Week 29 It's not Pokemon

Week 29 It's not Pokemon

I get a "sometimes" email from a Frisian Tourism body called "Touristisch Netwerk". The latest one included reference to the (only days old) Pokemon Craze. Even around here it is good to see the youth out on the streets doing something other than "just hangin'".

Also in the Newsletter were references to "Audio Tours" and "Water Line Treasure Hunting". The latter being Geocaching, which we have been doing for a few years now. The water line caught my eye - in Dutch it was known as the Frisian Waterlinie and there were others, including The Groningen Waterlinie and more in the south of Holland. (The Grebbe Line, The Ijssel Line, The Maas Line).

So the Frisian Waterlinie Treasure Hunt is a Multiple Geocache set along the Frisian Waterlinie, which was a form of defence in the 1600's. It involved "flooding" the entire area and establishing forts and/or redoubts (earthen defensive positions) at the only places where invading forces could advance.

We had a Sunday afternoon free, so Janny, Anneke (Geocaching Stalwarts) and I (interested observer) set off with the downloaded information to do a few close to home (literally).
The Dutch word for redoubt is "schans".

Nearby:

Sterrenschans (Bakkeveen)

Schans Frieschepalen

Zwartendijksterschans

and a few others. We had to follow directions to a rough location and then find clues which would  result in coordinates of the hidden treasure.... in the form of a sealed plastic tube with a signature booklet, more information, and further questions - which could be answered by reading the extra information. The coordinates are fed into a GPS unit or mobile phone (Google Maps will work) and then the search begins. 

Needless to say, I soon lost interest in the Geocaching as I learnt more about this piece of history right on our doorstep. I didn't know it at the time, but it turns out that we have been past many of these places in the boat.

Janny and Anneke were delighted to be the "first" signatures in at least two of the signature books - that's a "Gold" entry in Geocaching terms - they even have their own Geocaching user names and can make the "official" entries on-line.

Wijnjewoude is top centre of this map -  Circle 35. The map was included in the extra information. Everything has to be replaced, hence my photo.

At our first stop, a "wobble" of bicycles went past and they all called out "Looking for Pokemon"!! Which we weren't of course. But it did occur to me that maybe some of the younger people might get interested in Geocaching, once the "craze" has worn off. They could do far worse.....

The sealed plastic tube (literally buried in a hole, under a brick and a clod of earth).

Downloaded photo

The old redoubts are being restored wherever possible.....

Zwartendijksterschans

This was built in 1593 as protection against the Spaniards coming from Groningen (this was an important trading centre in the time of the Hanseatic League).  The redoubt is on what was then the "dry passage" from Friesland to Drenthe. The schans was restored in 1988 and is maintained by Drenthe Countryside.

.....and being made accessible to tourists (my photo).

A more elaborate defensive position at Kuinre, where we have been with the boat. This shows how Kuinre was on the Zuider Zee - before the land reclamation. I'll certainly look more closely next time.

The Friese Waterlinie was created in the 16th century and had a military function until the end of the 17th.

In combination with the Groningen Line this provided protection against invaders from the East and from the sea at the North. Friesland had seas on three sides  and morass and difficult terrain at the South-East and was therefore easier to defend.

Urban Myth or Fact?

Dutch people are very tall and Frisians are even taller. The story goes that the Frisians are proud of the fact that the "invaders" never broke through into Friesland - French, Spanish and Germans (the Bishop of Munster)  in the times of the schans/redoubts/flooding. Therefore the gene pool was less polluted by the "short" people from the south. 

Moles at Work

They actually look quite cute but the damage they do is out of all proportion to their size. Janny's Dad used to be able to sneak up on them and scoop them out with a swift jab of a shovel - but he's too slow now. Zoey (the dog) and Possum (the cat) have caught a few over the years. We have traps for them and caught one on Thursday.
BTW. Moles are not blind, as most people believe. They do have eyes and internal ears, but these are very small to prevent them being clogged up and damaged during tunnelling. Although they can see, the mole's eyesight is poor, with no ability to detect colours, just light from dark and movement.

Thursday's catch. They seem to die as soon as they are caught (maybe heart failure?).

Update on Refugees

Hard to believe that it is almost 10 months after the first discussions.... but we have agreed on a contract and the proposed starting date is 1 September. So, now I have some work to do with getting everything organised, including paperwork, of course.
The "system" is happy with "basic" or in our case "as is", so at least I don't have to paint or do anything too elaborate. In fact, I have to take a dishwasher and oven out of one apartment because they are not in both.

It's a 12 month contract, with a review at the end of February. I'm looking forward to it.... what could go wrong, after all? (Just put that there for future reference).
We had a meeting with the woman from the Local Govt. (who seems to have "grown" into her job) and another "legal" chap who had dealt with our very first applications almost 20 years ago. I didn't say anything but he was the reason we had to spend so much money on insulation - I was cursing him at the time, but I should be thanking him now!

Travelling Ben

Moscow, St. Petersburg, New Delhi, Sri Lanka.... then on to Hong Kong.  Even the on-line bookings and arrangements are quite a good learning experience for him -  it isn't always straight forward!!