A Dull Woman's Van Life

Late September saw us Europe-bound for a ten-day road trip exploring Belgium and Holland. We began with an overnight stay in Cambridge before heading through the Eurotunnel, crossing France en route to our first stop — Camping Esmerelda in De Haan, Belgium.

The campsite sat perfectly between De Haan and Blankenberge, close to both the beach and a stretch of beautiful wetlands.

I spent a couple of afternoons exploring the area and was rewarded with sightings of cattle egrets, marsh harriers, herons, and buzzards, all busy hunting around the pools and meadows.

On Sunday evening, we dined at the campsite brasserie. The Belgian stew was as rich and hearty as any I’ve had elsewhere in Belgium — pure comfort food after a day in the fresh coastal air.

A couple of nights later, we wandered up to De Oesterput for an evening of wine and seafood. After a bit of faffing with Google Translate to decode the menu, we settled on the Four Kings of the Sea — a garlicky indulgence of crab and half a lobster. The waiter’s approving “good choice” made us smile, and we were very glad of the lobster bibs provided! Paired with a few bottles of Belgian Chardonnay, it was a perfect meal.

By Wednesday, it was time to move on. We crossed the border into the Netherlands, heading for Camping Schippers in Nieuwvliet. The drive was a delight — Holland really is as flat as they say, but seeing it in person was quite something. You can see for miles, with fields, windmills, and shimmering canals stretching to the horizon.

Once we’d settled in, we wandered down to the beach.

The fine white sand was glorious underfoot, and though it was late autumn, the sun was still warm. Pepper was very content to find a shady patch beside a beach bar for a bit of “shade-bathing.”

Our campsite was surrounded by nature reserves, and I made the most of it. Among the highlights were goldcrests, kingfishers, and a variety of warblers — plus a completely new bird for me: the wonderfully named Zitting Cisticola.

Each evening, huge flocks of starlings gathered in the fields behind the site.

We hoped for a murmuration, but it seemed our fields weren’t their chosen roost — they flew off each night to perform their aerial dance elsewhere. Even so, we were treated to skeins of white-fronted geese and greylags flying in formation over the vans each evening, a spectacular sight against the fading light.

Behind the campsite lay a wildflower meadow, still glowing with colour in the late autumn sun. It was home to a green woodpecker who seemed to mock my every attempt to photograph it — laughing from the trees and vanishing just as I lifted the camera.

On our final day in Holland, I took the bike and pedalled the three miles to Waterdunen Natuurgebied, a vast expanse of wetlands. I spent four happy hours exploring and watching wildlife — great crested grebes in numbers I’ve never seen before, flocks of cormorants and little egrets, and geese grazing in the distance.

A great egret stalked the shoreline, while a pair of buzzards wheeled gracefully overhead.

Just as I was heading back towards the entrance, a pair of ospreys appeared — hunting over the water, an unexpected autumn treat. They should have been well on their way to Africa by now for their winter holidays, but perhaps the Dutch sunshine had persuaded them to linger a little longer.

On our last evening, we walked up to Strand Ruig Strandpaviljoen for dinner and enjoyed a feast of wonderful Dutch cuisine — the perfect end to a beautiful trip.