Dear Diary,
It has been a big few weeks for us here in the Netherlands. As luck would have it there was a sufficent amount of red tape we had to chomp down to be able to work, still we have stuck with it and gained our working permits. The next step, the job hunt! After many many pleading phone calls, eventually someone gave in and we are now working in a hugmungous flower bulb distribution factory - Fred.de.meulder exports.
As it is the season for dispatching the bulbs all around Europe, we are working some huge hours too. Emilie very kindly leant her house to us, and as we didnt know anywhere else for the first four days we decided to commute. This has meant leaving at 4.30am on our single speed bikes, to ride as fast as possible (were talking pursuit style eye watering speed) for 40 minutes, to catch a train, to catch a bus, to walk, to praise the coffee machine at 6:45am, to start with our first shipment at 7am!! We then work till 9pm with a few decent stops, one including dinner which they give us (who eats kip ´´chicken´´ every night??) then do the reverse!! The job itself is classic, Michele a now seasoned speacialist in overlly expensive bulb packaging, and myself a basic grunt in the wrapping and hauling line.
As we are earning Euros, and jamming so many hours into a week after a month we will be back into full time travel ... either that or we will declare ourselves bankrupt!
So with a month ahead of us we are looking for closer accomodation, and after a bit of searching, it seems the best thing to do is buy a camper. So tomorrow, with luck on our side we will pick up our 1988 VW Transporter, complete with all the bells and whistles, like an ice box, cd player, bathroom and camp toilet, cooker, and touch wood the diesel motor that comes inside it will continue to run!!!
In between all of this we also had a visit from Ryan Marshall. We met him in Amsterdam and did our best to jam as many Dutch sights and food in in his 3 day stopover. We even ate Herring - raw small fish ... apparently a delicacy but i beg to differ (photos to come).
So as we move over the halfway point in our Netherlands stay, lets see what tales we have about driving on the wrong side of the road, the wrong side of the car, on the freeway where everyone likes to go 120km/h, in our 4 speed bug!!
Will write more and add some photos when we have some time, thanks for all the messages from home, keep them coming.
McDuff
Tristan and Michele
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Beach, hot chips and cheese!
Being childish (how unusual!) at an outdoor art expo
Crazy buildings in Rotterdam - people live in these
The beach
Tristan trying to beat a man on a mobility scooter who was in the bike lane!
Before - no seats, flat tyres and wonky handlebars
After outside the Queens residence!
Dear Diary ...
We thought it was about time we checked in and filled you in on our last couple of weeks based between Rotterdam and Den Haag.
We last left you while actively on the job hunt. This has proved a little harder than anticipated since the Netherlands thinks that it is still in the recession and it is summer holidays so half of the country is at the beach!! We have been through the registration process which required our Dutch family connections to help us and now we are in a 4 week queue for our tax and identification numbers to make us legal!! Yet with our current house sitting job, bikes, a foo market, plenty of sunshine and most importantly the beach only 4km from our door we are not to concerned about being available for work yet anyway!
We spent our initial 5 days in Rotterdam staying with family in the spare caravan - you beauty. Whilst we were there we got to see the sights of Rotterdam and a few neighbouring towns as Emilie played the friendly tour guide. We saw windmills, churches, boats, ate patot fritz wit mayonaise (hot chips with buckets of mayo) and lots of salty liquorice.
Now we are half way through our month long stay in Den Haag, house sitting and looking after the cat (Lisa) while her family are away on summer vacation. It is a fantastic spot and really nice to have a base after being on the go for so long. While we are here we are checking out as many neighbouring towns as possible, visiting museums, galleries, eating cheese and relaxing at the beach.
Our most important news though is to report on our latest purchase ... a matching pair of city bikes!!! We managed to negotiate the Dutch version of 'trade me'- still not sure how it works as was all in Dutch but we managed to send an email about a funky looking womens bike! Low and behold the response came back saying they had a mens one to match. We did a bit of bargaining, and after a short train ride to get them, we were dropped back to our house by the previous owner of the delightful pair as well being given some handy advice on where to look for work. After spending a hard day in the sun, drinking coffee, working spanners, and a trip to the market for a few more parts (new tubes to fix the flatties) - thunderbirds are go! We took them for a spin in the bos (forest) to visit the Queens residence to celebrate.
Last night we were invited to the neighbours for dinner as they are off to visit NZ and wanted some advice. So as you can see... we are loving this place.
x McDuff
Michele and Tristan
Saturday, July 10, 2010
More photos!!
Old building and blue sky in Belgium
Tristan and Matt buying cheese at the markets in Bruchsal
Having all our delicous food and beer on the deck in the sun
Michele practicing her skills on her town bike! (note the hambag in the basket on the back!)photos
Tris and old mate fixing the wobbly wheel.
Michele in FRANCE!!
Michele in Triberg
The Schloss (Castle) Bruchsal
Tour De France early in the morning in Brussel (No one told us it didnt start untill 12pm)
The Tour Brussels
Belgium ChocolateFriday, July 9, 2010
Around Europe and the Tour De France!!
Dear Diary,
It would seem another few weeks have past and we have now made it to our destination of The Netherlands where we plan to find a job for a month or 3. We have been up to our usual tricks and after travelling through Germany we've managed to pay our respects to France, Switzerland and Belgium on the way here. Needless to say it is nice to be in a country that we can learn alot more about the language and set up for a little while.
Germany was a great place - after arriving at Hotel De Jarvis we set up camp and our fine host had scheduled days for different German food, beer, and coffee. Amoungst the eating we used our South Western German base to trip about by bike, train, and foot. Daily activities included markets, bike rides to a nearby lake for swims, raiding cherry trees from the local golf course, more bike rides, and actually being able to cook ourselves something to eat in a kitchen (something you take for granted until you dont do it for 3 months!).
From here our favourite trip was a bike ride to France for Lunch. We caught a train with our bikes to a town closer to the boarder and biked the last 20km across to a small town called Wissembourg. With only one slight mechanical issue where we almost lost a wheel we managed to use our map and pedal along very happily - Michele only had one gear but I had a wiggly wheel to make up for having 21! We did note the customs lacked duty free, officers, or come to think of it any real notification we were leaving Germany! Aside from a sign telling us to report to the town hall in France if we thought we needed too, and then a second sign announcing we were in France, we just meerily biked across the border unnoticed - brilliant!! After riding around the town and sampling the best chocolates, cakes, and croissants of our lives we cycled home with a few Belgium beers that cant be bought in Germany - very cool.
The next little trip we planned took us a few days but we took off nice and early one morning and made it to Basel in Switzerland for lunch. This city is built around the Rhine river and was everything we had imagined about the Swiss, very slick, very beautiful, and nothing under 10 bucks. Here we spent the day sampling chocolates, wandering around the city and watching people float down the Rhine River next to the ships to cool off. The next couple of days we returned to the very southern part of Germany - The Schwartswald or Black Forest, and with a hop on hop off type of trian ticket we got to see the cities of Freiburg, Baden Baden and we had a night in a little place with the highest waterfalls in Germany called Triberg.
Triberg is built within a valley so theres are lots of surrounding hills. A very picturisc little town. We had booked our accomodation on line so when we arrived we set out from the train in the hot afternoon sun reading a map provided by the hostel to try and find it. One of the things we find frustrating is that photos that dont quite capture the size / height of things, but without a word of a lie the hostel was situated on the highest hill in Triberg! After walking/crawling up the hill we found our hostel completely disterted. That was expect for the owner sitting in an office directly behind a sign that read 'we are busy working, next check in two hours'. Although we have mentioned sun it is probably notable to mention that for the entire time we have been in Europe its been over 25 degrees. So two hours in a waiting room dripping with sweat, and looking at a charming little German fellow sipping on his water that we could not yet buy as he was too busy got our tempers slightly inflamed!! However we stayed calm and eventually he gave us our linen, water, keys etc. We excitedly skipped to the third floor and found our room, a 10 bunk dorm on the backside of the hostel with one tiny window and no view. So we had 5 bunks each for the night and aside from it feeling about 100 degrees we got some sleep. We had enjoyed a great italian meal at a little place were the women cooked everything in front of us (back down the hill I might add) the waterfalls and loads of paths through the forest so was a great spot to see regardless of the accomodation challenge!
After returning for a night and a selection of beer from around the world we left Hotel De Jarvis for Belgium to catch the Tour De France. We had a few nights in Brussels and caught two days of the tour, one leaving Brussels and one 65km south in a town called Namur as they whistled past. We will let the photos tell the story of that one, but very very amazing to see and another real trip highlight. Belgium itself was pictursic, good beer, old buildings, brilliant chocolate and a real mix of people.
We have now had been in Rotterdam, The Netherlands for a few days with family getting shown around and starting to get a feel for the place. Tomorrow we are off to The Hague (Den Hagg) for 3 weeks on a house sitting job.
McDuff
Tristan and Michele
It would seem another few weeks have past and we have now made it to our destination of The Netherlands where we plan to find a job for a month or 3. We have been up to our usual tricks and after travelling through Germany we've managed to pay our respects to France, Switzerland and Belgium on the way here. Needless to say it is nice to be in a country that we can learn alot more about the language and set up for a little while.
Germany was a great place - after arriving at Hotel De Jarvis we set up camp and our fine host had scheduled days for different German food, beer, and coffee. Amoungst the eating we used our South Western German base to trip about by bike, train, and foot. Daily activities included markets, bike rides to a nearby lake for swims, raiding cherry trees from the local golf course, more bike rides, and actually being able to cook ourselves something to eat in a kitchen (something you take for granted until you dont do it for 3 months!).
From here our favourite trip was a bike ride to France for Lunch. We caught a train with our bikes to a town closer to the boarder and biked the last 20km across to a small town called Wissembourg. With only one slight mechanical issue where we almost lost a wheel we managed to use our map and pedal along very happily - Michele only had one gear but I had a wiggly wheel to make up for having 21! We did note the customs lacked duty free, officers, or come to think of it any real notification we were leaving Germany! Aside from a sign telling us to report to the town hall in France if we thought we needed too, and then a second sign announcing we were in France, we just meerily biked across the border unnoticed - brilliant!! After riding around the town and sampling the best chocolates, cakes, and croissants of our lives we cycled home with a few Belgium beers that cant be bought in Germany - very cool.
The next little trip we planned took us a few days but we took off nice and early one morning and made it to Basel in Switzerland for lunch. This city is built around the Rhine river and was everything we had imagined about the Swiss, very slick, very beautiful, and nothing under 10 bucks. Here we spent the day sampling chocolates, wandering around the city and watching people float down the Rhine River next to the ships to cool off. The next couple of days we returned to the very southern part of Germany - The Schwartswald or Black Forest, and with a hop on hop off type of trian ticket we got to see the cities of Freiburg, Baden Baden and we had a night in a little place with the highest waterfalls in Germany called Triberg.
Triberg is built within a valley so theres are lots of surrounding hills. A very picturisc little town. We had booked our accomodation on line so when we arrived we set out from the train in the hot afternoon sun reading a map provided by the hostel to try and find it. One of the things we find frustrating is that photos that dont quite capture the size / height of things, but without a word of a lie the hostel was situated on the highest hill in Triberg! After walking/crawling up the hill we found our hostel completely disterted. That was expect for the owner sitting in an office directly behind a sign that read 'we are busy working, next check in two hours'. Although we have mentioned sun it is probably notable to mention that for the entire time we have been in Europe its been over 25 degrees. So two hours in a waiting room dripping with sweat, and looking at a charming little German fellow sipping on his water that we could not yet buy as he was too busy got our tempers slightly inflamed!! However we stayed calm and eventually he gave us our linen, water, keys etc. We excitedly skipped to the third floor and found our room, a 10 bunk dorm on the backside of the hostel with one tiny window and no view. So we had 5 bunks each for the night and aside from it feeling about 100 degrees we got some sleep. We had enjoyed a great italian meal at a little place were the women cooked everything in front of us (back down the hill I might add) the waterfalls and loads of paths through the forest so was a great spot to see regardless of the accomodation challenge!
After returning for a night and a selection of beer from around the world we left Hotel De Jarvis for Belgium to catch the Tour De France. We had a few nights in Brussels and caught two days of the tour, one leaving Brussels and one 65km south in a town called Namur as they whistled past. We will let the photos tell the story of that one, but very very amazing to see and another real trip highlight. Belgium itself was pictursic, good beer, old buildings, brilliant chocolate and a real mix of people.
We have now had been in Rotterdam, The Netherlands for a few days with family getting shown around and starting to get a feel for the place. Tomorrow we are off to The Hague (Den Hagg) for 3 weeks on a house sitting job.
McDuff
Tristan and Michele
Thursday, June 24, 2010
JOURNEY OF HALF THE GLOBE
Dear diary ...
Ni hao (Chinese)
Sain Bain uu (Mongolian)
Zdrastvootyeh (Russian)
So here we are on our first train with half of our Intrepid team (picture 1) as we start our journey over 8000km from Beijing to St Petersburg. We had to learn the above greetings along the way as well as a whole lot more.We last left you in Beijing, China on day one of our tour where we checked in with our group. Since then we have travelled the Trans Monglian and Trans Siberian railways, rickety old buses, vans, walked and gone by boat along the way. We have now finally flown to Germany. As we are sure you can imagine we have not had much internet along the way so hold on for a whirlwind overview of what we saw along the way.
Day 2 we left Beijing bright and early to board our first train (30 hours - Trans Mongolian) to cross the Chinese then Mongolian boarders and make our way through the Gobi Desert to arrive in Ulanbatar(UB) the capital of Mongolia on Day 3. We spent the rest of the day checking out the town, eating booze (traditional dumplings) and learning about Chengis Khan (Gengis to us but apparently we are all wrong?! Good fact huh)
Day 4 was time for adventure. We left the city and headed for the hills. The further we went the colder it got (picture 2, please note snow is actually falling!!). Here at the edge of the Hustai National park we stopped at a Ger for some Mongolian tea and fresh yoghurt - still lumpy and warm fresh off the stove! We then went for a walk in the snow to see the native Przhewalski horses before heading to another family Ger (picture 3) to warm up by the fire.
We spent the evening drinking vodka (straight), having a mongolian bbq (meat cooked on rocks in the tent) and shooting a bow and arrows! We slept the night here in a spare Ger huddled around the fire, and after horse riding in the AM (Day 5) we drove back to UB through the valley. An absolutely incredible time.
We spent the morning of Day 6 in UB checking out the National museum before getting on our next train (25 hours) to cross out of Mongolia and into Russia. Day 7 was spent looking out the window at the beautiful Siberian scenery before a late arrival to Ulan Ude so it was straight to bed.
Day 8 we headed over a mostly gravel road for 4 hours to Lake Baikal - the deepest fresh water lake in the world. Here we spent our time walking (picture 4), having a boat ride and siberian BBQ, eating fresh fish, enjoying the banya (siberian version of a sauna) and sun bathing! The sun did not set until about 11pm. (picture 5) It was like paradise.
We spent day 9 and the morning of day 10 at the lake doing much of the same, and with the homestay owners only speaking russian our sign language has continued to get better!!
We headed back to UB in the PM of Day 10 to have a picture with Lenins head and get some supplies to try and reduce the cabin fever as we were next to get on the train for 3 nights! Picture 6 shows us aboard our Trans Siberian train.
Day 11 and 12 were spent looking out the window, reading, writing, playing cards, eating, and of course traveling through 4 different time zones. The scenery changed as we got closer to the Ural mountains and we entered into Europian Russia.
Day 13 we got off the train at the base of the Urals in Kungur. With only one night here we managed to shower (it had been a while!), check out the town on foot, visit a local restaurant and get some fresh food at the farmers market before getting back on the train(24 hours) (Day 14) to head into Moscow.
Day 15 and 16 we spent checking out the sights of Moscow. It is a very over priced city with a huge amount of expensive european cars wizzing round with their private guards following - just like the movies!!! Here we visited Red Square, St Basils Cathedral (picture 7), Lenins Mosoleum, the GUM, the Church of Christ the Saviour, the Kremlin and the main pedestrian street - now that we have written a list on paper I understand why we were tired!! Everything had its own highlight and oodles of history. The detail in the architecture was fascinating - I'm sure you can imagine Tristan's excitement!
10pm on day 16 we caught a train to St Petersburg leaving at 10pm and getting in at 6am (day 17)! With little sleep we dropped our bags at the hostel and marched on to see what we could find. With only 2 days and we had to make the most of it (thankfully the Russains can make good coffee!!). We visited the hermitage in the day and then to celebrate the white nights (where the sun doesnt go down) in fine form as we hired a boat and went on a canal/river trip begining at 12.30am! Here (picture 8) you can see it is just getting dark at 1.30am. This darkness lasted about at hour!
Day 18 we sadly said goodbye to our group and went our separate ways. We didnt have to be at the airport until 3.30am so we made the most of our time and went to see Swan Lake performed by the Russian Ballet ... what more could a girl want for her birthday!
From picture 9 you can see what we look like after staying up all night to catch our flight to Munich! Once safely in Germany and not wanting to waste time we put our bags at our hotel and went for a walk through the 100 magnificent rooms of the Reisdenze castle, ate fresh summer fruit and basked in the sun before a big 12 hour sleep! The next day we did a bike tour of the city taking in the sights before meeting Leo and Simon for dinner and a stein at Hofbraus, (picture 10) was great to be amung the locals for the Germany football game and we found Munich to be a beautiful city!
Who would have thought we could see and do so much in only 3 weeks!
Till next time ...
McDuff
Michele and Tristan
Friday, June 4, 2010
A GREAT day at the GREAT WALL
Dear Diary,
Our last 10 days in Beijing has been action packed. Our first week was spent rotating around local hostels and completing various sight-seeing expeditions. After a couple of days relaxing in a place that was handy to the train station we moved into the city further and explored the Chinese culture - staying in the Hutongs (alley streets).
Our first room was inside an old army weapons base that had been converted into a loft type hostel. There were a couple of things that could have helped this place, e.g. a locking door, increasing the distance of our toilet from our bed, and a sign for our neighbour advising that watching loud movies and having numerous Chinese mobile conversations at 3am is perhaps not the best way to make new friends. We however had a good laugh for a few days using it as a base. From here we saw Tianemin square, the Temple of Heaven, the 2008 Olympic park, and the Forbidden City - all incredible in there own right. If we had to pick one the Forbidden City was a standout, we spent a full day enjoying the different temples, alleys and courtyards.
Our second place was another little hutong with a much smaller 'guest house' feel and plenty of jazz type cafes run by foriegner's nearby. The street even had a single speed bike shop!! We booked a few nights here - we missed the locals mans name who ran it so he became known as 'old mate'! One day we hired classic Beijing bikes from the bike store and covered half of inner Beijing. Im not too sure if anyone is fimiliar with riding a bike in China but im sure your imagination can help you out... If you picture how we have explained the amount of people around and how walking can be hard without crashing into each other, then add wheels and double the speed you've got it! Very cool day.
With the help Aunty Paula we managed to track down some Duffy family friends and our last (and final) four nights in China have been spent staying with the Bowyer's out near the airport. Our time there playing with the triplets, swimming, running, and enjoying the BBQ was so good!! With the help of some insider knowledge (Thanks Kathryn) we took a private driver (who we might add turned out to be an english speaking, Pegueo driving opera singer) to the wall which was great (could'nt help the pun). Charlie dropped us at one section and we were lucky enough to walk 10km to another area where he picked us up. Our walk was on both restored and un-restored sections and at times there was no one else in sight so it really incredible.
We have just checked in with our interpid tour group leader Dennis, who seems awesome. We meet the rest of the group at 6pm and then tomorrow we board the train for Mongolia and then on to Russia before making it to the rest of Europe in about 2 and half weeks - should be a blast.
Thanks for all the awesome notes from home, we look foward to updating you again soon.
Love
McDuff
Tristan and Michele
Our last 10 days in Beijing has been action packed. Our first week was spent rotating around local hostels and completing various sight-seeing expeditions. After a couple of days relaxing in a place that was handy to the train station we moved into the city further and explored the Chinese culture - staying in the Hutongs (alley streets).
Our first room was inside an old army weapons base that had been converted into a loft type hostel. There were a couple of things that could have helped this place, e.g. a locking door, increasing the distance of our toilet from our bed, and a sign for our neighbour advising that watching loud movies and having numerous Chinese mobile conversations at 3am is perhaps not the best way to make new friends. We however had a good laugh for a few days using it as a base. From here we saw Tianemin square, the Temple of Heaven, the 2008 Olympic park, and the Forbidden City - all incredible in there own right. If we had to pick one the Forbidden City was a standout, we spent a full day enjoying the different temples, alleys and courtyards.
Our second place was another little hutong with a much smaller 'guest house' feel and plenty of jazz type cafes run by foriegner's nearby. The street even had a single speed bike shop!! We booked a few nights here - we missed the locals mans name who ran it so he became known as 'old mate'! One day we hired classic Beijing bikes from the bike store and covered half of inner Beijing. Im not too sure if anyone is fimiliar with riding a bike in China but im sure your imagination can help you out... If you picture how we have explained the amount of people around and how walking can be hard without crashing into each other, then add wheels and double the speed you've got it! Very cool day.
With the help Aunty Paula we managed to track down some Duffy family friends and our last (and final) four nights in China have been spent staying with the Bowyer's out near the airport. Our time there playing with the triplets, swimming, running, and enjoying the BBQ was so good!! With the help of some insider knowledge (Thanks Kathryn) we took a private driver (who we might add turned out to be an english speaking, Pegueo driving opera singer) to the wall which was great (could'nt help the pun). Charlie dropped us at one section and we were lucky enough to walk 10km to another area where he picked us up. Our walk was on both restored and un-restored sections and at times there was no one else in sight so it really incredible.
We have just checked in with our interpid tour group leader Dennis, who seems awesome. We meet the rest of the group at 6pm and then tomorrow we board the train for Mongolia and then on to Russia before making it to the rest of Europe in about 2 and half weeks - should be a blast.
Thanks for all the awesome notes from home, we look foward to updating you again soon.
Love
McDuff
Tristan and Michele
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