Queensland Australia December 2008

Helen and Peter spent two weeks in Sydney, the Gold Coast and Noosa, Australia.

 

It was a great holiday, walked the Sydney harbour Bridge, travelled to the Blue Mountains, went up the Q1 tower in the Gold Coast, markets, and went swimming at sunrise at Noosa with little fish. The sea was so warm....aaaahhh.

The temperature often was 30 -35 around midday...what terrific weather the Aussies have..!!!

 

Here are some pictures, more to follow.

Off to Mexico

Off to Mexico for some sun, sand, and spanish.

The place we are going to is Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific coast.  Will tell you all more about it when I get there.

Lunch at Viligrad

On Sunday afternoon the Nagels clan headed to Villigrad Winery near Ohaupo for a belated celebration of Papa's (Jos') birthday. Awesome food, great company, nice wine, and good times. Some of the Nooyen family also joined. Check out some of the pics.

Meteor, Skating, Ukrainian, Star gazing, and Northern Lights

It is now warming up: today the temperature was some 5ºC (41ºF).  Causing the snow and ice to melt and form new puddles to freeze.  So Barb and I went skating at the local ice rink after watch her grandchildren play Ice Hockey.  I managed to get some independence without falling over.

Two days ago, people reported a very bright white light that lit up the early evening sky.  It was a Meteor falling to earth and it was a 6 second burn-up that lit up the earth.  Barb and I were playing scrabble and missed it completely.  

On our way home for visiting we look up at the northern night sky - a fantastic light show of a few million suns burning in distant galaxies.  Made ones world view look very small.

We went out to enjoy some Ukrainian culture.  These people settled in Alberta (and other parts of Canada) and of course bought their culture with them.  This is now manifested itself in the Ukrainian Cheremosh Society. One of its projects is Ukrainian dancing.  This very lively, richly costumed show is much enjoyed here and abroad.  We watched very va young men and woman throwing themselves around the stage in brightly coloured Ukrainian style costumes.  Food was part of the ticket and we ate some very rich food!  On the way back we experienced some of the Northern Lights phenomenon; this was not so richly costumed, but an equally awe inspiring sight.

Barb is a wonderful host to me.

Our nephew Kingsley

Like his clogs? We sent the clogs over to Toby's brother Guy and his partner Lucy and their little boy Kingsley. Too cute!

In Alberta

Have been collected by Barb and her sister Marie.  We are staying in Marie's city flat in Edmonton while we take in the sights for the next few days.  Then off to Wainwright, Alberta.

The flight was uneventful, though there were lots of countryside covered in snow.  Happily Edmonton is only about freezing and there is no snow.

Hope everything is well with everyone.

Amsterdam Update

Our House in the Jordaan


Our lounge and dining room


Toby winning Dirtiest Stroopwafel!

Sonya winning Tastiest Stroopwafel!

Hello Nagels Family!

All is heel goed here in Amsterdam.

I've been pretty busy starting work and teaching and have had lots of guests staying. I have had a fair few random Kiwis far from home needing a place to stay. It's amazing how much we get around.

Some good news is that my job which was only temporary is offering me a permanent contract, which is fantastic. I work for a company called Trompenaars Hampden-Turner, and we research, analyse and consult on Culture in the workplace. I am working in IT, doing all sorts of random things with websites and design.

It's such a nice place to work- lovely international work place. About half of the people are Dutch, the rest as English, Canadian, American, New Zealand.

Toby is very busy at his new job- a few all-nighters so far. He has some nice workmates- who we hang out with a bit- all americans. But he is taking dutch lessons which he is enjoying. He is working on some pretty major projects for some big clients like Coca Cola and Nike. He is really enjoying it.

We are just beginning to really explore the city and take advantage of some of the great museums and bars and resturants. We are both making friends at work and discovering more and more New Zealanders who are based here. We had a great housewarming party a couple of weeks ago. Many stroopwafels were consumed.

Our first impressions of Dutch food were pretty abysmal! But ther are some lekker places to go. We live directly across the road from the best Thai takeaways in the Netherlands! Heel Lekker! Handy but I can see it becoming a routine!

I have truly adopted the Dutch way of life by purchasing a beautiful set of weatherproof trousers and jacket for biking to work in. I look pretty cool in them, but hey, when in Amsterdam...

As for further travel plans, we are going to Brussels in Belgium in November for a weekend for Toby's birthday. We are also hoping to go to Norway for New Years to visit some friends there. We are also really keen to get to Paris for a few days too, but not too sure when. I have just got my first paycheck all year, so I have a little bit of catching up to do! We haven't decided howlong exactly we will stay here but at this stage I imagine we'll be here for at least a year more.

Hope this finds everyone well and happy.

Toto ziens,

Sonya