After 5 weeks of unstable weather we arrive in Holland at Nederweeert, the Home of Hans, Bep, Daniek and Myron whom we met at Lake Garda. Who would of guessed we would get such warm weather in Holland, we sat in there beautiful garden enjoying the sunshine and great company, we were invited to stay for a Barbeque and had such a wonderful day that we completely lost track of time as you do in Northern Europe because it stays light until 10pm, anyway we left Nederweert and pushed on towards Eindhoven, after several attempts we struggled to find a motel with family rooms and ended up at the Holiday Inn Eindhoven, Travellers tip if you are ever in Holland avoid this place, I was duped by the concierge who neglected to tell me about taxes and overnight parking fees on top of the excessive room rate for the worst nights sleep I have had on this trip, there was extra charges for everything and no tea or coffee facilities in room so Holiday Inn has been completely scrubbed of my list of destinations in future.Next day found us back at Thomas, Cointha, Joris and Sarahs home near Egmond where we had a fantastic time as they showed us some of Holland. We visited the Afsluitdijk and some pretty towns kolhorn and Makkum in Friesland. It was great to have some guides who could explain first hand exactly how the dikes work and what they have managed to achieve since building the Afsluitdijk. We then caught up with Frans, Astrid and their new baby girl Deborah. As the weather was much warmer here than it was in February Astrid was able to show us Egmond aan Zee and we were able to enjoy the beach. Astrid was able to gain us entry into the light house and we were treated to some local cuisine as they were having a marine festival and the local fishermen were cooking there catch of that day in the streets and serving fresh cooked fish, mmmmm delightful.We spent another great day in Amsterdam visiting the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank Attic, no prizes for guessing who shed a tear there.Our week in Holland also coincided with the European Cup (soccer) and every square millimeter seemed to have been decked out in orange. Football fever was in the air and you could not see a newspaper or tv without seeing the Dutch team especially as they had beaten France and Italy two of the favourites so we were caught up in it all and spent a couple of nights cheering on the Dutch with Thomas and his family. On Fridays in Alkmaar a few kilometers from Egmond they have a special cheese market where they recreate what is called the rolling out of the cheese. These guys in traditional dress carrying special sleds with around 100 kilos of cheese put on a marvelous display.The facial expressions created by these guys as they try to smile for the crowds while lugging these sleds about 50 meters is quite amusing.When we returned toFrans and Astrids house some of their Family arrived an we had a pleasant evening learning more about Dutch life, I was also treated to a Holland Drum hat which was bought out by Heinekin for the football, I am told that I look quite hilarious in the hat as I did my cheese carter impersonation but thankfully no photos were taken of that.

Newlywed being carted by the cheese carters

We spent Sunday at the christening of Deborah and had a wonderful time afterwards in Frans and Astrids backyard meeting their Family and friends.

Proud Grandparents

Frans got out his Western Bulldogs football that I gave him when he was in Kyabram last year, we pumped it up and Daniel and I showed the Dutch kids how to kick, handball and bounce it. They all looked at us as if we were stupid when we told them to bounce an oval ball, but they all tried and had a fantastic time.After some sad goodbyes we farewelled our Dutch friends with the realisation of the fact that it will be a really long time if ever we get to see these wonderful people again.

Ligthart and Walkeden Families

The end of The Netherlands coincided with the end of Europe as we drove back to France that afternoon and boarded the ferry at Calais next morning, an hour and a bit later and our European adventure has ended, now our UK adventure begins. We arrive at Dover and proceed to the foyer of the ferry terminal. I have booked a car with 1CAR1 but unfortunately they do not have a kiosk at the terminal and the booking receipt I got from the internet did not come with their phone number, so after quizzing the other rental car suppliers I managed to contact them and they delivered the car to us. Now we have downsized cars here but I thought the car was going to be a little bit bigger than the one they delivered, we could not

all fit into the car so I had to leave the family at the terminal while I returned the delivery driver to his depot and filled out the paperwork, this might seem like a lot of trouble to go to but the price comparison with hiring a car with the ones based in the terminal was huge, it was 16 pounds a day cheaper with this company, that’s about $35.00 a day over 33 days is going to buy me a few good bottles of wine so sometimes the little bit of inconvenience is well worth it.My return to pick up the family snapped me back into truckie mode as I juggled and squeezed the 4 of us, suitcases, bedding and backpacks into the Vauxhall Corsa. We made a bee line for Anthony and Moiras where we are going to reevaluate and repack what we need for the continuation of our trip.We are very fortunate to have befriended Anthony and Moira who are the most fascinating people I know. Their insight into British life, art and History is invaluable and we could not have asked for a better experience for our children to learn from.On our previous visit in January they experienced pottery by Anthony and painted some water colours with Moira and now we are down by the Avon River in Anthony’s Coracle.A Coracle is a medieval boat that was used in small streams and the moats around castles, Anthony handmade the Coracle as he does with most things, he is a recreationist and makes things in traditional ways, even his pottery is fired in a wood fired kiln which he has made himself and which we hope to fire on a later visit. Getting back to the Coracle, we had the most fantastic evening on The Avon paddling this weird looking boat around.I do not think he realises the local pride he has achieved but I overheard many locals praising the work he has put into the coracle.Carting the Coracle to the river was interesting in itself, as Anthony and Moira live up a skinny little lane that is hard enough to get a suitcase or your groceries through.We manage to get it to the street then I had to climb between a strap and the seat and carry the coracle down to the River with the coracle on my back making me look like a mutant ninja turtle. As I crossed the pedestrian crossing towards the bank I the children just laughed at the stares we were creating, fortunately I am not a shy person as some of you may have gathered by now.