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Published: January 20th 2012
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I appreciate that not everyone has the chance to dig up their family tree roots, meet distant relatives and re-live childhood memories, so I was very blessed to have the opportunity to do so.
Both of my grandparents (from my mum and dads side) were born and grew up in the Netherlands. They immigrated to Australia in the mid 1950’s leaving behind family, friends and jobs to discover a new life in the land down under. Along came my parents and you know what comes next.. me! A Dutch dish here and there, the oddly spoken word, calling my grandparents
Opa and
Oma and how could I forget dressing up as a little Dutch girl when I was 7 for International Day at school, has been the extent of my Dutch heritage in Australia.
I had the chance to spend time with relatives that shared tales of my grandparents time before they came to Australia. There was so much to discover; where they grew up, their family, culture and learn of the challenge it would have been to move from their home to a foreign country (they couldn’t just Google Australia back then!).
Simon (my brother) told me
of when he was in the Netherlands a few years ago, that it felt like home and he fitted in well with the the other tall blonde blokes. I was curious to see how I would feel, gaining a greater appreciation of where my big brown eyes, tanned skin, height and orange blood came from. (I do get asked where I am from, apparently I don’t look Aussie!)
I based myself at Alex’s unit in Amersfoort for a week and had the luxury of sleeping in, shopping and making myself at home. Our drive from Brussels to Amersfoort took a detour via the biggest and most luxurious castle in the Netherlands, the
Kasteel de Haar. The 18
th Century medieval masterpiece was quite impressive! After dropping my bags off at Alex's, a tour of Amersfoort included a look at the wall-houses (built on top of the old city wall from the 1300’s), the local shops and the train station.
Being close to the train station meant while Alex was at work, I could meet up with new and old faces and my first visit was to see Palmyre and Jan Haver Droeze (Opa Wynand’s foster sister).
Arranging to
meet someone for the first time at a train station could pose a problem, particularly because I had no idea what Jan & Palmyre looked like! They just had to keep their eyes peeled for a look-a-like of my mother, so they spotted me just fine! I met their dog and enjoyed some home-made apple pie and hot cocoa at their lovely home before we embarked on a family history lesson.
A short stop in the town of
Almen, a small town Opa Wynand rode his bike to as a child and a town that holds some family history for Palmyre. It was a chance to see my first mustard museum, as well as some old chocolate letter moulds (a traditional Dutch Christmas treat that Opa & Oma gave to us as children). Close-by was the ‘summer house’ where Opa lived with Palmyre, her sister Anja and their parents when he was about 14. The house is still lived in so we couldn't go inside but a peak over the fence was good enough!
We drove past open green fields where Palmyre told me of Opa’s love for the land and where his passion for machinery, animals and
farming began.
Lunch at
Lochem followed by a visit to
Castle Wildenborch (that is owned by Palmyre’s relatives, surname Staring), a castle in
Vorden and afternoon tea at
Zutphen completed day one of discovering my mum’s parents heritage. I really enjoyed the day, it was a ride of emotions touching on the lives of my grandparents earlier years and it was so interesting to learn of the stories, see the places and meet someone that was like a sister to my Opa. (hello if you're reading Opa & Oma, I love you both!)
An hour and a half train ride to Hook of Holland/ Den Haag (the Hague) to visit Connie (Opa’s half-sister) and Anja (Palmyre’s sister), try some profitjes and discover more of Opa’s life in the land of tulips was another wonderful day. We started at Connie’s place, in
Monster looking at her photos from her holiday in NZ, picked up Anja and made our way to
Kijkduin beach to enjoy classic Dutch donuts (profitjes) smothered in ice-cream, cream and icing sugar, yum!
A drive past the house where Opa and Oma met and Opa’s highschool, both still standing, gave me another opportunity to learn
of my family’s roots. Another wonderful day of discovery was topped off with a walk along the beach with Connie.
Stay tuned for the second half of my motherland adventure, exploring my dad’s side of the family (that would make it the fatherland, right?).
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