Wild, Wintery Zeeland

Christmas morning. The moon was still visible, a large pale silhouette. The sky was lilac, and seemed to fill the windscreen. Dark coated horses ran underneath, their long manes flowing, hooves flying. Slowly a powder-pale blue seeped through the sky, the moon faded. Bare trees lined the roads, we were the only car around. There aren’t really many places left in the world that are truly peaceful. I love chaos and colour and buzz, but after a tiring first half-year teaching, peace was just what I was looking for. Peace, with a little side of adventure. And you can find both in winter in Zeeland.

The landscape is muted, straight lines, wide-open spaces; mind-clearing. Large birds of prey perch on telephone lines, lonely and proud. A herd of semi-wild ponies graze on moorland, back-dropped by fern-green gorse and lakes full of winter water birds. We stopped the car, turned of the engine, and we could hear them chewing, snorting. Long-horned cattle roam free in the heath by the sea, their auburn, shaggy coats blending in surprisingly well with the long thickets of brown grass.

The sky changes as if an artist is constantly mixing colours. Lavender and apricot on frosty mornings, then shades of blue and grey. On clear evenings the sun stains the sky pomegranate pink as it goes down, and is finally an inky black flecked with silver stars.

There are old-school windmills in every village, the ultimate Dutch symbol. One day we drove through a wind-farm, of modern turbines. These giants turn slowly, and you drive right underneath. Large bodies of water on either side, dotted with little islands of reeds and trees. A contrast of nature and man, old and new.

Wild, and peaceful.

I can’t believe its already been a week since I’ve been back at school, and already snowed under with reports and managing an extra two unruly eight-year olds. It was such a great two weeks, nice to catch up as a family and spend lots of times with the monkeys <3 Love to everyone xx