The 'Kortlandse Molen', Alblasserdam

The Kortland Windmill
Not too far to the north of it is the mighty Lek ('Leak'), a massive river with many tributaries.
In contrast, the Alblas is about five times narrower.
The waterway you see here is neither of the two.  It's called the Nederwaard, locally called the Boesem ('Bosom') and it connects to the Lek and the Alblas, and the huge sluice gates leading to the Lek are positioned at Kinderdijk ('Kinderdike'), our famous UNESCO World Heritage Site.  In short, if you follow this waterway northward, you'll end up in that really beautiful, magical place... which I have yet to start on, but not yet because I'm reserving it for later.  If you are curious, a quick look at the map will show the rivers.

My original plan was another windmill, on another polder close by, but on my way to that one, I could already see this, so why not.  The road was a single carriageway and the only spot where I could turn the car around was at the very end.  There is no other option but to drive in reverse as best you can without falling into the water as the windmill and its immediate surroundings are private property and parking close to it is not allowed.  There's a house just outside of the fence and I had to go in reverse on its driveway.

Where to park?  There's an ice-skating club building further along the road and I just parked close to it.  It was muddy due to the recent rains, so I stayed as close as possible to the road, although there were still about six meters separating me from the water.  According to a local, water is deliberately pumped in the winter into what is actually a meadow so that the locals can enjoy a natural skating rink if temperatures freeze.  When winter is over, the water is pumped out again and the area is once again a meadow.

Two extras --
The first one is a closer shot of the windmill, one of the first that I took.  It is actually a residence, which is why parking is forbidden.  Thankfully, taking pictures at close range is okay.
The second one is a shot of the road and the building used by the ice-skating club.  Don't know if you can spot the Donkey.  It's in front of the windmill in the shot.  The water you see here looks like a moat.  It's characteristic of the whole polder.  The meadow is on the other side of the building, so not visible here.

You cannot see it here, but the Bosom in the main shot is much, much higher than the polder.  When the water level in the polder is dangerously high, water is pumped UP to the Bosom so that it can flow northwards to the Lek, which is again higher.  In short, one leak in this dike and this whole place will be lost.  Maintenance is constant and vigilance essential.

The main shot was taken from a bicycle-and-foot bridge closer to the windmill and directly across that last house where I reversed the car.  Naturally, this was not the only shot I took from that spot.  It was such a glorious view and I had a difficult time choosing the main shot.

After shooting this windmill, I left the car where it was and walked to the other windmill on the other polder.  It turned out that my decision to shoot this one was the right one -- the other windmill was behind a steel gate closed today because the miller was not in.  I have to go to the website to check when he'll be around, but returning there will largely depend on good weather, something we don't have much of these days.  Back to the car and drove home.

Before going on the hunt, both AW and I watched Irene Wüst win her gold medal for the 1500 meter race, having defended the gold and title she won from Peongchang in 2018.  She is a giant.  This is her fifth and last Olympiad and she has won six individual golds plus a sprinkling of silver and bronze throughout her entire career, not to mention her World  and European All-round Champion status almost 8 years in a row, winning several individual races up to today.  The potential for more gold is still there with the upcoming team pursuit.

Housework... gaming... writing... in more or less equal measure.  When I go hunting, my day becomes extra full.  It is good to take advantage of beautiful weather.