Hidden deep in the Brabant countryside, you’ll find the Rust en Ruimte mini-camping site in Mariahout. Visitors enjoy a wide view of the meadows and of course the peace and quiet. A Utrecht couple sits in front of the tent with baguettes and two glasses of white wine. “We’re staying here because we’ll be visiting friends in the area, but it’s great here.”
Wiegert Wiegebos from Kampen has just set up his tent: “We come from the far north and everything is flat with us, it is really nice to be here. Wiegert is happy with the Brabant and Brabanders: ‘Just have fun.’” People are easy, but they are a little different from what is with us. Northerners are more distant,” says the retired truck driver.
“Here it really does look a little bit like Belgium,” he says. He immediately asks how far we still have to drive to our southern neighbors and whether gasoline is much cheaper there. Like many campers, he brought and changed bikes with him: “I used to be a cyclist, so cycling is familiar to me and you can ride beautifully here.”
According to Wiegert, you’ll find like-minded people on a small camping site: “Very big amusement factories”Is everyone happy?I do not care. When I arrived this morning, there were immediately people who wanted to help me, although they did not know me at all. ”
Wiegert is also a birdwatcher, then she’s in the right place at the small Rust en Ruimte outpost: “I have binoculars with me and at night you can even see deer here.” Yes, I think it is very beautiful here. “
“We don’t need camping sites with all kinds of activities.”
Brabant seems to be popular with northerners. A little later, Linda Van Gulick settled with her husband and two children. The family comes from Hellendoorn in Overijssel, but she loves it here: “Camping on the farm, who wouldn’t want that? We don’t need camps with all kinds of activities. Kids can enjoy themselves here: cycling, watching animals and enjoying themselves from nature.”
Linda finds the landscape different than at home in Saland. “Everything here is a little broader and you want to see something different.” In terms of mentality, Linda only sees the similarities: “Where do we come from, the people are friendly and so are your people from Brabant.”
Linda chose the camp site for a reason, because the family is visiting a steam-engine event in Nuenen this weekend in Whitsun. “That’s what attracts us and that’s what makes it a nice long weekend.”
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