A brand new experience!

After travelling and working on the farm the past few weeks I am in a completely different but exciting new world...I am in a terribly sweaty Darwin, at my cousin Imke. Imke and I didn't know each other that well until 6 years ago. Around that time I was working in a pub in the Outback near Darwin: we knew that we were both in Australia, but we did not have each others email addresses. By weird coincidence we ran into each other in Darwin (20 million people in Australia and you run into someone you know...). Since then we kept in touch and 2,5 years ago Imke was in the Netherlands with her daughter Josie. We had an incredible nice time, so meeting up here would be great fun guaranteed.


Imke still lives near Darwin, in a place called Humpty Doo (see sunset at a nearby lagoon). Josie is 4 years now and Josie has a little brother, 7 months old Liam. And that's where the new world starts: until now I have not spend more than one day with really young kids or even babies. Yes, I have lots of experience with bigger kids (yes mum, I know, I can still be a kid), but the tiny ones...Oh no, I am too afraid to 'brake' them.

So my cousin warned me that it would be full on. And guess what, I surprised my cousin and myself; I absolutely love spending all my time here. Of course the kids are no perfect angels, but that makes it all more lively! On the right you can see the moment Imke decided to dump 'het pierebadje' and get a bigger pool.



At first Josie was shy, but that went away quickly. Now I can wrestle with her without a problem, I can eat her alive (always screaming big time when I chase her), I can throw her away in the pool, I can steal some kisses of her and I can get a little bit angry with her if she does something naughty. She even calls me ' mum' sometimes. Of course by accident; Imke and I have to laugh and Josie gets really shy then.


Liam deserted even quicker. In the beginning when he cried, I could pick him up, but I could not get him quiet. The next step was that I could get him to calm down as long as his mum was close by and now, I can 'hush' him to sleep, he follows me around when he's looking for 'a mum' and he gives the biggest hugs anyone can ever give me.


In the meantime I'm spending lots of quality time with Imke as well. I am teaching her a bit about her new computer, we wrote a letter of interest for a job Imke would like to have (and they have already called her for an interview: great stuff!) and I am just helping Imke around the house to give her a sense of holiday as well.

We do a lot of walking, swimming and once in a while we go to the pub to have a nice ice cold beer...Being with small kids you have to watch what you are doing though...See picture above how I got confused...In the meantime Josie is picking up a habit almost every young kid does: finishing the beer bottle...



Anyway, after 2 weeks of babies and kids (I held a 3 day old baby today even though I told the mother better not too, because I am not used to the little ones...I'm learning though!) I am off to New Zealand on Saturday. But before that some kids logic (true story!)

Setting: Maaike and 4 kids of each 4 years old in the pool (of course all the mothers were taking advantage of my energy and they were taking a relaxing day off with Imke next to the pool...)

Kid 1: Maaike, who's mum are you?
Kid 2: Yeah, who is your baby?
Me: I do not have a baby.
[silence and 3 pairs of weird eyes and one normal pair-Josie- were looking at me]
Kid 1 (definitely the most rude one): But you are old!
Me: Well yes, I am old enough to have a baby, but I don't have one yet.
Kid 2: Ok, so you are a kid still.
Kid 1: Yes you're a kid!!
Me: No, not really, I am a grown-up without kids.
[Mumbling]
Kid 1: Ok, I get it, you are a big kid!

Kids logic: you've got to love it. And it's true, totally true!

Herberton: the relaxing place

The world is treating me well. More than 2 weeks ago my friend Helen (left) came down to hot Cairns to pick me up and she took me to their place. Six years ago I worked for Helen and Duncan at their organic farm; then I planned on staying for 2 weeks, I ended up staying for 2 months so that says enough about how Helen, Duncan and I got on!

We were reunited at their new home near Herberton (semi-Outback) and we just picked up our friendship where we left it 6 years ago. Of course some things were still the same, some things were different.

Things which were the same:
- We talked a lot, and if I say a lot, I mean constantly… (sorry Helen for keeping you off work…)
- Helen and Duncan made me feel very very welcome. Perhaps these pictures give you a clue about the indescribable nice atmosphere at their place.













- I did not use a computer for the entire time, I did not watch TV (except 2 movies…) but I did listen to a lot of real Australian music, thanks to Duncan. AC DC rules…


- Duncan’s cooking qualities (left) have not changed, so every single meal was a big hit!
- I worked in and around their farm doing loads of things like taking care of the animals (horses, goats, chickens), cleaning the stables, creating new gardens, cleaning in and around the house. In short: making myself use full after travelling for some months made me feel good!!
- I slept like a baby, every single night. Fresh air, good food, casual work and excellent company wear you out…
- I met loads of their good friends which (by no surprise) turned out to be lovely and inspirational people.
- I have laughed a lot. Again… Still.

Things which have changed:
- Well obviously their house: they have bought a piece of land (bush) and they are planning on building their own house. For the moment they are living in a ‘shed’. Well, that’s the official name, but I genuinely think it’s one of the most romantic spots I have ever been.


- Almost every second day we went horseback riding. Yeah! It was great, really great. Trotting along in the bush, going for long and short rides and I even had a lesson from a good riding instructor. (Picture shows Duncan, Helen and Viola)


- I slept in a caravan next to their house, their shower was very idyllic (open views into the bush) and their toilet was optional: either wee behind a little tree and get great views late at night or use ‘the hole in the ground’ with, well to be honest, another great view!

- I made some good new friends: Roger (the dog) and the horses Rocky (I knew him already), Condor and Spot (‘my’ horse, see picture).












- Duncan and Helen wanted to do some preventive fire burning so if there is a real fire threat, they are safe. They decided to wait until I was there. Best decision ever! They did not know I am a little pyromaniac…So off I went on their four wheeler (a quad) and burned the place. And then sit back close to the fire to watch it and listen to it. GREAT!

Anyway, I really relaxed at their home, their land and their bush. Their company and their animals gave me the ultimate relaxing feeling. Well, I was already very relaxed, but I did some good thinking about living in remote areas and why I am so much enjoying my travelling and just loving the little things in life. Sounds tacky, but I still feel I am one of the luckiest people in the world…

In the meanwhile I am in Darwin, in another very enjoyable place where I feel very welcome again: at my cousin, Imke! More stories will follow soon(ish)!

Australia: like it or not...

After 6 years of me being away of Australia several things have changed...

- Cairns has built a beautiful lagoon at the Esplanade where everyone can swim for free (since the sea is covered in deadly jelly fish you need a pool...)
- Australia has been taken over by millions of Germans...
- Backpackers only drink shitloads, every day, and the next day they hang around the tv room and complain about how tired they are...
- While they are at it they complain about not having any money...
- 6 years ago I had the average age, now I am old...Or at least I feel old...
- The weather has not changed however, so there is an absolutely lovely sun out there now!
- There is cheap, I mean 'free' Internet at the hostel which is excellent after having no Internet or very slow Internet

But to be honest; I'm having a 'reverse cultural shock'. I'm terribly annoyed by all the lazy backpackers and I know it is me now who is complaining. So time to change that mood!!! I've seen everything in Australia that I wanted to see 6 years ago, so I rang my friends Helen and Duncan yesterday. I worked at their farm 6 years ago and I absolutely loved it, so it will be great to see them again. Talking to them on the phone made me already feel really welcome!! Helen is picking me up tomorrow, great!
And I rang my cousin in Darwin who is delighted to see me as much as I am to see her (and I cannot wait to see her 6 month old baby Liam and Josie who is 4!), so it's all good.

So I'm off now to buy a ticket to Darwin, take a dip in the lagoon, read my book and tonight I am going to see a movie at the cinema (Guusje and I were talking about going to the cinema since Thailand, so I am finally going!)

Back home in the Netherlands...

Just a quick 'none' traveling message:

A friend of mine is participating in a tv-show 'Op zoek naar Evita' to become 'the new Evita' for the musical Evita (it all makes sense...). She is very tiny (even smaller than me...gnagna) but she has a miraculous voice. My sister tells me she gets great criticism from the jury, so check it out:

Nederland 1- AVRO: 'Op zoek naar Evita'
Her name is Suzan Seegers...

Be amazed...

Em tasol…

Spending a week in Madang has been great; really relaxing. Moreover, it gave me some time to get to know Sjoerd’s future home, his friends, his new work environment (Divine Word University: he is going to be head of Physiotherapy Department there) and of course Elina and her lovely family. Especially Elina’s family have made a great effort to show us around, introduce me to as much things I had not seen or done before and we had some nice dinners together. So our goodbye on Wednesday was tearful…

But no time for sorrow, because we had cool stuff ahead of us. Laura (another volunteer in Madang) decided to go with us to Goroka, to see a bit of the Highlands and of course to experience the Goroka show (different tribes showing their traditional costumes and singing and dancing).

Laura works for a creative self help centre: she does disability awareness. Special about Laura is that she has a superb personality, she is a great laugh and she is blind. Basically I think being a volunteer in PNG is quite an experience and their lives are sometimes pretty mindblowing, but doing what Laura is doing is truly amazing and I really enjoyed spending more time with her, because I genuinely think she is one of a kind.

Anyway, we got to Goroka on Thursday and we were staying at Marcels, another volunteer. He was doing a workshop that week at his Physiotherapy Department in Goroka Hospital and us three helped him out a bit in the preparation. We even joined him the next day at the workshop which was quite interesting to do because I had not seen a professional setting like this in PNG yet.

The Goroka Show over the weekend was just great: seeing all the different tribes, talking to them, getting to know the story behind the dances was excellent. I took loads of wonderful pictures as you can (hopefully) see.

Laura has a degree in music so she decided to join a tribe when they asked her. Lateron, one of the tribes stayed at Marcels place where we had dinner together. It was a really really wonderful experience for both sides, because the tribe had never experienced that white people were so friendly to invite them into their home.

Yesterday we took the PMV home to Mount Hagen, together with Robert and Mark who ended up spending the night at our place. Today is laundry day again and tomorrow, well the title of this message says it all: em tasol [this is it]. I had the best experience ever in PNG, all the different things we did, made the trip exhilarating. I really enjoyed my time with Sjoerd and Femke, and I will be sad to say goodbye to Sjoerd, because I am probably not going to see him for the next three years. Learning a bit of Tok Pidgin has been challenging, meeting all Sjoerds friends made my trip even more fun because every single one of them is special. But on the other hand, I am happy to travel further to Australia, to be on my own again and see how I like Australia again after 6 years…

Some pictures:

This is a tribe from Mount Hagen.










Unknown tribe: some kids taking it easy...












Unknown tribe: their bilas were great! Covered in grass, moss and weeds!










Goroka tribe: this woman is chewing 'buai' and she really liked my blue eyes. I said I was happy to change them for her beautifull brown eyes...












Oncemore unknown tribe: the tribe is showing a Snake dance

Relaxing Madang!

After the exhilarating Highlands the three musketeers took the PMV to Madang via Goroka. The trip was , how to say it properly, NOT nice. The driver drove to quickly and the mountains and its drops came too close by...If you know what I mean. Femke and I have taught Sjoerd a new trick how to avoid to get scared: just put your head down, pretend to be asleep and what you do not see is not there...Yes, we are just like an emu, but it works for us...

Madang is nothing like the highlands: it's warm (bloody, sweaty warm!), tropical, nice sea and very mellow. Well, you have to with this warmth. We decided to go mellow as well, so we went to an island to do some swimming and snorkeling and 2 days we hired kayaks to go on the sea. Very relaxing. Again, we met some of Sjoerds friends who are all very lovely.

Of course we met Elina as well, Sjoerds girlfriend. She is very nice and she kicks Sjoerds ass, so Femke and I are very happy with her. It means that someone is taking care of Sjoerds manners when Femke and I are not around!
Elina took us to her village as well, or actually: her mothers village. It was really nice to see a sea village as well compared to the Highlands villages we've seen before. Elina's aunt has got the clear blue sea in her back garden...how cool is that!
Elina's mother helped me to try 'buai': it's a beetle nut PNG people chew. You chew on the nut, add some white stuff with it on a green stick and you get an aw full looking red mouth. While chewing, you spit it out. Sjoerd chews it a lot, and for me it was a one time experience...it was quite strong and I was sort of high for 5 minutes. Imagine that, even small kids chew it here...

In the meantime we did some more swimming, played tennis with some of Sjoerds friends, had nice meals and yesterday Sjoerd and I went diving! I hadn't dived in 4 years so being in the water like a fish was GREAT! We even saw a shark, but of course I did not see it. But everyone else did...

Anyway, Femke has left the country: we had the best holiday ever! Sjoerd and I are heading to Goroka this weekend for the Goroka show: all sorts of tribes will be there in their traditional dress. Should be good.
I just tried to put up some pictures but it does not work. Check out Sjoerds website for the visuals...

Southern Highlands

Since my brother likes to have more hits on his website, please have a look at his blog: there is a new (quite shocking) story to read...

[no, Internet is too slow, so we decided to publish it only once...]

We're in Goroka now, tomorrow off to Madang to meet Sjoerds girlfriend....coolness...!