Monday 28th Sept.
After leaving Oelde in the morning we drove all the way back to s’Gravendeel and arrived just after lunch. We were greeted with a cheery welcome by Ewout’s sister Willy who had arrived from Australia that morning. It was lovely to see her and for me it was lovely to have another female in the house.
On Tuesday, Willy and I caught the bus to Dordrecht. We had a lovely time looking around, doing a bit of shopping and having coffee. We also stumbled on an exhibition about Calvin and his effect on Dutch society. The first one we saw was a photographic competition and it was held in a very historic building so we had a history lesson as well as enjoying some beautiful photos. We also went to the Grote Kirk where they had more of a biographical exhibition on the life and times of Calvin. This was also very interesting and being in the lovely old church added to it.
About mid afternoon the men arrived and we all went off to have the delicious dutch specialty Poffertjes with coffee. Yum!
Wednesday we had an arrangement to visit with another couple we met while travelling in Croatia. Renko and Gaby were another couple of motorbike riders and though we did not spend a lot of time with them there we found that we quickly made friends, so with Willy on board we drove to the north of Holland to stay a night and day with them. We were welcomed warmly and it was great to spend the evening around their table having a laugh and catching up. The next day it was decided that we would go an visit the town of Enkhuizen, the girls by car , with Renko and Ewout meeting us there after r a ride on the motorbikes. It was an enjoyable visit to another picturesque town where we also visited a open air museum with old dutch buildings from all over the north of holland displayed in a village setting. After having a light dinner back at Gaby & Renko’s we all too soon had to drive back to Martins. We had such a nice time with them that we again sad to leave.
Friday we spent the day doing some more work in the camper and in the afternoon we drove to Puttershoek to visit another couple of cousins of Ewout and Willy. Ewout had to get another new tyre from the garage so Willy and I arrived first, a little while after her sister Jeanette came and then Ewout. So for the cousins it was a lot of catching up and family chat. More coffe and cake, so it will have to be starvation rations when we get home.
Saturday we had organised a get-together in the evening, with most of the Brand family coming for Sate’s, Nasi Goreng and Bahmi. It was an opportunity for everyone to see Willy and us before we went. A very pleasant evening.
Sunday we were off again. All five of us in the camper, headed to De Lutte to visit Willy and Ewout’s uncle. It took us about 2 1/2 hrs to get there but it was fun to have the company driving there. Om Eddie was very pleased to see us and his son Dennis arrived soon after and more coffee was drunk. A little later Mike and Eva arrived and so the afternoon was spent having more coffee, lunch and lots of catch up family talk. Later we drove to the campsite to check in, set up the tent and then it was out to dinner at a Mexican restauraunt. Nice.
Monday to Wednesday afternoon:
We did a small trip into Germany, where we visited another small village back into holland and visited another openair museum,visited a castle and had pancakes in a Pannekoeken house.
The weather was not always great, it is getting colder now and unfortunatley we had a bit of rain but it did not dampen our spirits. In the evenings we played some dice games and we had a fun time,we are lucky that we all get on so well.
We are again back to Martins, now we have to get orgainised to leave. Pack up the camper and do any small jobs that need to be done. We have to work out what to leave and what we can fit into our bags to take home, (always end up with too much stuff) and make our final farewells to the family.
Willy has left for Australia this morning and I was sad to see her go, it has been great to spend so much time with her here and to have a bit of female company in the house. Only a few more sleeps and we will fly home to our family, can’t wait as it has been so long.
