The time was fast approaching when we would give Tramp a final hug and send him off on his ocean cruise back home to America while we took the fast way and flew across the Atlantic.  But before that teary moment we still had a few things to do and a bit of the Netherlands to see.

First order of the day was to get our Webasto diesel cooker working again so we headed into a Webasto service centre in Eindhoven, Netherlands and ran into the friendliest and most generous people we could ever hope for.  Their top technician dropped what he was doing and through his lunch hour he took apart the cooker and ran it through some tests before reporting that our diesel cooker was seriously cooked.  It needed expensive parts which would take days to arrive and absolutely break the bank. 

We were gutted by this news since we were moving into the winter season and cooking outdoors was becoming a very marginal proposition for my cook.  But there’s nothing we can do about this problem in Europe and would have to hold it over for another continent.  Onward to explore Holland a tiny little bit before our shipping date!

Most people know the Netherlands, or Holland as it’s called, for it’s dykes, canals, pumps, ocean-control systems and reclaimed land.  An amazing 17% of Holland is on reclaimed land and a staggering 26% of land is below sea level.  In fact, the history of Holland is closely tied to it’s fight against the sea, including the use of windmills to pump water from one side of the dyke to another.

We wanted to get a little taste for this amazing situation and see the land that is affected by these ocean management systems.  We ended the day near the small community of Oude-Tonge which has a sad history with the sea.  In 1953 during a major storm the ocean surged into the town and 300 people died.  Julie and I visited the modest but sobering memorial built high on a dyke above sea level before camping nearby on reclaimed land below sea level.

The next day we headed to the coast and saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time since crossing the English Channel in early June.  Here the coastline is an invention of the enterprising Dutch who have built a series of long dykes to hold the water out and sophisticated sluice gates which control the water level depending on tides, storms and currents. 

We drove along the top of some of these long dykes, always giving way to the steady stream of bicycles in both directions, enjoying the rich agricultural fields on one side and the ocean on the other.  And the Dutch have also replaced their famous windmills with tall huge wind turbines which fill your eyesight in all directions and remind us how this country is ahead of the curve. 

We followed narrow roads which doubled as bike tracks, sometimes not really sure we should be there, and dropped down on the tracks following the long beaches that follow the coastline.  At one point we passed a handsome lighthouse which marks the westernmost point of the Netherlands.  And as always, there were people on bicycles everywhere and a steady stream of RVs and sedans parked near the beach enjoying the warm late September sun. 

After going through a 6.6 kilometre tunnel we popped out in the far corner of the Netherlands, pulled into a car wash to give Tramp a thorough scrub-a-dub-dub and on our third attempt found a suitable campsite for the night near the coastal town of Cadzand .  The manager of the first campsite asked us to wait while he had dinner, no thanks to that, and the second one said he was closed.  Such is life after the peak season is over.

The following day was devoted to washing clothes, sorting out what we were bringing by plane to the US and what we were leaving behind for Tramp to carry, and cleaning Tramp a bit more because port and Customs officials will not transport a dirty vehicle and you don’t want to get rejected at the last second.  It was a full-on day in camp with countless tasks, big and small, but we got it all done and were satisfied Tramp – and ourselves – were ready for the next big milestone of the trip – shipping him back to the good ole US of A.

The next morning we woke up early and began the mammoth task of moving absolutely everything into the camper cabin.  This meant everything in the backseat that we weren’t taking with us, everything in all the side lockers, all our extra fuel tanks and sand matts, camping tables and chairs, the lot.  A big job.

We crossed the border into Belgium and within a few minutes we were at the port in Zeebrugge.  The handover of Tramp to port authorities was slick and seamless except for the part where some stranger got into Tramp and drove him away.  Julie and I were left on the curb with our bags and our sad hearts.  Tramp, we’ll see you in about two weeks and everyone will be better for it.

It also marks the end of Tramp’s travels in Europe.  He first came here in mid 2018 across the Atlantic from Montevideo, Uruguay to Antwerp, Belgium.  After touring around Europe that year he sailed for southern Africa and returned in mid 2019.  While we were home having another granddaughter Covid broke out and Tramp was in storage in the UK for almost two and a half years.  In 2022 we dusted the poor guy off and explored England, Ireland and Scotland. This year we hit the road again doing our big loop through Europe, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia and back to Belgium.  By the time he gets back to California he will have been away for more than six years.

So Tramp, we hope you will enjoy your cruise and we will somehow do the best we can without you.  See you on the other side.