It’s farewell Eriba, hello Airstream, as the Lyon family celebrate in style on a trip to the Netherlands and Germany
AFTER AN EMOTIONAL FAREWELL to our Eriba, we regrouped and prepared to welcome TinTin2 to our Lyon family voyage of discovery. A dream in the making for more than 20 years, it was highly appropriate that the arrival of our Airstream 534 coincided with our 25th wedding anniversary: something very silver indeed – lucky us!
After a break from European travel, we were keen to cross the Channel again, opting this year to limit the mileage and number of campsites, but still meeting key family holiday criteria – Action, Adventure and Angling.
We spent a few nights away navigating TinTin2 and familiarising ourselves with what seemed complicated processes initially, turning on taps and heating.
Then we started our journey preparations in earnest. Travelling the first time with depleted cupboards and fridge (thanks to the post-Brexit food rules, imposed since the last time we ventured abroad) meant more time focused on activity packing!
TinTin2 at the ready
Unaware of all these industrious preparations, Lucy, our six-year-old Cavachon, could hardly contain her excitement as we finally boarded the 9am Stena Line crossing from Harwich to Hook of Holland – snuggling down together in a shared pet-friendly cabin (a first for us) marked the real start our summer holidays.
An hour from the ferry terminal, in relentless rain, we pitched up at Boerderijcamping Demmerik, chosen for its proximity to Amsterdam (25 minutes by car), Lake Utrecht and the surrounding areas of Northern Holland, all of which we planned to explore.
In a tranquil, rural setting, this is a reasonably priced CL-type site, with just 12 pitches. We set up alongside the dairy farm, making full use of the well-maintained facilities, before gathering leaflets and cycling maps for an evening of planning and Rummikub.
What better way to begin our holiday in Holland than a visit after breakfast to the neighbouring farm – Van der Arend – to purchase cheese? After ample testing, the boys returned triumphantly with €11-worth of delicious mature cheese, and strict instructions that it should remain unrefrigerated!
Cycling to Markermeer towns
Presented with a network of traffic-free, pancake-flat cycling routes, we decided on a bike ride to work off some of the quantities of cheese
