De Waal en Groen Hart Zuid

De Waal

I've managed to loose a set of photographs along the way so I've decided to take a leaf out of George Michael's and The Pet Shop Boys' respective books and do a two halves of two different songs.

The church at Rhenen seen from the bridge over the Neder Rijn.  For the record I actually begun the trip at Tiel

Yes a hill in Holland. The sign is a bit blurred but it does actually state that there is a 7% incline. Those of you who know you trigonometry will know that the slope is given by.

ArcSin(0.07) i.e

4 degrees

After a delightful, tranquil, run along the river it's time to cross via the chain ferry.

The view from the boat. I have to say it reminds me of the run into Lymington from the Isle of Wight, unfortunately the crossing is too short for a cool beer in the sunset.

Onto the Waal now and a gas fired power station in the middle of nowhere.

This is actually one of my favourite pictures though the screen does not do it justice.  All wee need is a horse and cart and a rainbow that could never have been real ...

More Southern English style trees in the same area. One has to suspect the ex-Pats of coming over, buying some land and trying to create a small corner of England a long way from home. Perhaps either the river didn't flood, there was a decent East-West road built or trains could run at their maximum speed and they felt homesick and upped sticks and left who knows ?

Elst in the sunset and time to get something to eat.  Interpret the picture who you will but I'm afraid I've read too much Dick Francis. Perhaps the jockey is getting a tax refund - somehow I doubt it.

Groen Hart Zuid

Once again I began the trip from Den Haag and came South the skirted round Rotterdam to Ouderkerk and went from there.

Since doing this I've realised that horses are incredibly intelligent - they always seem to knoibly intelligent - they always seem to know that there is a man with a camera and seem to pose specially.

I think he's looking for his modeling fee in my bar bag - fortunately the chocolate was buried beneath the puncture kit and the monkey wrench.

A completely deserted river (the Ijssel) with the tower blocks of Rotterdam in the background.

Yes more hills but the figures give it away as an artificial ski slope.

More wildlife photography and a very photogenic goat.  What I had to do to get this shot.

A set of upturned canoes by a lake. You can just make out Rotterdam in the haze though at the time it seemed a million kilometers away.

One of those confused pictures which I didnt think Id got. Three modes of transport all going the same way to Gouda and Utrecht. The stoptrein, the cycle route and the motorway (A20) in the distance.

Further along the river and into Moordrecht.I choose to follow the river rather than travel via Gouda as it seemed a shame to break the tranquility (pretentious twat ed.)

More nature photography I have to say I felt like David Attenborough as I crept up to this majestic bird a heron by the way.

Two swans are swimming. Voor de Nederlanders dit expressie komt uit de bekende kerstleidje The Twelve Days of Christmas.

The church at Oudewater. Looking at the map it could be Montfoort Im not sure.

The A12 Arnhem Den Haag motorway looking towards Den Haag and Rotterdam on the way into Woerden.

And finally .. Well you cant take your bike on the train until after 6:00 p.m so what could I do. I think this was probably the last Witbier (c.f German Weisbier) of the Summer. I have say looking at the screen I feel like popping over the road and having one as we are experiencing some Winter sunshine at the moment. I reduced the size accordingly so I dont have the same effect on my readers.

I did see a bar called The Queen Victoria the last time I came to Woerden but couldnt find it and am disappointed that I can't add it to my collection. I had a brilliant joke lined up though it goes something like this

For those more patriotic ex-Pats here is a chance to pay tribute to the Queen that presided over the golden age of the Industrial Revolution and Empire (the trains to Scotland actually went faster then than they do now). Those wishing to visit by train are advised that although first class accommodation is available and there is no longer a surcharge for sitting in a different side of the coach on the outward journey to the homeward one.

Epilogue

I think this will probably be the last photo story of the year as winter is definitely upon us though I reserve the right to do another one if we get either ice or snow.

Well I must say I've really enjoyed this and would like to thank my readers out there in Netland where every you may be for sticking with this as weve had a few technical problems along the way. I have plenty of ideas for the post-Christmas period and the New Year and if theres a film I think is worth checking out I'll do a review as usual. I guess the thing to do now is to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year though I have to say its still a bit early for me.

The Author

I'll finish with a map the problems I had with this ! As usual the route was on two sections of the map but I've tried to give an idea of the routes. On the left you can just see Woerden and Oudewater at the end of the second ride. Tiel the start point is in the middle. I headed North towards Rhenen then crossed the Waal following its banks before crossing again and stopping then picking up the train at Elst.