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!