![Dune-scape north of Egmond-on-Sea](z08duin.jpg)
![Dune-scape even more north of Egmond](z09aenh.jpg)
![Dune-fen](z10meer.jpg)
![Panorama East - the city of Alkmaar on the horizon](z19pan1alkmr.jpg)
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In early March, before Nature decides to awaken in earnest and starts scattering flowers and green buds all over the place, a walk in the dunes can be rather uneventful. The colours are still subdued, the greys and withered yellows of the grasses still dominating.
But even then, once the sun's coming out, touching the heritage of winter with its fresh and uncompromising rays, the sights can be majestic. The dunes form a narrow strip of sand knolls along the entire coast of Holland and Belgium. Their width extends from almost nil to ten kilometers, averaging for the greater part about one or two miles only. Then they stop short quite abruptly before the flat peat meadows, as can be seen on the panoramic picture - last but one - on the left. A dune-scape is not spectacular in the sense hills or fells can be, as its height hardly exceeds 200 ft., but it's still a relatively untouched part of the country, a nice place to be for its aromatic smells of herbs and resinous trees and the salty touch of the air.
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![Beach seen to the south](z14strandz.jpg)
![Beach seen to the north](z15strandn.jpg)
![Budding tree](z17boom.jpg)
![Posh hiker - lying down](z18maria.jpg)
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