Hans & Arjan in Australia

Our Outback Explorer

2011-10-04T20:43:00.001+11:00

In the past month since we took delivery of our new 4WD we got it ready fitting it for our trips and this weekend was the first trial run. We joined a friend on a Landrover Club weekend with a mixed group of vehicles, not only Landrovers. The trip was on a private property near Wyangala.

Since the last post the car has been fitted with the Bull bar, snorkel, driving lights, second battery system, UHF radio and various small things. As expected the car did very well, a comfortable ride and good off-road capabilities.

The old FJ40 with the new FJ Cruiser, notice the headlights and grille.

FJ Cruiser

2011-08-27T23:42:00.000+10:00

Today we took delivery of our new car. We ordered it last June and had sold the Nissan Patrol before we went to Europe. It arrived earlier than anticipated so we were really pleased to get it. From the dealership we drove straight to the 4WD Adventure Show that happened to be on this weekend. We made good use of all the specials that were on to order some accessories such as a bulbar. So keep an eye out on the blog for more pictures as we fit our new car out for off-roading.

Bangkok

2011-08-22T23:43:00.000+10:00

On our way back we made a stopover in our favorite city, Bangkok. We had a relaxing few days and met up with some of our Thai friends over great street food. We did all the usual shopping trips to Malls and Markets, visited the temple Wat Arun and of course enjoyed the nightlife.

Dinner by the river with Ayre

Dinner with AJ from Melbourne in Soi 4

Wat Arun

Chao Phraya River from the top of Wat Arun

Icecream at Swensen’s

BBQ restaurant with Viktor and Ayre

Together at the seafood shop (alley)

Street vendor selling dried-BBQ’d-rolled squid

Home!

Dutch Things…

2011-08-15T23:09:00.000+10:00

We did more Dutch things such as eating apple-pie, and catching up with friends. We even visited the Rijksmuseum where the famous “Night Watch” by Rembrandt can be seen.

We also took Arjan’s nephews to Artis, the zoo in Amsterdam, which was great fun!

This little lion was the first born in 6 years at this zoo.

Uncle Arjan with Wessel

Uncle Arjan from the slide.

All of us on a giant reptile.

After two weeks in The Netherlands it was time to say goodbye again, we had a final farewell dinner with the family and left for Bangkok the next day.

Holiday in The Netherlands

2011-08-09T19:24:00.001+10:00

After a long flight from Singapore via Helsinki we arrived in Amsterdam where we were greeted at the airport by our family.

Dinner with Mum and Dad.

On the weekend the Amsterdam Canal Parade was on. Our friends arranged for us to come along on the Tom Tom float which was great fun.

We had to sample all the Dutch delicacies such as the famous kroketten.

Last day in Singapore

2011-08-01T21:41:00.001+10:00

Last day in Singapore today. Last night we went out in the Clarke Quay-area.

This morning we had a typical Singaporean breakfast in the Chinatown hawker centre consisting of toast and coconut jam, dipped in half-boiled eggs with black sweet coffee (S$6).
After packing our bags we went towards Raffles city, another shopping centre and paid a visit to the world famous Raffles Hotel. A bit more shopping finished off with more hawker food, chicken satay with sticky rice and fried Kway Teow (noodles with chicken, mushroom, egg and fishcake).

Now off to the airport for our flights Singapore-Helsinki-Amsterdam.

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Location:Trengganu St,Singapore,Singapore

More Singapore…

2011-08-01T01:32:00.001+10:00

Singapore is famous for its Singapore Chilli Crab, so we had to try that out. We went to a place where lots of locals go, near the waterfront about a 20min taxi ride away. It was really good but very very messy!

The next day we set off for the Kranji Commonwealth War Cemetery. Its in the north of the island about 40mins away. There are 4461 World War II casualties buried or commemorated at this cemetery, of which more than 850 are unidentified. One of these soldiers is my Granddad’s brother, so we went to look for his headstone.

After a quiet moment at the cemetery we headed back to the city to visit the rooftop of the Marina Bay Sands hotel. A giant hotel consisting of 3 towers with a platform across them. Great views from up there. There is also a rooftop pool, but for hotel guests only.

Singapore

2011-07-30T22:24:00.001+10:00

After a smooth and uneventful flight we arrived in Singapore on Friday evening. In no time we were in our hotel, a small design hotel in Chinatown. We spent Saturday exploring the city and some shopping on the world famous Orchard Rd.

Buddha Tooth temple

Arjan ordering hawker-style lunch.

Shopping heaven

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Location:Cantonment Rd,,Singapore

On our way

2011-07-29T15:16:00.001+10:00

We're ready for departure to Singapore and Amsterdam.

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Location:Departure Plaza,Mascot,Australia

New Car

2011-06-18T20:00:00.000+10:00

Since we use our 4WD quite a lot for our trips we thought we’d look at swapping it for something newer. After a lot of reading and a tour of the car dealerships we decided on something quite different. The 2011 Toyota FJ Cruiser. The FJ Cruiser is a retro-style 4WD produced by Toyota and features styling reminiscent of the original Toyota FJ40 Land Cruisers from the 1960s.

After some test driving, deciding on the colour and options all there was left to do was negotiate a really good deal.

Since the model is only just for sale in Australia, the car still needs to be built and the Tsunami in Japan has delayed production. We are currently expecting it to arrive in September/October. The Patrol has since then been sold, so for the next few months we are without wheels.

The yellow one is the dealers demonstration model

This is the colour we ordered, Titanium with a white roof.

Melbourne

2011-06-14T19:22:00.000+10:00

Another long weekend, the Queens Birthday in this case, took us to Melbourne. We stayed in the city for one night and with Aukje for the other night.

In Melbourne we did some shopping, went for lunch and met up for dinner at Longrain with Chantal and Christel. The next day we drove our rental car to Cockatoo for a long overdue visit to Aukje, Arthur and the girls. We played with the dogs, fed the horses, chased the chickens and cooked dinner. The next day we had breakfast with eggs fresh from the chicken coop. After that we went for a walk in the Dandenong Ranges followed by lunch. Then back to the airport for our flight back to Sydney. Too short again!

Egg-net dish	Duck curry
Yes that is a chicken
Making horse-food	Cooking lamb
Feeding a cockatoo

Snowy Mountains

2011-04-26T22:16:00.000+10:00

In April we had an extra-long long-weekend combining Easter and Anzac day. This gave us 5 days to go and explore. We headed into the Snowy Mountains with a small groups of friends. The trip took us from Sydney via Canberra and Jindabyne into Kosciuszko National Park. From there we crossed the Murray River into Alpine National Park in Victoria. The trails and tracks took us up to Khancoban and Cabramurra back in the direction of Canberra. Temperatures ranged from 0 to 25 degrees, so at night we definitely needed a campfire to keep warm.

Rainbow and Roo’s
Chopping wood isn't easy
	Crossing the Murray river
A sunny day up Mt Anderson	Coolemine homestead
A very cold morning over Three Mile Dam

Birdsville and Beyond - day 13

2010-09-12T19:50:00.001+10:00

A very very cold night, a quick pack up and we said goodbye to our travel companions to head back to Sydney.
A heard of sheep almost didn't want to let us leave.

We took a coffee and cake stop along the way in our favorite place in Leura in the Blue Mountains.

Then via the car-wash back home.

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Location:Oxford St,Surry Hills,Australia

Birdsville and Beyond - day 12

2010-09-12T11:43:00.001+10:00

Chilly morning but after pancakes and packing up the sun warmed everything up nicely. Through inland roads and tracks we're slowly heading south. The tracks were very muddy, making the car all red again.

After lunch we decided to head for the historic town of Hill End, a spot where some of the others have been before. A nice place on the Turon River.

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Birdsville and Beyond - day 11

2010-09-10T18:37:00.001+10:00

Only a few drops of rain overnight. After breakfast and packing up we set course for Thargomindah for fuel and coffee. Along the way we spotted an Emu with 3 babies and drove through a huge swarm of locust.

The roads we intended to take us south appeared to be all closed. So we detour towards the Mitchell highway to get past Bourke.

We set up camp not far from Bourke.

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Birdsville and Beyond - day 10

2010-09-09T19:14:00.001+10:00

Today we continued to follow the road to Windorah were we stopped for lunch and fuel, to continue towards Quilpie.

Along the way we encountered some heavy rain and a dust storm.

After a short break we set off south to search for a dry spot. Almost all the land was wet, but up on a crest we found a rocky high spot.

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Location:Quilpie Thargomindah Rd,Quilpie,Australia

Birdsville and Beyond - day 9

2010-09-09T15:22:00.001+10:00

Early wake to see the sun rise over Big Red.

Bad weather coming into the Simpson, so a speedy pack up and a drive back to Birdsville. With the northern road being opened up, the whole town has emptied out and it looks like a small desert town again.

We got an update on the road reports at the servo and found a suitable route north and then east, a lot shorter than the alternative of the day before going up al the way north to Longreach.

Along the road from Bedouri to Windorah we stopped to set up camp.

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Birdsville and Beyond - day 8

2010-09-08T07:21:00.001+10:00

One road opened up, but the wrong one.
Today we took a scenic flight over the Simpson area for 1.5hrs.

Right after that we set off west into the part of the Simpson that is open, to Big Red, the last sand dune of the Simpson. This is only about 30km from Birdsville. We set up camp at the bottom of Big Red, so we had a bit of a desert feeling after all.

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Birdsville and Beyond - day 7

2010-09-06T20:13:00.001+10:00

Still in Birdsville, the road out west opened but only up to the SA border so we're still going nowhere. We're also waiting for some parts being flown in for one of the landcruisers.

If all goes well we plan to take a 2day trip into the Simpson tomorrow. There is the risk of bad weather coming in again and being stuck longer.

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Location:Eyre Developmental Rd,Birdsville,Australia

Birdsville and Beyond - day 6

2010-09-05T21:06:00.001+10:00

Still at Birdsville today. A very sunny day, most of us just relaxed and did some work on the car. We got word the roads will probably not open before Thursday. And not even the road we wanted to take.
So we'll be out here for a while. New supplies will be flown in tomorrow.

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Location:Eyre Developmental Rd,Birdsville,Australia

Birdsville and Beyond - day 5

2010-09-04T17:46:00.001+10:00

After a very rainy night we decided to scout for a dryer and less muddy spot, which we found after a drive around the area. We packed up camp and put everything back up 5min down the road.
The weather had cleared up and the sun dried out all the wet gear pretty quick.
The races for today were cancelled as well so today was a rest day.

Just after we came into Birdsville last night, they closed off all the roads into town, which basically means everyone is stuck here for a few days.

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Location:Eyre Developmental Rd,Birdsville,Australia

Birdsville and Beyond - day 4

2010-09-03T23:45:00.001+10:00

Early rise today because we had a lot of ground to cover. We drove off at 7:30 to cross the border into South Australia. A section of the Bore Track took us to Innamincka for fuel, lunch and a hot shower in the public shower.

After that we headed up the Cordillo downs track. Because of the recent rain this track was very difficult. We got stuck in the mud a couple of times and had to use the snatch strap to get pulled out. Everything, especially Arjan, was covered in mud. Due to the wet terrain we decided to push on to Birdsville despite we prefer to set up camp in daylight.

Unfortunately Birdsville had a lot of rain, so it was very hard to find a decent spot in the dark and rain with a very hard wind blowing. Around 11pm we finally sat in the tent dry-ish. Hopefully tomorrow will be dry.

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Location:Birdsville Developmental Rd,Birdsville,Australia

Birdsville and Beyond - day 3

2010-09-03T21:14:00.002+10:00

Today's section took us from the campground to Tibooburra where we fueled up again and had a coffee. From there we went north through Sturt National Park towards the Queensland border. Just before the border we noticed one of the tyres being a bit soft so we put the spare on. The track from there on was very muddy and challenging to drive. Therefore we didn't make a lot of progress and set up camp about 20km from the border with South Australia. While Arjan set up camp, Hans fixed the tyre. There was a big steel pin embedded well in the surface. After it was pulled out the hole was filled with a rubber plug.

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Birdsville and Beyond - day 2

2010-09-02T11:27:00.001+10:00

After a good nights sleep and a county style breakfast we set course for Nyngan (about 2hrs) where we met up with the rest of the group. From there we drove in convoy to Bourke. After filling up and a quick lunch we left the bitumen roads heading to Wanaaring where we set up camp near the river.

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Birdsville and Beyond - day 1

2010-08-31T20:40:00.002+10:00

Today is the first day of our big 4WD tour through south-east Australia.

The past couple of weeks we have been preparing for the trip; getting the car serviced, buying additional camping gear and of course supplies.

We left Sydney around 2pm and set course for Dubbo, NSW via the Blue Mountains and Orange, arriving at 7:30pm. We're spending the night in a motel and will leave early tomorrow morning for the next stretch.

Not even half-packed.

On the road

Dinner in Dubbo.

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Location:Darling St,Dubbo,Australia

BlogPress for iPhone

2010-08-23T00:11:00.000+10:00

I've just installed BlogPress on my iPhone. Hopefully I can update our blog on the go; for instance during our upcoming 4WD trip.

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Location:Oxford St,Surry Hills,Australia

May we have your votes please?

2010-05-27T22:00:00.000+10:00

No, no, no, we are not talking about the Eurovision Song Contest, but the elections for the Dutch parliament on June 9th .

As overseas Dutch citizens we are allowed to vote via mail. First of all you have to apply for mail-voting with the mayor of The Hague, who handles all overseas requests. After the ballots have been printed, they are sent overseas; together with instructions, forms and a return-envelope. Because it can be difficult to get the votes back on time in The Hague, we can send them to the Embassy in Canberra for processing and counting.

Hmmm big piece of paper	Arjan's vote, but not for the Animal Party
Ready to go

Family Time

2010-04-14T10:02:00.000+10:00

Mum and Dad flew down again to visit us and of course we planned a lot of things to see and do!

Palm Beach

First trip was a drive to the Northern Beaches and to Barrenjoey lighthouse in Palm Beach. It’s quite a climb from the beach up to the top, but the view is definitely worth it. A trip to that area isn't complete with a visit to the Cooks Larder for a taste of their famous cakes. On the way back we stopped at some of the famous surf beaches, back to Sydney for a nice dinner.

Auckland and Rotorua

Over the Easter long-weekend we took a trip to New Zealand's North Island. We flew into Auckland where we spent 2 nights and then drove down to Rotorua, the heart of geothermal activity and Maori culture.

Auckland isn't complete with a visit to the Sky Tower, which we did not only visit for the views but also to have a nice seafood dinner. The next day took us to the west coast, Muriway Beach and Piha. A whale had even decided to drop by along the coast. On the way back we stopped at the volcano crater Mt. Eden which lies in the city itself.

Sky Tower	Muriwai Beach is the most accessible gannet colony in New Zealand.

LionRock at Piha	Mt Eden

We drove from Auckland to Rotorua via the East Coast town of Waihi Beach passing the towns of Paeroa and the gold mine at Waihi. Around Rotorua there are various volcanic and geothermal sights such as Waimangu Thermal Valley and Whakarewarewa (Te Pui) Geysers. On the dive back to Auckland we stopped at the Waitomo Glowworm caves and the Kiwi House to see a real live Kiwi-bird.

This is where the drink L&P comes from	And this is where the Kiwi fruit comes from.
Gold mining in progress	Kiwi-fruit on the tree.
Bubbling lake
	Bubbling mud
A Geyser
Kiwi-bird	Glow-worm caves at Waitomo
Back to Sydney

Cook

The next weekend in Sydney took us on trip in the footsteps of the early explorers, Botany Bay. On 29 April 1770, Botany Bay was the site of James Cook's first landing of HMS Endeavour on the continent of Australia.

Bare Island	La Perouse

After that it was time for Mum and Dad to fly back to the (still cold) Netherlands.

The Base by Spencer Tunick

2010-03-01T10:00:00.000+11:00

New Mardi Gras, with the assistance of the City of Sydney, has commissioned contemporary artist Spencer Tunick in making a series of installations in Sydney as part of the 2010 Mardi Gras.

Of course this was an opportunity not to be missed so we gathered at the steps of the Sydney Opera House together with about 5200 people to be photographed nude in the name of art and diversity.

Waiting…. waiting… waiting… Everyone had to gather at the Opera House at 4am in order to get everything ready when the sun would rise around 6:45am. After the photos outside the Opera House, we moved inside for some shots in the concert hall. We arrived back home at 10am, tired!

Some smaller prints have been published in the media worldwide, but Spencers own prints will take up to 4 months to be ready, each participant will receive a limited edition print in the mail.

Happy Mardi Gras

2010-02-28T09:00:00.000+11:00

This year was a very special Mardi Gras for us, because or best friends Harald and Danny came over from Amsterdam to celebrate it with us. We were shooting photos again, so we were nice and close to all the floats in the parade.

Harald, Hans, Arjan & Danny.	The Dykes on Bikes traditionally open the parade.
Chief of Parade, Amanda Lepore.	The volunteer Surf Life Savers.
The guys from our camping group.	The crowds along Oxford Street.
Feathers, feathers, feathers.

Christmas Break

2010-01-03T20:27:00.000+11:00

As announced in September we had planned a second trip to Bangkok, so we would be able to enjoy more of this wonderful city.

We flew on Christmas day (25th of December) which is a bit of an odd day to fly but still it was quite busy at the airport. I excepted the airline to do something special, but unfortunately that didn't happen. Luckily we did manage to upgrade to Business Class. Merry Christmas!

On the upper deck of the Qantas Boeing 747-400.

Our suite in the Dusit Thani Hotel.

Thailand is all about food, so we ate lots of different delicious dishes in various street-side restaurants. Many thanks again to our friend Ayre who helps us pick the best dishes and is excellent in translating to and from Thai.

Street food on Silom Road.
Whole fish	A proper restaurant in Soi 4.
Local eatery in Sathorn	Huge BBQ Prawn!

But besides just eating all that food, we also wanted to know how to prepare it ourselves. So we booked a Thai cooking class.

All students meet up in the cooking school above a restaurant, from there we all took the Skytrain 1 stop to a local market where one of the teachers explained everything about the fresh ingredients used in Thai cooking.

Blue Elephant Cooking School.	“This is one of three types of Holy Basil”.
At the Butcher.	Spicy !
This is how you drink Thai coffee… from a plastic bag!	Not for sale.

After that we sat down in the cooking studio for the head chef to show us how to prepare 5 dishes. She needed a hand during the demonstration and Hans volunteered to help out. After the demo it was time to put on our aprons and start cooking.

On the menu was:

Toong Tong Keaw Waan – Golden Bags with Green Curry Minced Prawn and Chicken
Tom Kha Kai Sai Phang – Coconut Milk Soup with Chicken and Straw Mushrooms
Kruang Kaeng Daeng – Red Curry Paste (to use in the Jungle Curry)
Keang Pa Nua – Spicy Jungle Beef Curry
Woon Sen Pad Kee Maow Koong – Spicy Stir-fry Vermicelli with Praws.

The kitchen, still clean.	Hans helping out.
Masterchef?	You better watch out!

After all the hard cooking our own dishes were served as lunch in the restaurant for us to enjoy.

Toong Tong
And a diploma, Arjan can finally cook!

Ofcourse there was time for more culture and history, we booked a tour to the famous Bridge on the River Kwai, the war cemetery, a train ride on the Burma railway and the Tiger Temple.

The War Cemetery with lots of graves of Dutch soldiers.	The Bridge.
Weird fruit!	The river Kwai.
Nice tracks.	Ieeuuww!

Nice pussycat.

As you can see, again, not enough time to see and do everything we wanted, so we will be saving up for another trip!

Merry Christmas-pudding!

2009-12-25T12:00:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010!

Speculaas

2009-12-05T11:46:00.000+11:00

To celebrate Sinterklaasfeest, I’ve baked some Gevuld Speculaas. Not much to celebrate, but it is a good excuse to prepare this delicious Dutch pastry. It is a spiced biscuit filled with an almond paste.

Gevuld Speculaas on the left.

Australia-shaped speculaasjes made with the leftover dough.

Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure in the Netherlands, Aruba, Suriname, Netherlands Antilles and Belgium, celebrated every year on Saint Nicholas' eve (December 5). The feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of, among other things, children.

Sinterklaas has a long red cape, wears a white bishop's dress and red mitre and holds a crosier, a long gold coloured staff with a fancy curled top. He carries a big book that tells whether each individual child has been good or naughty in the past year. He traditionally rides a white horse.

Summer again - 4WD’n

2009-11-23T23:00:00.000+11:00

Summer is here (officially December 1st) so time to get the camping gear out again. We already had 2 short trips in spring which were a bit rainy, but this time things looked good.

On Thursday right after work we left for Goulburn where we stayed overnight in a motel, the next morning it was off to Braidwood to meet up with our fellow campers. After a coffee, some pastries and the last use of the toilet facilities we went off into Deua National Park. As temperatures raised to 41°C we followed a challenging track for about 6 hours to the Bendethera campsite. We found a nice spot near the river to set up camp.

Saturday we did a bushwalk to the Bendethera caves, still a very warm day but with a cool-down stop in the caves it was bearable. Sunday was time to pack up and dive back home!

Braidwood Bakery	Letting down the tyres to bush-pressure
Crossing Deua river	Dusty conditions
Bendethera fire trail	Monitor Lizard (goanna)
Hans cooking breakfast	The whole crew

Red Bellied Black Snake, ieeeuw

Mexican Riviera

2009-10-28T23:06:00.001+11:00

Booked and arranged a long long time ago was a cruise with our Dutch friends from Los Angeles to Mexico and back. We met up with the guys in LA and the next day we sailed off on the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas.

Because of Hurricane Rick in the area, captain Johnny had to change the plans a bit, but he sailed us through the heavy weather without problems. The ship went to port in Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas (we had to skip the stop in Mazatlan).

The Mariner of the Seas	The guys
Dance party at the pool deck	Another dance party in “Studio B”
Decorating your Stateroom-door is part of the experience.	View of the Royal Promenade
Dolphin Encounter in Cabo San Lucas	Cheers

After a great week with parties, dinners and time to catch up with our friends, it was time to head back to Sydney. We had a couple of hours to spare before our flight back, so we had a look in Santa Monica and Venice Beach.

Santa Monica Pier

Bangkok - กรุงเทพมหานคร

2009-09-01T23:00:00.000+10:00

It was good catching up with everyone in Amsterdam, but time had come to head back in the direction of Australia. On the way back we had a stopover planned in Bangkok for 5 days.

We had a great time and have already planned our next trip to this wonderful vibrant, buzzing and very cheap city.

Shopping in MBK	Very weird ice cream
Streetfood & Singha beer	Dried Squid, cheap !

Wat

There is more in Thailand than food… you guessed it… Temples. We took the very efficient SkyTrain and the less-efficient river ferry service to Wat Pho (วัดโพธิ์), the temple of the Reclining Buddha. Wat Pho is the one of the largest and oldest temples in Bangkok and is home to more than one thousand Buddha images, as well as one of the largest single Buddha images: the Reclining Buddha, the Reclining Buddha is forty-six metres long and fifteen metres high, decorated with gold plating on his body and mother of pearl on his eyes and the soles of his feet.

46m of gold	The feet with the inlay of mother of pearl
nice ‘n easy	Hans donating a roof-tile to the restorations of the temple.

Close to Wat Pho is the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings in Bangkok, Thailand. It served as the official residence of the Kings of Thailand from the 18th century onwards.

The Palace
	Stray pussycat, always taken good care of by Buddhists

Food

More food… A Korean-bbq type of cooking, but with Thai ingredients.	Of course the menu is only in Thai.. so you need some help. And you have to write down your own orders on a post-it.
You eat inside, but the kitchen is out on the street. At least no smelly curtains.	The mystery order came out well!
With our friend Ayre at the night markets.	The night markets at Memorial Bridge.

Amsterdam

2009-08-18T18:59:00.001+10:00

Because we have our best friends Harald & Danny’s wedding to attend next weekend in Amsterdam, we took off for a trip back to Europe. Luckily we were able upgrade our flight on points from Sydney to Singapore on Qantas. Singapore-Amsterdam on KLM was back in cattle-class unfortunately, but some sleeping got us through the 24hrs of travel.

Hans in seat 13J

We arrived on Sunday morning at 6am and after some coffee and freshing up we met the familiy first. After that we headed to Amsterdam to check into the spare room at Harald & Danny.

Uncle Arjan

Elmo looks scared but he wasn't, maybe he still recognised me ?

Of course we had to go and eat some Dutch Kroket (Croquette) and meet up with all our friends.

a FEBO Kroket

dinner with friends

We also met up with our parents again and we had a very nice dinner in Leiden.

Famous

2009-07-15T19:09:00.001+10:00

We appeared in an article about the Drive4Life tour in the July edition of Overlander Magazine.

For those not in Australia, ask me for a scanned version of the article. The ozzies can find the magazine at their local Newsagent.

Drive4Life

2009-04-26T23:00:00.000+10:00

From Sunday 19th April 2009 till Friday 24th April 2009 we participated in the Drive4Life fundraiser tour. The objective of Drive4Life is to raise funds for Northcott disability services, a leader in the support and service provision for children and young adults with disabilities and their families. They do so by conducting "tag-along" four wheel drive tours. Participants in the tour make a tax-deductable donation of AU$ 1.000, every cent of which goes directly to the charity. Sponsors pay for the additional funds needed to organise the trip itself.

Albury

With the car fully checked and packed up we left on Friday afternoon and set course for Albury, NSW where we spent the night. Albury has an interesting link with The Netherlands, which was why we chose this town as a stop.

In 1934 the MacRobertson Trophy Air Race took place, from London to Melbourne. The Dutch KLM aircraft De Uiver took part in this air race. Nearing the end of the race the Uiver, hopelessly lost after becoming caught in a thunderstorm, ended up over Albury, New South Wales. The townsfolk responded magnificently, they helped the lost plane by signalled "Albury" by turning the town lights on and off. They lined their cars on the local racecourse to light up a runway for the plane. The plane landed, and next morning was pulled out of the mud by locals to fly on and win the handicap section of the race.

At Albury Airport there is a Memorial, however the DC2 replica is no longer there and the memorial is in state of disrepair.

Gundagai with the first truss bridge built in Australia	The Uiver Memorial
The Uiver replica, parked at a remote part of the airport instead of near the Memorial.	Albury by night

After the stopover in Albury we set course for Harrietville, the starting point of our tour. We checked into the local motel and gathered with all the participants to be assigned to our groups and meet the group leaders. The car and equipment were checked and we put the drive4life stickers on the doors of the car.

After that it was time for a beer at the Snowline Hotel to have a chat with the others in our group.

Day 1

An early start to gather for the group photo. It took a bit of manoeuvring to get all the cars and participants positioned for a good photo. After that we could really start the tour.

View Day 1 in a larger map

Group photo

We arrived at the Horseyard flat campground around to put up the tent and gather wood for the campfire, as soon as the sun set, it became quite cold and it proved to be an even colder night.

Day 2

Cold! There was ice everywhere when we woke up, on the car, on the tent and on the grass. Is this Australia? Overnight we reached -6°C, lucky we bought warm sleeping bags.

View Day 2 in a larger map

Yes a very cold morning	Coffee break, we Europeans don't drink instant coffee.

Day 3

Day 3 took us from the Wonnangatta campground to Talbotville. A very nice day.

View Day 3 in a larger map

Group 3, our group	Wonnangatta Cemetery
	Carwash

Day 4

Day 4 we are staying at Talbotville, so no need to pack up the tent. We visited the old goldmine area and had a meal at the Dargo Hotel, a very small town in the High Country.

View Day4 in a larger map

Good hope Gold mine
Dusty conditions

Day 5

Day 5 took us from Talbotville back to Harrietville through some land that was affected by the bushfires about 2 months ago. It was a very eerie landscape, all the trees looked like burnt matches. After the return in Harrietville it was time for a shower. That night the locals prepared a BBQ for us. There was a presentation by the organisers, the cheque was handed over to Northcott and there was a party with a band. The next morning we drove all the way back to Sydney in one go.

We had a fantastic time and a great bunch of people in our group!

View Drive4Life - day 5 in a larger map


Back in Harrietville	Cheers!

Mum and Dad visiting

2009-04-01T23:00:00.000+11:00

From the 12th of March till 1st of April, Hans' Mum and Dad visited us again. Besides catching up and doing some local sightseeing, we also took a few trips to enjoy other parts of Australia.

First dinner at Kingsleys

Harbour view from Balmain

Berry and Kangaroo Valley

The first weekend we took a daytrip to the south, along the Princess Highway to Historic Berry, then inland to the picturesque Kangaroo Valley. On the way back we passed Fitzroy Falls where we took a short stroll in the bush.

Lookout near Wollongong
Historic Berry
Fudge in Kangaroo Valley	The Hampden Bridge over the Kangaroo River, built in 1895.
Fitzroy Falls
	More fudge, Self Service this time.

The Red Centre

The next weekend we flew to Alice Springs where we had a look at the town and visited the reptile park. At sunset it was time to feed the Wallabies again.

Alice Springs


Dad and a Bearded Dragon	Thorny Devil
Hans and a snake	Flynets are a must in the summer in the desert.
Rock Wallaby and a little Joey.

Roadtrip

The roadtrip took us from Alice Springs, via Standley Chasm, to Yulara (Ayers Rock Resort) where we checked into the Lost Camel Hotel. Day temperatures were averaging around 38°C, at nighttime it didnt get much colder than 25°C. We did serveral sunrise and sunset views of Uluru and Kata Tjuta and some walks at the base of Uluru.

	Standley Chasm
Uluru 441km to go	Road Train

Uluru

Kata Tjuta (the Olgas)

Sunrise over Kata Tjuta	Wild Dingo
Walpa Gorge

Ayers Rock Resort

Relaxing by the pool

Aussie BBQ

The Hunter Valley, Newcastle and Stockton

The third and last weekend took us to the Hunter Valley, where we did some wine tasting (and buying). We stayed overnight in Newcastle and headed onto the Stockton beach for some beach driving and relaxing. After that it was time to drive back to Sydney.


at Robyn Drayton winery
Stockton beach

In the Dunes

2009-02-22T20:16:00.000+11:00

Together with some of our 4WD-owning friends we headed out to Stockton (Worimi National Park) for a weekend of camping in the dunes. We bought a new tent since our last trip, one you can put up in 60seconds, so a good reason to try that out.

Cooking
Our new tent
Our communal shower-tent	going for a drive
Bogged!	Our site, seen from the dunes

Yay !

Gex' Home

2009-02-17T21:00:00.000+11:00

Today Gex got his permanent home. A small terrarium filled with red desert sand and a hiding rock. It has a heated floor (only for the winter) and a moonlight lamp to see him when he gets out in the dark.

Meet Gex

2009-02-16T23:46:00.000+11:00

We have a new member of the family, Gex. He was born on December 15th, so 2 months old now

Gex is a Eastern Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus). They are a robust gecko that occurs throughout the south-eastern portion of Australia. However that does not mean you can grab one from the wild. You need a Native Animals Keepers licence and can only acquire them by trading with other keepers. Gex eats live crickets. He will get a new house to live in tomorrow, so there will be more pictures soon.

Handyman

2009-02-16T23:18:00.001+11:00

In preparations for future trips, we thought it would be a good idea to fix up the cargo area of our car, to fix the car-fridge so its not going all over the place. We made a false floor out of plywood, covered it with carpet and bolted it in place (using existing tie-down holes in the floor). The fridge mounting bracket go onto the false floor, and the trimming around the edges prevent things damaging the fridge. The end result looks pretty good!

Australia Day 2009

2009-01-26T23:04:00.000+11:00

The 26th of January was our second Australia Day. Last year we were out on Sydney Harbour, this year we went camping with some friends in Pretty Beach.

Pretty Beach is a campsite and beach in Murramarang National Park, about 4 hours south of Sydney. The weather was really good (with 1 little storm as exception) and luckily our site had a tree on it to provide some shade.

Sunday we went for a hike up to Pigeon House Mountain. Pigeon House Mountain is a mountain named by Captain James Cook during his voyage of discovery along Australia's eastern coast in 1770. The prominent remnant of a two tier sandstone structure, the summit rises to 720m above sea level. Pigeon House Mountain is a popular walking destination, taking an average of three hours for a complete ascent and descent from the car park. The most exciting bit is the final climb near the top, there are 12 iron ladders attached to the rock. Very steep!

After the long walk we were all hot and dusty, so we drove to Pebbly Beach. The beach and a park landscape come together at this beach and the kangaroos live almost on the beach.

Relaxing in front of the tent	A Monitor lizard walks by out tent. He is about 1m long!
The ladders to the top
At the top of Pigeon House Mountain	We made it all the way to the top and back!
	Kangaroo relaxing near the beach, what a life!
Pebbly Beach (where are the pebbles?)
On our way back to Sydney, near Kangaroo Valley

Merry Xmas !

2008-12-24T23:03:00.001+11:00

We'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2009!

Arjan, Rocky, Hans, Milo
and our home-baked 'kerststol'

Fencing

2008-12-21T23:30:00.000+11:00

We happened to have an unused flight to Melbourne, so we decided to give Aukje and the family another visit! Since they hadn't had any good weather for a while, we packed some with us.

Arjan and Arthur making fences for the horses.	Cheers!
Hibiscus flower in our champagne	The girls anxiously waiting with their kinder-bubbles.
We cooked a Snapper in a salt-crust
Hans making pavlova for desert.	Tjits almost eating the pavlova before we could serve it.

Unfortunately only a very short weekend, but again very relaxing!

Sand !

2008-12-14T22:00:00.000+11:00

Our first big trip with our Nissan Patrol... Fraser Island. Fraser is a top destination for 4WD'ers, its considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1840 km². It is located 300km north of Brisbane and only accessible by 4WD. There are no sealed roads on the island and although the tides make it necessary for some roads to be inland, most of the driving happens on the beach. The speed-limit on the beach is 80km/hr, but only on the hard patches that is actually achievable.

We took a week leave before the big holiday season and drove up to Queensland. We had a stop in Taree, 2 nights in Byron Bay, then 4 nights on Fraser Island. On the way back we stopped over in Surfers Paradise and Port Macquarie.

The best way to experience the island is by camping, so we bought a tent and some gear, loaded everything in the Patrol and took off. Unfortunately we had 3 days of rain, but after that it was all sunshine.

Pitching the tent

The inland roads are hard to drive on	Driving on the beach
Wild Dingo	The wreck of the Maheno
Big monitor lizard (1m)	Ely Creek, the famous and most beautiful creek on the island.
Bogged !	Champagne pools
Hans cooking pineapple burgers on the Barbie
Whoo hoo
Back on the ferry to the mainland	Scrubbing all the salty dirt off and ready for the trip back.

The whole trip was 3000km and 300liters of Diesel.

Offroad

2008-11-16T21:00:00.000+11:00

Since we bought our 4WD, we haven't really taken it offroad. We wanted to learn some more about proper offroading, driving techniques and recovery procedures. So we booked ourselves on a 2 day 4WD training. This course is given in the vicinity of Newcastle and consists of theory, driving in the bush, on the beach and sand dunes and a little exam. We got up at 5am in order to be on time for the first day.

After the introductions and 2 hours of theory we set off to Freemans Waterhole where a little driving range is set up. We did a lot of exercises driving up really steep rocks, driving down even steeper rocks, how to use all the gears, how not to get stuck and much more. Amazing what a vehicle actually can do if you know how to do it.

Unfortunately the day ended with a flat tire in the middle of heavy rain, so we were soaked after changing it.


The quarry with our group	Very hard work
	No wet feet (yet)!

We stayed overnight in a hotel in Newcastle and had to wake up early again for day 2. This took us to the sand dunes and beaches near Stockton, where we were taught again different techniques for driving is soft terrain. We did some descends that were 46degrees, very steep!

The convoy, ready to go

What goes up, must come down
The Patrol bogged to serve as an example for a recovering exercise	The wreck of the Sygna, stranded in 1974
I didn't quite make it in 1 go up there	Yes, I got stuck all the way up there! Help!
Our instructor to the rescue	The community of Tin City

This training covers the Australian National Training Authority Units of Competence:

SRO DRV 001B - Drive and recover a four wheel drive vehicle
SRO OPS 001B - Implement minimal environmental impact practices.
SRO ODR 002A - Plan outdoor recreation activities.
TDTB 497B - Carry out vehicle inspection

Summer Time, BBQ Time

2008-11-09T20:15:00.000+11:00

With the weather getting better and better it was time to test out our new car-fridge which we got for the trips we plan to be making. What better way to do that than with a real Aussie Barbie.

We picked up some nice fresh fish from the Sydney Fishmarkets, bought some steak, chicken, bread and dips and we set off for the Royal National Park. We met up with Tijn and Diane there, who brought the wine and salad.

First we took a 2 hour walk along the coastline of the National Park. About halfway down we spotted some Whales on their trek south, back to the Antarctic (on our Whale watching tip in June they were migrating north). This time we saw a mother with her calf, and the young fellow was clearly enjoying himself, jumping out of the water the whole time. They where swimming really close to the shoreline, usually the southbound trip takes them a lot further out.

Hans, Tijn, Diane	Nice rock formation
Mum and Son	Jump!
	Rolling over

After the walk we set up the BBQ, the chairs and table on the lawn at Wattamolla and we enjoyed the rest of the day till the sun was setting.

Cooking the Prawn

Resting in the evening sun

1 Year in Australia

2008-10-23T22:22:00.000+11:00

The 23rd of October was our 1st Anniversary in Australia. No big celebration, just a nice dinner at our favourite Thai restaurant.

On the move...

2008-10-18T23:33:00.001+11:00

This weekend we moved house. The owner of our apartment wanted to sell it, so that meant we had to vacate the property. Unfortunately the rights for tenants in Australia are not very favourable so we had to look for something else. We really like the building and its location, so our goal was to find something close by. Luckily an apartment became available in the same building and we decided to take it. It's 3 floors lower than the old one so we hope that doesn't mean more traffic noise. The view is also slightly less nice, less green and more city. The apartment itself is about the same size, but the space is a bit more practical, it's got more storage, larger balcony and a bathtub!

We moved everything in one day, and although it sounds easy to move within the building, its not really because you don't really pack everything properly. so you end up with a lot of small batches of "stuff" and you walk up and down endlessly. If you need our new address, please send us an email.

Packing

Unpacking

Done!

Camping

2008-10-06T22:00:00.000+11:00

Last weekend was a "long weekend" in NSW because of Labour Day. Some of our friends went camping in Yarramalong, about 1,5 hrs north of Sydney, and asked us to join in. Because we had some other things to do we couldn't make it until Sunday. The weather didn't look too good be we thought it would be good to take the car out for a drive an anyway.

The campsite was on a private property so it didn't have (m)any facilities. Our friends had put up a very big tent and brought all the facilities with them. Unfortunately the area was infested with leeches so you really had to watch our feet all the time, since they crawled up your shoes. A lot of them tried but no leeches made it far enough to get us. Some of the other guys had chopped a lot of firewood and that way we could close off the evening with a big campfire. After midnight the weather really turned bad with lots of rain and thunder. The tent managed to stay upright and dry, but the sound didn't allow for much sleep.

Its the big tent on the right.

Brad found an effective,
but silly looking solution against the leeches.

Drinks at the tent the Campfire

Visiting Aukje

2008-09-28T21:00:00.000+10:00

It was definitely time for a visit to the new place of Aukje, Arthur and the girls. They moved into their new place in Cockatoo in July and we couldn't find the time to travel to Victoria and a weekend we were both available any sooner. We flew into Avalon airport which is quite far from their place, but luckily Aukje picked us up in her new Hilux.We had a very relaxing and also tiring weekend.

Friday we had to pet the chickens, walk the pig, look at the horses and explore the boundaries of the property. We could unwind with a very nice BBQ afterwards.

       Lunch                          Walking the pig, SillyToes


The gumtrees on the property    Bregje and Arjan

Chickens!

          The house                   Aukjes famous entree

Saturday was a very warm and sunny day. After the morning ritual of feeding all the livestock, replanting the avocados and playing hide-and-seek it was time for brekkie. After that time for serious business, we had to catch Yabbies at a local yabbie-farm. It turns out you catch them by throwing a line with some meat on it in the water, and carefully watch it (just like fishing). If something is eating from the meat, carefully reel in the piece of string and put a little net behind the meat (they walk forward and swim backward); then scoop up the yabbie. After a while we caught 3 yabbies amongst the 7 of us, so unfortunately not enough for a decent meal. So we just had to go to that nice restaurant in Beaconsfield Upper.

Arthur and Hans' joint effort Now that's a big yabbie

Sunday we thought we might as well have breakfast in the local teashop (less eggs to cook for Aukje), so we drove out to Gembrook where they have a monthly sustainable market. We strolled the market, bought organic asparagus, tapenade and pesto. The steam train, Puffing Billy runs a regular service to Gembrook as well, a must see in this village. After all the excitement it was time for more nature, so we went for a bushwalk in Kurt Kiln park. After we were all tired it was time for some final drinks and dips before Arthur drove us back to the airport.

Puffing Billy in Gembrook Petting Zoo at the markets

We had a wonderful time and cant wait to go back again for a lazy weekend in the countryside.

You can also read the story Aukje wrote on her blog (in Dutch).

our Truck !

2008-09-22T23:06:00.001+10:00

Since summer is coming and we definitely want to go and see some more of the Australian countryside, we decided the time has come to get ourselves some wheels. After an intensive search we found the ideal city-car: a Nissan Patrol.

It's a 2002 Nissan Patrol GU III DX, with a 3.0 litre Turbo Diesel with Intercooler. It has a Bullbar with electric winch, a towbar and sidesteps, differential locking and manual transmission (no problems for us Europeans). It has a fuel capacity of 125 litres of diesel divided over a main and a sub tank.

Now we need to find some good places to take it for a ride.

Spring is in the air !

2008-09-14T22:00:00.000+10:00

September 1st is officially the first day of spring in the southern hemisphere. That day was a really nice day already but now it looks like the weather is really improving.

Together with Jan-Jaap we took a walk from Bronte to Bondi. At Bondi we sat on the beach, did some more shopping and had dinner. Jan-Jaap went back to Shanghai the next day, and is moving back to Europe a few days later.

Brissie

2008-09-08T23:00:00.000+10:00

Because our friend Jan-Jaap was over for 2 weeks, we decided to take a long weekend off and fly towards the sunshine. We decided on Brisbane because it was a long time ago we had been there. We just did some shopping, eating, going out and sightseeing.

Brisbane and the river

One day we drove to the sunshine coast and visited Bribie Island, Bribie Island is a large sand island in the northern part of Moreton Bay. The island is separated from the mainland by the Pumicestone Passage, named by Captain James Cook, who noted small floating pieces of pumice.

a Kookaburra the beach at Bribie Island

Life is hard, eating King Crab again !

Let it Snow !

2008-07-26T22:04:00.000+10:00

We have been back a few weeks already, but in July we went to New Zealand for a skiing trip. We flew directly into Queenstown on the South Island. This is a lovely town on lake Wakatipu with lots of nice restaurants. The temperature in the village is close to 0 and all the bars, restaurants and hotels have wood fires to warm yourself. From the town you can drive towards the ski fields "Coronet Peak" and "The Remarkables". Skiing was good with enough snow, but the ski areas are a lot smaller than in Europe. But there is a lot more to do besides skiing. on two days we went for drives in the beautiful countryside. We came across a few locations where the Lord of the Rings movies were shot, but you wouldn't recognise them easily.

One day we drove to Milford Sound, a fiord 300km from Queenstown. They advise you not to drive because its a long drive on narrow winding roads. So we wanted to fly into Milford Sound, but due to the strong winds flights were cancelled. So we hopped in the car at 8am and drove anyway. Once you arrive you have to take a boat tour (otherwise you cannot see much of the Fiord). We took the Encounter-cruise, a smaller boat that gets more upclose to the nature and the water.

View Larger Map

Dolphins alongside the boat

The South Island is definitely a place to go back to (in Summer?) !

Birthday getaway

2008-07-07T09:00:00.000+10:00

Because of my birthday on July 5th we decided to take a short trip to ... Canberra. It's the capital of the Commonwealth of Australia and we had never been there before.

It is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely purpose-built, planned city. Following an international contest for the city's design, a design was selected and construction commenced in 1913. Canberra has a colder climate in winter, so the evenings where, as they say, Bloody Freezing.

View Larger Map

Friday

We drove out on Friday afternoon; it's about a 3 hour drive. After checking into the hotel we had a very nice dinner in a modern-Asian-fusion restaurant. We went out for a couple of beers afterwards.

Saturday

On Saturday we visited the War Memorial and the Australian Museum. In between we had birthday cake in the Kingston-area. We watched the sun set on top of the Telstra Tower, a communications tower with a viewing deck. Arjan treated me on a Birthday dinner, where we had Alaskan King Crab legs for starters. (It's the crabs they catch on the Discovery Channel series "Deadliest Catch").

The War Memorial

Birthday Cake

Telstra Tower

Sunday

Sunday we started off visiting the Old Bus Depot Markets and the Canberra Glassworks. After that it was time for Parliament House. A huge complex that is the seat of the House of Representatives and the Senate. A tour takes you along all the major places and into the halls where the government meets. A visit to the old Parliament House was a bit disappointing, just an old building with some old typewriters sitting on some old desks.

Making an artwork from glass

View of the Parliament house Her Majesty The Queen

The house of Representatives The Senate

Arjan outside Parliament house

Time to drive back to Sydney, a great mini-vacation!

Thar she blows!

2008-06-21T17:00:00.000+10:00

That's what whalers used to shout hundred of years ago when they were looking for the plume of spray whales exhale when they surface to breathe. Whaling season is on when the whales migrate each year from May to August from the freezing waters of the Antarctic to their breeding grounds of the Whitsundays.

Today we took out a Whale watching cruise. This 4 hour trips takes you out of Sydney Harbour and into the open ocean to look for Whales. Based on various reported sightings they usually have a 100% success in finding a couple of whales. So indeed we came across a couple of Humpback Whales. Of course they don't really sit still for a picture, but we did manage to grab some.

Snert

2008-06-16T19:00:00.000+10:00

Winter is setting in in Sydney, and it does get really cold (about 17° C) so it was time to make a big pot of Dutch Pea soup (erwtensoep), including smoked sausage (rookworst).

Queensday

2008-04-30T21:15:00.000+10:00

Today we celebrate the birthday of Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands (Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld).

We were invited by the Consul-General to attend the reception in honour of the Queens 70th birthday. The event was held in the Sydney Masonic Centre and we shook hands and congratulated the Consul-General Ms Margarita M Bot and the Consul Mr Paul Thépass and their spouse.

There where drinks, bitterballen, cheese with a little Dutch flag, rookworst and haring. There also was a raffle for 2 tickets to the Netherlands, which we didn't win. We all sang the national anthem and did 3 hurray's for the Queen!

The Consul-General on the right

Arjan eating cheese

Half a year in Australia

2008-04-23T06:00:00.001+10:00

Today we are exactly half a year in Australia! To celebrate we went to see Billy Elliot the Musical in the Capitol Theatre. The musical was absolutely great and a must-see for everyone!!!

Set against the historic British miners' strike of the 1980s, this story follows the journey of a young boy raised in a small mining town who, after stumbling across a ballet class while on his way to a boxing lesson, realises that his future lays not in the boxing ring, but on stage as a dancer.

The Red Centre

2008-04-21T19:00:00.000+10:00

From the 17th till the 21st we took a tour through Australia's Red Centre. You can see the route we took on the map below. About 700km.

View Larger Map

Thursday

Today was our flight from Sydney to Alice Springs. After picking up our rental car (a Nissan Patrol 4WD) we drove to the hotel to freshen up and took off again to drive towards the east, to have a look at some of the "gaps" in the Eastern MacDonnell Ranges. The Emily and Jessie Gap. After that we were right on time to feed the Rock Wallabies.

Arriving at Alice Springs Airport

Feeding a Wallaby

A little Joey in its mums pouch

Friday

Today we had a long day ahead of us. We drove from Alice Springs to Kings Canyon via the Mereenie Loop (partially unsealed road). We stopped for walks at Standley Chasm, the Ochre pits, Ormiston Gorge and Gosse Bluff. This last stop is a very special one, and one of the sights we didn't see a few years ago.

Gosse Bluff is an impact crater formed by the impact of a comet approximately 142 million years ago. The original crater rim has been estimated at about 22 km in diameter, but this has been eroded away. The 5km diameter, 150m high crater-like feature is now exposed. You can drive into the crater (a very rough 4WD track) and all of a sudden you are surrounded by the crater wall. This place is also a sacred place for the Aboriginals. The crater is clearly visible from the sky on Google earth as well.

Gosse Bluff seen from ISS Gosse Bluff behind our car

Gosse Bluff from a distance

Ruud and the plains Our first sighting of a Dingo

Saturday

Another big day, get up really early for the 6km walk of the Kings Canyon rim.

A lot of uneven steps

Panoramic view of the Canyon

The Canyon wall

After the early walk we had to drive on to Uluru. The road is a normal sealed road again from Kings Canyon on. We arrived in time near Uluru (Ayers Rock) for the famous sunset.

Sunset at Uluru

Being a good son-in-law I always manage to serve a chilled Pinot Grigio for special occasions, even from the back of our Patrol.

Sunday

We needed to get up even earlier today, at 6:00am, because Sunrise is at 7:04 am today. It took a while to get a good spot, but we had a great view of the sun rising and slowly setting Uluru into the morning light. We spent the afternoon looking at Uluru in more close up by doing some of the base walks. The Anangu people prefer that visitors do not climb Uluru.

Ancient Aboriginal rock painting

Monday

Again an early morning, wake up at 5:30 (and Ruud didn't like a thing about that). The drive to the Olgas (Kata Tjuta) is about 27km to the west of Uluru. It is a beautiful rock formation and much much quieter then Uluru. After the sunrise from one of the viewing platforms, with some muffins and juice from the local IGA we got ready to do the Valley of the Winds walk (Walpa Gorge). This is a wonderful 7.4 km walk. Unfortunately there were millions of bush-flies we had to swat away the whole time. After the walk we had to get back to the airport for our flight back to Sydney.

Sunrise and Uluru Sunrise at Kata Tjuta

Walking and walking A Roo!

The end of the trip, Uluru from the plane.

More Parents Visiting

2008-04-14T21:00:00.000+10:00

Thursday the 10th of April, Arjan's parents arrived in Sydney.

Friday

The first day was again reserved for acclimatisation and a bit of resting. Arjan took them on a walking tour of the city and they climbed up the pylon of the Harbour bridge.

Ruud and Riet with the Opera House in the back

View of Sydney Harbour from the pylon of the Harbour bridge

Saturday

Saturday we drove to The Royal National Park. Here we did a walk from Wattamolla Beach to Curracurrong (and back), which took us about 3 hours (and not 2 hours, as the ranger had told us).

Eagle Rock

Curracurrong, the waterfall drops in the ocean.

Apple pie as reward for the hard work

Sunday

Sunday was a day with some autumn rainfall, so we left home a bit late, and decided to drive towards the clear skies. Which took us to Palm Beach. We climbed up the slippery path up to the lighthouse, which unfortunately was closed. However we did have a great view. In Avalon awaited some more pies, cakes and coffees.

Barrenjoey lighthouse

Stroopwafels

2008-04-05T18:00:00.000+11:00

Today we went shopping in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre. Out of curiosity I did an investigation of the shelves in the Norton St supermarket. I came across several Dutch products like beschuit, appelmoes, appelstroop, speculaas and 1 thing I just couldn't resist buying: Stroopwafels. Havent tried them yet, I will probably keep them for a special occasion.

Parents off to WA

2008-04-01T09:00:00.000+11:00

Tuesday the 1st of April my parents left Sydney for Perth to visit my Mums cousin. They will fly back to Amsterdam from there, so this was the point to say goodbye. As you can see they have had a great time in Sydney.

saying goodbye at Sydney Domestic Terminal

We have about one week to get ready for our next visitors!

Blue Mountains

2008-03-29T22:00:00.000+11:00

In the last few days that my parents are in Sydney, we had to take them to some more sights. So we drove to the Blue Mountains. Because we have visited the Blue Mountains a few times before, we tried to find some new spots to visit.

We had coffee and cake in Leura. Then drove to some nice viewpoints (Evans lookout and Govetts leap). After that we drove to the Jenolan Caves, being the oldest discovered open caves in the world. We took the drive back via the northern route (the Bells line of Road). All together it was a 400km drive.

Govetts Leap

Jenolan Caves

Imperial Caves

Just some of the Blue Mountains countryside

Melbourne

2008-03-24T22:00:00.000+11:00

The Easter weekend we went to Melbourne with my parents.

Friday

Friday we flew into Melbourne and drove to Philip Island to see the penguins come to shore. Unfortunately it's not allowed to take pictures there, so you'd have to come see for yourself.

Cowes and the Philip Island coastline

Saturday

Saturday was a day in the city, shopping and seeing the sights. In the afternoon we went to see Aukje (see my separate post).

Mum and Dad at the Yarra river

Sunday

Sunday we drove quite a bit of the Great Ocean Road. The weather was quite good at the beginning of the trip, and we managed to see a few koalas in the wild. Unfortunately we had some showers in the late afternoon, so the 12 Apostles where a bit wet.

The Great Ocean Road and wild Koalas in Otway National Park

Cape Otway Lighthouse

Monday

Monday was reserved for sleeping in, more shopping and a trip to St. Kilda beach.

a Dutch visit

2008-03-22T23:00:00.000+11:00

This Saturday we visited our friends Aukje and Arthur and the girls, who now live in Pakenham-Upper (near Melbourne). We admired their big house and even bigger garden, knowing that they will move to the place they recently bought soon, which is even bigger! We had a cuddle with the chickens, watched the feeding of the snake and Aukje cooked a lovely Ossobucco. We had a lot to chat about, and left in total darkness, back to our hotel in Melbourne. Be sure to read Aukjes Blogpost about our visit (in Dutch).

Arjan cuddling the Chicken!

The house and the grounds

The snake!

Tjits serving the Sticky Date pudding

Parents Visiting

2008-03-17T22:55:00.001+11:00

Thursday the 13th Hans' parents arrived in Sydney. We spent the first day getting them acclimatised and up to speed. Over the weekend we took a car from the car-sharing plan out. Saturday to the Hawkesbury river region, Sunday to The Royal National Park and Wollongong.

The first breakfast.

The Hawkesbury river.

Wattamolla Beach

Sea Cliff Bridge

Wollongong Beach

Bike Stolen !

2008-03-14T18:00:00.000+11:00

Friday we discovered that my brand new bicycle was stolen from the buildings basement. Hopefully our insurance will provide cover for that. Although we are used to bikes getting stolen in Amsterdam, I never had one stolen over there.

Mardi Gras 2008

2008-03-01T23:00:00.000+11:00

Thousands of revellers turned out to help celebrate Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras's 30th anniversary. The parade had over 10.000 participants spread out over 150 floats. The parade started at Hyde Park and went all along Oxford Street and Flinders Street. It took almost 3 hours for all the floats to pass by. Since we had media passes, we could see and photograph the floats and its participants from within the fenced off area, so a great opportunity to see it all up close.

Some of the highlights in the parade where:

The 78'ers, people who joined the first parade 30 years ago in 1978 and were arrested by police;
Craig and Shane, two boys that were recently abused and bashed in the area after holding hands;
World famous comedian, Margaret Cho, the Chief of Parade;
Our Lord Mayor, Clover Moore;
The Australian Defence Force, the first time they were allowed to join the parade, but not in uniform;
The NSW police and fire brigade;

Some of our friends from Amsterdam
where here in Sydney for Mardi Gras.

Our Lord Mayor,
Clover Moore was also in the parade.

By popular demand

2008-02-26T10:20:00.001+11:00

As promised long ago and by popular demand a few pictures of our apartment:

Me in the kitchen, note the new (larger) fridge..

Dutch Croquettes

2008-02-17T22:16:00.000+11:00

After almost 4 months without one of our favourite snacks, the Dutch Kroket, we came across them at an Austrian restaurant Una's. Although their shape is a little different, they seemed to be home made and were very nice!

Mardi Gras Fair Day

2008-02-17T18:00:00.000+11:00

More than 80,000 people descended on Victoria Park on Sunday 17 February to celebrate Fair Day, part of the Mardi Gras. The weather was good, there was music, performances, food, drinks and various stalls.

Me and my friend and famous drag-performer Maxi Shield
who was hosting the main stage

The crowd at Fair Day

Shimtastic performing

The History Wall,
recording 30 years of Mardi Gras history.

The Year of the Rat

2008-02-10T17:41:00.001+11:00

Last Thursday, the 7th of February was Chinese New Year. Because of the large Asian population in Sydney, this is heavily celebrated. Today was the CNY parade,featuring 2,500 performers including 600 people and floats from China’s historic Shaanxi Province and local Chinese community groups.

Traditional lion dance which is thought to bring good luck.
There are usually two dancers. One acts as the head and the other the body.
They dance to a drum, cymbals and a gong.

Arjan posing with the Rat.

Two (Thai?) ladies in traditional dresses.

Our first Bicycle ride

2008-01-27T20:57:00.000+11:00

Last week we picked up our new bikes, however due to the bad weather, today was the first nice day to take them out for a ride. We decided on a trip to Watsons Bay we found on a website. Riding in Sydney is quite a strenuous activity if you are used to the flat countryside of The Netherlands. Also there are limited bike-paths, which can make the ride a little more dangerous, therefore Bike helmets are compulsory in New South Wales. The ride was a bit longer then expected (27km).

Our new Giant Alias bikes with hydraulic disc brakes
that come in handy when going downhill in the city.

View Larger Map

This is the route we took, 27km.

You can see the city in the background.

Australia Day 2008

2008-01-26T22:52:00.000+11:00

Today is Australia Day, the official national day of Australia, commemorating the establishment of the first European settlement on the continent of Australia. The date is that of the foundation of a British penal colony at Sydney Cove on Port Jackson, New South Wales, by Captain Arthur Phillip, who was to become the first Governor.

We spent the day on a yacht in Sydney Harbour, one of our friends chartered 3 yachts for the day. The weather was the best we had in weeks so we had a wonderful day with lots of food and drinks.

Our ship were Hunter 38 and 44 yachts.

The famous Ferry-a-thon, a race between ferry boats

Of course there was time for a swim during the time we anchored for lunch.

Just another Weekend

2008-01-13T17:18:00.001+11:00

This Saturday there was Jazz in the Domain, part of the Sydney Festival. About 100.000 people gather in the Domain with their picnic baskets, packed with food and drinks to enjoy a lazy afternoon with some nice live music. This years performance was conceived and arranged by renowned composer, arranger and guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, one of the founders of the bossa nova movement. We spent the afternoon with some of our friends there.

Sunday we had a bit more active program. We went kayaking on the harbour with a group of 10. Leaving from Rushcutters Bay, paddling towards Shark Island where we had lunch. Then all the way back. Unfortunately our Kayak had sprung a leak so we had to paddle with a lot of extra weight. This was the route we took, about 6km:

View Larger Map

Guest at the office

2008-01-10T21:03:00.001+11:00

Today we had a guest at the office, a giant Stick Insect! We fed him some leaves, which he thankfully ate. Now all we need to do, is learn him to write code.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T14:42:00.001+11:00

Happy New Year to everyone!

We watched the famous Sydney Fireworks this time from the Cahill Expressway (on top of Circular Quay Station). The RTA closed down the Expressway and turned it into a giant viewing platform with the best views of the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour. The centrepiece of the display was a giant hour glass, a fitting symbol for our New Year's theme 'The Time of our Lives'.

X-mas in Sydney

2007-12-29T19:13:00.001+11:00

Officially Australians only celebrate 1 day of Christmas (the 25th of December, Christmas Day). The 26th (Boxing Day) is a public holiday but not a real day of celebration like in Europe.

On Christmas day we had a long lunch at out friend Mark's place with some other guys. We had planned to do a picnic in the park, but the weather made us divert inside.

On Boxing day, Sale started in downtown Sydney so we took a stroll towards Myer and DJ's but it was just too crowed. Later that afternoon our friends from Holland Aukje, Arthur and their 3 girls came over for dinner. They migrated to Australia in August, are still travelling around and happened to be in the Sydney area. We had a great BBQ dinner with them. We had chicken skewers, giant king prawns and baby octopus on the barbie. Ofcourse Aukje also wrote about it on her Blog.

Hans cooking

Arjan arranging the crackers

Bregje and the Sticky Date pudding

Yummy, Sticky Date pudding

Merry Christmas

2007-12-21T21:48:00.001+11:00

Today was our last day at work for this year. We are now off till January 2nd so plenty of time to relax and explore our new hometown some more.

We'd like to wish all visitors to our Blog a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Sydney Town Hall

Goods arrived in Sydney

2007-12-10T13:00:00.000+11:00

After a long long wait, our stuff has finally arrived at our apartment. Most of the boxes where opened by Quarantine officials, but because we packed carefully and according to their instructions, the shipment was cleared without impediments.

We were happy to be able to sleep in our own bed, and finally have a TV. The best thing was to have our Nespresso coffee machine again.

Here are the details of the shipment:

Pick-up in Amsterdam: 4th September
Departure from the port of Rotterdam: 29th September
Arrival in Sydney; 11th November
Customs Clearance: 19th November
Quarantine Clearance: 6th December
Delivery in Sydney: 10th December

So it took 98 days to travel 16.000km, that's less then 7km/hr.

Northern Beaches

2007-12-09T23:46:00.001+11:00

Today we made a trip to the Northern Beaches. We booked a car through a community car sharing plan called Charterdrive, much like Greenwheels in the Netherlands. It was a Smart forfour.

Our car

The ride took us all along the coast via Whale Beach towards Palm Beach. Along the way we made various stops to admire the view, take pictures and have coffee and lunch.

Whale Beach

Palm Beach is town with a beautiful beach where a lot of surfing goes on. It was not very busy today. Probably everyone went Christmas shopping.

A customs station was on the beach established in 1843 as the Headland marked the entrance to Broken Bay and the Pittwater which were considered to be the backdoor of Sydney for smugglers

The far end of the Beach, Barrenjoey Head is part of the Kuringgai National Park. On the head you can find a lighthouse, Barrenjoey lighthouse, constructed in 1881, constructed to either guide ships into the safe Broken Bay during bad weather, or alongside on their way to Sydney.

We took the steep walk up the hill to visit the lighthouse. A volunteer gave us a tour of the grounds and the lighthouse itself. The lighthouse is still in service, but instead of running on kerosene, it now has a 75.000 candlepower halogen lamp.

On our way back it started to rain. So we decided to take an alternate route back via Ikea to buy a few things we needed.

Tomorrow the removals company will bring the stuff we shipped.

Feeling real Aussies

2007-11-26T00:21:00.001+11:00

Because we got our first pay-check, it seemed a good idea to spend some of it on the one and only essential thing one needs in Australia, a Barbecue.

Because we only have a small balcony, we went for the Weber Baby Q100. This is a gas-operated BBQ since the building doesn't allow one on real coals. The gas tank isn't pictured but it contains LPG and can be swapped at any gas-station when empty.

Our first meal consisted of Steak, vegetable-skewers and as dessert: bananas in tinfoil with Australian Bundaberg Rum. Yummm!

Second week

2007-11-10T21:23:00.000+11:00

A little over 2 weeks in Sydney now, what has happend in the last week:

• Moved to our new apartment
• Got our furniture and appliances deliverd
• Did a lot of shopping for household stuff
• Got our New South Wales driver-licence
• Got our Medicare insurance
• Arranged contents insurance and private health insurance
• Got our phoneline connected (ADSL due early next week)

Our Sydney home..

2007-11-10T20:45:00.000+11:00

..is beginning to take shape. After seeing a lot of furniture shops we finally bought all of our furniture at an Australian furniture store. We picked stuff that "happened" to be in stock so they were able to deliver it 2 days later. It's nice to have something to sit on :)

The hole there should fit the TV.. which is due to arrive in NSW waters next Sunday. The entire apartment is fitted with built-in lights so we don't really have to buy lamps.

A walk-in closet! When our own bed arrives this will be the spare bed. Sleeps a lot better than the hotel-bed we spent 2 weeks in.

Apartment Secured!

2007-10-30T21:00:00.000+11:00

Last week we applied for an apartment and today we heard we got accepted as tenants. It is located right on Oxford street on the edge of the Darlinghurst/Surry Hills suburbs. We get the keys on Friday 2nd of November, and we will move in that same day.

View Larger Map

First week

2007-10-30T20:00:00.000+11:00

We are 1 week in Sydney now. The first few days we were really bothered by Jet-lag, maybe more than usual because of the fact that we were trying to get into the normal rhythm more then on a holiday.

Let’s see what we've done so far:

• Opened our bank-accounts.
This is really easy and they give you the debit-cards straight away. Transfer from the Dutch bank-account takes only 2 working-days.
• Applied for a Tax File Number (TFN)
• Found an apartment (more about that later on)
• Been to Ikea
• Bought some furniture (sofa, bed, table and chairs) – not Ikea ;)
• Bought some appliances (fridge, washing machine, vacuum cleaner)
• Met up with some old friends

We have arrived!

2007-10-23T13:15:00.000+10:00

After a very long flight from Amsterdam to London and Singapore we have arrived in Sydney. Passing immigration is a bit of an anti-climax since they just stamp your passport and dont ask any questions. Also no welcoming committee with flowers on behalf of the governor of New South Wales ;)

Time to say goodbye (part 3)

2007-10-22T00:00:00.000+10:00

At Schiphol Airport with all the bags.

Having coffee with friends and family at the airport, the last time to say goodbye.

Bye Bye everyone, see ya all later in Sydney !
Off to the gate.

Packing 3

2007-10-21T21:17:00.000+10:00

Done!! Only 82kg!

Packing 2

2007-10-20T23:26:00.001+10:00

Half-way. Everything may actually fit!

Packing 1

2007-10-20T21:09:00.000+10:00

Finally, we're packing.. or how to fit your life in a suitcase.

Time to say goodbye (part 2)

2007-10-15T03:00:00.000+10:00

Today was the second farewell party. We invited about 60 people, both friends and family to our party, held at Prik in Amsterdam. The weather was surprisingly good so we could spend some time in the sun. My friend Harald held a great speech on behalf of our friends and presented us with a little book in which they had all written a few memorable facts. We'd like to thank everyone for their presence and the gifts.

Listening to the speech.

Together with our nephew Joeri.

Time to say goodbye (part 1)

2007-10-13T03:00:00.000+10:00

Today was out last day at work. This also meant the start of saying goodbye. A lot of co-workers came to the farewell gettogether in companies cafeteria. We also got a great gift: a 1 year rental of a piece of art in Sydney. Great for our new home.

Goods NOT on their way :(

2007-09-29T17:00:00.000+10:00

Due to a mistake at the terminal, our stuff is not onboard the Kyoto Express. It has been loaded on the Savannah Express which has departed Rotterdam the 29th of September.

Househunting

2007-09-25T07:04:00.001+10:00

We get a lot of questions from people "do you have a place to stay yet". Well... we don't. The Australian rental-market seems to work a little different then in NL. Most rental properties that come on the market, are available right away. This means that we can only search for and respond to apartments in the one or two weeks before we arrive.

Obviously we are already looking around, mostly at http://www.domain.com.au/ and http://www.realestate.com.au/.

Suburbs we are looking at are visible in the little map I made.