The West Frisian Islands are Holland’s wildest and most remote travel destination. They are what you might call ‘the back of beyond’.You can’t get much further north than this archipelago of islands which form a chain off the tip of Holland in the Wadden Sea.The islands are on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites list which instantly attracted me to them. I love remote islands so this was an essential trip, even though it required careful planning.The history and landscape of the Frisian Islands (Waddeneilanden) has been shaped by the sea.
The West Frisian Islands are the remains of an ancient sandbank, a remnant of the last Ice Age. For centuries the sea has been eroding the islands’ sandy edges.Several islands have been abandoned to the elements including Griend and Rottumeroog, a testament to the wild and unpredictable nature of this habitat.It wasn’t until the 17th and 18th centuries that the landscapes became more stable with the building of dikes.Our main destination was Schiermonnikoog, one of the largest of the islands, recently voted the prettiest place in Holland.The island also boasts the broadest beach in Europe. Visions of beach combing, sea birds and sand castles filled our heads as we travelled north.We drove from Amsterdam in a camper van, breaking our trip in Enkhuizen before driving to Holland’s north coast, a trip which took another couple of hoursWe knew that getting onto the island would mean abandoning the van at Lauwersoog ferry port because no cars are allowed on Schiermonnikoog, other than those belonging to islanders.Time to deploy the bicycles and outdoor gear.After a surprisingly calm crossing in very windy weather, we arrived on the island after a short 40 minutes cruise.It looked as wild as we had hoped but the first thing that hit us was the wind!
[ Ссылка ]
Create Your Free Website - on [ Ссылка ]
Post Free Ads:
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
International Classifieds
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
