Tholen

It was a damp day when we arrived at Rotterdam, and we decided to bag some Turf zones in bits of the Netherlands we hadn’t been in before. Thanks to the EU we can now use our data abroad at no extra cost, so we made good use of it. We went to the wee town of Tholen in Zeeland and this is the main square; all very neat and prosperous looking. We then went to Bergan Op Zoom in North Brabant before heading off towards Venlo in eastern Netherlands. The fun of the day began as we approached Breda where the warning light about tyre pressures came on, and we were flashed by a truck. The rear driver’s side tyre had lost pressure but we got as far as a car pool car parkon the outskirts of Breda. Having failed to get the spare tyre out from underneath the van we had to call the assistance; again no hassle as it now costs nothing and waited in the, by now, pleasant warm sunshine. After 75 minutes a typical Dutch guy arrived; good English efficient to help us out. He had difficulty getting the spare off, but managed eventually, before being aghast at the state of the tyre that had failed. The inner bit was down to the bone and we were lucky it hadn’t gone earlier. He took one look at the other rear tyre, and said ‘follow me’ and took us to a Dutch equivalent of Kwik Fit where 2 new tyres were fitted quickly and efficiently. We set off for Venlo rather later than hoped and stopped at the marina by the canal for the night; there was a spectacular thunderstorm so no exploring for us.