August 1, 2018
Heide to Het Inj, allotment campground.
From Venray’s Shade to the Sun Ray’s Sizzle.
Wednesday 1st August 47kms
Heide to Het Inj, allotment campground.
From Venray’s Shade to the Sun Ray’s Sizzle.
Another hot start to the day. The mission is to pack up and have the tent away before breaking into a sweat.
Breakfast is fairly perfunctory as we need to buy yoghurt. This we do en route. At Venray we pause and catch up on replenishment of meusli, yoghurt and coffee.
Whilst looking for the German war cemetery in Venray, we are assisted by a local man, who assumes our interest is in the British site. He is keen to guide us there, so we follow him. Once he knows we are NZers, he enthuses about his two visits: once on cycle, and later in motor home.
The British cemetery has 5 NZ graves amongst the 600 others. Unfortunately we don’t get to the We can only imagine the German cemetery with its 31,598 crosses.
The Battle of Overloon was fought nearby. Venray's St Pieter's church tower was a German lookout, so the RAF took care of that. The rebuilt church has a medieval collection of wooden art which we want to see, but would have to wait til 2 pm to do so. A nearby garden has a Liberation story board of the final days of the occupation.
Onwards we ride. At times beside the river which can be crossed by ferry. We are in the Rose growing area of Limburg and rewarded with colourful vistas. All is very quiet. There is no one in the park where we lunch. But it is hot.
Kessel is charming and we find the next map there, and then the N273. Near Haelen, we take a dip into data and discover camping on the side road opposite.
Het Inj has a small sign under the trees, an unassuming driveway and an old shed full of machinery where we stop. There are glasshouses before us. Eventually find the man in charge and he leads us down past the caravans to a spacious grassy area where we park under a pear tree. There is a sizeable garden here, which is maintained by one of the caravan residents. He stays from April to November. He has supplied the "Gratis" basket out on the road, with cucumber and courgettes. Dinner solved.
Unfortunately, whilst cooking the courgettes, and changing the gas bottle midway, I neglect to re-install the flange that the pan sits on. There is melting of the Jetboil 's base and it is no longer a stable platform. Dinner does get done and water boiled for tea, but much regret over such a mistake.
Today's ride: 47 km (29 miles)
Total: 2,727 km (1,693 miles)
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