Out of the corner of my eye I catch a hint of purple. A\ndeep, jewelled purple. I click on the Pin and am transported to a world of\nlilac, violet and mauve, all bunched up together. It\u2019s only the purple heather\nof the Netherlands in full bloom on my screen before me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps you\u2019ve heard about the heather, or heide, as it\u2019s\nknown in Dutch, that blooms for a month or two each year in the Netherlands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the beginning of August until almost the end of\nSeptember, Het Nationale Park De Hoge Veluwe is carpeted with rich amethyst\nhues and deep royal purples of heather. Everybody flocks there to get their\nsnaps and to bask in the sunshine in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s an Instagrammers paradise too, oBvIoUsLy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I turn to R. Our conversation is short, and to the point, as\nis the norm with a born and bred Nederlander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI really fancy seeing this heather \u2013 it\u2019s so beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOk, why don\u2019t we go then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is sorted. I leave the hotel arrangements to him, as he\nis far more adept at Booking.com than I am. He\u2019s so good, that he manages to\nbag us a proper posh looking hotel in a small village for well under 100 Euros.\nWe will be staying in Otterlo, which sits just outside Het Nationale Park De\nHoge Veluwe, a huge patch of land covered by forests and beautiful nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sunday morning arrives, and I am giddy. Man I can\u2019t wait to\nsee the heather. Now I\u2019m not dumb enough to believe that it will really be as\npurple as Pinterest promises, but I\u2019m banking on big things. I\u2019m a dreamer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We leave just after lunch. This is the most sensible way for us to live, as we pass 7 (SEVEN!) McDonald\u2019s along the way (I have no idea how that\u2019s possible on a journey of 1 and a half hours either, but this country is apparently mad for Maccies).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nWe arrive as planned, and check into our hotel: De\nSterrenberg. It looks well fancy, I\u2019m not gonna lie. Apparently it\u2019s restaurant\nis *almost* Michelin Star quality. Eesh. And here I am wandering around in my\nhiking boots like a peasant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our bedroom is pretty cool too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is well fancy.\u201d I say, with the vigour of someone who\nclearly isn\u2019t that fancy. The room is kitted out with all the essentials\n(including a bath omg yay), and a few added extras, such as one of those coffee\nmachines that you put pods into (I don\u2019t drink coffee so I don\u2019t actually know\nthe name sorry) and, my personal favourite, a stack of bunk beds in their own\nlittle walled off corner!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor when we argue\u201d muses R.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We dump our things and check the map. It\u2019s full of routes that look pretty easy to follow. They\u2019re colour coded, so how hard can it be? We decide to head into the park, as we imagine that\u2019s where the main spectacle will be. The map even indicates heather (we assume) by the spreading pink block of colour amongst the green. We choose a 13km walk, which should lead us straight into the heart of the park. Sorted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAt the gate, we\u2019re charged 10 Euros entry fee each, which we\nweren\u2019t expecting, but ok, we\u2019re here to see a spectacle, so we\u2019ll let it pass.\n10 Euros is nothing if it means I get to play amongst the wonderful bushes of\nheather we are about to encounter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, our first problem is encountered in the form of the\nsignposting being, well, non-existent. We pull out the map again just to see if\nwe can make heads or tails of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI mean, we can just go this way and keep to the left. The\norangey line.\u201d R points at the map to show his calculations. I agree. I am not\na map person. I\u2019m more of a pigeon who follows her nose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to his calculations, there should be a path. And there is, but it\u2019s a cycle path. A wide, cemented cycle path through the forest. I mean, I salute the Dutch for taking care of their cyclists, but right now, in this forested park, I just want to wander along a dirt path, y\u2019know? I certainly don\u2019t want to be meeting groups of cyclists every ten seconds, especially when we are sharing the same stretch of cement and they\u2019re shouting \u201cstommewijf\u201d at each other when they almost knock each other down (true story).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAbout 15 minutes into our walk along the cycle path (which\ncost us 10 Euros, don\u2019t forget), we see something in the distance. Now I\u2019m no\neagle eye, and my eyesight is known to be getting weaker by the day, but I don\u2019t\nsee a hint of purple. Sure, it\u2019s a wide open space, and we aren\u2019t quite there\nyet, AND I suppose the heather isn\u2019t going to be as purple as it is on the\nphotos, but I also feel like it isn\u2019t about to spring out at us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We make an: \u2018I\u2019m confused, but go on\u2019, sort of face at one\nanother. We giggle a little nervously and head off in the general direction\nthat our colour lined map sort of indicates. There are still no signposts you\nsee. Not one. Nothing in the park is colour coded. There are no arrows. The\nword \u2018heide\u2019 is not painted on anything, we must simply choose our path and\nhope for the best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We choose to go left, but the stretch before us is long. It\u2019s sandy. It\u2019s brown and black and certainly not green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nR gets a snack out of his bag. He\u2019s not feeling this, and\nneeds to refuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll find it,\u201d we agree, that same nervous laughter makes\nits way to the surface again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look to cut a 13km story short, we didn\u2019t find the heather. We found one sprig, tired and alone in a desert wasteland. We found a massive statue of a man in the middle of the sand too, but there was no heather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n\u201cThese are plains of death.\u201d mutters R. He\u2019s nearing the end\nof his patience. \u201cI\u2019m so depressed I need another snack.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I join in. We stand there, like two disappointed toddlers\nwhose feelings can only be redeemed by something sweet. \u201cI\u2019m never recommending\nthis to my parents, unless they want to see fields of death and pay for the\npleasure.\u201d He continues. \u201cHas there been a fire or something? Everything\u2019s just\nblack and dead!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can you imagine going on a 13km walk, only to not find what\nyou\u2019re hoping to see within the first 5km? What is one to do in such a case?\nEven if we turned back there and then, we would only be disappointed all over\nagain with the same 5km we\u2019d already managed to walk along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We finish the walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no heather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 6pm we\u2019re tired, hungry, and moody. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We leave and treat ourselves to a three course dinner to lighten our moods and rest our legs. It works because the food is utterly delicious. We head back to our hotel feeling a little more satisfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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