Introduction to the forgotten Duth land of new nature

AND THERE'S ANOTHER CONTINENT | More Intelligent Life: Under a high hot sun, Hans introduced me to the world of the Oostvaardersplassen. We walked through summer jungles of black mustard, its yellow blossom standing two metres high, its rank smell rich in the nose. A lone egret stood in a stand of phragmites reeds, white wings folded, hunched and Miss Havisham-ish. Big horseflies, fat as finger-joints, buzzed lazily around. The landscape resolved into strata: silver water, gold ragwort, grey willow, blue sky.