Back Home Again

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Hi,
It,s nice to be back home again among the ones how are dearest to me. After spending a week and a half in London (no Cycling) in which time there was a lot of family get-to-gethers,talking,eating,as well as a little sightseeing and window-shopping with my wife,Isabel and my son,Leonard, i felt it was time to continue my journey. My brother, Pat took me to Harwich where i boarded the night ferry to the Hook of Holland. After a beer and a chat with two Dutch ladies who had cycled around- and in London,i made my way to the very comfortable cabin i had booked (compulsory!). Did,nt sleep too well, i assume that was because the cabin had no window. Landed in Holland and was confronted with a stormy,strong North wind which didn't exactly fill me with joy,but, as the Germans say :"What doesn't kill you,makes you stronger" so i got on the Lf1b (the Dutch NSCR title) which took me past Den Haag and through Scheveningen into the Dunes leading to Katwijk and further to Zandvoort where i set up camp .The next day,being calm and sunny was perfect for for the trip to Den Helder . Travelling through the beautiful National Parks on excellent paths it didn't take too long to reach Den Helder and get on the Ferry to Texel.Spent a nice evening with friends and stayed overnight( Thank you Lutz and Anne also a special thanks to Linneke for giving me her room).
Next morning,after a good breakfast i took the ferry back to Den Helder to take the route across the Afsluitdijk to Harlingen, visited my cousin and stayed overnight in her lovely house(Thanks Geraldine and Paul,much nicer than camping).Next stop was Lauwersoog ,the camp-site was OK apart from the fact that the on-site shop and restaurant closed early, so that meant no beer , no comfortable seat and no good light to write my diary but on the positive side, an early night. On Friday 4th. i continued eastwards on really lovely country paths stopping in Piererbüren for refreshments ,then onto Warffum,Uithuizen,Spijk,Delfzijl and finally Termunterzijl on the mouth of the Dollart. On Saturday i arrived in Leer,Germany and was picked up by my wife to enable me to spend the weekend at home and enjoy the big Party that i didn't want to miss.
After returning ,refreshed, to Leer and having had an enjoyable evening with friends as well as a good nights sleep there(many thank you,s to Jo and Alfred) ,it was time move on. On Tuesday 7th Sept. i set off on the final NSCR segment from Leer .First stop was Jemgum for a good Ostfriesen tea (Danke ,Gerd und Eda).Second stop was Ditzum,while waiting for the ferry i treated myself to Krabben,Spiegelei and Bratkartofelln (gotta keep the strenth up!).Third stop was Emden where i had a much-needed break for Kaffee und Kuchen. A lot of people just don,t realise how much energy a body needs .Des

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