29th April - 1st May. Edam, then on to the North Holland Canal.

The cheeses in Edam are very distinctive in colour, and shape, being much rounder than Gouda cheese. In July and August the old style cheese trading is re-enacted for tourists here in the market square.

Edam is a pleasant town, with typical Dutch buildings.

The Dutch villages can be seen clearly, across the flat landscape. They all look very attractive.

This mooring, close to the three windmills, was very good, with gaps in the fence, for getting off The Puzzler easily.

Having skirted Alkmaar, we were on the North Holland Canal, and these unusual floating bridges opened by remote control as we approached them.

Part of each side of the bridge lifted up to allow the rest of it to slide underneath.

These houses, near to Alkmaar, had the interesting style of thatch over tiles on the roof.

We are now right in the bulb fields of Holland.

They keep on coming!

A real Dutch barn, with the farmhouse hidden behind it.

This may look picturesque, but it was not the perfect mooring. We stopped here quite late, as we had not found anywhere else. There is a road crossing for the railway here, with loud klaxons whenever a train is coming. They came frequently until 2 am then started again at 6 am, so it was a short night!