It was great to be back in the Netherlands after our fantastic adventure round beautiful Brittany. Time now to store the van while we took a break from travelling.
We are very fortunate to be able to leave our van in a snug shed at the home of our daughter’s partner’s parents when we aren’t using it.
We also feel very fortunate that both our adult children welcome us into their homes and are such generous hosts while we are there.
Before tucking up the van we spent some downtime in Pijnacker and enjoying cycle rides, walks and meeting some of the locals.
One day our daughter showed us round central Rotterdam where we had a memorable lunch.
We also had a lovely weekend away with our daughter and partner in Giethoorn, a beautiful village in the northeastern Dutch province of Overijssel.
The whole village is built on canals with picturesque centuries-old thatched-roof houses and no roads!
Unfortunately for the residents of this glorious village, the waterways are crammed with small for-hire boats at weekends and throughout the holiday season.
We of course always love to be on the water and hired a boat for half a day. It was such a relaxing thing to do despite the rather crowded waterways.
Our van safely tucked up, we flew back to Australia where we would have a prolonged visit while I had hip replacement surgery.
During our stay it was wonderful to have lots of catch ups with our friends and family, including our granddogs and grandbird, enjoy celebrations and recover from the surgery.
It was especially great to catch up with sailing friends that we had met on the 2015 Sail to Indonesia Rally.
After the all clear from the surgeon we were once again heading for Europe, ready for our 2019 adventure.
Salty tales from Bali Hai on Sunday 