Medemblik to Enkhuizen May 15

Horoon Harbour and the Hoofdtoren (Tower)

Cruise to Medemblik and then cycle to Enkhuizen

We nearly missed our departure today as we were so relaxed. The boat crew had to unload the bikes down a temporary gangplank set up from the upper sun deck once we arrived at Medemblick. We had assumed that this would be a tad chaotic and take some time. Mike was still lounging on the bed after breakfast reading the paper when I said everyone had nearly unloaded and we needed to get our skates on! The boat was then cruising on to Enkhuizen where they would meet us at the end of our ride and did not want to dally.

One advantage of being last to leave was that we could cycle round the town, including a couple of loops under the arch of a church and another couple of loops back and forth over a picturesque canal, taking photos and videos without getting in the way of others. Just outside of town we came to the village of Opperdoes, apparently famous for its small tasty potatoes which (per our guide) are now hard to find in the stores as the restaurants snaffle them all up!

The village itself was tiny but beautiful and full of traditional old homes. One we stopped at to admire and chatted to a local man who pointed out that the cladding on the side of the building was from original thick hewn planks dating to 1745 when the house was built. He was interesting to chat to about the history of the building and took a lot of pride in it although said it needed lots of work doing to it!

Had to take a photo of a church in Twisk which had a replica model at its gate. We saw quite a few of these ‘replica model houses’ in the windows of buildings but this was probably the best example. Must be a Dutch tradition as we get minature china building figurines (filled with gin) on KLM.

From here we cycled round the fields, trying to stay out of the spray from some that were being sprinkled via the drainage channels. Loved the view of a small windmill spanning a ditch in the fields which illustrated perfectly how they are used to pump water and manage the levels in the ponders landscape. A nice thing about cycling is there is plenty of time to take in the scenery and think about it. We also saw (my first ever) a nesting swan which was special.

Our next destination was the Dutch East India Company town on Hoorn. In the C17th Hoorn was one of the world’s leading ports. The town square (Roode Steen) was definitely impressive with many ornately decorated buildings. Time for a coffee and we decided to bin our packed sarnies and treat ourselves to a very tasty shared bacon, egg and avo bagel with a couple of fruit smoothies. Very nice from our outside table to watch the world go by and (manic) road cyclists tear through the cobbled square.

From there we made our way to the old port. The Hoofdtoren (Head Tower) built in 1532, initially as a defensive tower is now a smart restaurant and a striking landmark. The harbour was very pretty and after making the most of the photo ops and eating our apple we headed along the high dyke cycle path out of town along the coast.

Although beautiful, once again we were heading straight into the wind and about halfway to Enkhuizen we decided to head inland at a hamlet called Oosterleek dating from C14th. Pretty buildings but nowhere open for a coffee or drink. Sat in a small park and decided to tuck into our boiled eggs for an energy boost. Not so great as they were off! Always a challenge to know from a breakfast buffet if they have been recycled from a previous day.

This next section of cycling was very pleasant as we were protected by some trees and the trail we took wound through rural countryside. Bit more challenging navigating when we got to the outskirts of Enkhuizen, which seemed to stretch a long way from the port. We arrived at school closing time and found ourselves cycling among large groups of students. Kept us on our toes as we are not used to cycling in a group. It was good to get to the ship.

After a shower we headed off for a stroll along the quay where several large sailing barges were moored (3 – 4 master specials). Great to see them, the tourist industry of sailing charters is vital to keeping the boats alive. Headed off to a nearby bar for a couple of beers in the late afternoon sunshine before dinner. Very aware that our holiday is coming to an end. We still were not able to muster energy for the evening tour of the town. Felt like I had cycled round quite a lot of it earlier and enjoyed the quiet cobbled side streets intersected by small canals.

I think this is probably a town worth spending some time in, to explore the history of the area in particular the Zuiderzee openair museum which is dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of the area. However, that is for a future trip

See below for a video of our ride. Note to see the full controls click on the < control on the progress bar. This will allow you to watch the video full screen.