Author Archive

Beep. The Kettler announces today’s regime. I take a deep breath and start rowing. 45, 77, 83, the strokes per minute are climbing. I steady around 90 and relax into my rythm.

“What are my plans for this morning?” I close my eyes and wander off.  I need to write that article about the football radio before the world cup is over, those invoices need to be sent off, … my list continues. Read the rest »

Italy rules the world when it comes to exquisite styling and taste. Even in another 30-plusser of summer sun, Italians are perfectly coiffured.

Wearing the latest strappy numbers with matching sandals, and perhaps even a headband to catch their perfectly formed beads of sweat.

Well, that doesn’t happen in my world … here it is dominated by form follows function!

Read the rest »

Cousins Ina and Andries live near Groningen in the very top of Holland. We live close to Amsterdam. When we go camping, we often meet in the middle.

Okay, not so much in the middle. We choose a quiet little spot in Vierhuizen. Less crowded than other campings nearby …

The proximity to Lauwersmeer National Park (Lauwer lake) makes it fabulous for cycling. Another drawcard to the area is the ferry to Schiermonnikoog. Read the rest »

I look back at the noughties with mixed feelings. It’s been the toughest decade ever and yet my most rewarding. We gave up the sunny comfort of South Africa and chose to migrate to the Netherlands.

Emmen was our first port of call. Where Marcel started life and still has some family. More to the point, it was chosen ‘cos of the work. For Marcel. And for me? Glad you asked. I couldn’t speak Dutch and being in the North East, there aren’t many English speaking jobs available. So I stayed at home.

Read the rest »

We’re making idle chatter with our hostess when a rather grumpy couple climb aboard the shuttle bus. An onslaught of arbitrary complaints follow in Dutch. We roll our eyes. Great … it´s going to be a long ride! Especially considering that Laguna Vista is nestled further up in Nabq, the new suburb of Sharm el Sheikh.

Perhaps sensing the rest of their travel companion’s desire to “let the holiday begin”, they eventually settle down and keep quiet.

Read the rest »

60 years ago we would have needed a boat to stand next to the “Dukdalf” that we were now celebrating. And a snorkel and goggles, and possibly a scuba diving dry suit.

But there we were, standing on dry land 5 metres below sea level. It’s all rather mind boggling!  Read the rest »

We bought our house ‘cos of the view through the kitchen window. The rest of the interior wasn’t to our taste and has since forged us into frenetic DIY-ers!

In the past three years, we’ve stripped kilometers of wallpaper, ripped out ornamental arches and cornices and stroked numerous layers of paint onto the once bare concrete walls.

But through all of this, we’ve kept our budget on a diet. It has to be said … we muuuch prefer travelling! Read the rest »

Yup, another delivery in Rotterdam today - yay! Good for business and with this lovely weather, a great drive; 127 km’s from us to the Erasmus Brigde; the white suspension bridge you often see at large events, like the Red Bull airplane racing or when Volvo Ocean Race comes to town.

During WWII most of Rotterdam’s ancient buildings were decimated and the city had to rebuild itself, so a lot of the architecture is new. Read the rest »

En-route to a delivery near Rotterdam this morning, I took my favourite scenic route through the Oostvaarderplassen wildlife nature reserve.

There’s a viewpoint overlooking a huge plain that always reminds us of Africa. Occassionally we see herds of Heck Cows and at other times herds of Red Deer.

But we’ve heard of a herd of horses that lived in the region, and on occassion have seen a horse (or two) here and there …  Read the rest »

This weekend we drove 2,5 hours to Germany to join Ina and Andries, who’d already been there for two days. They’d found a great camping site and were enthuisiatic about the May Fair being celebrated in Osnabruck. So we packed our tent and bicycles and headed off on Friday morning.

We got to Teutoburger Waldsee camping site around 2pm and unpacked. Setting up camp has become a fine art … we can now do it in 20 minutes flat! Then to our horror, we realised we’d forgotten our pillows … argh. There’s always a thing or two that you forget, but your pillow? Read the rest »

Coming from South Africa, it hasn’t been difficult to enjoy Zapiro’s political cartoons in the newspaper over the years. And every now and then my father-in-law sends us a fax with another “that’s a goodie”.

This morning, to my delight, I read an article about the Z-News puppet project that was going to be aired on the SABC (South African Broadcasting Company) in November 2008, but the project was pulled beforehand. The SABC chose the safe route instead of possible law suits. Want to see toes being humourously stepped on? Watch this video (23:29 min) Read the rest »

Since I can remember, I’ve always wanted to go to the Caribbean. Perhaps inspired by the Bacardi ads or James Bond movies from childhood? But that part of the world has always been my dream destination.

When Marcel and I got married in 2001, our plan was to become scuba diving instructors in the Caymans, or another island nearby. Practicality and other reasons helped us choose The Netherlands instead, but the dream didn’t fade. Both of us wanted to go.

What better reason than a 40th birthday? On 1st of March I was born four decades ago. Wow. What a thought. It used to sound so old … Read the rest »

During our awesome stay at the Royal Catalonia Bavaro Resort in Punta Cana, Marcel arranged a very special dinner to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. Dinner for two … on the beach.

No hoardes of other people. Just the two us! And a Waiter, an Executive Chef and the Food & Beverage Manager.

It was a big deal! There was fuss and flurry in reception as we chose our menu 24 hours beforehand. We got the impression this didn’t happen too often and happily paid the bill for this private treat, which wasn’t included in the all-in package. Then we headed back to our deck-chairs to laze in the Caribbean sun and drink Presidente beer. Read the rest »

We’ve been planning our trip to the Caribean (for about 9 years) and have finally booked for March ‘09. It is a rather (a-hem) dear trip that’s straining our piggy bank, so we’d decided not to do anything for Christmas or New Year. But this resolve didn’t stop me from missing my mommy (nope, not even when you’re nearly-40 are you too old to miss your mommy).

And then out of the blue, feeling for me, Marcel surprised me with a booking confirmation (by e-mail!) saying that we were going to the UK for New Year. WHAT?? It was the 29th and the tickets were booked for the 31st! Read the rest »

In 2002 I first heard about the mysterious Christmas market in the caves somewhere in Limburg. Previous years brought various attempts to organise a visit, but inevitably something else came up and this market dropped down our to-do list. This year … we got lucky! On 6th of December we drove 250 km’s from Lelystad to Valkenburg to visit the Dutch Christmas Caves. Read the rest »

Batavia Stad is a designer clothing outlet shopping centre a few km’s from where we live. Some friends jealously wonder why we don’t live there permanently. Well the truth is, I don’t like shopping!

Yes … I’m a woman! Gosh, just ask my husband about the nightmare it was to find my wedding dress … (he was the only person I could entrust with the goal, so we did that together). Marcel has the patience of Job when it comes to spending time in stores. Read the rest »

Recently we had the good fortune of watching Ladysmith Black Mambazo in concert at the Schouwburg Theatre in Almere. A great performance!

We are so proud of this 47-year old Music Legend … definitely one of South Africa’s best exports. But what delighted us the most, is their relaxed, authentic manner in sharing their isiZulu culture. Read the rest »

Our serene harbour village is approximately 65 km’s away from the bustle of Amsterdam. We enjoy the water and nature, but once in a blue moon we venture off to the capital to take in city life.

We park our car relatively close to Amsterdam, and catch the train for the last few stops, which saves us mucho money and stress from trying to find parking. The train journey into Amsterdam is really cool. First you ride past dreary flat blocks, which considering we’d contemplated living in the city, makes us appreciate our home even more. Then you ride past architectually-stunning apartments on the IJ River. Read the rest »

Waiting to be released from an Amsterdam traffic light, the corner of my eye forced my head leftwards to the side of the road. There they were … two magic little words I never thought I’d see … Bolshoi Ballet.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I strained to read the poster. Carre Theatre. Swan Lake. Showing Soon. My heart leaped into the air as triumphantly as the man in red tights. Read the rest »

A week of sunshine at Lake Garda in Northern Italy … sounds like heaven!! Especially that it’s just a couple of hours away from Venice. So on the 23rd of August, we packed ourselves into the car and drove to the watery backdrop of Hollywood blockblusters. We were especially keen to see if James Bond really had destroyed that building

Marcel and I have been to Venice before, during November in 2000, when it flooded - but that’s a whole other story. Having caught the train there the first time, it was quite cool driving across the bridge into Venezia. We found a car park pretty quickly but gasped at the EUR 26 / day price tag, so thought we’d try to find a different one. Big mistake. The traffic jammed up the further in we went. Read the rest »

If you had told me back in 1999, when I’d first heard about Verona’s famous opera venue, that we’d be watching AIDA out in the open, under the stars and a cool Italian breeze, I’d never have believed you.

Living in South Africa, Europe and the European culture seems like such an enigma. One of those things you’d love to do, but doubt you’ll ever get the chance … our cultural fortune changed when we moved to Holland, and we’re now able to visit these “exotic places”. Read the rest »

Life in Europe is busy. Very busy. Especially in the peak season. So heading out on the bonne foi (i.e. without making prior reservations) is quite a risky thing to do. The last thing you want is to end up in some dodgy hotel with their last available (flea-ridden) bed. So nowadays most Europeans book their overnight stays beforehand. The bean-counter in me scoured the net to find a suitable room, but the Indiana Jones kept closing the windows, insisting we wing it. Often I have these personal struggles … Read the rest »

Just two days before heading to Switzerland en-route to Italy, cousins Ina and Andries showed us their video of Rheinfall in Schaffhausen … well Neuhausen actually (they’re about 3 km’s apart). It looked awesome … the sound and power of the water drew me in like a magnet. We just HAD to include it in our travel plan.

It was our first day of travelling and we’d spent about 8-9 hours in the car before reaching Neuhausen, so we grabbed the chance to stretch our legs. Read the rest »

Rob Mieras is a 4×4 driving instructor and has the patience of Job when it comes to teaching new offroading skills to nervous drivers. We had the good fortune of joining them on a camping trip to Freizeitpark Mammut in Germany, which was just fabulous.

The highlight of the week was definitely learning how to gear down steep slopes and charge through muddy pools. But it all started rather slowly for me … Let’s face it, keeping control of a beast that weighs more than two tons is scary. Read the rest »

Rob and Janet Cuthbertson (from Leopard Walk Lodge) work very closely with their local Zulu communities. They believe that low-impact tourism is an excellent way to provide much-needed employment in the area and to preserve the magnificent beauty of Zululand.

During our stay with them, they organised a guided canoeing trip for us with Temba, a Zulu guide who is perhaps the epitome of responsible eco-tourism. Not only has Temba set up his own tour operating company, he is also encouraging his community to become more involved in eco-tourism. Read the rest »