Rijsbergen, Holland: 18-19 August 2018
As this event was on the weekend immediately after Teston 30th Anniversary Weekend, some of us decided to save time
and mileage by going there directly from Teston - so 4 of us caught the ferry from Dover to Calais on Monday 13 August
(Keith & Dicky, Alan & Anne)... Bob & Carole, Andrew & Sandra followed later.
The route via Ghent & Antwerp was littered with tempting exits (eh Andrew?)
Although somebody took a detour via Antwerp Ikea, for some reason...
Our good Git Chum, Patrik Koppen had told us about Berkenstrand Campsite at Retie in Belgium,
near his home in Arendonk and on the way to Rijsbergen - what a beautiful lake!
They were very strict about the loos - both doggy ones and hooman ones!
Bob & Carole arrived later. We stayed there for 2 nights, and had a lovely time with Patrik & Marijke
Parik was keen for us to pay a visit to his local booze warehouse - he knows it well!
Blimey - will we get it all in the car???
That afternoon Patrik took us to Gasthof De Beiaard in Postel, where we had a nice walk and a few lovely beers!
First a gentle (but quite long...) walk in the forest...
There were some ancient constructions to be photographed...
They had some seriously dangerous plants in the herb garden, and the biggest solar array we saw all trip.
Then it was clearly beer time - though we were a bit tempted by the ribs being barbecued!
"Maybe next time, boys?"
Wednesday 15th August - we set off in convoy from Retie to Rijsbergen, with just a few unplanned detours en route...
but we all got there somehow... and were delighted to meet up with some very good old friends
That evening Andrew & Sandra provided us all with Shepherd's Pie - which need a bit of explaining to our non-English friends!
We persuaded Marijke that a Mud Slide was a wonderful thing, and just had to be tried...
We think she liked it... when she stopped coughing...
Thursday & Friday we were busy settling in, and doing some local shopping,
as we expected to be very busy flying kites and mucking about over the festival weekend
As darkness fell each night, the bottles came out to play...
We were unsure whether or not to thank Dick Toonen for introducing us to Nozem Oil...
But it would have been rude to refuse a sample of this "interesting" concoction...
Time to assemble the GOG Chariot... and then test the KLAXON!
Saturday 18 August - Kites & fun all day, then a parade and more kites after dark!
Dick Toonen & Rene Baremans being interviewed by Marlies Daamen-van Den Broek of Rijsbergen Digitaal
Youtube Video by Rijsbergen Digitaal
Saturday afternoon, almost ready for the Night Flight!
Click HERE to see the full-sized photograph
Sunday 19th August -
We ventured out and found a self-service filling station... Instructions in Dutch caused some head-scratching...
Monday 20th August - Homeward Bound!
I learned one memorable lesson this weekend... the mosquitoes & wasps at Rijsbergen are different...
NONE of the recommended insect repellants, attractants and alleged "insect traps" are worth a damn.
The line-up of equipment taken especially for this event was as follows:-
Avon Skin So Soft Dry Oil Spray as used by the SAS and Sir Ranulph Fiennes up the Amazon,
and Xpel Citronella Spray = both 100% ineffective
Then there were the "scientifically proven" traps and insect attractant...
First there was the "cheap & cheerful" version with one UV LED and a little solar panel...
No luck when I tested it at home, so found the alleged "super attractant Octenol" on Amazon
Then there was the all-singing & dancing USB powered gizmo, with UV LEDs and fan to suck them in
& spread the scent - I even bought a 12 volt to 5 volt USB adaptor - all a waste of time and money
All the above items failed to trap a single mosquito or wasp over the entire weekend - all went in the trash bin!
However, we were very impressed by the improvised wasp trap, made from a 500ml water bottle and a spoonful of jam
- Guess what? when I made an exact copy of that trap at home a week later - it failed to trap a single insect!
Conclusion:- 3rd weekend in August is prime time for hungry wasps & mozzies in Holland!
Facebook Photo Albums:- Special moments by Clara + Peter Heayns #1 + Peter Heayns #2 +
Other Photo albums:- Geneviève and Jean-Luc Vansnickt
