Lelystad @ Flevoland

We went to explore Flevoland, the twelfth and youngest province in the Netherlands. It consists almost entirely of land that was only won from the IJsselmeer in the 20th century.

Lelystad

Our first stop was at Lelystad, the capital of Flevoland, where 2 museums had caught our interest: The Batavia shipyard and the Aviodrome. We had parked for the night at the Markermeer south of town. In the morning we cycled first along the coast past the harbour until we reached the museum where the reconstructed Batavia can be visited.

History of Flevoland from the Ice Ages until today, embroidered by locals

Model of the “7 Provinces” the most famous and powerful battleship of the Dutch naval history

The plan was to reconstruct also the “7 Provinces”, a much bigger ship than the Batavia and work had already begun, but the financing of this project didn’t succeed therefore the reconstruction was stopped. Beside of the model, we also saw the basic structure of the bottom in real size, which is now rotting away at the wharf.

Workshop where volunteers create period correct wood carvings

Woodworking lathe driven by foot pedal

Batavia

Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company, built in Amsterdam in 1628 as the company’s new flagship. She sailed that year on her maiden voyage for Batavia, capital of the Dutch East Indies.
On 4 June 1629, the Batavia wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos, a chain of small islands off the coast of Western Australia.

Adrian explains the Batavia-Project

The Batavia ship replica was built from 1985 to 1995 by enthusiasts, using the same materials and methods utilised in the early 17th century. Its design was based on contemporary accounts, recovered wreckage, and other contemporary ships such as the Vasa.

For the Olympic Games the ship was transported on a dock ship to Australia where it was presented and went on a couple of sailing trips during the best conditions with a crew which had experience with this kind of ships.

Getting a lot of information thanks to our guide

At the entrance to the museum, we were asked if we wanted a guide, which was included in the entrance fee. So we got lovely Adrian to guide us through the wharf and the ship and explain everything to us. This way we got so much more out of our visit.

Steering a ship like this was hard work, we learned

Only the captain travelled with some comfort

The captain’s work place ….

After this fascinating visit we were on our way to the airport of Lelystad where at the Aviodrome a modern and huge exhibition on the history of flying is presented.