Zeeland and Kinderdijk: Running rings round the hive of our namesake

Middelburg, the Netherlands

Our Belgian odyssey complete, we nipped over the border to Middelburg in the Netherlandish province of Zeeland. I've been wanting to visit the Netherlands for years to see the scenery, culture and history (including the house in which Anne Frank was hidden away from the gestapo). 

A trip to Holland wouldn't be complete without visiting Zeeland! While New Zealand is my home and I may be partial to it, old Zeeland ain't too bad. Though much flatter. And fewer sheep. 

Completely devoid of expectations, we were more than a little surprised to find the main square filled with delicious looking market stalls. It happened to be market day in Middelburg, and knowing that the Netherlands was a great producer of cheese (hello, Edam and Gouda), we had to get our grubby little hands on some. Free samples abounded, and we eventually settled on a herby cheese with olives in that tasted like a cheesy focaccia bread. 

On our way to the old abbey, we heard some commotion taking place on one of the streets and saw a crowd gathered. We joined them, and saw that an event was taking place: Ring Riding, in which a horse drawn cart is steered around a track and the lady in the carriage jousts a small golden ring off a hanging rope with her pointed stick. Dubbed 'Folkloric Day', this event only takes place twice a year. We just so happened to stumble across it at the perfect time! 

We watched for some time and walked around the abbey square, where the horse carts that weren't competing at that time were lined up to wait. Some contestants were old, some young, and some brought their children with them. I liked these photos because that boy is pulling a wonderful "kid face" - happy, yet cheeky at the same time like a cherub. 

Everyone was dressed to the nines in period costumes. Even the bakery stall attendant had her hair did! 

We escaped the pervasive smell of horse excrement for a while in the cloister of the abbey. It was difficult to find the entrance, so I asked at the nearby museum where the man at the desk really wanted me to purchase a ticket, saying I could see the abbey through the museum. But with prompting he said it was through a large red door and we found the way. 

Kinderdijk, the Netherlands

What comes to mind when you think of the Netherlands? Kinderdijk is popular for having a large collection of windmills in one location, many of which date from around 1740. On a sunny day, a stroll along the canal looking out over them was a stroll well strolled. The experience was somewhat dampened by the hordes of tourists clustering to see them (myself included, I know), but I wouldn't have missed it. 

Flowers in every colour attracted bees along the windmill paths and streets of the town. This particular bumbling bee attracted our attention as he was absolutely covered in pollen. As it's the female bumblebees who collect pollen and nectar to feed the larvae, the males just go around eating the nectar for themselves and not giving a toss about pollen. They're only around for mating. Bees are the best animal, as without them 90% of the world's flowering plants would struggle or fail to reproduce. You may have heard of the honeybee's waggle dance - a complicated pattern of movements that tells other bees the exact location of profitable flowers. Bumblebees are less exact. When a bumblebee finds a good spot, they return to the hive and run around really excitedly to get the others to follow them back to the area. It's similar to how they build their hives: honeybees create perfect hexagons in wax and store plenty of food to last famines, but bumblebees build slapdash wax jumbles without thought for pattern and do not store for the future, as their hives last less than a year (the new queen bees hibernate and start colonies elsewhere). This is why we don't keep bumblebees for honey, but all these factors lead to bumblebees being my favourite creature.