18 October Zeebrugge to Vaals

Yes I had not heard of Vaals either. The cold start at Zeebrugge got me going, and I was soon in Holland to make sure I qualified for the Netherlands flag I was to stick on the pannier. I could tell it was Holland by the single land road and the two lane cycle track, but it was pristine and unremarkable. Then back to Belgium, which was different immediately. Its an odd experoence to cross a border and have the same physical landscape but used in a different way. It was evident many times on this tour.
I was back to Belgium to sort the last of my bits and to make sure nzl07 was safe with my friends there. She was. So I was down the road toward Germany, it is cheaper than Belgium my friends advised. So just short of Aachen as night was closing in I spied a Hotel and stopped. Something was different so I asked and was told that I was actually in Holland. So I had gone from France to Holland to Belgium and back to Holland. I was offered a park in the basement which I accepted and noted a couple of rabbits in a cage, which I figured were pets. Flemmish giants possibly. I am getting better with menu's in foreign languages but one thing had me stumped, so I asked whats this and he replied, "you see dem in de basement.." so I had pets for dinner, and jolly good too.
I had travelled some of this road in July on my way to Nordkapp, but the difference was unbelievable, what was previously lush and green was now gold, with falling leaves and harvested fields. A month ago there were grape pickers in the fields. Now pruning has started. In fact the cultivation for planting had begun. The real joy of this was the marked season. Unlike the green always green of New Zealand, here there are coloured seasons which makes it far more interesting.
nzl04