Jono is Dutch!

Ik ben Zwarte Piet!

2009-12-02T09:27:00.002+11:00

Yesterday I got to take part in a crazy dutch tradition - dressing up as Zwarte Piet (Black Peter) and giving candy to lots of children! It was so much fun!

Sinterklas is the Dutch Santa Clause, only 100 times better and the Zwarte Piet are his helpers. Everyone in Holland gets into it and lots of the kids really believe the story. So my boss (Martin) invited me to help out at his son's soccer practise by surprising the kids with a little visit

Martin's son is the boy on the right in the picture below - he's just like his Dad! Really cute kid!

Another nice part about it was the fact that when I was young we also celebrated Sinterklas. Good memories!

You'd be scared too!

2009-11-30T18:21:00.004+11:00

A while back I got a visit from some friends back home - engineering and focus buddies Jerome and Simon! We caught up in Amsterdam and decided to go bike riding... and I thought it would be smart idea just 'dink' on the back of Simon's bike.

Nothing against Simon's bike riding ability, but it was one of the funniest/scariest experiences of my time in Holland.

Jerome in the background - having a little trouble?

And I finally got to see the famous "I Amsterdam" sign... lots of tourists, lots of posing

It was great to see the boys from Tassie, I believe their back home probably enjoying the warm weather (I hope!) I wonder if they're keen to go for a bike ride through Hobart's streets together...?

What is worse than a bad moustache...?

2009-11-30T00:10:00.000+11:00

Two bad moustaches

Noud and me.

See you later!

2009-11-29T05:57:00.000+11:00

I worked with some amazing people this year - I couldn't have asked for better collegues!

I've been working here in Holland for a year, and finished my initial contract. I'm taking 3 months off of unpaid leave and heading down to Australia for a month, then to Africa for 2 months. I'm really looking forward to it, but I will have to say that I will miss the fun of working with everyone in the celhuis!

p.s. the trophy was made by Noud - the craziest, funniest and most helpful mechanic I will probably ever meet...

Movember in Holland

2009-11-27T07:02:00.000+11:00

I think I'll shave it off tonight...

A week in Portugal

2009-10-05T21:02:00.000+11:00

I'm in Portugal! I flew into Porto late Friday night and have been seeing the site, enjoying the weather and meeting new people.

I tried my hand at 'funky shots' in a door frame... didn't really work!

I met my room mate Andrew on the first night in Porto and we've been hanging ever since which is have great!
And yesterday I went for a 2hr run! I have a 21km race this Sunday (the day I get back to Holland!) so I'm trying to keep fit - needless to say I got a few strange looks when I got back to the hostel

A photo which never should have been taken....

2009-10-03T03:23:00.000+10:00

I found this photo on my camera after leaving it at a friend's house...

And in other news - I'm off to Portugal for a one week holiday!

Fierljeppen

2009-07-13T05:16:00.000+10:00

I got to compete in a traditional Dutch/Freisland game.... Fierljeppen.

I asked what the literal translation is and noone could give me an answer. The sport orginated from farmers who had to cross lots and lots of streams on their property, so rather than building lots of bridges they adapted pole vaulting - but in order to cross really wide streams they learnt to balance the pole vertically, climb up to the top and then land it on the other side. Pretty amazing!

So a friend from work invited me to compete in a team with him and one of his friends. I didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to be quite a big carnival and lots of fun! Many people were giving it a go, and there were quite a few spectacular crashes (one guy got carried away in a stretcher...)

The locals were quite excited to have an international competitor in the event and I managed to get interview with the Eindhoven newspaper! Our team ended up winning and I got the furthest jump of 8 metres (the 'professionals' can do 20 metres!).

To top it off...

The details...

2009-06-22T04:37:00.000+10:00

So after a week to debrief and settle back into 'normal' life, I'm now ready to give the details of my trip to the Balkans.

In case you can't be bothered reading everything here's the summary (Don't worry, I won't be offended!)

Bulgaria - surprisingly modern - funky student town clubbing area - beautiful scenery. Great to go to a Bulgarian Church.

Serbia - spent 24 hours there - and around 18 of those hours in the hostel - it was fun!

Bosnia - AMAZING - favourite country and biggest surprise. beautiful scenery, intriguing history and lovely people. two thumbs up

Croatia - fun times on the boat - very cramped - great weather - sunburn/peeling/tan :) beautiful cities.

Beginning at the Beginning

I started my trip in Sofia, very daunted by the idea of travelling for a week by myself (I haven't done much backpacking before!). The first day I got there I met some girls in my room who were friendly and fun, so spent the next day hanging out in a Monestry in the mountain rain forests 2 hours drive outside of Sofia. That night we went to a very random student town. It's based in the middle of nowhere, with communist student buildings surrounding about 4 or 5 clubs. It was fun!

I then went to Veliko Tarnovo which was a much more scenic city than Sofia. I managed to meet up with a church there who were taking part in world prayer day, and it was great to see them worship. I listen to them sing "Great is our God" and "Ancient of Days" in Bulgarian - strange, but cool!

I took an overnight train (surprisingly painless) and went to Belgrade, Serbia. I arrived early in the morning and tried to look around the city and the sites with a guy I met on the train who randomly was also going to be my room mate on the cruise in Croatia. It was ok, but not as nice as the other places I visited - plus it was raining. So we went back to the hostel, and met up with some hilarious Irishmen. We had a great time chilling in the hostel - and that was my serbian experience.

I then went to Sarajevo, Bosnia. I stayed at an awesome hostel and learnt a heap about the history of the seige of Sarajevo. Incredibily interesting and moving. To hear how these people survived in state of war for 4 years - in the the 90s!!! I could say a lot more - but it would be far better if you just go yourself if you haven't already! Do it!

Again, beautiful scenery in Bosnia made it a great trip from Sarajevo to Mostar. I arrived in Mostar at 9 in the morning and went straight away on the most full on one day tour ever! we learnt heaps from our awesome tour guide, jumped off an 11 meter bridge, swam below a waterfall, mucked around on the rope swing, drank coffee with a bosnian grandmother, eat out at an amazing restuarant, and then checked out the second largest freshwater source in europe. got back to the hostel at 12:30am - bus leaves at 6am :(

Croatia was a week of sunshine, boating, hanging out with some great people and drinking a few cocktails (not too many mum!). I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story.

And to end my holiday, I spent a night in Bristol, England with Sarah and Dave :)

It's over :(

2009-06-15T04:41:00.000+10:00

I'm back from my trip and I had a fantastic time! I'm missing the backpacking already, but I'm sure I'll quickly get back into life in Eindhoven.

As you can see from the photo - it was raining when I got back to Eindhoven and I had to ride my bike back to my apartment. Doh!

I'll try and put some posts up in the following week about my travels!

Vakantie! (Holidays!)

2009-05-30T00:53:00.000+10:00

This week I'm backpacking solo around the Balkans (Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia)

Next week I'll spend a week sailing through the Croatian islands on a tour.

I'm really excited!

Some dutchness...

2009-05-18T06:04:00.000+10:00

A couple weeks back, we had Queen's Day (Koninginnedag!) here in Holland. It's the 'biggest' day of the Dutch year. Heaps of people converge on Amsterdam to celebrate, and everyone sets up stalls in the street and sell whatever they want! I caught up with some very funky people (Andrew and Calli) and we spent the day selling some handmade teddy bears and other assorted items. It was great weather and our stall overlooked the canals so we had lots of boats and loud pumping music all day long.
And I've just come back from a day in Rotterdam, where I caught up with a friend I met travelling (Anouk). She was a great tour guide as she pre-empted all the things the real tour guide was saying when we went for cruise on the harbour.

I'm glad I bought a GPS - some of the highways are crazy!

Spring in Europe!

2009-04-29T03:28:00.000+10:00

Well I'm back in Eindhoven after a big month! I had a great time catching up with my family and friends in Tassie again. I love Hobart's open space, the mountain and the river. It's pretty special! I was actually very sad when I arrived in Amsterdam, to think that I wouldn't be back for a long time. One redeeming fact of coming in to Eindhoven was to see all the trees, plants and flowers have suddenly come to life! It was 25 degrees when I got back, and I was warmer here than I was in Sydney!

Before I left for Australia, I managed hop over to Ireland for a weekend and I caught up with Bridget in Galway. It was fun to get a taste of the Irish life and hear that crazy but very likable Irish accent!

Since then I competed in my first canoe polo tournement hosted by my club. It was big with over 300 paddlers from lots of countries all converging on our home turf. It was a great experience, and I felt quite inadequate with my paddling skills.

And I've just come back from a great weekend in Amsterdam getting back into some linyhop dancing. Here's a pretty cool video I found of some awesome teachers improvising and mucking around. (I got taught by them in England earlier in the year!!!)

2009-03-27T06:31:00.000+11:00

My new favourite sport is snowboarding!!! It's unfortunate however, that I've only discovered this right at the end of winter :(

For the last couple of weekends I've gone with some friends from work (Jurgen and Jereon - Limburgers rock!) to some indoor ski slopes. I had a fantastic time and I'm keen to keep going! Fortunately the guys were good teachers and there wasn't too much carnage to begin with... only when I started to get a bit too confident did I really hurt myself (wrist and 'tailbone' for those who are interested!)

Last weekend I caught up with an old friend from Tassie, Andrew, who now lives with his wife Cali in Amsterdam. I had a great time catching up - sharing way too much information, watching Wales lose the rugby (that actually was't that fun!) going to their church and eating apple cake and cream (it was "Lekker" = delicious)

Tomorrow I'm off to Ireland to see the sights of Galway and catch up with Bridge. I'm not expecting great weather, but I am looking forward to a fun weekend and 'real Irish guiness' I've heard a lot about it!

And then in 1 week I'll back in Australia! Can't wait to see my mum (Mevrouw van Driel as people from work call her!) Dave, Lisa, Emma, Evan, and my new niece Chloe (!!!), my sister Julia and her pregnant tummy! Will, Tania and Caleb! And for some reason tonight, I started to look forward to eating off the random African/Dutch crockery which my mum owns.

2009-03-03T04:32:00.000+11:00

From http://www.xkcd.com/

And this is my life at the moment... I'm eating terribly! In my previous flats, I've always lived with at least one really good cook (And i'm not talking about you - Kelvin!). But now I'm living by myself... I'm getting lazy :( My mum has tried to help my by sending me the Jamie Oliver's "Ministry of Food". And I've cooked a few of these recipes... but not enough!

So I am going to make a vow! I will not eat any sweets, crisps, fizzy drink or chocolate for the next month.

On other matters - my camera broke :( So I'm going to have to buy one in the next couple of weeks - but what should I get??? I'm thinking one from the Canon IS series... anyone know anything about buying digital cameras?

Ok, better go cook some couscous and moroccan lamb!

Congratulations David and Lisa!

2009-02-27T05:08:00.001+11:00

My sister-in-law gave birth to her third beautiful child on Tuesday 24th of Feburary! Her name is Chloe Elise Haynes and I can't wait to see her!

Good Night Sweet Heart

2009-02-25T04:34:00.000+11:00

I went to England 2 weekends ago, for a huge swing dancing workshop camp... It was great! Some of the best swing dancers in the world were at the camp - and we got taught by them during the day and then danced the night away in the evenings.

I caught up with Bridget who's living in Ireland at the moment - and I met two of her swing dancing friends, Alan and Gabrielle.

It turned out that Alan is half West Indian - like me! As you can tell... we are so black!

Check out Bridget's blog for more video's and pictures of the weekend.

Dad

2009-02-18T06:19:00.000+11:00

I set this up as a travel blog and I was going to tell you all about my weekend, but today is my Dad's birthday... so instead, here's an old photo I found.

I'm sure Dad would have been proud of me, and happy that I'm over here travelling the world, a bit like he did when he was my age. He was a very good man and he loved God with all his heart. He is my role model and I hope I can live like he did.

Greek myths and Turkish delights

2009-02-10T08:17:00.000+11:00

I got to go for a long weekend down to Lesbos, a Greek island near the coast of Turkey! I was really looking forward to seeing some Sun, eating some nice Greek food and catching up with my friend from Tassie, Katie. I was not dissapointed!

I know Katie from school back in Tassie, and Katie has been on a month long all expenses paid "Greek culture school" trip along with about 100 people from around the world. I think the Greek government want to encourage Greek people who live in other countries to hold on to their heritage - and as a way to encourage them to do this, they fly to Greece and show them how great it is. Not bad eh!? Anyway - Katie had just finished up her time there and was visiting her family in Lesbos - so I came and stayed with her and her extended family!

* These kids are not Katies extended family - but they were cute and funny!

We spent our first day in Turkey in a small town called Avalyik. I loved this place straight away - it was warm, friendly, completely different to Greece (and the rest of Europe), and very beautiful. We met a turkish boy who wanted to "improve his english" by showing us around the city (and certain shops!) and offering us tea - reminds me of india! He was lovely guy though, so we spent some time with him and learnt a few turkish phrases - all I can say is that I'm glad I'm learning Dutch!

The next day we hired a nice little red car and drove around Lesbos!! fun fun...and we spent our final day relaxing in Mytilene and walking to tourist attractions that were closed because it was winter ... doh
A lesson learned - if I had my time again, I would have done everything the same - except the travel itinery. I don't know what I was thinking but I'm sure there must have been a better way to get to Lesbos than 12 hours of travelling! Oh well - you live and learn - and I managed to get stuck into a really good book during my journey. Thanks for the recommendation Glenn.

Kick the Castle

2009-02-03T04:21:00.001+11:00

Last weekend I drove to Belgium for a weekend of swing dancing in a castle. It was excellent!! I'm taking lessons here in Eindhoven, and my teachers were kind enough to invite me to this weekend.

We had about 45 people come from around the netherlands and belgium and we spent a lot of time working on different routines and styles... I met some great people so I'm looking forward to the next time we catch up! I'll probably be going to some more workshop weekends in the coming months.

I didn't take too many photos, but I did manage to take a movie of our teachers doing one of the routines we learnt.

Australia Day in Eindhoven

2009-01-26T02:55:00.000+11:00

I feel very proud of being Australian today. We have a beautiful land, great weather, a laid back and friendly culture and it's home!* So last night to celebrate Australia Day, a dutchman from work (who had lived in Melbourne for two years) organised a Australian dinner with myself and the one other Australian family who work at the smelter

We had tim tams, pies, coopers beer (go SA!), potoato wedges with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce... and pavlova and rocky road for desert! It was a great night!

Tonight I'm off to see "Australia" at the movies, with some friends I met at language course.

These last three weeks since Prauge have been spent working hard and getting to know a few more people here in Eindhoven. But I back on the travelling route with the next 3 weekends booked in different countries.

With the time off that I've had over this weeked, I've finally been able to clean my apartment, after two months of 'tidying' but not cleaning. And while it's in such a clean state, I thought a few photos were in order.

*Although I'm proud to be an Australian I still hope Australia lose today's one dayer against South Africa! Bad luck in the test series... muhaha

Czeching In

2009-01-14T05:27:00.000+11:00

I took a day off work last Friday and flew to Prague to catch up with two mates Tom (fellow Tassie Engineer - travelling the world!) and George (mate from high school/college - now wine maker and a world traveller for 3 more days!).

Tom and George - backpackers (can you tell?)

Tom got the word out about Prague, and 5 other fellow travellers he'd met along the way also joined us. It was great to hang out with everyone... and thanks to Tom's organisation skills we rented an awesome apartment and we got to enjoy Prague in style.

The Team and our apartment

It's been pretty cold here in Europe (like -14!!) so it was pretty difficult to walk around the city and see stuff... but we gave it a go!

'Sledgers' in Prague

In the evenings we headed out on the town and found a "Musiek Pub" which was holding a 80's/90's night... needless to say we got into the dancing (unfortunately Simon... no "Mr Vain" was played) I did, however learn a very random Czech dance which involved lots of kicking... not sure whether I'll whip it out ever again, but it was fun!

My first 6 weeks

2009-01-06T05:18:00.000+11:00

So I've settled in to my new life here in Eindhoven in the Netherlands!

It's been a busy 6 weeks, getting used to culture, the work, the language (!) and the travel! I'm trying to see as much in the year that I've been contracted to work here.

So here's a quick brief of what I've done so far:

Catching up with long lost family! I last met my mum's family when i was 5... obviously I can't remember much. So it was fantastic to meet my Uncle, Aunt and little cousin. I spent a weekend with them in Brussels (a beautiful city!) and also I spent a fantastic 4 days with them in Paris seeing the sights.

I also managed to catch up with a cousin in Utrecht (Another beautiful city in Holland) I learnt how to say gracht (not easy!) I ate harring (one bite - sorry but it was disgusting!) And I saw the coolest busker ever! This video does not do him justice. It was an amazing atmosphere, as everyone just stopped what they were doing to watch him

I caught up with Bridget (former tasmanian engineer - now professional jet setting traveller). We saw the sights in Amsterdam and got to celebrate Sinterklas (Dutch Saint Nicholas) with waffels, olie bollen and speculas! We managed to fit in a trip to Antwerp as well, where we had for some fine Belgian beers.

I then met up with Anissa and Dave (engineers and newly weds from port pirie!) in Cologne. The Dom, Christmas Markets, Gluwein, Rhiebukchen and the Beer Halls were all highlights - must go back soon!

For New Year's I went back to Paris to catch up with Fadwa. Fadwa is a good friend from Port Pirie - well actually from Morocco/France, but she did a 6 month internship at Nyrstar in Port Pirie. She's now working in France and we had a great time catching up, travelling around with her friend Vincent, visiting old castles in Tours.

The weekends are going very fast, but I feel very lucky to be travelling and seeing these amazing places! I'd love to write more about each place, but unfortunately I'm too tired - I will try and be more descriptive in the future!