Top 20 Lakes around Oostflakkee

Flamingos!😉

The Volkerak locks, west of Willemstad, were built as part of the Delta Plan. A secondary dam had to be built in the Volkerak to close off the Oosterschelde and the Haringvliet. However, the closing off of the Volkerak, which was planned in 1969, would also block an important shipping route between Rotterdam/Germany and Antwerp/France. It was therefore decided to build a lock complex in the dam to be constructed. The first two inland navigation locks were built in 1964. In 1977, the complex was expanded to the northwest with an additional lock for inland shipping, an inlet lock and finally a separate recreational lock. Bridges had already been built over the newly constructed locks: a fixed bridge and a double movable bascule bridge over the southern lock for commercial shipping. To the south of the locks are various service houses and a workshop and storage area for the emergency power supply and the nuclear shelter below. On the south bank of the Volkerak, at the beginning of the lock, there is a lookout tower, with a storage area for the reserve gates underneath. In addition, a new lock keeper's office was built around 2012; the old lock keeper's house between the eastern and middle locks was demolished shortly afterwards. At some distance from the locks on the south bank, there is another office and a door storage / workshop. In 1988, the complex was mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest inland shipping object in the world. The commercial shipping locks are each 325 metres long and 24 metres wide. The locks are built of concrete and each has four pairs of steel doors; two pairs for ebb and two pairs for flood.

Cycling along the water is never boring.

In 1971, the Grevelingenmeer with a surface area of 14,000 hectares was created by damming. In the past, the Grevelingen was mainly important for oyster and mussel farming. Now this salty lake is an attractive area for water sports. In addition, nature receives a lot of attention. For the benefit of pleasure craft, the Mosselbank has been located on the plate directly in front of the water sports island since 1990. On the other side is Herkingen on the former island of Goeree-Overflakkee. In your field of vision on the right you can see the Grevelingendam. It is one of the most important connections between Schouwen-Duiveland and the mainland. As part of the Delta Plan, this dam was built between Bruinisse and Goeree-Overflakkee in 1961-1965. The northern channel, the Bocht van Sint Jacob, was closed off by dumping a dam of stones using a cable car. On 1 April 1965, the Grevelingendam was opened to traffic.

The Grevelingenmeer is the largest saltwater lake in Europe. It is closed off from tidal water by the Grevelingendam in the east and the Brouwersdam in the west and is therefore considered to be rather stagnant and often oxygen-free water where little underwater life can be expected. That the latter does not apply to all parts of the Grevelingenmeer is evident at Battenoord, where a large group of flamingos has been standing or coming to spend the winter for several years (2022). Some are deep pink, which means that they eat a lot of shrimp and indicates a rich underwater life. At Battenoord you can spot the flamingos near the harbor or at the mills and in recent years (since 2022) you can even spot three species of flamingos there: the European flamingo, Chilean flamingo and the Caribbean flamingo.

From the dike, a view of the mudflats of the Dijkwater nature reserve in the municipality of Sirjansland. In 1305, an area reclaimed ('s heers Jans land) where a channel (Dijkwater) provided access to 4 harbour towns. The Dijkwater is the historical remnant of the Gouwe, which separated the islands of Schouwen, Dreischor and Duiveland. In 1374, the northern branch of the Gouwe was dammed and the Noordgouwe polder was created. In 1610, Schouwen and Duiveland were also effectively connected. During the major flood disaster in 1953, the inlet of the Dijkwater was one of the places where a major dike breach occurred. After the flood disaster, the area was reclaimed and a nature reserve was created where numerous water birds can be spotted.

Flamingos in the wild where else can you see that

The Volkerak is a body of water located southeast of the South Holland island of Goeree-Overflakkee. On the east side of the Volkerak are the Volkerak locks to the Hollands Diep; The Krammer is located on the west side. In the south of the Volkerak, the Scheldt-Rhine Canal to Antwerp begins