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Thursday 31 December 1998
Checked a 10m high steel billboard along the A20 near Terbregge. It's built from steel H-beams and kept under tension by steel cables. It is possible to climb it along the cables. But it's not something I would do alone, too many new techniques to try. I'll have to convince Walter to come along.
Wednesday 30 December 1998
Bought new climbing gear: three slings and a new klettersteig-set (Petzl/Zyper) for climbing urban structures. My wife insisted that I should buy a climbing-helmet if I wanted to continue my climbing adventures. I obliged and bought a nice dark-grey one.
The friendly salesman agreed with my wife. He told me he had some fresh stitches in his head. He was practicing ice-climbing techniques on the granite quay-walls. Then his ice-axe slipped and he hit himself on the head with it. He knew Jan van der Meulen, and was present when Jan put up the artificial route near the Willemsbrug. I gave him the adress of my website.
Called Walter and found out he had also bought new gear: 20m of dynamic climbing rope and three "quickdraws". We went billboard-climbing at the "Brainpark" (Kralingsezoom). The first one was 15m high and built from round steel tubing. It was very easy to climb and to secure. The second was made from 9x17cm wooden beams. All our attempts failed. The slanting wooden beams were to steep and too smooth. The third and fourth billboards were just the same, so we skipped them. The fifth billboard was behind a fence and didn't seem worth the trouble. Then we walked 500m through the mud towards the sixth billboard. High, steel H-beams with a convenient ladder starting at 3m from the ground. It should have been easy but because of all the rain it stood in the middle of a 20cm deep pool of water. We didn't want to get wet feet and wet ropes. Also the electricity-cables are running through the pool. We tried to climb the H-beams but our wet feet were too slippery. So the score is 5:1 for the billboards.
Then we explored an artwork and a footbridge near the "Oosterhof". Both are climable and may be goals for future projects.
Monday 28 December 1998
Found three new climbing routes in the center of Rotterdam.
Saturday 5 December 1998
Explored Blaak station, the train tunnel, the Schielandtoren and the corresponding parking garage. Took two tunnel photographs. Discovered that climbing the arch of the station should be possible. Discovered a grating that goes to the 7th floor of an appartment building and that is climbable. Got renewed permission to climb the chimney at Kleinpolderplein. Inspected the base of the chimney and measured the steps.
Saturday 27 November 1998
Went exploring with my son in the late afternoon. We drove to the "Kleinpolderplein" and parked the car in Overschie. From the highway you can see two old, high, brick chimneys and a factory that looks deserted (some broken windows etc.).
It turned out that both chimneys are now part of illegal-looking car painter's shops. But the inhabitants/owners were very kind. When I asked if I could take a picture the owner said: "Come in, at the back there are some big dogs, but as long as you don't put your hand in their cage they won't do anything." After talking a while I asked him if one day I could climb the chimney. And he gave me permission "... as long as you do it on your own responsibility ..." I hope he sticks to his promise when we arrive with the rope and climbing gear.
The factory was still in use and was locked.
The inhabitants of the car shops around the other chimney also didn't mind me taking pictures. They even told me that someone already had climbed the chimney. They assured me that it won't be torn down, because it's a monument. It's owned by the Van der Valk family who intend to put a hotel there some time in the future.
The walk around the "Kleinpolderplein" (a multi-level crossing of several highway viaducts and bridges) was nice. Winter evening atmosphere. Found a narrow path between the highway and the fence of the ROTEB (the municipal waste disposal company). At the end of this path you get a nice view of the old "Van Nelle" factory and the modern jail (a slick building covered with blue and orange tiles).
Took some pictures, but it's a difficult time for photography. At 17:15 it's already dark. I hope that the pictures that I took with shutter times of "1/15" and "1/6" have turned out well.
Saturday 21 November 1998
Participated in a guided tour of the underground tram-tunnel and parking garage they are building in The Hague. We had a group of about 15 people. I was with my son. We were fitted out with white helmets and walked 0,5 km through a busy shopping street before we could go down into the tunnel. We looked very professional and drew some attention from the shoppers.
The construction site was interesting, approximately four floors underground. It will be the tunnel entrance and it will house a tram-station and parking garage, so it is a huge underground space. We could not go far into the tunnel, because they use a construction technique where first the tunel walls and floor are constructed in poured concrete, and only afterwards the sand is scooped out. So although the tunnel is finished, you can only go as far as 100 meters inside before you hit a wall of sand.
Wednesday 18 November 1998
Got an unexpected e-mail from an explorer in Amsterdam. He wrote:
"Adventures in the last 10 days:
Looks like a promising contact!
Tuesday 17 November 1998
I had intended to inspect the Konings-tunnel they are building in The Hague (during the lunch-break) but I didn't dare. The fence of the building-site was wide open but I thought I would be too conspicuous in my office-clothes. All the workmen wore old checquered shirts, old jeans and helmets. So I continued my walk and ended up in the city-hall. It's a beautiful white building, with a large inside space and glass elevators.
I hung around on the 11th floor until a janitor went inside pushing his cart of cleaning supplies. I held the door open for him and went in after him. On the 11th floor is the cafetaria of the city hall. There are also several meeting rooms. I tried several doors untill I found one that was open and gave access to the terrace/roof. I had my camera with me so I took some new view-pictures for the website. In the cafetaria you could donate money for the victims in Honduras and Nicaragua so I also took this chance ...
In the city-information center in the city-hall I found out that there are guided tours through the tunnel-buliding-sites, so I immediately put my name on the list for the tour of the 21st November.
On the opposite side of the city hall is the FORUM-building. I also went in there and took a picture of the view from the 12th floor. The door to the roof was locked, but the door to the air-conditioning installation was open. After I gathered all my courage I switched on the lights and started to install the flashlight on my camera. Then I stood in the middle of the room, ready to take a picture. In that very moment the door opened and an engineer came in! We were both equally startled. He didn't threaten to call the security but he insisted that I should take no pictures without asking permission first. So I have no pictures of this one. My lunch-break had taken 1 hour longer than planned, so I had to make up for this in the evening.
Sunday 15 November 1998
Repeated the same walk with the family. Cool but sunny wather. I wanted to show them this part of the city, but I also had a hidden agenda. I wanted to photograph the empty house-blocks along the Zinkerstraat / Feyenoordkade. According to a large billboard they will be renovated some time in the future.
Found out that you can see the old brick walls and arches of the old warehouse "The five continents" by going into the toilets. Then you're about 1 meter below the water level. If you walk through the door at the end of the toilet you can see more of the old brickwork. Look out, it locks behind you and then the only door left is the emergency exit to the outside.
Climbed the temporary wooden fence around the empty houses at the Feyenoordkade. To my surprise my wife cooperated this time (when she goes for a walk she likes to walk, not hang around) and I left my backpack and my son with her and took only the camera. Several empty houses of 3-4 floors and one half of an old school building. I didn't venture too far inside when I saw the loose bricks 10 meter above my head. I should buy a helmet some time ...
Several people saw me climbing the fence, but no one minded. Also several people saw me climbing back. Then I put too much weight on the fence and broke one of the planks. I used a brick from the pavement to hammer it back. Still no one minded.
Saturday 14 November 1998
Discovered some abandoned house-blocks (Feijenoordkade) and one old factory building (Piekstraat).
Sunday 8 November 1998
Did a late autumn exploration of the Terbregseplein.
Sunday 18 October 1998
Went climbing with Walter in the afternoon. We explored the climbing routes along the quay's that were opened by Jan van der Meulen.
Monday 12 October 1998
Went climbing in the "Monte Cervino" climbing hall, with Patrick, Dennis and Walter. We evaluated the Mc'Donalds billboard climb and found we had made some safety errors.
Saturday 10 October 1998
At 7:45 I met with Dennis and Patrick in Zoetermeer for the Mc'Donalds billboard climb.
Sunday 4 October 1998
Met with Patrick and Dennis in Rotterdam at 14:00 for the HANNO light-mast climb. Went for a cappucino in "Cafe Rotterdam" afterwards.
Staurday 3 October 1998
Was able to infiltrate the
Boompjesflat.
Checked out Jan van der Meulen's
climbing-routes on harbor-quays.
Sunday 27 September 1998
The last weekend of the "fortress month". Visited the fortress "Vechten" near Utrecht.
Saturday 26 September 1998
Visited the Hanno Goods Terminal at the end of Katendrecht.
Saturday 19 September 1998
A theatre company gave a performance in the old warehouse in St. Jobs harbour, the Blaauwhoedenveem . All the tickets were sold out, but I was put on the waiting list. In the meantime I walked the surroundings and discovered a small pumping station next to the former Schiecentrale.
I found one specimen of the "thorn-apple" (datura stramonium). I had been looking for this plant a long time. A very beautiful, very poisonous plant. I collected some seeds and will plant them on my balcony next year.
Friday 18 September 1998
Dennis is back from Italy and he has bought a rucksack full of climbing gear. We decided to climb outside on the 35 meter "mountain" in Bergsenhoek. (This is a concrete miniature model of the Matterhorn, it's part of the "Monte Cervino" climbing center.) Dennis showed me the techniques. While following Dennis to the top I broke every rule in the book, using every hold on the wall, using the quickdraws as holds, ...
The view from the top was great, it was getting dark and we could see the city lights in the distance. While abseiling I made a beginner's mistake of not looking where my ropes were going and I didn't notice that one of them was stuck in the upper part of the wall. So when I was 10 meters above the ground I was stuck. Dennis was more worried than I and was already thinking how he could rescue me from an embarassing situation. But I still had several quickdaws so I fastened myself to a bolt in the wall, then unclipped and carefully climbed down to the ground. Dennis abseiled next, and he was able to free the rope, it had curled around one of the holds.
Thursday 17 September 1998
Infiltrated the appartment building Maaszicht in IJsselmonde.
Saturday and Sunday, 12/13 September 1998
I was away for the weekend with the chamber choir and explored the church towers and roof.
Thursday 10 September 1998
Found a species of nightshade (solanum) at the station in Gouda that I had never seen before.
Tuesday 8 September 1998
Found several wild tomato-plants in the center of The Hague.
Sunday 6 September 1998
I had planned a boating expedition to Nieuwerkerk, but I had an attack of the flu and was so tired that I stayed in bed most of the afternoon, watching CNN. In the evening I checked out the site by car. It's worth the trouble of taking the rubber boat there. There are lots of trees and under the bridge there is a nice quiet atmosphere. You can float under the bridge, and maybe you can gain access to a large water purification plant. There are signs on this site that say "Mortal danger (Levensgevaarlijk terrein)", but there is no apparent danger at all. I think I will call them and ask about this danger.
Saturday 5 September 1998
Once a year there is an "open house" in the Port of Rotterdam. I took my son and my mother with me and we went on a guided tour. By bus we visited several otherwise unaccessible places where they unload containers from ships and put them on trains. Incredibly large machinery!
Sunday 30 August 1998
Went out with my son to check out some buildering routes that had been opened by Jan van der Meulen. We were able to find two of them.
We also discovered a 9-story building that is standing above the water on concrete poles. Must be fun to float under in in the rubber boat.
Saturday 29 August 1998
Went exploring in the harbor with my son. We visited the Fertilizer Terminal and the deserted HANNO site.
Tuesday 25 August 1998
Had a very pleasant evening while interviewing Jan van der Meulen about his buildering stunts in Rotterdam.
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