Written by Daniel: I can’t believe how fast these Germens drive. I drive down the Autobahn at what I think is a pretty good pace and there’s people flying past me like I’m a granny in a mobility scooter. The speed limit seems like it’s more of a suggestion than a limit. It’s unbelievable! Today we made good progress on the travelling front and made it all the way to Munchen. Monique is definitely getting better at navigating and map reading and I think I’m getting better at driving on the wrong side, changing gears with my right hand, indicating with [View Full Entry]

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Hi all from Germany. I am writing this at 10.15pm and it’s still 28degsC according to my cellphone. We are sitting outside at a campground in Koln (Cologne), Germany, by the river Rhine, still in singlet and shorts (yes - even me, cold blooded Monique, is still just in a singlet top at 10.15pm!). This morning we packed up all of the camping gear we would need from Auntie Margareth’s and Uncle Albert’s, and then had the joy of trying to fit it all into the boot of the little red Suzuki. After some attempts at fitting it all in, we [View Full Entry]

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Today we got really lost - again. So instead of spending the night in Heidelberg we are staying in a camping ground near Koblenz, near the castle Burg-Pflez. We started the day pretty well and managed to find our way across Koln to the Dom, with crossing the river only three times. The Dom is a massive cathedral and covers 12,470 square metres. The two spires are 157m high - and yes, we climbed it - all 509 steps. I know, by now some of you will have fallen off your chairs in shock to think that I, Monique, actually climbed [View Full Entry]

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Today we finally arrived in Heidelberg to a nice camping spot near the Rhine. We drove down the Rhine from our previous camping ground and stopped at a town called Rodesheim. Along the way we saw some really nice scenery and heaps of castles - it seems there was a castle for every village. We stopped at Rodesheim as it looked like a nice town. We went to a castle there which had been converted into a wine museum. We took the audio tour and it was fascinating. They had all sorts of equipment for the making of wine, right back [View Full Entry]

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Hi all from Schoonebeek. Here we sit at Uncle Albert’s & Auntie Margareth’s house. This morning was lovely weather so we went with Oom Arjen on his boat around the waters of Friesland. There were lots of sailing boats on the water as there was a large sailing race on. Jaz, you would love it here - so much water and heaps of sailing boats (Daniel’s got heaps of pictures for you). We were out on the water for a couple of hours and had a great time. We saw quite a few house boats (like an actual house on a [View Full Entry]

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Today (Monday 5th August) we meet my Beppe (Grandmother) and looked around Friesland. For those who don’t know my Dad’s side of the family come from Friesland (the Northern part of the Netherlands). We headed out this morning in Oom Arjen’s Buick to another great Uncle and Auntie of mine, Oom Jan and Tante Aukje. We had coffee there and picked up my Beppe. We then headed off to Berlikum - the home town of my Beppe and Pake (Grandfather). We had a quick tour of the town and then went to another great Uncle and Auntie, Oom Popjke and Tante [View Full Entry]

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Hi all, We are now in Friesland! At Tante Anna and Oom Arjen's. Daniel is going to write this blog since we spent most of the day with his family. I'm pleased to say by Dutch is getting slightly better - I can now say Tanke you well (Thank you), Hallo (Hello) and Tot ziens, dug, dewey (bye) - p.s. I didn't say I could spell the words, just say them. Anyway, here is Daniel... Hi all, it is I. Apparantly she whommustbeobeyedatalltimes wants me to write/type...er bash the key board with two fingures, this blog entrie. what kind of a [View Full Entry]

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Hallo all from the land of the tulips (not that I've seen any yet!). We're having a great time, been visiting the family today...not much to report as I didn't understand anything, but hey, I think Daniel enjoyed it! We went past the house where Daniel's father grew up in Holland - that was quite cool. The houses here are in way better condition then in NZ. Oh, and happy birthday Dad H - we hope you had a great day. We went to Tante Bep and Oom Jan for morning tea. They seem nice, he speaks a little English, but [View Full Entry]

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We spent two days in St Albans with Scott and Amanda - had a fantastic time (they were so hospitably (even giving up there own bed to sleep on the couch for us!)). Scott is in between jobs at the moment, so was great for us as he was able to show us around a bit. We slept for 13 hours after we arrived so managed to recover from some of the jet lag. The next day we did all the admin stuff - got bank accounts sorted and UK cellphone numbers etc. So fantastic having Scott there to show us [View Full Entry]

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Well, we made it. After an extremely long flight we are finally on soil here in England. We managed to sleep a bit on the plane, which helped with the jet lag, along with the no jet-lag bills. Scott, a friend, picked us up from the airport and we are now staying at Scott and Amanda's flat in St Albans. Still feeling a little dizzy from the travel, but we have had a shower and feel much more refreshed - now just have to make it through another few hours before bed. Our first impressions of England were mixed. When driving [View Full Entry]

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