Date: 18th June 2022
Travelled: 155 kms from Zwolle to Bourtange, North-East Netherlands
Visited: Hunebedden
Stayed: Camping tโPlathnis, โฌ20, N53.00910, E7.18200ย
Budget: 25 days @ โฌ100 per day
It was warm overnight in Zwolle, the breeze dropped away about 8pm and suddenly it seemed very humid. We got our little fan out and ran it overnight which helped take the edge off.
Itโs Saturday market morning here in Zwolle and we take the opportunity to get some fresh bread. cooked chicken pieces and some fruit. The strawberries ๐ here in Holland are just amazing.
We have a longish drive today, so we set the GPS for Hunebedden (a UNESCO Global Geopark) for some exploring and a leg stretch. After 20 kms on the freeway itโs the N roads today.
Eventually we arrive in Borger, the place is buzzing and the Hymer is as popular as a pork chop scattering cyclists as we rip around a couple of round-abouts into the information centre car-park which on reflection may have not actually been a car-park. The lady in the tourist office seems a little surprised that a couple from Sydney would want to visit a Hunebedden. I tell her Pam has a thing for old rocks. She apologises, as they have run out of English information brochures, I thank her and tell her Google translate works a treat.
The Dutch are the neatest gardeners and every town appears to be running a beautiful homes competition but Borger takes the cake for lovely houses, lots of thatch roofs and beautiful gardens.
The Hunebedden Geopark is a km or so out of town, it also boasts an outdoor museum but the lady back at the tourist office gave me the not highly recommended frown. So we save the entry fee and walk off down the path. In brief itโs a burial chamber consisting of a series of standing stones, supporting larger stones to form a chamber. Constructed by the Fennel People some 5,000 years ago, the chambers when excavated were found to contain ashes and bone fragments. Obviously the Fennel took funerals pretty seriously as the stones weight up to 2,500 kgs.
Apparently there are 50 more of these burial sites to be found along a 30 kms stretch of the N34, however the largest and the best preserved of these we have now done, so we find a parking spot in the shade and have a late lunch.
We continue east now toward the German border. Itsโ a slow drive but picturesque, we are not in a hurry and itโs all part of the adventure. I have the co-ordinates for a campsite on the outskirts of Bourtange in the GPS and we arrive an hour after leaving Borger.
Bourtange, Groningen, The Netherlands
Checking in, the manager tells me, itโs a come when you like, go when you like, type of place. I order a baguette and a couple of croissants for tomorrow morning and I suspect weโll like the place just fine.
Michael + Pam
