DAY 64 MONDAY MAY 28 RIDING ON THE DIJKS

We were given the option of riding today's trip without travelling on the barge at all.  No one objected, so we set off just after nine o'clock and clocked up 59 kilometers for the day.  We found cafes for our morning tea and lunch stops, even though it was another public holiday for Whitsunday.  At morning tea time we marvelled at an old church which had a very high steeple that was leaning to the right while the church itself was leaning to the left.  It was all made of bricks, but no cracks could be seen.  Most of the ground here is sitting on peat bogs so that buildings often sink as the peat dries out. About half of our journey was spent riding on the top of the dijks which were about 5 meters above the surrounding farms, so we had excellent views and the weather was once again sunny and warm (26C), so that we even ended up with a sandal pattern on our feet when we went to bed last night.  Everyone in the group was able to cycle the full distance and we arrived at the barge before 5pm.  Most people even took a ride into town and came back enthused about the cathedral and the atmosphere in the town. We have trouble locating ourselves on maps but we know that we spent the night at S' Hertogenbosch.

IT WAS SOME TIME BEFORE WE FOUND A THATCHED COTTAGE