On the Island of Terschelling - where my Oma grew up

---

I have made it to Terschelling! It is a small island above holland. It is the place my Oma (grandma) was born. As a kid we heard heaps about the island from our visiting dutch rele's and Oma. It has always been a dream of mine to visit.

The trip from Paris to Terscelling was of epic proportions. I had a loose plan of how to get here and like magic it all fell into place. First came 4 hours on a high speed french train to Amsterdam, passing through beautiful countryside, over dykes and through bustling cities. In Amsterdam a phone call to my uncle Gerrit on the island pointed me in the right direction. i took another train to Alkmaar, then a bus to Zurich, then another bus to Harlingen, and then the fast ferry to Terschelling. I got picked up by GB (Gerrit Bart) and came back to GB and Els's house for an awesome home cooked feed and great nights sleep.

Today Ive been on a tour of the island with Els. What a awesome place! It is great to see where our family has come from - a special feeling. The Island is about 30km long and only a few wide. It is basically a big sand bank that has 5000 inhabitants. There are many beautiful rolling dunes and wild beaches. We first went to the house that Oma was born in, in the old part of town. Narrow streets and cute old buildings, Im going back tomorrow for a special trip and will get some photos. Then we went to the Cranberry HQ. There have been shipwrecks near Terschelling over the years, one of them had a cargo of cranberries. The legend goes that the salvage laws ment that nothing on the beach cuold be taken, it had to be behind the dunes to be scored. So some clever bugger rolled the cranberry barrels over the dunes when no-one was looking so he could have them. During his mission many of the barrels broke or leaked. This is how Terschelling got its wild cranberry patches. Each year the Cranberry factory is alowd the first pickings and then its a free for all. We then went to the ship wreck museum which houses all kinds of wild stuff that has been salvaged. Lots of old coins, a turret from a uboat, bullets from muskets, diving bells and pirates swords - the list is endless.

I got a good feeling for the rest of the island as we drive around, but I will save more stories for another post. Gerrit and Els have given me the use of a bike and as the Island is pretty flat like the rest of holland I will make good use of it. Its still summer holidays over here, and many dutch people come to the island to chill out and soak in the sea and sand. The population expands to 30, 00 at the peak time.

Ok, time for another coffee

Tot ziens!

---

Photos

The flag of Terschelling
red for the roofs - blue for the sky - yellow for the sand - green for the grass - white for the clouds

Weirschuur
the far end of the island

Low tide
the channels are very narrow in place which makes navigation tricky

Pilgrims
the only way to ride!

The coffee mill
Els and I stopped here for a coffee