A while ago, we were asked by our daughter and son-in-law if we would like to join them for a weekend in Drenthe (a province north-east of the Netherlands). Well.....yes so, super fun! During the weekend, we went for some nice (short and longer) walks.
The first: 'Naar de hunebedden' (To the dolmens) starts at the Hunebedcentrum in Borger. It is a walk of about 5 kilometres and the route (on paper) is available from the centre or via www.hunebedcentrum.eu.
Right at the start is Drenthe's largest dolmen: the D27. This dolmen is 22 metres long and also has the heaviest capstone (20,000 kilos!).
The walk goes past rolling meadows and fields towards the forest. In the forest is a small nature reserve with a landscape of sand drifts, heather and trees typical of Drenthe. At the end of the forest, just over halfway through the walk, there are two burial mounds (from the Bronze Age) and several dolmens. Surely the most beautiful is dolmen D21, which seems to have almost fused with a beech tree.
You then walk past a work of art 'the weightlifter' and follow a somewhat boring straight path back to the Hunebedcentrum. All in all, a nice walk where you also learn something about the history of the area.
An ice cream in the pretty village of Borger gives us enough energy to walk some more. From the park where we are staying (Roompot Lunsbergen), we cross the road and via a narrow forest path we arrive at the Lunsveen; a really beautiful little pond with a bench in the sun. And well, then it's sit and enjoy nature. There is a walk from here but it will have to wait.
The next morning, including four-legged Nelson, we set off early for the Lunsveen. The intention is to take the walk there. If anything, the little pond is even more beautiful than the day before. A light vapour hangs over the water and combined with the just-risen sun creates a beautiful atmosphere. We just stand there to take it in, because sitting is probably staying put and that is not the intention. So on with the walk.
A little further on, a flock of sheep stands staring a little ahead across the heathland. Around us lots of bird sounds and otherwise peace and quiet. Really enjoying this.
Further along the path, we come across a cattle with young. These are in the middle of the path and it seems better not to approach them too closely. Going around them is not an option either, so so much for following the marked route. But the area is so beautiful that taking another path turns out to be no punishment and so, after about two hours, we arrive back at the cottage satisfied. In time for breakfast.
Later that day, we walk a bit through a dog-walking area near Schoonloo and come to the conclusion that this part of Drenthe is quite beautiful.
Devils matchsticks lichen
During the morning walk, small red dots in the grass and against a tree stump caught my eye. These turned out to be the Devils matchsticks lichen (name found thanks to the Obsidentify app). The Devils matchsticks lichen is a rod-shaped lichen that is fairly common in light forests, heathland, drifting sands and dunes. I had honestly never seen this species before and it reminded me a bit of the cup moss from my blog 'Very small' but with a red top. I also used focus bracketing in this shot (see also the blog 'Very small').
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1 comment
Wat een leuke blog weer. Het was een gezellig weekend!