A fresh start? Or a series of unfortunate events?

Everything is breaking!  My MacBook broke, as I wrote, and then my iPhone became an iBrick.  Yes.  It's useless.  And right now (with my brain in its' current state) there's nothing that I can do about it.  And (if I can continue with my whinge) my coffee machine broke down and my home phone is not working well at all.

Wolfie suggested that I look at all of these things as a fresh start.  A new beginning.  But I'm struggling.  I can't possibly replace everything, so I think it's more about a lesson in "letting go".  I've always been quite attached to my "things" and I think that I need to learn to live without a few of them.  

On the good side.... my lovely Mummy and Daddy had my car repaired while I was away.

Some of the things that I observed today about being home:

1. drivers don't keep left unless overtaking
2. we drive an obscene amount of 4WD's
3. I live in a beautiful city

We're Home!

The trip itself was quite an adventure.

We drove from Eindhoven to Paris.... arriving early (I didn't want to risk traffic, or not being able to find the car rental return place again) and having some time to kill.  Where can you go with clean bathrooms, cheap food and plenty of parking?  Ikea!!  We put "Ikea" into the TomTom and 20 minutes later were happily eating swedish meatballs for lunch.  I know, I know, it's not very Parisienne, but I was feeling shattered and quite ill and didn't have the energy to drive or navigate or even THINK about anywhere else to go!

Then our plane was delayed.  By almost 2 hours.  My cold was in full swing by then and all I wanted to do was to curl up in a ball on the cold hard floor.  I didn't appreciate having to go through security for a second time (when they changed our departure gate) and the unrelenting waiting.

Still..... with a racing pulse and 6 fast legs...... we made our London flight.  It was touch and go.... especially as my sinuses were completely blocked and my ears hadn't popped during the flight.  I was in absolute agony and raced for a pharmacy to buy some cold medicine to dry up my head.  

Finally we arrived in Sydney...... pretty much exactly 36 hours after we'd left Wikke's ..... and waited at the luggage carousel for luggage that didn't arrive!  One of our bags had been left in London.  I can't believe that that only happened once during our entire trip!  And I'm pleased that it was at on the final leg rather than the beginning, or anywhere in the middle.  All that we really need our luggage for now is to unpack and wash.  And (I know you'll find this hard to believe) I'm not really looking forward to that part.

Finally FINALLY we walked through the arrival gates to see my Mummy and Ewan and this Monkey waiting for us!!  It is COLD here!  Yesterday it reached a wopping 10 degrees celsius and today feels like about 5 degrees.  

Two things happened last night while I was trying to catch up on my posts.

First thing, my sturdy, trusty, beloved MacBook finally died completely.  The wonderful thing actually waited until I returned all the way home before giving in to its' injuries (some of which were sustained months before our trip).  I tried to turn it on at Bangkok airport, unsuccessfully, but it managed to turn on and boot up last night, for an hour or so.  It then lost it's ability to connect to the internet before freezing and hanging every 5 minutes or less. 

The second thing was that I feel asleep.  I slept for 13 hours.  F is STILL asleep (16 or so hours and counting) and H has been awake for 4 hours already.  We all stayed up until Sydney bedtime last night and will hopefully be okay for school tomorrow.

SO.... we're home!!!  And that brings both happiness and sadness.  It is both an ending and a beginning.  

And I'm just so grateful for every minute of our journey here.

Still catching up....

What a wonderful day!

We drove up to the north of Holland to visit Wikke's aunt Dorijke and her husband Peter.   The sun was shining and the kids played in the beautiful garden while we talked.  Dorijke was in Australia last year, and I was really thrilled to see her again.   Dorijke and Peter live in the area of Holland which is full of dikes and windmills, and we went for a drive to see (and understand) how they work.  We saw areas of poldars (land below sea level that was once covered by water) surrounded by canals of water and drove around the perilously thin roads on top of the dikes.  It was fascinating.  Peter was a wonderful tour guide and the boys and I learned a lot. 


And then Wikke, Merlijn, H, F and I drove into Amsterdam.  The drive itself was absolutely hysterical.  The main tunnel into Amsterdam from the north (the IJ?) was closed, and although Dorijke had assured us that there were clear signs explaining how to get to the other tunnel, we couldn't find any.  My trusty TomTom (GPS device) seemed to relish in directing us to a ferry crossing!!!!! And so we had to turn around and try again (a few times, it seemed!).

We finally made it, but we were too late for the Van Gogh Museum.  We simply parked next to the Rijksmuseum and walked into the centre of the old town.  We crossed a few canals, narrowly escaped being run down by a few trams, ate bagels at a canal-side cafe and then went back to the car.  It was a tiny taste of Amsterdam.... hopefully enough to entice my boys back one day.  I remember loving the museums, cafes, canals and architecture of Amsterdam when I last visited...

And then we had a wonderful last supper with Wikke's Dad, Geert.  

It's extremely hard for me to say goodbye to Wikke's wonderful family.  They are very special to me and a big part of me wishes that I could stay just to spend more time with all of them.  

So then home to pack.  And then, in the morning......

...... It's difficult to talk about the leaving bit.  Let's just say that we did.  Many tears were shed (most of them mine, of course).

See you soon, darling Wikke.

Three Countries in One Second...

There's a huge carpark and a tiny pole at the most southern point of Holland at which it is possible to be in three countries at the same time! It's called Drielandenpunt (literally Point of Three Lands) and we went there on Saturday night, after the caves and a wonderful dinner in Maastricht.
The boys got quite a thrill from spending a few minutes in Germany.  And from running wildly around in scary circles.

It was WAY cool!!!

Leaving for home....

There's much to catch up on...... we've been travelling and visiting from the north to the southernmost point of Holland ..... but time has run out and the boys and I are about to leave and so I will catch up with posts and photos when I'm back in my own little corner of the globe.

We're about to embark on a HUGE journey. We will drive to Paris (450 or so kilometres) before flying to London and then Bangkok and Sydney. Non-stop. Ugggghhhhhh.

Thanks for sharing my travels with me. I'm so pleased that I've journalled this trip here..... for the boys as well as to prompt my ailing memory in the future.

To all who have had us to stay and who have loved us so well......... thank you.

To all who have made us feel like the "special Aussie visitors" and who've fed and entertained us and given us wonderful glimpses into their lives and their geography....... thank you.

See you in Oz.

Mergelgrotten...

This is the most amazing series of tunnels that started as a sandstone mine hundreds of years ago. 

In the 1940's, when hiding from the bombing, over 50,000 people lived in these cold and totally dark tunnels.

They were there for so long that people created artwork on the walls and even advertising signs for things to buy or do in nearby Maastricht.

It was an amazing experience to walk through the caves..... although my camera and my glasses blurred from the humidity when we walked back out into the rain.

Kasteel Hoensbroek

This beautiful castle, in Limburg, sent shivers down my spine.  Something about it simply gave me a sense of awful things occuring (particularly in the courtyard and the tower).  Still, we came, we played, we put the kids in the stocks and we left.

Quiet Day in Eindhoven...

We rode, we played, we visited a farm and patted baby calves and we had a wonderful and relaxing day.

And then Wikke and I hit the town!  Shopping, dinner and cafes and a nightclub in the Stratumseind.  We (gulp) stayed out until 2.30am and paid for it this morning.

GREAT fun!!!  Even if I felt every minute of the 20 or so years that I had on everyone else in the nightclub!

Oh..... but yesterday morning H and F woke me up with a screaming fight.  A physical, awful fight.  Which filled me with fear that the wonderfulness of their behaviour on this holiday is coming to a distinct end.  Time will tell.

Efterling Theme Park...

Despite having wonderful moments of laughter and fun with my wonderful friends.... I'm just not a theme park girl.  Too many kids and noises and rides and crappy food and ..... just ......

My mother taught me that if you can't say anything nice, you shouldn't say anything at all.

We had one of those days where we missed every train and every bus.  Instead of taking 50 minutes to get there, it took 2.5 hours.  And the same to return.  I actually liked that part of the day best though.  So no complaints from me.

Utrecht....

Today was simply a wonderful mix of sightseeing, parenting, travelling and friendship.

Wikke and I took all the kids on the train to Utrecht.  There, we walked and sat and ate and rode a boat along the canal, and listened to the kids talk and talk and talk.  The littlest ones have the most amazingly animated conversations with their toy dolls and puppies and selves.  They create universes in which siblings and parents die (!) and kings and queens always win in the end.  Oh, and which are peppered with the extremely loud barking of imaginary dogs.  

The bigger ones discuss all things relevant to their lives.  And when that conversation falters, they revert to pikachu hand games.  And tickling.  Mostly they stroll with their arms around each other and discuss ways to annoy their Mums (ways which NEVER work, may I add!).

We BIGGEST ones discussed heaven and earth and all things in between, while appreciating our environment (and resolving kid-arguments between sentences).  

Utrecht is arguably the prettiest city in Holland.  If it's not... I'd like to see the prettier one.

This was an unexpected sight along the canal....

While we were walking through the pedestrian area of the town, Wikke was stopped by a couple who recognised her from her book cover (click here for details of her book - in Dutch only, I'm afraid) and who had been so inspired by her travels through Malaysia and Thailand with her children that they had taken a very similar trip with their own children.  They had used her book as their own "lonely planet" type guide, and were thrilled to see her in the flesh.  They sometimes look in on her blog too, which means that may look here as well (having met me today!!)  "Hi!!".

It was wonderful for Wikke to know that her book had impacted someone else's lives so positively.  I was just damned proud for her.  And embarrassed for me because I was standing there like a fool because I don't understand Dutch.  Why oh why aren't I fluent in 7 languages (at least)?  

More Cycling!!!

After a wonderfully slow LOUD morning (my favourite short girls, Jara and Keri are extremely l0ooouuudddd!!!) Wikke and the kids and I rode into the centre of town and went to the markets.  We wandered for hours, had a wonderful lunch, and rode home.  F and Merlijn spent the day with their arms around each other.  Sweet.  They've really missed each other.

H tried to jump over a pole!  OW!

"The Beehive"

My favourite short girls on the Carousel

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Hugo, his Dad, Wikke's parents and her brother were working all day on the "family build" (a term H made up to describe the renovation of Wikke and Hugo's new home).  We're staying with them across the road and everybody is looking extremely exhausted and paint-covered.  They're doing a fantastic job though.  The house is going to be spectacular.

Finally.... FINALLY.... my boys got to see "Kung Fu Panda" tonight!  It seems that we've missed it everywhere we've been (and everybody else has already seen it!) and they have really been wanting to see it.  Wikke and I put all the kids back on the bikes (except Jara who rides in a bike car, and F who wanted to ride on the back of my bike) and cycled 20 mins to the cinema.  

Worth my sore and aching knees!

Five Countries in One Day!!

Guess which country we're in now? 

(if you noticed that the above photo is of a bike rack... you may have guessed the Netherlands!!)


YIPPEE!!!  We're with Wikke and Hugo!!  

We left Portugal at 7am, flew to Paris (over Spain - and Wikke tells me that the airspace counts as a country), picked up a car and drove THROUGH Belgium into Holland!  It was a long long long wet cold day, but we were rewarded with a warm welcome and a huge Mexican feast.

And signs telling me everything I need to know (if I drink from a bottle, not a glass I won't be fined 50euros, and if i'm a girl and pee in public I won't be fined 75euros).  

Leaving Lisbon...

Axel took the boys birdwatching at a nearby estuary.  H took some amazing photos, and F proved himself amazingly adept at noticing and recognising birds...

So we soaked up the sun and the warmth and the love of our dear friends and wished that we could stay forever.  And then we packed.  Sometimes life just sucks that way.