Weekend Adventures
Monday was a national holiday so we decided to utilise the three free days and go outdoors. On Saturday, we went to BBQ with friends in the National Park Veluwezoom. The weather was great and we loaded the convertible with the tent and sleeping bags – and of course the running gear. Also, we added one new item: our new inflatable kayak Sevylor Adventure. Yes, my dear readers, there is a new sport discipline that we are adding to our scope (and a new huge bag with gear that has to be squeezed in the garage):
But first things first. The Veluwezoom is a beautiful piece of nature in the heart of The Netherlands. It pretty much kills the Dutch stigma of a flat country with no trees. The 5000 hectars of this old national park are (slightly) hilly and woody and the nature looks pretty untouched here… which we went to check on Sunday morning during our (semi)trail. Yes, that is the first adventure I want to mention today: running on unpaved roads as I haven’t done much of it yet.
After the Saturday BBQ and a night in this tent
I promised V not to wake her up too early and if I did, and if she decided to run with me, we would do just a short run. Well, plans are there to be altered. What you see below is what Dutch call a ‘mushroom’.
It is the official Dutch tourist bond marking point that hikers and bikers use all over the country. I used it as well during our run (V mostly on the paved biking path and me next to her in the sand where horses would run) but somehow (and please don’t mention the female disability to read a map) the trail got longer and longer. To cut a long story short, we ended up with 12 km of hungry and thirsty running in the forest. Any better idea of how to start a perfect day?
Back in the camping, after the coffee and a proper breakfast we slowly packed our gear and started looking for suitable waters (= very quiet safe areas) to test the kayak. We found a small paradise here (Wijk bij Duurstede):
All afternoon we were playing with the boat and enjoying it to bits and so we decided to go to look for some more adventurous waters on Monday again. And that is exactly what we did. After my morning run we packed the boat again and 12 km from our house (!) we found this:
Deeply touched by the forest trail experience a day ago, we were clever enough to bring food and drink with us this time so we could enjoy the proper kayak picnic. So here I sit, with my shoulders and legs burnt by the long weekend sun, trying to force myself to unpack, shower, turn on the washing machine… but as so many times, sitting down with the glass of wine is the one activity that will win the fight tonight.
How was your weekend?
April Runs 
wonderlijk!
🙂
My weekend was warm! Sunday I swam in the North Sea until my hands were numb. Then I burned both sides of myself by flipping regularly on the stranddoek. It was great preparation for a long ride in Driebergen in the hot sun on Monday. (not.) I went on a Right-To-Play klimtocht (Dutch style, translated, not much in the way of hills, but still fun).
I’m inspired by your adventures and close enough that I could perhaps actually go and visit the same places.
Chris
Good to hear I am not the only sunburnt person around! My legs are actually so sore that I am giving up my evening run tonight. Feel free to visit all the places I describe. Sooner or later we will probably bump into each other during some race in NL. I remember reading your Egmond 1/2M report – I think I will register for the 2013 race.
That looks fabulous. It’s a bank holiday this weekend, so we’re heading to friends in Yorkshire for some running, walking and pub lunches! A perfect start to Juneathon (are you joining in this year?).
I am sure you will love your Yorkshire weekend! Yes, I am joining Juneathon. It will be my first summer Athon and I am really looking forward to the challenge this time as Janathon (my first one) earlier this year nicely kickstarted my running.
What a wonderful adventure you had on your long weekend! I got a little sunburnt too over the weekend, mainly my nose, forehead and feet (of all things!) haha.
We have a 4 day long weekend coming up so I’m really looking forward to that… you’ve inspired me to go and seek out some water transport of some sort 😛
Not long now to Juneathon! x
Of course now I want to know HOW did you manage to burn your feet? Probably not while running haha. We are a bit jealous of you since no bank holidays are coming any time soon. We will be travelling to Germany for some classic music though. Will be fun to combine that with Juneathon. Go to do water sports, it is fun!
It looks fantastic! You know how to spend a weekend! 🙂
Cheers, 12:)
Living in a totally flat country, this is as close to good old fashioned canoeing trip as one can get, haha.
Looks like a great place to spend the weekend. I have been considering an inflatable boat, nice for the longer trips when the boat on the roof kills gas mileage and slows down the car.
That was exactly our thought: in our house there is not enough space to store a proper Canadian canoe (which would be our first choice). This on the other hand is a handy little boat that fits even in the convertible and it is much stronger than we thought.