Out of Amsterdam Tom-Tom a-la-iPhone app says De Hoge Veluwe is 1 hour 15 away. Our drive changes as the vast, worked delta plains grow more undulous and forest & trees obscure our distant vision. Ahhh. We arrive at the Hoenderloo entrance to the De Hoge Veluwe NP, the camping area has a plush facility block (spanking new feat of architecture), nice campsites spread around a meadow hemmed by trees, no sound but the birds, no smell but the clean air and sprucey foddery whiff of the forest undergrowth, outside the camp a large depot of the famous “witte fietsen” - free white bikes for visitors to the park.
We settle in to the site, cook a Poitke on the BBQ with a beer and a Vat69 (paid dearly for that!), wash up, wipe wash APC’s, and a long read into the extended dusk.
dice roll:
Jeff (natural wonder) - hard question! “God created the world; the Dutch created Holland”
Wil (man-made wonder) - De Hoge Veluwe National Park. Nederlands largest. It’s lush and green with the sounds of birds and contrasts strongly to The Dam
Kel (worst part) - there wasn’t one really but there was a badly worked up older lady who growled at me in the traffic on a crossing in the city.
Jen (best saying) - “infactually,” Wil’s neologism
18/6
A lazy slow wake-up, all dressed for exercise but a storm rolls in & we jump back into bed! Thunder, lightning and brief heavy rain with puddles gathering ominously around us - concern about Eddie’s feet getting stuck in the mud. Reassured however by the toilet block cleaner who says the storm will pass, the sun will shine at 10, and for the rest of the day, and the water will run away as we are sitting on sand! And he was dead right!
Post breakfast and school, (Wil relishing his maths and getting so much more confident) we jumped on the bikes and headed out into the wilderness of trees and grassland, the riding so easy on a well maintained bitumen fietspad that winds it’s way through the trees, birds chirping all round, even over the odd undulation, the wide open spaces with nature as far as the eye can see harks comfortably to our own beloved land. We treadle to the visitor centre in the middle of the park where countless school kids are parading about on the witte fietsen as their teachers try in vain to rein them into some order. We see yet another Dutch bicycle invention - actually a bike that pedaled by an able bodied person pushes a wheel chair in front - naffy!
The visitor center impresses us yet again with it’s extremely well displayed depiction of the “nature” of the park. In fact the story of it’s creation under the influence of the glaciers from the north in the last ice age, then the widely destructive influence of man over the last 2000 years, predominantly through farming. Essentially they sucked it dry of nutrients on purpose! They used sheep to do this. They allowed the sheep to feed on the grasslands during the day, then brought them in at night to an area where they could collect the dung, which they transported to another area to grow better crops. They ended up with a barren wasteland of sand (AKA a desert) which they tried to plough into the ground (unsuccessfully), then the winds spread it all about. On top of that any tree that fell was quickly removed as they thought the fungi and insects that gathered on decaying trees was bad! So the whole ecosystem was thwarted.
Then the Kroller-Muller husband and wife team turned up in the mid late 1800’s and bought the place. They set about rehabilitating it and the result is ostensibly to our eyes a beautiful area of natural beauty, even if it is all at the hands of humankind. (silly computer told me to write, “humankind” rather than “mankind”!)
Mrs Kroller-Moller became an avid art buyer and amassed a truly spectacular collection with the assistance of her wealthy industrialist husband. Unfortunately they ran out of dough in the Depression and to safeguard her collection she donated it to the Dutch Govt on the condition they build a museum in the grounds of De Hoge Veluwe to house it. Naturally they donated the farm too.
A coffee in the restaurant while the kids enjoy the adventure ground, then back on bikes we pedaled homeward with Wil deviating to bike-summit the hillocks and Kel keeping dad occupied with splendidly detailed stories of BK Land and it’s occupants.
Late lunch, mum for a run, dad for a 45 min bike thrash, kids spent a few hours playing around the park and riding witte fietsen,
 |
| witte fietsen |
leftover dinner and a shower, a long read for all. It did stay fine and sunny all day, and the puddles did quickly soak through the sand to the water table below.
Tues 19/6
That rib is broken, bad sleep with pain very similar but not as bad as post segway adventure - no more 10BX or runs for a while.
Parental walk/chat (while the kids read) on a fine sunny morning through the open prairie like pastures, the mist lifting, spotted a bambi and a woodpecker, hankerings for the open spaces of home where the heart sings sweetly. Forgot how much we were missing it - more evidence of human adjustability.
Shower, routine but as ever awesome muesli/fruit/yoghurt breakfast with a mocha pot coffee, then some school (Kel a maths test) and onto the Witte Fietsen for a treadle to the Kroller-Muller art gallery. The kids insisted on trying the Dutchie bikes and they are very comfortable, sitting tall with physiological lumbo-pelvic and cervico-thoracic angles. And unbelievably soft, cushioned seats. No gears, just foot brakes, a baby seat for the camera and backpack - easy riding! Pedaled the path through the forest and vlei to the museum.
Entered the Kroller-Muller Museum which turned out to be one of the finest art experiences we have ever had.
Magnificent setting, great building, incredible collection of pieces - the 2nd biggest Van Gogh collection after the Amsterdam Van Gogh. Wil identified his favourite and sat down to complete a wee project,
you pop around a corner into the next small room and there’s another Vincent in the corner showing up all the more modern pretenders. Wil reckons Vincent is so full of engaging symbolism whilst the other stuff is”fed to you”. There’s also Renoir, Picasso, Signac, Seurat….. and then the sculptures, some indoors, most out, check out the swan who cruises elegantly with the breeze about his wee lake:
And how about this planker Mr Dicicco - kick your butt!
 |
| The Plank |
And these white rocks, apparently viewed from above it’s a man, but no-one gets to see it from there!
Wandered the 65 hectare garden lapping up everything there was to see
 |
| funny lizard |
 |
| This is a sculpture |
Then browsed the shop with a great collection of art books for sale, had a snack at the restaurant, and back on the fietsen for a dawdle home via the De Wet memorial (some Dutch General who led the Boers against the Brits),
the house (actually a holiday shack the Kroller-Mullers built for themselves)
and the Foxgloves.
Back at the campground decided to stay another night, showered up, ‘stick’ salad for dinner and another long read.
Wed 29/6
oldies mount the bikes in silence and scoot off in the soft colours of a new day for a ~ 1 hour+ fast ride through the length of the park whilst the babes sleep. It feels like Africa but for all the swooping fietspads and lack of game.
Breakfast is even sweeter with a growling post exercise stomach and following a warm shower that leaves the muscles gently tingly.
Quick maths and off to Delft via the supermarket. We’re becoming expert at setting up, quickly getting the relevant low down and town maps before we ‘case’ the joint. A beautiful day shows off one of Holland’s finest canal towns. Johannes Vermeer painted his "Girl with the Pearl Ear-ring" here. Many scenes from the 2003 film make it familiar. Several enormous, wonky church spires topped with gold balls, cocks or crosses grace the rich open squares.
 |
| Delft canal |
After trickling about for a pleasurable hour or so, we head back to camp to wash clothes and join the growing masses of European summer- holiday makers in ...a pool!
Internet facilities allow a bit of research, e-mailing and blogging before our treasured tradition of reading in bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment