APELDOORN

Friday 12 June

We left Amsterdam,  3 days were really enough to see the sights and experience the atmosphere.  We headed off to Apeldoorn where we were to meet up with some of my friend Carmen’s family members – her Uncle and Aunt Herman and Els and her cousin Marion and her partner Michel (Michael in English).  We stayed at a camping ground which was similar to wild camping about 10kms west of Apeldoorn in a place called Assel.  This is a beautiful woodland forest area which is part of the kings palace area.  The camping ground didn’t have any electricity which made us thankful we have gas to run the fridge on.  What a beautiful secluded peaceful area.  They have these portable fire dishes which you can move to your campsite and light an open fire in them.  There is lots of wood around in the forest or you can pay for some.  On the Friday night Carmen’s family happened to be camping beside our spot in the ground which was quite funny as we didn’t let them know who we were when they arrived.  We waited until her cousin and partner had arrived and then surprised them.  We joined them for a drink around the fire which was lovely.  The next day we had a coffee at a café that is close by near the railway line.  There is nothing really in Assel but everyone comes here to bike through the forest paths as it is lovely and peaceful.  The café survives I think by these bikers who pass by stopping for lunch or a coffee etc.  The train runs through here quite often from Apeldoorn or further out to Amsterdam and beyond.  They come through regularly at about 130km/hr.

On Saturday we biked with Herman and Els the 10km into Apeldoorn for a BBQ for Marions birthday and for their house they recently moved into.  What a treat for us to be invited into a family’s get together with lovely food and great company- we felt very privileged and welcomed.  It was so nice to be included in something on the other side of the world after it being just us for the last couple of months.  We biked back in the last of the daylight around 10pm.

On Sunday we said goodbye to Herman and Els and then biked back into Apeldoorn with Marion to join them for a Sunday session at a local bar where there was a band playing and we met their friend Martinique.  Marion treated us to some Bitter Balls, which is a deep fried dutch snack – a bit difficult to explain what it’s like, but is very nice.  We also had deep fried cheese balls plus other snacks.  Just yummy.  After a few drinks there we went to an Irish bar where we had further drinks and some frites.  We were having such a good time, and the fact that it doesn’t get dark till late, we didn’t leave until 11.30pm.  We had to push bike back on our own in the dark – the 10km back to the campsite.  The bike path is quite narrow and goes through a pitch black forest.  Even though we had done this the day before in daylight, it was still quite creepy.  Luckily I had a small torch taped to my handlebars so I could see a little in front of me.  At one point Scot, who was behind me, said ‘I can hear something rustling in the bushes beside us’.  I told him I didn’t want to know what he could hear as it freaked me out thinking something was in the bush beside us.  And a couple of minutes later all of a sudden two deer jumped out of the bush and crossed just in front of us and scared the shit out of me.  There are a lot of deer in these woods as well as wart hogs – which you don’t want to meet on a dark night!  The wart hogs come out at night and dig along the side of the paths or roads looking for food in the soil.  This looks like a digger has come along and turned the soil over ready for planting.  We crossed the train line a bit after this and just as we had gone across a train came through – also a bit freaky in the dark of the night.  Anyway we got home safely.

Monday came and we were going to leave but this place was so peaceful and we had wanted to light a fire the night before but it was too late so we decided to stay another night and have a fire to cook our tea on.

During the day we walked up to the cemetery near by which we had heard was really lovely.  That was correct – it was a different place.  Instead of just a whole lot of orderly concrete gravesites it was inside a heavily treed area with lots of plants and flowers.  The gravesites were just medium sized rocks with names and dates and were quite modest in nature but were often planted around with flowers or had burning candles there.  It was a very serene and restful place.  You need to look at this place in perspective of where it is located – surrounded by acres of forest land with only a couple or so houses nearby.  It is a long way from the town.

We also drove into town to buy a whole lot of supplies of non perishable things as well as a few fresh things plus alcohol to stock up on before we head up to Scandinavia.  Better to have a few cheaper things in store and avoid some of the greater expense of that part of the world.

We cooked salmon and potatoes, mushrooms and broccoli on the fire which was just so lovely.  Nothing tastes quite like fire cooked food.  We had bought marshmallows to toast as well.

Tuesday 16^th

Bad news arrived and we had to prepare to leave on Wednesday and fly back to Dunedin.  The news was that my mother may not last the night and all the family had flown over.  What an agonising decision we had to make – whether we could or would make the trip or not.  Luckily we had stayed the extra night near Apeldoorn which is an hour by train from Amsterdam Airport or we wouldn’t have been able to go.  We also were able to leave the van in a safe location at the campsite and had Michel and Marion to help us with plans and get us to and from the train.  We were so grateful to them for all their help, especially since I was so distressed and not thinking that clearly.

We flew out the following morning.