Sunday 11th April 1999
16th Kwarteltocht, Assenede Belgium.
6-9-12-19-21-31km.
An excellent IVV walk in North Western Belgium close to the Dutch border.
In 1998 Debenhams had an offer of spend £50 and you received a free day ticket across the English Channel on a P&O Stena ferry. Never one to miss such an opportunity, I took advantage of the offer. I'd been allocated a departure of 04.30, but took a risk that I'd get on the first ferry of the day just after midnight. I did, and instead of just going to Brugge went a little farther into Belgium, to Assenede on the way to Antwerp. Arriving at 04.30 there was the opportunity to get in an hour or two of sleep before registering with the walk. This was one of the VWJL organisation's walks so was new to the IVV scheme, though they've been organising walks for ages, mostly in Western Belgium. Certainly in the 1998 Marching Calendar there is no mention of this walk being affiliated to the IVV, and at the end of the walk I never saw anyone else ask for an IVV stamp. Rather they were getting their own VWJL stamp, and seemed to be collecting a dozen or two on a special card for a tee-shirt when completed.
Excellent and large signs immediately outside the Hall showed the route for all the distances. Just there I found a bank with a cash machine so was able to obtain some Belgian Francs from my Euro account - which meant I could fill-up with cheaper Belgian petrol on the way home. Almost immediately the 9 & 19 km. routes split off before we returned back to near to the start where I'd parked. Very soon we were out of the town and in the countryside.
After heading along a pleasant track we cam to a rather strange junction. You could approach it in any of 3 directions and leave in 3 depending which route you were on and which repetition. Sounds complicated, but the signposting was so good that there was no confusion for people who followed their own sign and ignored other people disappearing in other directions. From here, on the first occasion, it was a short dogleg to the first checkpoint, a large farm barn with loads of food and drink on sale inside - and somewhere to sit which is always an attraction. All I'd had for breakfast was a small bowl of pineapple, so I took advantage of an as always excellent ham roll - Belgian bread rolls being very more-ish.
Then it was back to the crossroads for one of three extra sections for the 31-km. route. This loop was mostly on unused roads and in the sunshine this was an easy, fast section. A little later on this section the cloud started to build up, and foolishly having left my "emergency" waterproof top in my car my eyes turned more and more upward.
Back at the familiar crossroads we turned left, going behind the checkpoint about 400 yards away and kept on going along the sides of fields taking in a loop of a mile or so before approaching the first, and now second, checkpoint from the opposite direction from before. I decided not to stop this time and headed out the way we came in. Before long we were on the second 31km only loop heading through a sparsely populated area for the third checkpoint in a Café in a small village. In fact, I almost missed this one, but a walker behind me called me back.
The next section was one of the best. Very soon we were back in the countryside approaching an area full of lakes - well the water probably has a more technical term. We threaded our way between lakes and then were on a grassy bank - getting up onto it must have been the only hill all day. The we came across an open gate and a private sign, but our route went straight through and continued along the bank through a delightful nature reserve for a couple of miles. Eventually we came to a road, and the end of the private area, and were joined by one of the shorter routes on a new bank beyond. Before too long we came to our last, and very busy, checkpoint. There must have been 60 people there eating, drinking, gossiping and generally having a rest - quite a familiar scene on such events. I joined then for a few minutes lunch.
Now cane the last stretch of 5 miles to the start/finish. Immediately the 31km walkers were on their own again. We headed away from our goal on wide farm tracks with site of a few other walkers a few hundred yards ahead. In fact they were not walkers but joggers - and the only ones I saw all day. This was especially unfortunate as after a very long straight stretch I came to a road, and with no-one else in sight went wrong. It turned out that the waymark had been blow round and was not obvious as I was looking at it end-on. Probably cost me half a mile. As soon I was through the high undergrowth, I could see the Assenede's church a mile or so in the distance. Not that we were allowed to head straight for it for as we approached the line of walkers approaching more directly from the previous checkpoint, we veered away for another small dog-leg before joining the other walker on the outskirts of the village.
So just under five and a half hours after leaving, I was back at the start and having my IVV books stamped-up. Having recently obtained a Europa Cup book, I was able to get a Belgian stamp. A sign up gave the number of walkers starting each hour, and by the time I left about 1300 had started the walk. Facilities in the Hall were excellent, but I thought I'd get on and do a short distance at the walk in Brugge. On the way there I changed my mind and found a parking place to have a short sleep before catching an early ferry home.