Well ... As some of you know I am currently staying/living in Holland!! 6 Months ago I decided to see the world outside of Australia since I am young, single and free of major responsibilities. And so began the pilgrimage ... On July 19th 2008 Bevan, Mel and myself flew out of Australia to the Netherlands (via Tokyo Japan) to "see the world".
Since that time I've seen and done so much! The first 2 weeks of my time in Europe I spent staying with the Post family (family of a flatmate from bible college). They really looked after us and showed us the sights of Holland. We've seen everything from the beautiful windmills and open green paddocks to the dark dingy redlight district in Amsterdam (commonly refered to as sin city).
After two amazing weeks in Holland we set up on a 3 week racing tour of some of western europe in an amazing large camper van. The 3 weeks was so over whelming we saw Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Belgium. I still can't believe that I've been to all those countries but I have the photos, videos and memories to prove it.
After the 3 week tour we made our way back "home" to the Post's family. They once again showed us such love and generosity by caring and providing for us in every possible way. After a few days rest Bevan and Mel set off on their 3 week journey via Belgium and France to the UK. Meanwhile it was time for me to start looking for work and organise to stay 12 months in Holland.
It was amazing how God provided, the doors opened up for me to work with Matthijs Post (the brother of my flatmate Laurens). Matthijs owns/started a landscaping company a few months ago and needs help. So from Semptember 2008 I have officially become an "Hovenier" (Gardener/Landscaper in English). It's definately a change to fixing comptuers but I am enjoying being a bit more physical.
At present I am living with the Post family in Delft but in a few weeks will be moving out with Laurens to Naaldwijk (about 30 mins from Delft). I am looking forward to reliving the bible college days with Laurens and really getting into "life" in Holland. I am currently searching for a cheap/reliable little car and a job that will cover the cost of living independently.
Wow ... There is so much else to tell but I think I will save some things for the coming blogs. I must apologise for being so quiet since being over here. I had previously attempted to do some blogs on my website www.sanctumonline.com.au (which you can check out) but found it too difficult to capture it all in detail (i would still be writing).
I will attach a few pictures to the end of this blog to hopefully give you a snippet of some of the things I've seen and done.
I hope this blog finds you all well ...
Doei Doei (Bye Bye)
Matt Walter
Flying out of Aus at Brisbane Airport
Overnight stop in Japan
Canal in Delft, Holland
Gondala ride in Venice, Italy
Riding a tandom bike at the Kinderdijk, Holland
The camper van we hired for our trip around Western Europe
My new ride I found in Germany
Innsbruck, Austria
Leaning tower of Pisa, Italy
Florence City, Italy
Cinque Terre, Italy
16,500 Km away from Sydney Australia
Holland Style
"Public" toilets in Ede, Holland
Lunch at Kinderdijk, Holland
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Freaking out on the German/France border
Joungfraujoch (Top of Europe), Switzerland
Interlarken, Switzerland
Some small village, Switzerland
Goedemorgen Mattster,
ReplyDeleteI am a bit of a blogger, not a very good one though. I spend all my time reading my friends blogs instead :) Look forward to seeing what is happening in your new world over there. My last blog was telling everyone that my hubby and I are having another baby, Yay! This is our fourth pregnancy, we miscarried the last two babies so we are really praying that God will protect this one so Hannah Grace (2 years old) can have a little brother. We are pretty certain its a boy. Anyhoo, enough about me.
Take care over there and God Bless,
Love Bel xo