I have started touring a bit, be it in the Netherlands for now, so I thought I would let you know how it is going.
After my training week last month which I spent (with friends) near a canal in Oirschot (province of Noord Brabant) and also near National Park Maasduinen and the river Maas in Nieuw Bergen (province of Limburg) I set out for a first short solo trip on Ascension Day (21 May), again to the province of Limburg, to a tiny village called Ospeldijk. The village is next to one of the other 20 National Parks we have in the Netherlands: de Groote Peel. This is supposed to be a wetland, which originated in the last century from cutting peat (turf) from a peat bog. Peat is a fossil fuel, the first step in the formation of coal. At the time it was used as a form of energy, an alternative to firewood for cooking and heating the small houses of the labourers. Later the big holes slowly filled up with water and the land became rather swampy. Life must have been very harsh for the people living there. I made some walks in this park only to find out that it was so much bigger than I thought and that I should go back some day and make some longer hikes in that park. The park was not really a wetland though since it had not been raining a lot the last few months, it was rather dry, but still nice. What I enjoyed even more was cycling through the land and the villages. It was so peaceful, the fields and the leaves on the various trees were so green, a fresh, young green. I saw many large farms, cattle, pig, poultry, but also vast fields of young maize and wheat. I guess only the larger farms are able to survive. And I was lucky enough to cross an area with three canals, I love cycling along canals and rivers. But what I also felt is that apart from the land and the villages being quite beautiful it also was very neat, very tidy, very organized (like everywhere else in the Netherlands). It made me reflect on what I like, and I realized I like a bit of chaos here and there, unexpected views, strange buildings, untidiness, maybe because imperfection is a very realistic aspect of our world. I did see a large sea container business in between the wheat fields though, with no sea to be found anywhere near, that at least I had not at all expected to find there!
I was mostly alone on the campsite and therefore Annie, the owner, let me use the shower inside. I have a shower in my van but it is very, very, very small and I was happy to accept Annie’s offer!
This 3-day trip went well. I could not get my gas cooker going when I arrived but my ‘Personal Camper Adviser’ Robert helped me out by phone and that was the only thing.
To keep going I set out for another trip last Tuesday (2 June). My first stop was in Speuld, in the province of Gelderland, where I parked my van in front of the house of my dear friend Merel. She lives with her family next to the woods and a large moor where you find a flock of sheep, herded by a woman. I had a lovely time, eating outside with the whole family, enjoying their company, and when the kids were in bed talking to Merel in front of a wood stove in the garden, to keep us warm. Next day I set off to Otterlo, a small village next to National Park de Hoge Veluwe. This is an area with sandy soils, sand dunes, and forests, habitat of a variety of deer such as the mouflon, wild pig and other ‘wild’ animals. But it also houses a Museum of Modern Art: the Kröller-Müller Museum (private collection) and a sculpture garden. I enjoyed the art collection and a rainless stroll through the huge sculpture garden (over 160 sculptures in a garden with thousands of rhododendrons), had lunch in a Bedouin tent (not serving Bedouin food though), and then got on my bicycle to see more of the park. Because of the Corona virus bicycle riders have to go one way. I did not see any of the wild animals, maybe they were also instructed to go one way :-) not being my way? It started to rain and somehow I missed the arrow showing me the way out, and I found myself cycling the same round of about 10 km again, getting wet to the bone…. So I had the experience of drying clothes in the van, or trying to dry clothes, and I learned that I should take more warm clothes with me - I was not really prepared for rain. Yes, I could have checked the weather forecast (hmm).
This morning I noticed that most other caravans and camper vans have gone. I will stick it out a bit longer. It is supposed to be dry by 16.00 or 16.30 and then I will go on a bicycle tour. And tomorrow I will move to another area, even if it would only be for one day (more rain to come).
