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Another (small) trip overseas. I wanted to celebrate my
birthday back in Holland so in May we took off to Amsterdam. We
had a couple of lovely days with our families in Friesland (in
the north of Holland) and had so much fun riding old Solex
motorbikes. We had hired them for a couple of hours one Saturday
afternoon and had an absolute ball.
If you're ever in the Netherlands go and try to hire some and go
for a fun day out. The cost per person for about 3 hours was
approximately € 27.50 (http://www.solexverhuurakersloot.nl/)
The next day we were off to the UK and Wales. Ronnie's cousin
was very nice to us and lent us his Suzuki GSXF 1100. No
panniers, so whatever we could fit in the tank bag and a small
backpack came along. We left Ronnie's parents place at 7.45 am
on Sunday morning and arrived in Calais, France at 2 pm. We had
ridden through The Netherlands and through the north of Belgium
and now we were waiting for the ferry to Dover. The ferry takes
about an hour and a half to cross over to Dover. So at about 5
pm we were in the UK. Travelled through 4 countries in 9 hours!
We rode along the lovely windy roads and booked a room in
Hastings in a B&B.
The following day we left early after some breakfast and headed
west. We gave the Sammy Millers museum a visit which was great,
beautifully restored bikes on display. We then headed for Wales
where we wanted to visit Ralph & Mo (friends of Bob &
Chris). As soon as we rode into Wales it bucketed down with
rain. We expected Ralph to meet us in the car, he doesn't like
riding in the rain. I was actually quite excited about that and
thought I could hop in the car with him. We were very surprised
and proud of him when he rocked up on the motorbike though,
absolutely saturated. After a quick chat we followed Ralph to
their place in Cardiff and caught up with Mo, there were lots of
stories to tell about travels and life.
We stayed for a couple of days and went sightseeing to the
Brecon Beacons and took lovely windy roads back to Cardiff, we
went for a visit to St Fagans castle and the museum of Welsh
life. We went to Castle Coch and Cardiff castle, all beautiful
and Ralph took us to Ogmore by sea on a rainy day. The coast is
very rough and on a stormy and rainy day it looked even more
dramatic.
After saying goodbye to Mo, Ralph took us along beautiful windy
country roads back into England were we had a cuppa before Ralph
went back home and we headed back towards Dover. One more night
in a B&B and the next day back to France.
We finished that day in Belgium at "Groenedijk Motorcycle Loft
Hotel" Only motorcyclists allowed here. A bar and interactive
kitchen to help yourself, a great place to stay.
When we were back in Friesland Ronnie went on a Poker Run, it
took all day and they had to travel to different motorcycle
clubhouses. The money raised that day went to KiKa, an
organisation to help children with cancer. It was a great day
with a lot of interesting bikes, nice weather and a great route.
The rest of our holiday was enjoyed by spending time with family
and friends.