6 May 2025
– Donkmeer
Miles
driven today = 102
Total Miles
to date = 5,502
Having put
in the hard yards by getting across Germany in 2 days we could take our foot
off the pedal a little today.
We
initially headed south over the Belgian border to Liege before picking up the
E40 circuiting Brussels to the north.
We
had considered having a look at Ghent but on second thoughts a town day really
didn’t appeal so we picked an aire 20km to the East of the city and on the edge
of the Donkmeer nature reserve.
We had a
spot of lunch and then headed out for a look around.
Donkmeer was formed from a clogged up ox bow
of the River Scheldt which was dug for peat in the 18
th and 19
th
Centuries and then flooded a bit like our Norfolk Broads.
It was drained for agricultural use but the
pumps failed during World War 1 and it subsequently was given over to be
maintained as a more natural landscape.
Whilst many
areas have been left to allow nature to take its course others are managed to
provide an array of different environments to suit a multitude of wildlife.
There are
plenty of noticeboards to give visitors all the information they need at about
what they might see and hear.
A very
impressive Bug Hotel.
There was
plenty of flora and fauna to admire.
The
flag irises were just coming into bloom.
Lots of
birdlife including these Egyptian Geese.
We may have see two pairs or it may have been the same pair twice.
Difficult to tell for sure.
This is a “Cage
House” which was refuge for a “Cage Man”.
His job was to trap ducks in long funneled nets.
There is a reproduction of the apparatus used
to do this nearby.
The main
kidney shaped lake is given over more to aquatic activities.
Fishing is forbidden, as is swimming in the
majority of the lake, although the local sub-aqua club seem to have permission
to use a couple of pontoons.
There is
also an artificial sand cliff to encourage sand martins to nest.
At one end
is a large children’s play area with an inflatable water park, a small sailing
club and a fountain shooting water 10 metres into the air.
There is
even an artificial sandy beach where presumably it is allowed to swim out as
far as the line of buoys.
There are a
few bars on the water’s edge so we enjoyed a glass of the wonderful Belgian
beer before heading back to the van.
We
are in the Lake Side Camperstop.
There
are 14 places here but it looks as though work is well under way to at least
double the capacity.
Getting in was
fun.
I rang last night to make sure
there was room for us and then booked online.
I received a confirmation email and when you approach the site you press
the “open gate” button on the email and open sesame, access is granted.
So tomorrow
is the final full day of this tour.
We need
to be in spitting distance of Calais for Thursday morning so I have already
applied the magnetic Angles Morts stickers to the doors in readiness.
With any luck we will be able to see the
English Channel at some point during the day and our coast to coast dash across Europe will be
complete.
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