What can you do in the neighborhood?
Naturally you get to meet the animals on the yard and in the horse farm "Hofstede Oostrijk". In our spacious yard you can enjoy the sheep with their lamb, the cats, the chicken and the birds, which are usually up before we are. Even Mr. de Rooster gets up at dawn and let's everybody know he's awake! At night you can hear the frogs quacking and the hedgehogs scratching. Even the bats fly around in the dark. It is basically a very lively place here.
You can also get to know the horses better. We have many different breeds in our stables. They vary from the little Shetland pony Kathinka to the Zealander Guus. All horses have, next to their very varying build, different characters and specialties. In age they vary from the age of 3 up to more than 30 years old and they are all happy and in good health.
All horses are kept in a natural herd, which means: the mares together with the mares, and the geldings (except for 1, the stallion) together with the geldings. The geldings play a lot more and don't really like the mares. The horses can choose for themselves to which group they would like to belong: the Wimps, the Machos, the Ladies or the Frumps, the Colored or the Unstructured. The advantage is that this helps them be with characters alike. Often this also benefits the age structure. Youngsters learn from the elderly how to act as a horse and they learn the art of social communication amongst each other. This is also in our advantage.
For more information about the possibilities to meet the horses, please look under the link "50+ and horses". Of course this doesn't mean that you have to be over 50 in order for you to enter! If you are, then you are lucky and you will get a discount on a trail with horse and wagon through the polder.
Horses are there for any age, whether you are 1 or 101 years of age! See the above picture: Mrs. Storm of 101 years of age comes to pet the lambs and the horses every year. This gives great pleasure to both parties!
And of course: nature!
Are you interested in nature development? Then a tour through the polder, with a picnic basket is just the thing for you! Walking through the polder you can enjoy the horses, the sheep with their lambs, the bunnies and the birds. In the back we created a peat pond with a descending bank where nature can decide for itself what will grow there.
There is a picnic area where you can see what is in or on the pond with the provided binoculars. A map with the most occurring pasture- and water birds and wild plants is part of the picnic basket so that you can fully use your tour. Of course we have filled your picnic basket with lots of delicious things. What you ask us? That's a surprise!
The costs are € 7,50 per person including the maps, the use of the binoculars and the content of the picnic basket. Reservations are necessary due to the freshness of the products. Somewhere in 2008 we will create a silent, quiet place near the pond in the middle of the new nature. This gives you the possibility of meditating or calming in the nature.
Enjoy walking and riding a bike
The "DelftseHout", the "Dobbenplas" and the "Ackersdijkse plassen" are in walking distance from the farm. But you can also ride a bike to get there. Enjoying the neighborhood "klein Delfgauw", renting a boat with "Knus" by the big pond or dipping your feet in the "Dobbenplas". Drinking tea at the reed roof or the sheep cage and to finish it off have diner on the terrace at "du Midi". Basically a relaxed day out in walking distance.
Delft
From the farm you are on the market square of the historical city Delft within 4 kilometers. The quickest way to get there is by bike. (Please remember to lock it!) There are parking garages for if you wish to go by car. Delft is definitely worth seeing. Thursdays there is a weekly market, ever since the Middle Ages, on the market square. And there is a flower market along the canal in the Hypolitus area. A beautiful sight! Delft with its atmospheric canals, the "Prinsenhof", which is where Willem of Oranje lived, the old church, the Vermeer museum, the century old Delftsblauw factory, the terraces and the many dining facilities. You just have to see Delft!
Up for some kilometers?
Then choose a tour through the beautiful "Mid Delfand" with its narrow polder roads, the century old farms and the beautiful views. Sailing along or renting a rowing boat is also possible when you go to the picturesque town Schipluiden. This town got the name from the fact that sailors used to have to ring a bell to be allowed to pass through! The bridge guard had better things to do than to wait if another ship would come! The century old Maasland is also worth seeing. It's from the era of the Cross Knights and still has many street names referring to it. Are you here on a Wednesday or Saturday afternoon? Then take a look at "de Schilpen". This is a store with a private house from grandmothers' era where there is still time for a cup of tea or a glass of lemonade with homemade cake or apple pie.
The glass city, the western country
The glass city is a world of its own! Here flowers and plants are grown that are sold to the other side of the world the next morning! It takes an incredible infrastructure and creativity to have all this run perfectly. A visit to the auction is definitely worth taking. There are regular open days under the name "Come to the Greenhouse". This is also in our neighborhood.
The worldly port city Rotterdam offers many possibilities
Sailing through the ports of Rotterdam, enjoying a concert in Ahoy, many, many shops, museums, modern architecture, art and a vibrant nightlife. The zoo Blijdorp is around the corner at a distance of 7 km of our farm. Even the airport Rotterdam Airport is almost at the end of our road. This is a nice place to have lunch someday. Cozy and amiable, typical for Rotterdam.
Versatile Den Hague
Shop, museums, theaters, Madurodam, modern architecture and antiques. Scheveningen, the beach, the ocean, the Kuhrhaus and the Circus theater, dining in the port, walking along the boulevard and the pier. Just enjoy the everlasting noise of the ocean!