After such a busy day yesterday we have a relaxed morning, before setting off for the 12 mile drive to the Cruquius Museum. Named after Nicolaus Samuel Cruquius, a land surveyor, the museum houses the largest steam engine in the world. Built in 1849 by Harvey of Hayle in Cornwall, its single cylinder is 3.66 metres diameter. The piston lifts a huge cast iron spider that is connected to 8 radial beams, driving 8 pumps supplied by Fox’s of Falmouth. Each pump ...

The camp is full of excitement this morning, everyone is here for the annual flower parade. Vans, cyclists and scooters all set off through the morning to their chosen viewpoints. Our taxi arrives at 12:30 but it’s a Vito minivan with high seats and Nick is dubious about being able to get in. Evelyn comes out of the office, says ‘You will go to the parade’. She has experience with disabled people, shows us a new lifting technique and we’re in. Origin...

The Simonhoeve owner comes early to ask everyone to be away on time as today is busy with more than 50 coaches expected. We have only 31 miles to go but cannot arrive before midday so we set off at 09:30 as required and plan to stop somewhere and mark time. Soon after leaving we are driving beside the pretty canal on the edge of Monikadam and through wide green flatlands. Then it’s the busy morning motorway around Amsterdam and Schiphol airport, where the ro...

The harbourside is busy again with coaches for the river-cruisers and it’s a warm and sunny day for their excursions. We set off separately today, Nick and Grete want to try Edam and take a coastal route, but we decide on the direct route to our stop and have a day’s rest. There are some more bulb fields as we leave Enkhuizen, then after skirting Edam we see the flat grassy levels with drainage ditches and wood fencing we remember well from our last trip. ...

This morning could be mistaken for summer, it’s 18C when we set off to catch the ferry to the Zuider Zee Museum, which is included in the €16 ticket price. The deck hand is a friendly chap who knows Falmouth well as he was driving lorries of fish during the makerel bonanzas of the 70s and 80s. From the ferry we get really good views of all the tall ships lined up near our camperstop. We alight at the open air museum which tells of the reclamation of land a...