drug bust in dordrecht!!!!!!!!!

Our bedroom is on the second floor, facing the narrow cobbled Schijverstraat, a narrow residential street that is whisper quiet at night.

The banging was loud, aggressive and repeated. We both woke with a shock. Strong torch-lights split the night, playing onto our window and lighting up houses along the street. There was loud, but muffled shouting, communicating urgency.

I sent Syl down.

Four uniformed politzie were on the street, their vehicle outside our house, motor running. It was a drug bust in the house next door. Was anyone there? Had we seen anyone? Did the houses connect? No,no,no. Sorry for the trouble - goodnight.

We learnt from the owner of our house that the neighbour had apparently been growing cannabis in the basement. He wasn't there, maybe gone to Portugal?

The police came back later, entered the house and took the drugs.    

Biesbosch National Park -

Waiting for the Waterbus at the Dordrecht Pier.

Mum launches Hughie on a bike that has a seat a bit high off the ground.

Peter and Syl in the Biesbosch NP. This park was formed after a large flood wiped out a number of villages hundreds of years ago. Someone rightly decided that it probably wasn't the best place to rebuild. Today it is a large wetland system. It's most famous occupants are a population (>400) of cryptic beavers introduced from Poland over twenty years ago. The section of the park we went to only has four beavers but a lot of cows and a few horses....more reliable than a lawn mower. We also saw lots of geese, ducks and little brown birdies. The beavers were not seen but their handiwork, in the form of felled trees, was evident. They do so well in the park the rangers must protect trees from these industrious little creatures.

Caity and Hugh had lots of fun on a flying fox. It was nothing short of a miracle that they didn't get wet feet since the flying fox traversed a small muddy stretch of water.

We rode hired bikes around the park which allowed for a pleasant viewing of the landscape while providing children with an outlet for their boundless energy.

Caity and Hugh start school on Mondag!!

Hi Caty and Hugh,

Mondy we will start our childrensbook project. We are opening this project with a show of some of our children at our mainbuilding. i think it should be real nice if you come there. we will start at 8.30, but because it will be very buisy there it would be easy if you could be at the main building at 8.15. After the opening we will walk to our own building where the lessons start. If you don't like this idea yoy could come half an hour later to our own building.

Our main building is in the "Hofstraat 5".

At 12.00 we have a break from an hour. Yoy can go home then. At 13.15 the school starts till 15.15.

We mostly eat a little fruit or somthing al like at 10.00, so it will be easy if yoy bring that.

On mandy we will have gym, so clothing for that is also necesery.

We will see you mondy!

Greeting Elske

ps: Hugh can bring his ball, al the children can't wait to play with him!

A Day in Delft from Caity

Today I went to Delft. Delft is in Holland and settled in about the 1200`s. It is known for the blue and white pottery mainly found in delft. Delft is where William of Orange set up his home base. His home base is where he and an army fought against the Spanish. After 80 years of fighting the Spanish king hired someone to kill William of Orange. William of orange was then shot on in 1584 on a flight stairs in what is now known as the Prinsenhof  museum in Delft. In the 1500`s there was an explosion of all explosives for Holland,it destroyed most of the city which was then rebuilt.

The famous painter Vermeer lived there and painted the girl with the pearl earring, more of his paintings are now in the Prinsen hof.

 We went on a pretty ordinary day for Holland slightly over cast. The Train is a good way to get from Dordrecht to delft it is efficient and fast. When you get off the train be sure to take the right exit or you could find yourself in the middle of a construction site. When you get there some things you must do are the Prinsen hof museum, the leger museum, seeing the old and new kerk which means the old and new church looking around in the market area and going to the lollie shop.  My favourite part was the Leger Museum. In the Leger museum the first part we went to was the kids part. In the kids part you would stand in a cell and be yelled at for a minute or so and then the door would open. The first activity we did was you press a start button and you have to climb up a wall which of course I did elegantly (NOT) then you walk over a plank of wood which was nothing to brag about then you jump off a box about 1 and half meters I landed with a majestic thud then you crawl under rope which I did with an ear piercing scream then you crawl through a tunnel and press a stop button and you get a time my first time was 56.3 but I brought it down to 11.9 which was an achievement  for me.  Then we went on through the rest of the museum which had lots of things about wars. After we did the leger museum we decided to head back to the train station and end the day in delft.If I were to sum up our day in delft o would say a plesent day for all ages and some great shopping opportunities for another time.With a score of …

10/10   great place to go!!!      

Caity O`Brien

Photos of Delft................................

famous for its blue and white pottery - now pitched straight at we tourists

 a beautiful square, with a magnificent stadhuis and cathedral

 the prinsenhof museum told the story of dutch history and featured delft artists and their extraordinary use of light in paintings

 the kids spent some time drawing the cathedral

 william of orange was shot here by a mad spanish catholic 

 they have their moments

crest on the milirary museum

We went to Rotterdam for the day but it was closed

Rotterdam is Holland's second largest city after Amsterdam. It was occupied by the nazis in the second world war. They launched a massive bombing raid on the city as ground troops invaded to encourage Dutch capitulation. Because it is an excellent port, german occupation was intolerable to the allies and they bombed the bejesus out of it.

So Rotterdam had the unusual experience of being hammered by both sides. Most of the beautiful old city is dust. There are just pockets of charming old buildings along canals - bad aim? Ran out of bombs? Anyway, Rotterdam prides itself on its post-war reconstruction, edgy architecture and hipness. A little too much. Sort of like Melbourne.

We wanted to give the kids a day of things they would like (juvenile respite from antiquity and heady views), so headed to Rotterdam on the Waterbus - a sleek, fast catamaran that races down the 'Oude Maas' in fifty minutes, jostling with massive barges, complete with owner's car, speedboat and 'house' on the back, tugs and other river craft - this is a serious working river.

So far so good. We arrive at Rotterdam and make our way to what the map says is the 'Mariniers Museum'. Note, this is not the maritime museum, which is twenty minutes walk in the other direction. Gentle rain falling, we make good progress to the real maritime museum, visible for 500 m down the road. We approach in strengthening rain. We plan coffee, cake and toilet before an enjoyable visit. It is closed.

We take stock and decide to seek out the VVV - tourist information - to plan a revised kid-friendly itinerary. Now wet, we find it in the centre of town. As we enter, a young lady rushes us to say that they are filming and they would prefer we did not come in, or remain silent if we do. We opt for Caity and High's version of silence.

Where's the toilet, I whisper, legs crossed. There is a toilet upstairs, but it is only for staff, I am told. Syl collects some tourist brochures - 1 euro - and we rush to the toilet in the railway station to spend four by 35 euro cents. Over coffee we plot our next move - there is a children's science museum, very hands on - you take home what you make. We joke that they might build a monster. Hughie decides to build a puppy. And we double check that it is open on Mondays. Yes - beauty.

It is a long, wet walk. The children's science museum is on pannekoeken - pancake - street. And it is closed on Mondays.

After a few minutes weeping quietly in the rain, reminiscing about the accuracy of the allied bombers, we give up, make our way to the Waterbus, via a lolly shop - and leave Rotterdam behind in our wake.  The kids load up with lollies on the way back and are deleriously happy. And after another glass of this fine french rose I shall be too!

What does a windmill do exactly?

What are the defining symbols of countries? Australia and Uluru, the Opera House? The US and the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building? France and the Eiffel Tower?

Think Holland and (unless you have spent too much time in an Amsterdam 'coffee' house) a windmill probably springs to mind. And rightly so - this distinctly olde worlde symbol of a quieter, gentler age is as Dutch as clogs and tulips.

But what does a windmill do?

Yesterday Api dropped us off at the 'Kinderdijk' to find out!

The Kinderdijk is an array of windmills north of Dordrecht. It is listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO for its cultural value.

We joined a sprinkling of late season tourists walking along the canal where 19 of these old beauties sat quietly, tolerating our gawking. The only noise was the sound of a thousand electronic camera shutters, as we vied to be photographed with an icon over our shoulder. Think Uluru, Empire State, Eiffel Tower.......

We got inside one for 12 euro. And that's when their purpose became clear - each is a gigantic pump - a massive, wind-driven machine, huge, powerful, noisy, complicated, scary. Enormous oak transmissions convert wind-power to rotation, driven down through the mill on a metre-wide oak beam to another timber-toothed transmission that drives the water-wheel.

And these monsters were home to the mill family that would rig the sails, winch them to face the wind, spend their lives inside the bowels of this massive contraption. And, I'm betting, occasionally get their blocks knocked off if they stopped to admire the view and neglected to duck.

This gigantic array of machines pumped billions of liters of water, lifting it up to drain the lowlands - as in below sea and river level -  that would otherwise be flooded and unusable. And they worked from the 1740s until the 1950s until shiny electric water-screws took over. Sorry, don't have any photos of them - but did get a few of the windmills!

Around Dordrecht .....

A day out in Gorinchem and Nieupoort

yesterday we trained our way to gorinchem - where syl was born and mark and ellen lived for awhile.

it is an ancient city with the old centre's wall largely intact. the cathedral - which is huge and dominates the central plein - started to  list on its foundations during construction in the 12th century. undeterred, the builders pressed on to completion, so it has a very distinct kink about half way up.

we arrived (by coincidence) during a boat show and the canals were lined with boats for sale - most with owners sunning themselves on deck! there were also lots of stalls, selling things nautical and food including exotica like gerooked paling - smoked eel - and a middle-aged male dutch choir belting out oom pa pa tunes. all good!

we bussed onto nieupoort - new port - which undoubtedly was new when settled in the 1200s but is now world heritage listed for its unsulllied antiquity! It too has a surrounding wall, built to exclude marauding french, but which served better in protecting the town from flooding over the centuries.

back in dordrecht we rested our tired adult feet then took cait and hugh down to the local park for a run. we have concluded that hughie especially, is like a puppy that must have a run or becomes very naughty. the kids hooked up with a mob of girls in the playground for soccer and fun was had across the language barrier - all it takes is a ball!

on the way home we stopped at our local - one of many - for a drink. a beautiful old place with cosy booths  looking out over the harbour and a small bar. it is, as you might expect in old dordrecht, a tapas bar and we enjoyed spinach and cheese croquette, fritte mit mayonaise and bifstek skewers with some limburg beer, french rose and local limonade. we four sat at the bar like old sailors.

hugh had bruised his shin in a final lunge at the makeshift soccer goals and the waitress made an ice pack for him. so there we were, perched at the bar with ice first aid, when the ladyt barber's quartet arrived, downed a quick glass of white and, announced only by a hoot on the little harnomica thingy to set the key, burst into 'yesterday', followed by abba and some dutch classics that must remain nameless. maybe it was the cosy bar, perhaps the beer, but they were gooood! It was, we discovered, a choral festival of sorts in dordrecht and they were like pub-crawling mills sisters.

now i'm finished - but please let me see your comments! bye peter

Some photos of Dordrecht......................

Syl points to our street Schijverstraat - writer's street

Dordrecht - the 'new harbour' 50m from our place

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong, Schipol and Dordrecht....

we had a delightful start to our travels - all packed, taxi on time, qantas canberra checked us through to holland - and the qantas first lounge let us bluff our way in for a la carte, bollinger and a rest.

 i reminded myself of this more than once over the ensuing 24 hours - when we discovered that cathay has the hardest seats in the sky, that recline is not a verb applying to said seats, that for hughie, lollies plus turbulence equals projectile vomiting and when a cargo plane 'incident' (read prang) put all but one strip out of action in hong kong, resulting in a 2 hour wait on the tarmac before take-off for the 14 hour flight!

that said, cathay passed my primary test for any airline - we landed safely in holland. api gerard and joyce were there to meet us and we drove the hour or so from amsterdam schipol to dordrecht. renee plied us with real coffee and a traditional hazelnut torte welcome, before we were taken to our apartment to vault our bags up the very dutch stairs (read ladder) and settle in.

this really is a very beautiful little old city. we have quickly found our way around .... i will describe more anon. cheers your european correspondent.

time to get in the taxi!..................

ok definitley the last australian post for awhile! what a beautiful spring day in canberra - a shame to be leaving the blossoms and mild weather! i'm sure it will be absolutely splendid weather while we are in europe - right marc??!!!!

last blog from canberra for awhile!..........................

fish are fed, plants watered, rob has an operator's manual for the house and we are packed! lift off!

everything feels pretty organized, which is always a worry! although the dordrecht apartment has changed at short notice - we are now around the corner in a 200 yo 2 storey 2 bedroom apartment.

caity and hugh will be going to school in dordrecht - they have pictures of home and some souvenirs to curry favour with the natives!

we fly to sydney tomorrow at 0950 then onto cathay pacific early afternoon to hong kong and onto schipol, arriving 0700 in the morning. api and renee are picking us up for the drive to dordrecht - an hour or so - then we will do zombie impersonations for a day or so!

will keep you posted!

on a count-down now...!

We are into the last few weeks before departure..... and are getting excited.

All of the bookings that we wanted in place before we leave are done - the rest we will make on the go ( How much should you tie down - and how much flexibility should you have? We have tied down accommodation in Dordrecht, London, Genoa, Rome and Venice, the cruise and key flights - the rest is open....)

Suitcases sit on Hugh's bunk and there is a growing pile of 'must pack' items. Both kids have pocket video recorders to document their travels.

I'm off to Brisbane Sunday to Tuesday to visit family briefly before departure, then have a few days in Alice Springs with the Rural Leadership Board meeting.

Our house-sitter is briefed, willing and able!

We should probably have a long list of final things to do - and this cold, wet Canberra spring day is a good one for writing it!