Sunday 28 April 2013
| Distance (km) | 14 kms | |||
| Distance (time) | 4 hrs | |||
| Hard / Soft surface | 95% / 5% | |||
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| Weather |
 11° 3 Bft
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Today we use public transport to get to the station of Maassluis West in order to continue our way. We're happy to feel that the wind has dropped considerably whilst remaining sunny.
At the station we cross the railroad and get up the dike for a few 100 m in the direction of the downtown of Maassluis passing in between brand new houses. The river level is very low and with the lack of wind the water is almost like a mirror. What a difference with yesterday! We follow the river until the small harbour of Maassluis and though we can see the ferry to Rozenburg from here we have to go all around the harbour and cross the railroad back and forth in order to get there. The ferry arrives soon enough and squeezed between bicycles we arrive in Rozenburg on the other side. We pass the snack bar towards a low dike and follow this for a while before it turns into a gravel path in between houses and a main road in the direction of the Caland canal. This section is actually the only non-tarmac section of today. Fortunately we saw that coming and so we're not on hiking shoes today, but on our running shoes to avoid painful feet tonight. Along the Caland canal is straight and dull following the cycle path and we're happy to reach the Caland bridge to lead us over the canal. The bridge is climbed through stairs and stairs it is again to get off the bridge on the other side. The foot of the bridge seems a nice spot for lunch and so we enjoy the almost surreal silence in this industrial landscape. Another cycle path brings us onto the Harmsen bridge over the Hartel canal and immediately after that the Brielse bridge to get over the Brielsemeer: the old estuar of the Maas river. Here the GR5 follows the N57 trunk road and there is a surprising amount of traffic considering how quiet we found it a kilometer back where we had lunch. On the other side of the bridge the road loops down and follows another cycle path in the direction of Brielle. In Brielle we do not enter the town but continue our way along the old defense works to end up at the local Jumbo supermarket. From the roundabout behind the supermarket we take the bus back to Spijkenisse. |
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