Just about every Dutch person has memories of summer vacations in one of the islands off the north coast of the Netherlands, an area called “het wad” (“the mud flats”). Renée and I were determined to go at least once this year while we were in Groningen and we grabbed the chance when Adri came to visit us from Cape Town. The formula is simple: hop in a bus, transfer to a ferry, rent a bike and have a perfect day bicycling around the island. We chose Schiermonnikoog because it’s nearest to Groningen. The weather was iffy but Renée skilfully navigated us around the rain showers and kept us completely dry.