Our last housesit and final destination in the Netherlands was only a short journey from Capelle aan den Ijssel. Handing over to one of the owner's sons we said goodbye to all the animals there and gave Riley one last tickle. The sun was beaming thankfully after the last couple of days of thunderstorms and we had a very chilled hour journey through the countryside to Wassenaar. For this Housesit we weren't getting an in-person handover from the owners. So after pulling up in the driveway we double-checked the address and found the key safe to let ourselves in. Here we were looking after a Shiba Inu called Notch and a cat called Curtis. As we let ourselves into the house Notch came running and barking into the kitchen, initially a bit wary as he had never met us. After a minute of soothing tones, he settled at my feet and was quite happy having a tickle. He was so soft! It didn’t take long for him to relax and then hop back onto his window seat to watch the world go by. We made ourselves familiar with the house, figuring out where the bedroom was and meeting Curtis, the very friendly cat that lived on the top floor of the house away from Curtis. As it was a Sunday we went to find the local grocery store to get a food shop before things shut. Once back at the house we had a very late lunch and a call with Dave’s parents.
As it was due to be rainy for the next few days we were there, and Notch had already taken himself back to bed to sleep, we headed out for an afternoon walk to the beach in the sunshine. It was quite a long walk- about an hour each way through varying environments- we walked through the lovely quiet suburban area, then through a gorgeous forest, before starting the longest stretch of the walk that had Wassenaar Slag- or nature areas surrounding it. This was completely different scenery from what we had seen in the Netherlands. It was full of hills, grassy mounds and sand dunes- filled with wildlife too.
Eventually, we made our way out the other side and to the beach. Wassenaar beach is just a small section of the much large stretch of beautiful Netherlands beaches on this coastline. As it was the weekend and it was lovely weather there were lots of families enjoying the golden sands of this beach, some even swimming in the chilly but clear waters as well as lots of people enjoying the beach bars and restaurants. We walked along the beach and paddled in the cool water, finding jellyfish and shells of razor clams dotting the shoreline. As we still had another hour back to the pets we didn’t stay too long but instead treated ourselves to an ice cream for the very long way back. Our hosts left us bicycles, but after cycling to Kinderdjik the day before, my body wasn’t ready to get back on a bicycle and I would have never handled the steep hill to the beach.
When we got back we were greeted by an excited Notch. We fed the animals, gave them some love, fed ourselves and then had to drag Notch out for a very brief walk around the neighbourhood before he decided he had had enough. We did get a bit of exercise out of him when he came back though by having brief zoomies and attempting to play ball a few times before settling down to have cuddles on the sofa with us. Our hosts had left us wine and beer, which we greatly appreciated. We made the most of it by having a small glass of wine each night with a bath and sharing a beer each evening we were there.
The rest of the days we were there the weather wasn’t fantastic. The days started by feeding Notch and Curtis and giving them lots of cuddles and tickles. Then we would chill out in the lounge with a coffee and some breakfast, with Notch joining us on the sofa for a bit before taking himself to lay on our bed for the day. After very relaxed mornings we went out to a few places over the next few days- exploring the nearby De Horsten park with its gorgeous woods and flowers, walking through the small town centre of Wassenaar and finding the local market. There is lots more to do in the area in the way of nature walks/beaches/local towns but we were quite happy getting a few bits done in the house and just relaxing. We didn’t want to spend loads on local transport or use the motorcycle lots with the weather being quite rainy. It meant we could eat all our meals at the house and save money too.
Mainly Notch liked cuddles and tickles but slept on the bed for the majority of the days. Curtis was very loveable and was quite happy with lots of affection but also sleeping too, so they were very easy to look after. We did manage to walk Notch every day (something he doesn’t really like to do), mainly around the local neighbourhood but we did manage to walk him slightly further to the dog park, but then he refused to go into the dog park when we got there! He has did play more with us as the days went on, although it did stay at a maximum of about 5 minutes before he gave up!
On our last full day there we did use the excuse of their cleaner being there to head out to a local bakery for coffee and cake as it looked delicious. We ended up having a pecan almond paste cookie and a mokka tart- very tasty but very sweet.
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The next day the owners were due back in the afternoon and we stayed to hand back over to them as our ferry wasn’t until the evening so it killed some time for us whilst also meant we got to have more dog and cat cuddles.
Thanks
Alex
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