6 ferries exploring the River Maas: Gennep to Lottum
A wonderful breakfast with mostly farm produced food was a good start for the day. Fresh eggs, freshly squeezed orange juice, jams, bread, coffee...
As we rode through the forest back to the river, we saw a young woman with a walking trailer resting by the road. We have seen her before and have wondered about her route.
In the Netherlands, we are learning so much about what is available for campers. The Nature Kamps we knew about. But on this trip we are discovering that there is also a vast network of small campsites with unique qualities providing personal attention: "Klein (or Mini) Kamping available on farms as well as "Vekabo" "Haystack") Kamps. There are about 1600 Vekabo sites in the Netherlands (identifiable on the sign by the haystack logo) and they can be camping &/or B&B's. Clearly the Dutch love to camp and there are so many options for intimate camping situations with good amenities. Unlike Belgium, where we could only seem to find mega commercial campgrounds, the Netherlands offers so much more. When riding, preplanning is not necessary as there are so many campgrounds, many of which are not even on the map. At the height of the summer season, we have never been turned away from a campground.
Ferries were a delightful part of our day as we wound our way back and forth across the River Maas. The fare ranged from 1.40 to 2 euros for us and our bike. The ferries run continuously from early morning until 9 or 10 at night. No matter how few passengers there are, the ferry goes. One car or one cyclist can be all there is. Some of the ferries are on a cable, so the captain is able to collect fares and not worry about being at the helm. They seem to know instinctively how close to shore they can be before they race back to the controls.
After 7 km of riding, we crossed via ferry from Afferden. We followed a winding narrow bike path through cow pastures and forests. We stopped for lunch at a picnic table directly on the Maas and watched the boats and many people enjoying the hot weather.
In the early afternoon, we once again saw the young woman walking with a trailer. We discovered that she is walking the Reitsma route to Rome on her own. She hopes to be in Rome in 3 months. We admire her independent spirit and strength. Many nights she wild camps if nothing else is available. We wish her well.
Generally we had a delightful day of riding, albeit a hot one and stopped for ice cream to cool down. Hertog Jan is a beer we have enjoyed while travelling here, and we unexpectedly came upon the brewery in Arcen. We were too late to take a tour but we enjoyed checking it out. On the outskirts of Arcen we also came across a historic watermill dating from the 1600's. It is now a restaurant and a distillery for Ginever liquor.
Our intended destination was a campground at Venlo or Blerick, but when we saw a campground across the river on the Maas right by the ferry, we thought why not? It will be our sixth ferry of the day and we get to camp right on the river. Landhuis de Maashof is another delightful Klein Kamping that we have discovered. The owner is an artist and the grounds are beautiful - a rose garden, artistic touches throughout the grounds, free wifi and only 12 euros. We chose a sight under the trees on the river with a view of all of the activity - ferries and river boats. A fitting place to stop after a good day of riding on the River Maas.
Typically in the Netherlands, the house and barn are attached and our room was on the second floor to the left. We enjoyed going to sleep to the sound of cows and sheep as well as the "rooster alarm clock" in the morning.
On our way from Carpe Diem, rested and well fed, ready to explore more of the Maas River. But first we will ride through parts of the National Forest Maasduinen. Many walkers and cyclists come to this area to take advantage of the many trails and beautiful surroundings.
The logo on this sign indicates that it is a Vekabo "Haystack" Mini Camping/Accomodation. The haystack is a farm structure where hay is stored and as it is filled, the roof moves higher up the poles. There are over 1000 of these throughout the Netherlands. Typically they offer inexpensive, quiet rural camping and the second logo shows that there is a B&B on sight as well- no membership needed to stay here.
Seavo has seen and been transported on many ferries - both at home and in Europe. Unlike at home where ferry terminals always seem to have a big hill to climb off the ferry, we really like that the access here is flat.
We have been in and out of provinces today - now it is Limburg. We have come full circle, as we were in Limburg earlier on this trip when we came from Maastricht.
We have loved riding the LF routes in the Netherlands (long distance fietser "cycling" routes). LF3 represents the last of these for this trip. We will leave the LF3 at Roermond and then follow the Roer River route.
This dog had just gotten off the ferry. We had just stopped at a bike friendly hotel off the ferry and pumped up our tires. The dog was quite curious about who we were and what we were doing.
It was inspiring talking to this woman. She is on a three month walking trip from Amsterdam to Rome. We had seen her earlier in the day and we joked that she was faster than us!
The brewery for Hertog Jan beer in Arcen. Hertog Jan has been operating for 100 years and it is responsible for rekindling the beer industry here. For us, it is one of the best beers we have tried in the Netherlands. The pipe in the lower right of the photo is a pipeline that sends beer to the official brewery pub across the street.
Another ferry - this one goes to Lottum. We took this ferry (our sixth of the day) to get to our campground directly above the shore where the ferry docks.
