And on to our last Dutch town with Jenny and David, Gorinchem. David and Rosemarie here admiring the country's marina practice of welcoming motorhomes. Twin spans of Merwedebrug in distance.

Although a bit of a squeeze for our motorhomes, the marina was the perfect location from which to wander around tourist-free, delightful Gorinchem.

Gorinchem; photogenic it certainly is.

The mayor of Alphen-Chaam had made us very welcome at the beginning of the week. So also had the welcoming musicians - click right.

... and so the long pedal home for Matthew and Linda. For us, more of the Netherlands to enjoy.

Tandems and their crews; here John and Sue, with their Rohloff-geared Thorn from Wessex

Sandy and Dennis from Florida on their much-travelled Bike Friday Traveller.

Linda and Matthew from Dublin (originally Sydney) with Myrtle.

Our classic green Bike Friday Twin Air "Q" tandem - shown resting here during a coffee stop - did its job without a hitch.

But that was no reason for Rosemarie not to try out Bob and Pat's 21 year old recumbent tandem, recently fitted with electric assist.

Nor for Jenny.

There were six tandems made by travel bike manufacturer Bike Friday in Eugene, Oregon.

Their small wheels (chosen to fit in suitcases) were no handicap on some of the gravel roads.

And of course there were plenty of opportunities to discuss their performance, this one in Baale-Nassau (see below for more about this town).

Baale-Nassau sits on the border, with parts of it "enclaves" in the Netherlands (Jenny) and parts in Belgium (David).

Jenny enjoyed the view from the stoker's seat...

...but she needed a break from pedalling on the Thursday.

Rain was a feature of the week...

...and Monday was a total washout...

...but overall the damp conditions made for pleasant cool riding.

And on to Delft on the 23rd. A 50km warm-up for the tandem rally above, all on scenic cycling-friendly paths. Right, David and John heading off to the Louwman Museum at The Hague on the 25th.

Note, above and left, for the nanny states of Australia. This is an example of the entirely voluntary Dutch cycle helmet practice; road bikes yes, versus commuting bikes no.)

One of the things that impresses is the blend of Dutch culture and pragmatism, shown here with an old chocolate factory conversion into a library sporting a coffee shop and free wifi so strong we used it in our motorhomes parked nearby.

Part of a cargo container converted into a sound booth.

Laid-back feeling inside, showing David (black shirt) updating Facebook.

On to Gouda with its main square dominated by the 15th century Gothic City Hall. A place for weddings today, left, and for the Saturday market next day, above and right.

The Dutch seem to like their 3D-like paintings, this one being mildly spectacular.

And here's the real thing inside the towering Dom Church.

Another liking is for figure sculptures in public places.

"Please be careful of the bumps" beside the Utrecht canal typifies the Dutch approach to health and safety generally, which seems to be; you have a certain amount of personal responsibility to ensure your own safety.

Bicycles, canals and historic buildings. Utrecht also does it very well.

We left the vans some way out of Utrecht and rather than cycle, used the rail system to get into the city centre. We'd have liked to cycle the canal path north from Utrecht to Amsterdam, but time was pressing.