The sites around Steenwijkerwold

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Berend and Islemary were my hosts for two days in this tiny village near the Friesland border.
The weather was nice when I took the train from Zutphen to Steenwijk and remained OK for the afternoon, but by evening rain and wind had set in.
In the afternoon we went to the canal town of Giethoorn where there are many water related activities such as canooeing and canal trips as well as a lake to sail on. This is a popular tourist spot with walkways and paths, bikes to hire and cafes to sit in. In the winter the canals freeze and are used for long distance skating. It's an extremely popular holiday spot, really pretty.
Another town nearby is Blokzijl which was once a harbour. Now its an inland water town as a new dyke was built and the poulder lands reclaimed for farm use. It takes 10 years once the water has been pumped out for the salinty to abate and for the land to become farmable. We travelled along the top of the old dyke which has the area on one side with old houses and farm lands and the other side with new houses and much higher land. Pockets of water are on the old side which are now like ponds or small lakes. Old cannons are dotted around the landscape both in the town and on the dock ready to be fired as a warning back in the days when the sea was rough and running high and threatening to flood the farms.
Finally we went into the nearby province of Drenthe to see the Hunebedden which are 5000 year old burial sites. Huge stones are laid out almost in the spine formation in various sites. The land around them is sandy and the vegetation almost like that of sand dune plants.

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Photos

Canal crossing
Roads open up to let boats through

Blokzijl
A harbour town without a sea which has been here since the 1500's

Blokzijl
houses from 1660

Blokzijl
the smallest house

Blackberries
These are everywhere

Comments

[Ilsemary]

Steenwijkerwold
I'm so sorry that the weather was so bad. Next time, Berend and I hope you'll come back to see more.