Category: Daily life

Posted in Daily life, Pacific Ocean

Noumea – first Landfall

Posted on by Oliver

After two days at sea with lots of food, a bit of rest and pretty good weather, we made our first landfall in Noumea, the main city of biggest island of New Caledonia. This was the first landfall of the cruise and also the only one without tendering (i.e. anchoring the ship out at sea and shuttling the guests in on some of the lifeboats).

But if we expected a big cruise terminal, we were mistaken. Instead, we got a piece of the quay wall in the container terminal. Continue reading “Noumea – first Landfall” →

Posted in Daily life, Pacific Ocean

Christmas vacation 2016

Posted on by Oliver

When I grew up, Christmas always followed the same rituals and traditions. The Adventskalender, the food on the 23rd, setting up the tree, the Christmas room being locked on the 24th, fondue and presents, everything was following the same script every year. And, since I really liked it that way, I was determined to follow the same path when I had kids.

Well, apart from the Adventskalendar, that didn’t really work out. Out of the last 5 years, I think we’ve had “the same” Christmas maybe twice. Instead we’ve been at my mothers place, been skiing and spent the day at the beach. And this year we’re doing something else again: we’re out on a cruise. Continue reading “Christmas vacation 2016” →

Posted in Daily life

Christmas 2016

Posted on by Oliver

A (just slightly late) Merry Christmas to everyone!

Christmas time is usually the time for family traditions, visiting relatives and eating lots and lots of food. Oh yes, and presents.

Not so much for us this year, as we only made it to 1 out of 4. And, no, it wasn’t the presents.

This year, Christmas for us happened on a boat, somewhere between New Caledonia and Australia, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We were on a cruise. (More about that later.) Continue reading “Christmas 2016” →

Posted in Daily life

School trip

Posted on by Oliver

There comes a time in a parents life when you have to start letting go. This usually starts with the little things: first time to day care, first time sleepover, first time to grandma. All great fun for the kids and probably more difficult for the parent…

Today is the start of the next “first”. Kai is off with his class- and schoolmates on a four-day school trip to Ballerat, a city about 2 hours drive from here. There they will stay at a hotel and take part in a tennis tournament. Continue reading “School trip” →

Posted in Daily life

’tis the season – this time in Dutch

Posted on by Oliver

As I pointed out in my last post, ’tis the season. But since we’re a household with roots in two countries, we have to observe traditions from both. (The kids are not complaining, as it means they’re getting even more presents…)

For the Dutch, Christmas is more a celebration of family and friends, with good food and company. However, the date that the children look forward to is Sinterklaas. Continue reading “’tis the season – this time in Dutch” →

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” →