Author: Oliver

Posted in Tasmania, Uncategorized

Tassie Day 2: Hobart

Posted on by Oliver

Having landed in Hobart the day before, and having spent the night at the local airport hotel, we took it slow in the morning. Partly because this was vacation after all, partly because this was the last night for a week and a half that we would have a proper bed, partly because this was the last time in a week and a half that there would be a TV, but mostly because we could only pick up our camper-van at 12:30h.

But even the nicest budget hotel room gets boring after a while, so we packed our bags, dropped them off at reception and went for a walk.

Continue reading “Tassie Day 2: Hobart” →

Posted in Tasmania, Travel

Tassie Day 1: Arrival

Posted on by Oliver

With the kids having their quarterly two-week break and me having an unexpected gap in my planing at work, we decided last minute, that a short vacation was in order. One of the places that was on our bucket list was Tasmania, and with flights being relatively affordable, the choice was an easy one.

So we booked the flights, added a camper-van, packed our bags and off we went.  Continue reading “Tassie Day 1: Arrival” →

Posted in City activities, Daily life, Melbourne

Spring beach walk

Posted on by Oliver

After a long, cold and wet winter, spring has arrived! And, contrary to what you normally see in the Netherlands, the weather agrees with the dates on the calendar. – Well, at least if you think of it in terms of the infamous Melbourne Weather, which changes from one minute to the next.

Making the most of this change, Willemijn and I decided to make use of the sunshine together, and to go for a walk along the beach in Beaumaris.

Continue reading “Spring beach walk” →

Posted in Daily life

Kai’s first tennis tournament

Posted on by Oliver

Kai has been attending his new school for almost two months now, playing tennis for more than 10 hours a week. It is amazing at what speed his game is improving and great to see how much fun he is having at the same time. And while he has team competitions almost every Sunday, it was time to step up and enter one of the many youth tournaments held on a regular basis throughout Victoria.

Which is what he did at the 5th tournament of the 2016 Boroondara Winter winter series, held yesterday. Continue reading “Kai’s first tennis tournament” →

Posted in From scratch - Recipes

Recipe: Kartoffelpuffer from scratch

Posted on by Oliver

As Willemijn has remarked earlier, it is a pretty dreary and cold winter in Melbourne at the moment, with lots and lots of rain. In other words, a lot like winter in the Netherlands.

And the one thing associated with winter in Europe is Christmas, and the Christmas markets that are so popular and wide-spread in Germany. And from there it is only a small step, via mulled wine, to Kartoffelpuffer (Google translates them as “potato pancakes”, making obvious that this is something so German, there is no proper English term for it). Continue reading “Recipe: Kartoffelpuffer from scratch” →

Posted in Daily life

The daily commute – updated version

Posted on by Oliver

(title image via wikimedia, by Liamdavis)

I moved to Australia being used to taking the train to work. I have done this for years in the Netherlands, and I have always been a fan of public transport. So naturally, my first instinct was to do the same here, and so I have done for the past year.

A few weeks ago, though, I have changed my mind. Continue reading “The daily commute – updated version” →

Posted in Daily life, From scratch - Recipes

Recipe: Beer (almost) from scratch

Posted on by Oliver

As you can see from the multiple recipes about different foods on this blog, we like making things “from scratch”. It is a lot of fun to understand, how some of the stuff you usually get from a bag are actually made, and to do this yourself.

So, naturally, when some of my colleagues told me that they were going to brew beer, I was all ears and asked whether they had use for an apprentice brewer in their group. Continue reading “Recipe: Beer (almost) from scratch” →

Posted in City activities

Paintball!

Posted on by Oliver

Walking through a local shopping mall a few weeks ago, we saw a stand for a paintball venue here in town. Talking to the guy and thinking about Kai’s upcoming birthday, we let him lure us into a “great offer” of greatly reduced entry prices. Kai was ecstatic.

And today we made use of the tickets and took 7 boys (and a few parents) to square off across the battlefield, pump-action paintball shotguns at the ready.
Continue reading “Paintball!” →