as well as a means of transport for local residents.
The people are also exceptionally friendly and helpful and have great language skills. I’d attempted to learn some Dutch before my trip, but it really was quite woeful. So I was super glad of the brilliant supermarket staff and their very fluent English!
Overnight: Jachthaven Waterkant
Although I had originally intended to park up and head straight for Rotterdam, I was content to just sit and chill for the evening. The sunset over the fields along the riverbank was so pretty. And the evening birdcalls were the only sound. These are the times when having 360° TentBox views are very special. I kind of wanted to make the most of the scenery and the peace so just sat, gazing at the water and soaking up the tranquility.
But the magic of the water wove it’s spell and it wasn’t long before I was totally out for the count.
