Traveling for Sepia Saturday 149

This is a post for Sepia Saturday 149. 

 

 

The prompt picture shows a tour group traveling. My post tells about our trip to Texel in 1962. We are with six of us: Dad, Mom, Corry, I, Albertine and Jan Kees. Our sister Anneke is on holiday to Austria. We take turns to write down in a brown school notebook about what we are doing and experiencing.

 

1962 07 Ferry to Texel.

 

We traveled on bike to Den Helder. In Den Helder the harbor was terribly busy and Mom thought we had to wait until the evening. A pessimistic gentleman said, however, that it could be tomorrow afternoon. But they were both wrong, because we were all in the second boat. Being below deck we noticed really not much of the voyage. There was only one beautiful sight from a porthole, where we could see the sun shining on the sea. Then we saw land, though it took a while before we were in the harbor. We went quickly our bikes retrieve and we cycled away to Cocksdorp, wonderfully fast because we had tailwind.

 

 

1962 07 Map of Texel

 

When we got at the campsite Mom went grocery shopping with Corry and Jan Kees. Dad, Albertine and I had to put up the tents, which was hampered by the wind. Especially the big tent was very difficult. When we had done 2 tents, still 1 to do, the grocery brigade came back with their hands loaded with food. Mum started cooking while we put up the last tent. Dinner time! We were hungry from the tiring day and we found it very tasty.

 

 

 

1962 07 Texel Cocksdorp lighthouse

After dinner we took a walk, because Jan Kees wanted to see the sea again. We walked over an hour and we saw not only the sea but also three lighthouses, those of Texel right near us, Den Helder in the west and Terschelling in the east. On the way back we walked briskly and we were already back in half an hour. In the tent Mama was waiting with a milk bottle to open, while the bottle opener was in my pocket. I gave it quickly and not long after we got coffee. We were very tired and despite the roar of the wind we soon fell asleep.

 

1962 07 Papa, Corry, Mama, Jan Kees, Albertine.

 

We were quite late in the morning and lazed around all morning. The weather was not too good and we were tired. 

 

 

1962 07 Papa, Jan Kees, Albertine, Corry, me, playing a ballgame.

In the afternoon Dad, Corry and Jan Kees made a walk to the Slufter dune valley.

Albertine and I walked together towards the lighthouse. We walked on a winding bike path through the dunes. With a flora treatise at hand we tried to identify some plants. We saw lady’s bedstraw and carline thistle; bittersweet grew between blackberry bushes. There were many oystercatchers to hear and see. Besides the gulls I saw also some herring gulls. There were little groups of starlings and a single pipit. On the dune at the entrance of the site I have seen twice a tree pipit. So we had a nice walk and I wrote everything in the travel journal.

The others came home full of stories about the Slufter dune valley. But they didn’t want to write it down. I said: “If you don’t want to write, I’ll help you, just say what I should write.” And so I began to write down what the others told me.

 

 

1962 07 Papa, Corry, Albertine, Jan Kees, me. You see our 'new' chests.

 

Jan Kees: After having walked a while through the dunes, we came to the Slufter dune valley. And then I wanted no further, and Corry stayed with me. And then Dad looked around and came back. When he came to me, he grumbled.

Dad interrupts: But he didn’t want to go!!!

Jan Kees: We came to the sheep and the puddles.

Dad: Mud and ditches.

Jan Kees: We had to jump over the ditches and where we could not, we had to wade through or going closer to the sea.

Dad: I thought that might be better.

Jan Kees: You saw all that seaweed.

Dad: It flowed so strong.

Jan Kees: The water flowed through the Slufter to the sea.

Albertine: Very strong.

Jan Kees: So strong that you couldn’t wade through it. And you have nothing to do with it, Albertine. Let’s see, then we went back.

Dad: We went upstream, until we arrived at a fordable place, but the water was still on our knees.

Jan Kees: Corry wanted to cross a deep place, but Dad shouted: Stop, you can’t go there! Come this way!

Albertine to me: You must write with fire!

Corry: I had to walk on tiptoe.

Jan Kees: On the other side the sand was filled with shells.

Dad: Full, full.

Jan Kees: Further along the beach it was full of wreck wood and chests.

Dad: And bottles, sniff, sniff.

Jan Kees: Dad took a chest to use as a seat. We walked back until we came on the road. So we came home.

Albertine: Ha ha ha.

Jan Kees: Oh, yes, I’ll say what we have seen on the road: a few young pheasants. End of story!

Mom: How we proceed, refer to the following chapter. Children, to the toilet and to bed, it’s already half past ten.

 

Other travel stories might be read at Sepia Saturday.