A few days ago, we had a beautiful autumn weekend - sunny, clear and cool. The weather seemed to be calling us for an outing . I couldn't stay at home. I proposed to my wife that we go outside somewhere in nature. Unsure of where to go, we just started driving. My wife wanted to go look at heather. While I was driving, my wife was googling for a nice spot to visit. After 10 minutes of driving without navigation, we finally reached our destination. It was Goois Natuurreservaat Zuiderheide. This is a nature reserve that, among many recommendations from her Instagram, she once noticed as potential nice spot. Within a few mins, we arrived, but it was clear we were far from the first - there were already crowds of people who had beaten us there. So many people had selected same destination. We were not able to find a parking place. We needed to choose new place.
The one was Hoorneboegse Heide near Hilversum. This is one more nature reserve near Hilversum. A few years back, we had been here with our sons. We decided to go there just to simplify the selection process, we had already spent a long time to find a parking slot near the previous location.
By the time we started strolling, the weather changed. The sky became overcast, with the sun peeking through like a small burning ball, glowing behind a paper-thin veil.
There were so many people with their dogs. We struck up a conversation with a dog owner, curious about the breed. We've been thinking for a long about getting our own. Even though I took many photos that day I didn't take many photos of the dogs. I was not so comfortable to make picture of someone's dog. Still one picture I have taken unnoticeably. This photo wasn't of dog we liked. It was just a random one.
There were still many greenery but it already started its autumn decay and rusting. The colors played beautifully. They made the nature around us feel warmer and more comfortable, but still chilly.
We were walking around between variety of trees and shrubs along paths. There are many people riding bicycles. It was annoying a bit since the majority of routes and paths were shared by both cyclists and walkers. It doesn't let you relax, as you always need to keep in mind that bikes could come up behind you at any moment. At the same time, I noticed that all the routes and paths are well-maintained. There are many benches and signpost. There was no debris around.
Mushrooms. We found many of them everywhere. Small and big ones. Near a path and deep in shrubs. I took many photos of them.
The cherry on top of the nature reserve is herd of white cows. I found on the internet that breed is Charolais cattle with origins from France. The cows seem like they were on steroids because they looked very strong and muscular. I would never want to be in their path in case if they in bad mood. Even though they looked peaceful overall, I witnessed an amusing scene. One dog was trying to approach the bull from the backside. It sniff him. The bull kicked at the dog with his back hoof. At the same time, he didn't stop his peaceful eating, and kick was slow enough for the dog to easily avoid it.
Lastly, I want to mention is the reserve is situated near Hilversum aerodrome which is intended only for small and private motor planes. Since the weather was good for flights we saw many planes above our heads.
It was a nice day overall. I'll continue to share both small and big trips here.