Geocaching in my birth place 's-Hertogenbosch

Thursday, February 27, 2014

On a day out in 's-Hertogenbosch with my sister-in-law Gerrie I just had to go out to find a few caches, but not before we'd had our coffee with a Bossche Bol.

Bossche (chocolat) Bol

Now, that's a good start of a day out...

Beroemde Bosschenaar: Borghs

Janus Borghs aka Janus Kiep(oog)

The cache at this spot was most amazing, because I didn't know that a statue existed of this most well-known Bosschenaar: Janus Borghs aka Janus Kiep, who I remember from my childhood.  It's a shame though that the statue resides at the back of a bicycle parking lot.

My sister-in-law, who I may have bored with my stories about the activity, but who has never been out caching, discovered the container first!  A quick log and on we went, trying to get away from all the people who had already made a start celebrating carnival.

De Diest

Too late to duck away!

De Diest or Binnendieze

De Diest is dialect for De Dieze, or Binnendieze in full.  This Dieze is a network of waterways (delta of the rivers A and Dommel) through the 800 year old city, often running underneath the old buildings.  It used to be a kind of sewerage system, but was also used to deliver goods to various little businesses that would have a trapdoor in the floor through which the goods would be lifted from the boat below the floor of the building.

There are many rustic places in the city that make for beautiful pictures.  The above is but one of them.  The cache was hidden at a spot in the picture, and didn't take long to find.  I signed the log and we made our way back to the shops for lunch in a dryer and warmer place.

Hintham/Rosmalen - 's-Hertogenbosch

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Since I expected to have a little extra time before or after visiting family in Den Bosch I decided to download a cache in the area and luck was with me today.

Rosmalense Monumenten: H. Annakerk

H. Annakerk

cache location somewhere in the picture

An easy cache and quickly logged.  I could park almost in front!  For me this is really being on home ground. I can even tell you a story about this church.  Some 50 years ago my girlfriends and I attended Mass in this church early on a Sunday morning before we were going to set out for the Efteling on bike.  Yes, in those days we didn't think twice about a distance of 30 km or a 1.5 hr bike ride to visit a theme park!  Anyway, in church, when the priest was on the pulpit, one of my friends felt the need to draw a comb through her hair.  The priest saw this and she got berated in public.  Some time later a group of giggling teenagers left the church...  Ah, those were the days... :-)

Back in Liempde

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The third day with a bit of sunshine and no time to get on the bike.  What a shame!  However, today's visitors left early enough for me to enjoy the last bit of sunshine at the end of the afternoon and so I got on the bike to find yet another cache close by.

Het Meulke

The name is most likely derived from the name meuleken, which in turn is Brabant's dialect for molen (mill).

A long time ago an old mill had been situated near the above little bridge: De Antselse Watermolen (The Water Mill of Antsel).  This mill was used for the tanning of leather.

Nowadays there is a viewing tower from which one can see the fields all around.  Today's pictures were taken in the late afternoon sunshine.

The cache was an easy find, although my GPS kept sending me in different directions.  Luckily it wasn't a nano nor was it well-camouflaged, so I could log it quickly and be on my way again to enjoy my bike ride.

Adding Purmerend to the list

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Normally I don't mention caches that I haven't found, but this time I am going to make an exception, because I only had time to search for two caches while I was away from 'home'.  After groceries shopping in the morning the weather cleared sufficiently for a nice walk so my hosts and I set out to find a cache not far away from their place.

Team Jelto's 1st cache

Team Jelto's 1st cache

As I didn't bring my GPS and had had a look only on the satellite map I only had a vague idea where to look for the cache.  Unfortunately it seemed to be on the water's edge in the reeds and this place was quite wet. For good measure we had a look along the timber edge of the little island, but to no avail.  Ah well, we had a nice walk, which was the main aim anyway.

Snacken in Purmerend

Snacken in Purmerend

This is a cache near the big M restaurant in Purmerend, but the actual hiding spot is away from it.  Luckily it was an easy find and I also had a chance to test my new GPS on accuracy.  My host went with me for the search and I was glad we found it, so the trip in his car was worthwhile and also, he now had a taste of the strange activity I had been talking about.  Caching is not yet as well-known as I'd thought, even though it's now in its 13th year...

And Boxtel is next

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

When I am writing this it's already February 18.  I have been rather busy visiting friends and family, so geocaching ended up on the back burner temporarily.

However, on Tuesday last week the forecast was for a cold, but sunny morning with rain expected in the afternoon, so what better than to get the bike and go for a ride.  As I hadn't been to Boxtel yet I transferred a few caches to my GPS and stepped outside into the cool morning air. Two of the caches were either in or near a front yard.  I decided to get those first, but... once there I felt too self conscious to walk into someone's front yard.  Even doubting myself and wondering if it was the right one...  Oh well, it added to the ride and the track went past a pond with lots of swans that expected me to have some bread for them.  Poor things.  Probably next time.

The planned route went past the supermarket, so I did some groceries shopping first before I went on my merry way again.  Then on to the older town centre.

De Keistamper

Statue De Keistamper

Not one of the easiest one in a busy street, but when you're on your bike and hold a map in your hand it's easy to distract passers by. :-)  I signed the log and took a picture like a real tourist and nobody was any the wiser.

Met STIP op de kaart ... Boxtel

This cache apparently is part of a series: met STIP op de kaart.  At least, I have seen various caches starting with this.  It means that every town is a DOT on the map, so in this case the DOT on the map is Boxtel. Also, the DOT generally points to the town centre, which for Boxtel is near its church:

The cache however is some 10 metres from the church and hidden in the general area in this picture:

Met STIP op de kaart ... Boxtel

It took a while for me to find this one.  Walking around with a GPS in one hand and your bike on the other is not the best thing to do.  Next time I should remember to park the bike somewhere first.  It didn't help that the cache was a nano of the smallest kind, but eventually I discovered it and was able to sign the log, which had left just enough room for a D and the date.  The CO however replaced the log on the same day of my maintenance note.  Well done!

After this one I had another cache on my list, but I couldn't fine that one.  It shouldn't be too hard, so who knows, if time permits I might go back before I return home.

More geocaching in Liempde

Monday, February 10, 2014

As we finally had a dry day today it was time to go out on the bike again.  Dry, but overcast, and the watery sun was trying to break through, but couldn't quite make it.  I took both my car navigator and the geocaching GPS to go in search of caches as well as a map, but it pays to have a good look on the map at home first to orientate yourself. In particular when you're not looking with a buddy and find yourself in unfamiliar places. On the other hand, it's handy to have a map with you as well, to throw muggles off... ;-)

Duits lijntje - Liempde - Duits treintje NpfJ 

This cache was again part of the series Duits Lijntje (Little German railway) as explained in the last update.  The building is the old railway station, looking more like an old farmhouse in the picture, but a closer look shows clearly the style of older railway station buildings when you are familiar with them. As with the others, this was an easy find.

NpfJ (7) Karthuizerhoeve

On the way to Boxtel was another cache hidden and since I didn't want to search for a particular cache in the series Duits Lijntje, I decided to ride to Boxtel instead.  The other cache was hidden near a bridge, but at this time of the year the ground is quite damp (if not downright wet and muddy, like it was in France last year) so I wanted to steer away from the water.

This cache was hidden near a hoeve. Hoeve is the old fashioned word for farm, and as with the other caches, there was a story connected to the farm.  I was lucky to find everything in place, because in the past the white sculpture had been removed, which wrecked havoc with the cache, and later replaced.  However, I think they must be happy with the current spot.  Easy find again.  So far, in the Netherlands, I find the hints and pictures are quite clear and there is not always a need to use the GPS to find the actual GZ.

When I will post a next find?  I have no idea.  The forecast is for rain till at least the end of the week...

Geocaching in Liempde - Noord Brabant

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

After having been cooped up inside the house for a few days it was time to get the bicycle out and go in search of a cache close by:

Duits lijntje - Boxtel - De Kei NpfJ (1)

De Kei (The Boulder) and the bike in the background

This cache is part of a series: Duits Lijntje.  Duits Lijntje is an obsolete railway, still in existence, but no longer in use, which ran from Boxtel in The Netherlands, to Wesel in Germany.  It was closed for passengers in 1950 and for goods transport in 2004.

It's only a ten minute ride from where I am stationed, so I got the push bike out for a short ride.  It was not too cold, but quite windy.  I was happy I could do this on an e-bike...  The boulder was an easy find and the hint clear enough to enable me to find the cache without the use of the GPS.  However, after checking for GZ I discovered that I would have been way off.  I don't know if it's my new GPS or the overcast sky, but glad that I didn't have to make the trip twice!