Here's looking at you kid.

We are planning to stay at mum's place for another 2 weeks. This will give us the opportunity to catch up with mum, Martijn, Melanna and Cooper. Living so far away, makes it hard, to get close to my little nephew. I'm not one of those people, who wants to be called auntie and I am glad no one objects to it this time.

Over the next couple of weeks, I really spend quite some time with him. He knows what he wants and likes to get in the spa, he loves animals. Most animals love him, but not all. Those who don't hide. He loves going to the beach and play ball and built sand castles. He also loves going for a ride on the speedboat with his daddy. Dad goes water skiing regularly and mum and Cooper go along most of the time, along with many a friend. I really enjoyed spending lots of time with him as he gets better with each passing day. When it's time for us to return home, Cooper wants me to stay and so do I. Cooper cries, which brings me close to tears. I hope we will return soon to Cairns and my family and spend more time together.

Husband and Wife

Gary and I tied the knot on the 29Th February 2008. Initially it was planned, to marry at the registry office in Cairns, but my mother wasn't too pleased with this idea. Instead we were married at Trinity Beach. We only invited our nearest and dearest. We had a welcoming toast before the ceremony ( A glass of champagne ), a blessing of the ring and the significance of the ring was shared during the ceremony. My wedding ring once belonged to my Nana and her sister. My nan's sister died of shrapnel wounds during the bombardment of Rotterdam in World War 2 and her husband allowed my grand-parents to use the ring for their wedding as they couldn't afford to buy one at the time. You know how something always seems to go wrong at a wedding. Ours was perfect, except the celebrant informed us before the ceremony that she wasn't well and had suffered with gastric all day. Well I was having visions of our celebrant running of to the toilet frequently during the ceremony, but she managed to get through without the expected delays. After becoming Mrs Anneloes Warrener, we took our guests to the Atlantis Beach restaurant for a meal. We were given all our presents here and in Dutch tradition I opened them all right there. We all had a fantastic meal and we called it a night. Our wedding was a simple and low key event, but that is how we wanted it.

The Party

Well all good things come to an end. It's almost time for us to return to Australia but I would like to have one last get together. It involves all the people who once lived in the same high rise building as we did. Gert contacts as many people as possible and there will be quite a crowd. Cock and Anita, Marcel and Kitty, Reyer and Mieke, Gert and us of course. The decision is made to have a meal at Ben's ( a restaurant in Zevenhuizen ). This is nearby and allows people to have a drink or two. It is to be the following Friday and we are the first to arrive. I have mixed feelings. I am happy and sad. Tomorrow we are returning to Frankfurt to catch our flight to Cairns, Australia. One by one everyone arrives and we chat the night away, catching up on 23 years and we talk about the good old days, get merry, laugh a lot and generally just have a good time. The meal is wonderful. Gary has been surrounded by people who are able to speak English and he is enjoying the evening as much as I am. When it is time for us to depart, Gert seems a little upset. I believe he enjoyed having us around and especially Gary. Seeing Gert struggle with his emotions makes me emotional too. It is never easy to say goodbye for yet another number of years. This time I really enjoyed my stay in Holland and deep down I could have stayed forever. Back to a live I once knew, but I am married to an Australian who feels more at home in his country. Australia is a beautiful place and I also love my live there. I have Australianised and would miss Australia just as much if I was to return here for good.

Volendam-Tradional Dutch clothing

How many times have I been asked, Did you wear traditional Dutch clothing in Holland on a daily basis? The answer is no we don't as a rule. There is one place however, where it is possible to bump into someone wearing traditional clothing. Gary, Gert and myself are traveling to Volendam. I am on a mission to replace a photograph my mother gave away to my father many years ago. I know she has regretted this for many years. It is a photo of myself posing in Dutch traditional clothing as a child. It was a great picture and I set out to have another one taken, to give to my mother for mother's day. This means I need to go to Volendam. Volendam is a popular tourist attraction in the Netherlands. It is well-known for it's old fishing boats and the traditional Dutch clothing still worn by some local residents. The women's costume of Volendam, with it's high pointed bonnet, is one of the most recognizable of the Dutch traditional costumes, and is often featured on postcards and posters. Although there are believed to be fewer than 50 women now wearing the costume as part of their daily lives and most of these are elderly women, I am hopeful to bump into one of these people. However we end up having to visit the local museum to see some of the costumes, as none of these people, are in town when we get there. We have some lunch before I am of to my photo shoot. I hope mum will like this photo as I am no longer a child but an adult woman, and cannot bring back time. I pay and collect for the photo and we decide to have a good look around Volendam before returning to Gert's place.

My favourite place

There is yet another place I must visit in Holland. It is a tourist area located on Schouwen-Duiveland (the most northern Island of Zeeland). The place I am referring to is called Burgh-Haamstede. It is close to a 17 kilometres long beach. It is located in one of the sunniest locations of Holland. There is also a 300 hectare forest, where you can find some amazing flora and fauna. I remember searching for the many bramble bushes, picking as many brambles as possible and return home to make jam (Yummy). We walked many a trail here and quite a few of them lead to the beach. Here I have fond memories of walking along the beach with the wind in my face. Now if I am walking anywhere and the wind is hitting me in the face, I find my mind wandering back in time to this place. Of course we did some swimming here as well and enjoyed some birdwatching and looking for some suitable shells to make a shell necklace. We also enjoyed many a ride on horseback here. As you may all be aware, my cousins and I each owned our own ponies and all 3 ponies used to come holidaying with us. They were agisted at the local riding school "manege Lisiduna". The horse riding is excellent here. There are special riding trails through the forest and some leading to the beach. We would usually ride to the beach to let our ponies have a good gallop. I would sometimes choose the 2 hour forest ride for a more leisurely pace and just to enjoy the scenery. As a child I dreamed of living in this place. Buy a property (small Acreage) and have some chooks, dogs, cats, ponies and I am sure much more. We spend so much here in our holiday home, that after all these years I still call it place my favourite place.