The first half of my summer holiday consists of two half weeks of work and two half weeks of travelling around the country, seeing some cities off the beaten track and some cities that I really should have seen by now but haven’t. The other aim was to visit some provinces that I hadn’t been to yet (which is why Delft is not on the agenda, as I’ve spent far too much time in Zuid-Holland). My first destination was Lelystad.
Lelystad is a city in the newest Dutch province of Flevoland. This province was reclaimed during the 20th century, and Lelystad was founded in 1967. I think the only way to get there is via Amsterdam — from there it’s only a 40-45 minute trip.
The first thing that strikes you is how new everything is. The second is that the town centre is rather dull — it’s worth dropping by the tourist centre in the town hall and picking up some flyers, but apart from that I couldn’t see any reason to stay there. Most of the action is in Bataviastad, which is on the coast and a 5-10 minute bus ride away.
The main attraction in Lelystad is the replica of the VOC trading ship Batavia. The original was wrecked on its maiden voyage somewhere off Western Australia — some of the wreckage can be seen in Fremantle. The replica took a good 10 years to build with just a handful of volunteers, compared to the 8 months it took to build the original with hundreds of employees. A replica of the Zeven Proviciën is currently under construction and will be finished in 2015 or so. I went on a tour, which was a good way to see everything in the yard, however it was in Dutch so I didn’t quite understand everything.
Just near the Batavia is a outlet shopping centre, which was worth a browse. Nearby there is a harbour with more old-style sailing boats and a bit of a promenade. This area is still a bit of a construction site.
I finished the day with a rosé at Koekoekpannenkoek, where they brew their own beer. Unfortunately it was too early for dinner so I skipped the pancakes, but they did look good.
I got talking to one of the employees in an outlet store, who told me the town was really tranquil. It really did feel like the beach towns on Victoria’s surf coast. I’d be interested to go back in a few years and see how it’s developed and check on the progress of the Zeven Proviciën.
1 Comment
November 1, 2009 at 8:18 pm
[...] Objects a long, long time ago, but the story of the Batavia had completely slipped my mind until I visited the replica in Lelystad last year. Some of the survivors of the shipwrecked Batavia reached the mainland and met the indigenous [...]