A Canoe Paddle to Rijpwetering, NL

This last weekend was absolutely gorgeous here in The Netherlands!  A full weekend of sun, warm temperatures and camping.  We couldn’t ask for much better. Seeing this morning forecast (which in the 12 years I have lived here, I have found to be less than accurate) is for rain this entire week through the weekend I am glad we got in some paddling this last weekend.

Being a long weekend for most people here (Thursday was a holiday), the campground was full. The downside of a large campground is the amount of noise on a busy weekend. Nothing like young girls screaming at the top of their lungs during the day. Then it switched to drunk men laughing at stupid jokes late at night.  An investment in good ear plugs is necessary for the summer.

On Saturday morning we started out on a planned trip to have lunch at a restaurant in Rijpwetering which is a small town not far by road from the camping. The restaurant sits on the water. We decided to paddle to the restaurant. Then paddle an alternative return route through some farmland back to the campground.  Depending on the wind at start time we would then determine the start direction and route of travel.

Winds were out of the Southwest and so we started with entering De Kaag lake first to have the wind in our backs.

The gentle breeze pushed us as we paddled across the lake into a canal. That canal leads into another lake, Koppoel.  We stopped along the canal to shed my hot wool base layer and to take some landscape pictures.  I never get tired of seeing old windmills and flat Dutch landscapes.

The unusual crystal clear blue sky made it a perfect morning for capturing these images.

As we entered Koppoel Lake we saw the bridge that we would have to go under as we heading back on our return trip.  It seemed a bit low but the Captain (aka Hubby) said that it was high enough for us to get under without issue.

As we paddled across the lake we had people pass us in boats heading out to the De Kaag (or somewhere else) for the day.  We saw families enjoying the morning at their boat houses, and others preparing boats to launch for a day on the water.  The Rijpwetering church bell chimed 10:00 as we paddled into its view from the lake.

We pulled the canoe up to the waterside restaurant called the Paerdeburgh. Then found a nice place on their terras in the shade to sit, have coffee, and order an early lunch.

The Paerdeburgh has this statue of Joop Zoetemelk who was from Rijpwetering.  This small town produced this 1985 World Champion cyclist.

After a healthy lunch we loaded ourselves back into our canoe and continued our paddle back through the town canal back towards Koppoel Lake.  We passed another restaurant De Vergulde Vos (The Golden Fox) that has existed for 400 years.  We plan on a paddle and a visit to this older establishment later this summer.

The second part of this paddle was more about taking it easy.  Limbo canoe under four bridges and paddle through the farmland that was not only full of dairy cattle and sheep but teaming with birds and hare.

A rare photo of the Hubby in action capturing the following animal photos.

A close up of the Grutto looks almost like an impressionist painting.

I was sitting, waiting, and enjoying the time we had on the water.

As with any paddle adventure, we now come to the…

 

 

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