A Tiki Tour through the Netherlands

“Why Enkhuizen?”, you may ask. What’s there? Indeed! I pondered the same question myself until Pauline patiently explained (again) that one of her intentions while in the Netherlands was to visit her roots. While it’s all a bit nebulous, her forebears may have come from the Maastricht district in the south-east, staging at Enkhuizen in the north before departing Holland for South Africa in the mid-1600s.

After a speedy train trip we settle in to our BnB (hosts Gerjan and Dieneke) and set off to explore Enkhuizen,

with the Zuiderzee Museum the obvious place to start. In a novel approach to reliving the past, the museum assaults our olfactory senses as we explore the forge, the pharmacy, the pig sty, the prawn shelling, and of course the herring smokers. Really does bring the 16th century to life, and Pauline has a better appreciation of how her ancestors lived.

We also get an appreciation on how difficult it is to build houses on

waterlogged soil. Many of the houses we see in different parts of the Netherlands are on a decided lean, and many rely on their abutting neighbours to prevent toppling right over.







But really, the Netherlands is all about bikes. Our hosts have a couple of bikes we can borrow, and cycling the perimeter walls of Enkhuizen as dusk approaches is absolute magic.

Gouda, on the other hand, is my choice. A stop at the Mercer cheese shop is obligatory when travelling SH1 back home, with their aged Gouda my favourite. So much so I have to visit the town itself where it all started.

After copious samplings I have concluded two things. The very best

Gouda is aged for three years (not a year more, not a year less), and it’s made with unpasteurised milk. It has to be made by an expert practitioner of course, but we’re lucky in NZ that waves of Dutch immigrants have brought their cheese-making skills with them. All we need now is for the Government to relax the food safety laws so raw milk can be used commercially.

Our accommodation in Gouda was at the Best Western Hotel - we were a bit slow off the mark booking ahead with AirBnB. Maastricht is a different story, and on arrival host Mehrdad meets us at the station and introduces us to his trendy modern apartment.

Whether Enkhuizen, Gouda or Maastricht, these Dutch towns are a delight. It’s fun just wandering

the cobbled streets, looking at the architecture and hydraulic engineering, poking your nose into interesting shops, or sitting at a cafe watching the world go by. If this is what being on holiday means, give me more of it. All you’ve got to watch out for are the bikes, which own the cycle lanes. Trespass into one as a pedestrian and you get a tinkled bell pretty quickly.

Tuesday 14 October is a bit more energetic though. With a couple of electric-assist bicycles we set off on a round trip - Maastricht - Margraten - Termaar (country village) - Gulpen - Termaar (suburb) - Valkenburg - Maastricht. About 50km all up. Termaar was the primary objective, being

the original location of Pauline’s forebears (as best as records can tell), but which Termaar? Better cover our options and see both.

No problems with the distance, even for Pauline. Beginning to get a bit of sweat on your brow pedalling up a hill? No worries - just hit the electric boost button and start flying. These things are great.

Utrecht is the final leg of our Dutch tiki tour, and this time AirBnB lands us in Elly’s house boat. Variety is good! (Oops - not talking

women here). Utrecht’s old town follows the same familiar pattern of the others, and I know I’m going to miss these Dutch towns, and the Netherlands as a whole.

Thursday morning sees our first bit of rainy weather, but it doesn’t matter. Our train to Copenhagen doesn’t leave till 7.30pm, and we have all day to see the last corners of Utrecht. We sleep in and bum around till the weather clears.

Pauline’s lamenting she hasn’t eaten Indonesian since arriving in the Netherlands, and as luck would have it we find a little restaurant in Utrecht doing a great lunch. The Dutch East India Company mightn’t have won a lot of friends, but it did an excellent job bringing Asian spices and cuisine back to Europe.

Another Dutch delight are the little vending machines that serve up a croquette or similar tasty morsel

with just a euro or two in the slot. I’d remembered them from my previous time in Amsterdam in 1981, and they’re just as good and convenient 33 years later.

Suitably snacked and with sandwiches for dinner, we settle in to our sleeper. When we wake up we’ll be in Viking country. Looking forward to Hagar and Helga’s BnB.