Hola & welcome. Being a Newbie is great - it's all out in front of you!
Is it easy enough to navigate along EV 15 and are there many ferry crossings involved?
As
@Richard Fairhurst suggests, the signage may be difficult to follow but that's not really a problem. In summer there'll be no problems with ferries - and there's always a diversion.
I am looking to cover about 50 km a day for about a week, I could do a loop back to the ferry of get a train back.
Very sensible and a loop back reduces the stress of catching the ferry by public transport, especially cross border.
Don't forget that in NL it is very easy to hop on a train with a bike in case of emergency.
Any places I should be looking to visit along the way or travelling through, hotels and eateries recommended?
That's very hard to say without knowing what you like and enjoy. It's NL, not outer Mongolia
Am I right in thinking by going west to east it should help combat the westerly winds? Or am I overthinking that?
I think you're overthinking!
I guess i just wanted to get off the ferry and start riding.
That's the best way.
Honestly, NL is one of the best places for anyone to roll off the ferry, point their bike in any direction and set off to explore. Lots and lots of bike paths and infrastructure, lots of interesting places and lots of campsites, if that's your thing. A huge advantage is the fact that just about everyone speaks English and wants to speak English.
If you can get your head around the idea, arriving with no plan can be
extremely liberating!
For example, here's a map of NL with the Rhine route highlighted:
Now, here's that same route but on a map with all the bike paths highlighted
It's cycling Nirvana!
I don't normally offer suggestions but I threw this together over my coffee based on your specs:
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/535491
Cycle from Hoek to Rotterdam city centre. An interesting place, especially in the sun, a good exploration can be done in an hour or two on the bike (be careful parking it!)
Water Bus from Rotterdam to Dordrecht to miss some boring countryside, experience top-notch public transport and see a full size replica of Noah's Ark!
On to Den Bosch (charming little city) via a National Park of Sand Dunes. Beautiful! (If the end of July, divert to Tilburg for Europe's largest city Funfair - it's slap bang in the city centre!).
Up to Nijmegen, a beautiful river city, on to Arnhem (and some hills!). This is probably where you head into Germany but honestly, this part can be a little dull, in my opinion.
Follow the Rhine (or at least one version) through Wageningen - unpronounceable but charming.
Utrecht. Charming city with lots of interesting bridges
Then back to Rotterdam and the Hook as you please, maybe catching a bit of the coast.
A bit over 350km with a glimpse of what NL has to offer - historically, culturally, naturally.
Next year, arrive in Hoek as a seasoned adventurer, catch a train to Cologne (fabulous city) and head south for the "real" river experience.
Good luck!
so it was fascinating to see the differences in the north and the gradual change to the buildings and culture in the south.
For me, this is one of the great things about bike travel - anywhere. We have the time, the slow speed (or at least I do!) to really experience the subtle, gradual changes in landscape, food, accent, language, people. It's fabulously interesting. Made better by reading about where we're travelling as we do it
Edit: Ooops! just realised I posted the purple map twice
. Oh well, the cycling is so good it deserves to be posted at least twice