Meeting the rels

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Travelled about 130 ks north today past Amsterdam with Hennie,Annemieke and Aunt Will. Pete got to drive most of the way and I got to back-seat drive most of the way. After a while he got used to everything being on the other side...wipers,indicators, gear stick and of course the lane. All in all he did very well.

We were greeted by Aunt Riet's family. She is 85 and in good nick. Her 5 kids and their partners were there and we spent the day on a traditional flat-bottomed boat cruising along the canals of a typical Dutch village. It was incredibly charming. It rained a little at first so we sat beneath umbrellas but most of the trip was dry. They were great people and I felt immediately like part of the family. We had a picnic lunch with wine and coffee in the boat after stopping briefly to see a 13th century castle.

After some special good-byes we went to the Dutch "CheckPoint Charlie" along a dyke and had hot chocolate with Ran and Edith. The dyke is 25km long and has a mass of water on both sides. We had a flat day but it must be spectacular on a nasty day - Hennie said the road gets closed when it gets really bad.

At the end of the dyke there is a full size replica of the Batavia on display. Very impressive - almost as impressive as Dad's model.

Dinner was at an old town hall converted into a pub. No English menu so Hennie translated everything - I am sure they have Dutch menus in Nowra! There were 10 of us for dinner so it was a great atmosphere and the food was really good.

Back to the B&B to crash!!!!

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Comments

[sam86]

i cant get over how green holland is compared to Wagga wagga. =)

[lesbos]

Colonial punishment
Is that you Anita standing behind Pete with a whip?

[Hennie]

The Aussies in the Netherlands
It was big fun today in Amsterdam at QUEENSDAY. Neet and Pete are undercover with their Orange heads and Neet with an extra pair of orange socks. It was difficult to recognize them......