The Gourdiaan Route

This route (http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=yduwhezfehzivcva) is a walking route which should start on the little town of Gourdiaan and be a round trip of 23 km around some beautiful Dutch landscape (channels, windmills and similar).

However, the indications are almost missing, the road is sometimes just disappearing right in front of your nose and there is no place to eat anything along the planned route.

Once you arrive to Gourdiaan you will find a place called Het Raadhuis cafe. The place looks fine and the parking area is empty early in the morning, at least it was empty this morning around 1140 local time.

Directly there you will see one of the markers of the route, look carefully to it because is one of the few you will be able to see :(

To begin with the walking you should go over the bridge and to the left, there you will see one marker. After a few meters you will see another marker like the one in the picture. The direction of the arrows is supposed to be followed. We didn't and skip around 3 km going directly to Ottoland.

This little place has nothing except some very nice houses and a church with a nest. Even if you miss this marker and follow straight ahead to Ottoland as we did, you will eventually connect again with the route way, but you will be at the wrong side of the channel without a bridge to cross it...

One you manage to arrive again to the N214 you will be back in business.

The road will take you to Giesen. A nothing in the middle of nowhere, without any place to buy food or water, at least as far as we were concerned today, maybe you have more luck...

The surroundings are very quiet and not so crowded. Around only fields with cows, sheep, and horses. A lot of cows.

After Giesen the planned route will lead you into a dead end or best said to the garden of a private property. A huge garden, that is true, but still a private and closed property.

The shortest way that we found to come back to Gourdiaan was heading to Hoornaar and then turning direction Noordeloos.

Good news are in Hoornaar there is a kind of cafe, bad news the food is not so good even if you are already quite hungry.

The way to Noordeloos is very pleasant and full with channels and shadows.

From Noordeloos to Gourdiaan there are still some kilometers. This is not really the route indicated in the book or on the internet, but as the markers where more or less never there and the road was not really following this, we didn't care too much at all.

It was anyway a nice trip, even the weather was great, sunny but not too hot.

If you try this route, good luck with the indications ;)

Today

Today I wake up quite late, around 1100 and I found warm chocolate waiting for me for breakfast. A fantastic way to start a day.

Sadly today was bye-bye day. After several months in duty at the tower, keeping my tachyonic transmitter in position only with the help of his special genetic markers and adhesive tape, Gato was leaving.

His trainer, an agent of the FPF needed him back for different duties. From today Gato will be protecting the life of a new born, a future agent of the FDF maybe. If we are lucky maybe even an author. We don't get so many those days...

Today was also cleaning day. The hideout in the city center needed some material and some repairs. After the activity of the last months on the docks, some ammo was too short and more explosive traps is always a good idea.

The new agent will arrive in time minus 13 days and will probably fancy some extra toys.

Afterwards beach-duty. I like beach-duty. Usually there is nothing wrong going there. People are used to the presence of FPF forces patrolling the area. They know what happens to other worlds when the Tedio took them. No papal agent will survive here if detected.

In some ways this planet remembers me from my home one, little bit less mountains, but you can not have everything.

Now I just re-invented a kind of liquor. The recipe is not too difficult, some milk (better cold), some (quite a lot) spoons of chocolate powder and a bit of cachaca rum. I think we deserved it, well only I am actually drinking it, but was a team work. After beach-duty it was obvious that it was a moment as good as any other one to fix minor problems at the light house. Basically the tachyonic antenna needed a new disguise and some bullet holes in the walls are now not visible anymore. My base looks again as unremarcable as it should look.

Alpha is now running a total check up of hers systems and will be down for a while.

The sun is setting course to the other side of the planet and the sea is about to explode in red.

End of a nice weekend.

But, Tomorrow Will Be Another Day