After the go-go-go of our final month in South America and then our whirlwind surprise visit to New Zealand we were ready for something new.  It was time for a visit to The Netherlands!

With it being three years since we last visited Richard’s family a visit here felt well over due.  Richard’s family live in Almkerk, a small village situated in the province of Noord-Brabant.  Noord-Brabant is in the south of The Netherlands and is just over an hour’s drive from Schipol airport outside of Amsterdam.  The people of Brabant are known for being a bit more gentle than the famously direct Dutch of other provinces. They are also known for their cosy way of life, and the pretty countryside that surrounds them.  It’s a very pretty area to visit.

We arrived at Schipol Airport one month ago following two back-to-back long haul flights from Auckland. Richard’s parents were there at the not so inspiring time of 6am to pick us up.  They both looked as fresh as anything, and it was great to see them after so long.  An hour or so later we arrived in Almkerk, and met Jip the new Jack Russell dog, and had a happy reunion with Richard’s sisters Liana and Margreet.  The morning was spent catching up with family, eating the best apple cake ever and drinking the best coffee you can find in The Netherlands care of Richard’s mother, Ada.  It was great to see everyone again, and a nice relaxed start to our visit.  Later on that evening, Richard’s grandparents and aunt and uncle came around for coffee and more cake, and there was more catching up to be had. It was a happy, relaxed start to our time here and it felt great to be back.

I would like to fill you in on all the adventures that we’ve had since we’ve arrived here, but we’ve been mostly taking it easy.  It’s been great to be stopped in one place.  The weather has also been great.  Basically on the weekend we arrived marked a start of what was two or three weeks of stunning weather.  We even had a heatwave! We spent a lot of time outside whether it was reading, getting back into sports by going to the gym and running, sunbathing and visiting the Kurenpolder (a sort of lake/beach complex nearby).  As cycling is the most popular form of transport here we quickly went about finding a bike for me to borrow.  Richard’s grandfather came to the rescue, and I have been using Richard’s grandmother’s old bike (it hasn’t been used since she died a few years ago and it has been beautifully kept in storage since).  I love the bike and cycling in The Netherlands.  It’s easy to do (no hills!), not scary unlike in Wellington, and I think that New Zealand could learn a thing or two from the Dutchies about car drivers and cyclists living in harmony together.

We’ve also been making the rounds of catching up with Richard’s friends and family.   Since the last time we were here a lot of people have either bought a house or had children so we’ve had lots of new houses to visit and new children to meet. We’ve done some nice social activities with Richard’s friends as well, like an afternoon at the Kurenpolder or a visit to watch a cycling race where Froome (the winner of the Tour de France) was also racing.  We’ve had some nice times with Richard’s family as well.  Last week we went over to Liana’s for dinner and played board games afterwards.  Another time we went and played mini-golf with Richard’s sisters.  I surprised everybody including myself by getting a hole in one on the ‘most difficult hole’.  My game record before that was appalling so it was quite a surprise.

 

 

 

With the weather so warm, we decided to go for a couple of days camping at Otterlo to visit the Hoge Veluwe National Park and the Kroller Muller museum.  Otterlo is about an hour north east of Almkerk.  The camping was nicer than expected as we thought because it was busy that we’d be setting up our tent only 30cms away from our neighbours.  But while it was busy we camped on a ‘trekkers field’ which is a space for people with small tents and people on cycling holidays.  We set up our tent in the big shady field and enjoyed the sunshine on our first afternoon there.  One day we visited the Kroller Muller Museum which is one of the best museums in Europe (according to Lonely Planet).  It’s kind of cool in a richy-rich kind of way, but basically the Kroller-Mullers were a German-Dutch couple who were incredibly filthy rich.  He wanted a park to use for hunting grounds and she wanted an art museum as she liked collecting art.  In fact they have one of the second largest collections of Van Gogh art in the world (after obviously the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam).  So they bought Hoge Veluwe Park, built a huge house with every mod con possible for that era, and eventually had the museum built as well.  The sad thing is that they only got to enjoy the house for a few years as she died only a couple of years after moving into it, and he died a couple of years later.  Now the park is owned by the state, and it is truly a treasure to visit.  Where else can you go in the world and visit a National Park that has cycling trails and free white bikes to get around on?  I think that there are maybe even more cycling trails than hiking trails in the park!

We took one day to visit the museum as it is very big and we wanted to take our time with it.  Aside from the art on the inside of the museum (including classics from Picasso, Renoir, Mondrian etc) there is also an art sculpture park outside of the museum which is very pleasant to wander around.  The grounds are perfectly groomed, lots of large grassy expanses, big trees, and modern art sculptures as you make your circuit around the park.

The next day it rained off and on so we decided to do something else and made a half hour drive to Apeldoorn to visit Paleis Het Loo.  Paleis Het Loo was the summer palace of the Dutch royal family from the 1500s until fairly recently.  It was a stunner to see: the grounds so perfectly kept, the heritage of the palace and the interior all intact, and the gardens done to a-la-Royal standard.  We took an audio tour each for the interior of the Palace and that was awesome.  I cannot emphasise enough just how high quality the audio tour was.  It brought our visit of the Palace rooms alive.  I could imagine Mary Stuart sitting in her bedroom receiving her visitors.  I could then imagine her having her private religious conversations in her secret little chamber next to her dressing room.  On the grandly painted landing I could imagine each successive king and queen receiving their foreign guests. In the grand study downstairs I could imagine a young Queen Wilhelmina working studiously away for her country.  My hat goes off to the people behind making the audio tour and how vividly they capture the sense of history at the Palace.

We returned a day later to the Hoge Veluwe Park simply to enjoy the cycling.  It was another stunning and hot day (30 degrees) but we were game for a hot day of cycling.  We picked up a free white bike at the entrance of the park and cycled to the hunting lodge that was the Kroller Muller’s for a few years.  We ate a lunch of hot noodles and read our kindles on a bench overlooking a pretty lake.  We cycled some more around the park, and made a stop for yummy Italian style ice cream.  And then we got in the car and drove back home feeling refreshed and excited by our few days away.

Back in Almkerk, Richard’s family were getting ready for their summer holidays.  Richard’s sisters were away for one week camping in Zealand, and the one week later Richard’s parents went away to the same spot as his sisters for a week of camping and sunning.  We looked after the house, Jip, and I took on a very serious role of ‘the chicken lady’.  Richard’s father Ries showed me how to get eggs from under the chickens (if they were trying to lay), and told me what and when to feed them, how to put them to bed, and to change their water regularly.  I took my new role very seriously and had a fun week looking after the chickens.

With Richard’s parents back from summer holidays looking quite tan and relaxed we’re now ready to head on a summer holiday of our own.  Tomorrow we are Germany bound for one week of visiting friends, followed by a week in Switzerland and a week in France.  Time for some adventures in Europe!