Vlieland # 2

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The isle of Vlieland shares its fame of being the sunniest county in The Netherlands with the isle of Texel.
And to give it credit: It's been full sunshine now for over a week. The weather is just lovely, not very hot yet though, with the continuous winds blowing over the islands.
Having a day off, I decided to tag along with a colleague and take 'The Vliehorst express', a large yellow truck that drives along the north coast all the way to the west side of the island.
On the way we were promised seals, but unfortunately they weren't very cooperative today, just showing their heads above the surface for a breather. Long enough to take a quick snap of them.

One third of the isle of Vlieland, the west side, is a large sand plain used by the Dutch military and airforce.
As I was told, a few disgarded tanks are fine targets for those flying F16's or perhaps even the new JSF planes over the islands to drop bombs on. From Friday afternoons at noon to Sunday nights midnight this sand plain, called 'The Vliehorst' is open for everyone though to roam freely. Some people take this opportunity to look for bombs left by the army, others to walk the long stretch of beach that leads to the western tip of the island, from where it's only 1.5 kilometers to the isle of Texel. Small converted fishing boats serving as ferries depart from here to cross over to Texel during the summer months.

Strandjutten (beachcombing) is a popular pastime, especially after a good storm. Lucky breaks are containers falling off large container ships and it or its contents ending up on the beaches of the Wadden islands. A few stories that I know off: 500.000 pairs of shoes on the isle of Terschelling, a few thousand external hard drives on Vlieland, that were sold on the Dutch equivalent of Ebay.com after having been treated with some oil to slow down corrosion, and all the rest of the stuff displayed in the small 'museum' of 'The Juttershut' standing in the middle of The Vliehorst.
Surrounded by a fence made of wood washed ashore and collected over a period of 8 years, and being rebuild every spring to protect it from being taken back by the ocean during the winter months, it displays a range of goods presented by the Waddensea.
From the well known 'message in a bottle to road signs, international buoys, African wooden masks, weans and there's even a display of sea creatures in jars amongst which a baby shark, one of the three species living in the waters around Holland.
With the flag of Vlieland flying above, showing its green and white, its an interesting little trip to make in case you might visit the island. Cost: 12.50€ p.p.

Allright, 4 weeks past, another unknown number of weeks to go. (Very likely I might be visiting the Mediterranean for the first time, a job interview for a position as camping employee is coming up...)
Doei doei!

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Photos

'De Juttershut'
Vlieland's own flag flying high (green and white)

Comments

[Maarten en Julia]

update.
Hey Johan, I am waiting for some news out tropical malaysia..? I need to get some spirit again. ...)) How is Zhu ... have funn together and Good luck !! Greetings Maarten.

[thorsten]

http://art-for-europe.com/index.php/strand-gut-und-sandgut-533/
It´s absolutely amazing there !!!