The island of Dordrecht in the Netherlands has some very nice hiking areas. Personally, I find the naturepath (or my variation of it) that starts at Oosthaven the most varied and challenging. The challenge lies mainly in the fact that the area is outside the dykes and therefore partly submerges when the river is high. This can make parts of the route less passable, unless you are wearing boots, and you will also sometimes have to deviate a little from the route or walk over small fallen tree trunks. But with plenty of other small paths, you can always have a nice walk there.
There we go
The alarm goes off before five o'clock this day. Pretty early for a Saturday, but I would like to be at Oosthaven before dawn. It is now the end of May and as it is only a 15-minute drive I arrive at the otherwise deserted car park in plenty of time. You can park at the Oosthaven itself but possibly also on the other side of the dike at P4 of the Nieuwe Dordtse Biesbosch. Also a nice walking area by the way, but more about that in a later blog.
This close to sunrise is always a beautiful moment. Birds start chirping nicely, on the horizon it already gets a little light and it is otherwise mostly very quiet.
Disadvantage of this time of day is that the path and especially the holes in it are poorly visible. So pay close attention. After a few hundred metres, I reach the first beach along the river De Nieuwe Merwede. In the distance, the sky turns a little orange and I stop to take it all in. The path continues over sand with tall reeds on both sides. Suddenly a loud splash in the water but I see nothing else. A number of beavers live in this area, which I have seen on previous walks so I actually hope this was one of them. Onwards between high reeds and grass with a tree here and there until the next beach. Before I can sit down I see him swimming; the beaver. Remains beautiful and I follow him for a little bit until I can't see him anymore. That was a little present so early in the morning.
The path continues around a cove of sorts. As often, this stretch is very boggy but it is possible to walk. At the end of the cove, I sit down for a while and enjoy the rising sun, swans and geese in the distance and lots of bird sounds around me.
Enough sitting down; onwards between the pollard willows to a stretch of somewhat taller trees along the river. The rising sun colours the willows a beautiful orange-yellow and this makes the often already nicely shaped trees even more beautiful. After the next beach (yes, there are quite a lot of them), the path turns right and later left to cross a low dike with a cove on one side and tall willows on the other. This is a nice winding path that leads to a large reed bed. Turn left there and across the wide path between the reeds to yet another type of vegetation.
Here there are several tall trees a bit further apart with grass underneath. A bit forest or park-like, nice that constant variety. And that variety keeps on coming as the wide path turns into a narrow winding path between the tall Whistlewort and other flowers. Over and also under some fallen trees until you reach the cycle path. If you follow this cycle path you come to the Zuidhaven but I say bye to the sheep standing there and turn around.
A little way back along the same path, but after the winding path I turn left on a grassy path between pollard willows. Again, plenty of flowers, insects and bird sounds. When I come across a picnic spot, I spontaneously get hungry and decide to enjoy the surroundings and my chocolate cake for a while. Then in good spirits I continue and this time the path leads through a dark pollard willow forest. Somehow, a pair of ducks thinks it's a good idea to give me a good scare by flying up, quacking loudly. And thanks. But then again, I'm walking through their territory so that's allowed. The water is a bit higher here (or the path is lower), so to continue dry I have to balance a bit over tree trunks lying on the ground to form a little bridge. That works and I can continue with dry shoes. Well, dry, the dew on the ground has made them quite wet, but fortunately they are reasonably waterproof.
Almost at the end of the route, I pick up another small embankment and return to the original path leading to the car park via a small bridge.
Three and a half hours and 7.8 km further (well, I often stop for photos and just enjoy myself :-)), I am back at the car. What a nice morning this was again! The beauty of this area is that it feels completely different in every season, nature is allowed to take its course and so it never gets boring. I am lucky that it is so close by my home.
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8 comments
In Zwitserland, midden tussen de berg reuzen, is het geweldig NL op z’n mooist te zien!
Dank je!
Mooi verhaal Andy en weer prachtige foto’s van een stukje natuur zo dichtbij.
Dank je wel!
Is dit die zelfde wandeling op zoek naar de bevers die we met zijn viertjes hebben gelopen? Erg mooi en prachtige foto’s.Krijg er gewoon zin in om hem nogmaals te wandelen.Super An!
Ja klopt, dank je 😀
Ben trots op je….
😊