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(Netherlands 9: The Central Point)

Posted on 22 March 20245 April 2024 by Rob Ainsley

Having completed the Netherlands End to End, I added the country’s middle point today. I seem to be collecting them: I’ve cycled to national foci in Britain, Belgium and Portugal recently.

The centre of the country – in other words, the point at which a piece of cheese the shape of the Netherlands would balance, if a hungry cyclist hadn’t snaffled it for their picnic lunch – is just outside Lunteren, a modern small town in – well, the Dutch midlands, obviously.

That installation is pants: Fashion art in Lunteren

The nearest town of consequence is Ede, which shortly after my visit made the headlines in an unfortunate way following a cafe stabbing. No such drama in Lunteren, though there was a dramatic piece of street decor in the main drag, right outside my friendly hostel-restaurant: a line of jeans dangling, laundry-style, across the road.

(It was, apparently, to commemorate the forthcoming Lunteren Fashion Day on 6 Apr.)

Even rural cycle paths are so good they need speed cameras: Bike route to the Central Point

So, I defied the drizzle to cycle a handful of km along a good backwoods bike paths to the decisively-marked Centre Point itself. It’s on Goudsberg, which tops out at 51m / 167ft, so is unlikely to trouble local mountain rescue teams. A circular monument surrounds the central rock itself, where you can stand and be at the very heart of the country.

In a world of extremists, a place of perfect balance: Central Point of the Netherlands near Lunteren

I chatted to some friendly, funny visitors from The Hague, in comparison to which this was remote wilderness. As remote and wild as anything gets in the Neths, anyway.

Rock is where it’s at: Central Point marker

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