(Haren, the Netherlands)

On August 16, we arrived in the town of Haren for a four-day stay in the northern Dutch province of Groningen.  I didn’t really know what to expect, as I have never been  to this part of the Netherlands before.  Haren is a town just outside the city of Groningen and looked rather prosperous upon arrival.

My cousin Nienke is helping us out up here and she had arranged for me to take part in a wadlopen tour on August 18.   Wadlopen can be roughly translated as “mudwalking” – taking advantage of low tides, it is possible (with a guide) to walk from the northern coast of the Netherlands to some of the Frisian islands located 10-15 km off the coast.  The exposed earth is very muddy and you often have to cross channels that are still filled with water.  Because you can get disoriented and drown, a guide is required.  Fatigue can also be a factor, as the trek is physically demanding and can take from 4 to 6 hours.  Finally, of course, you will get extremely muddy and it is possible (or even probable) that your shoes and clothing will be ruined.

On August 17, after determining that my intended mudwalking shoes were not high enough to avoid getting stuck in the mud (basketball shoes are recommended), we went to the village of Pieterburen to rent some special shoes.  We combined it with a car tour of the northern part of Groningen province.  It is filled with quaint little towns and villages.

Alas, after renting the shoes and returning to Haren, I received the news that the wadlopen had been cancelled.  The weather forecast for August 18 was abysmal, with thunderstorms and heavy rain in the forecast.  As a consequence, the channels were expected to be very deep and not suitable for crossing.   While disappointing, the danger is very real and I am glad that the guides were professional enough to make safety the top priority.

As the rented shoes still needed to be returned, we decided to visit a Frisian island anyway…but take a boat there instead.  The destination was now Schiermonnikoog, a small but relatively unspoiled island that doesn’t receive as many visitors as the islands to the west.

The village (also called Schiermonnikoog) was very quaint, but the real attraction was hiking over and beyond the dunes to the massive beach that forms the northern shore of the island.  We arrived slightly after low tide and explored the shifting shoreline with a careful eye (to avoid getting cut off from the shore by the rising tide).  It was very peaceful:  the Netherlands are very densely populated but we really felt like we were at the edge of the world out on the north shore of Schiermonnikoog.

It would be misleading to say that the weather was perfect.  Although we didn’t hear too much thunder, it did rain on seven different occasions during the day (I stopped counting when we got back to Haren).  However, we were flexible with our schedule and retreated to a restaurant or café whenever the rain became particularly heavy.  One establishment (Hotel van der Werff) was especially intriguing:  its décor probably hadn’t changed in a century.  While it almost felt like being in a museum, it also was very much alive with an interesting assortment of characters from the present day.

Although I didn’t get to go on the wadlopen, I still managed to walk for a couple of hours on the remote island of Schiermonnikoog…and my shoes lived to tell the tale!  I’m sure I’ll be back in this part of the Netherlands before long to try again.