Merry Christmas Madness & A Happy New Year :)

Dear Readers,

My last blog this year will be about Christmas madness in America and flying back home for my own Christmas celebration and New Years!

I decided, after not having done Christmas cards in the last 4 years, to 'write' Christmas cards again. But once I got started writing down a list of who had been good enough this year to receive a card, the list got longer and longer and longer until I had to end the list at around 60-70 people/cards. But since I got so into it, I had to be creative and create a card that was no longer flat and would not fit in the American sorting machines, how was I suppose to know?! I would have to send each card as a pallet with a custom form for only $6,55....times 60, so hundreds of dollars...no way...I found some cute Christmas elves in Holland that would help me out and hand deliver what they could and resend the rest outside of Arnhem and international. Hooray operation Christmas cards was saved :)!

Now that that was out of the way and just in time before Christmas started in Delray Beach (where my family lives), I wouldn't have to miss a second of it! The famous 100ft Christmas tree and one of the best in all of the States was being lit on December 4th. Santa Claus flew in via a red Helicopter and drove around in circles in a fancy car, only in America, and lit the tree. It was beautiful and they'd organized lots of activities around it. On December 5th, which is our Dutch Holiday Sinterklaas which we postponed till that Sunday, I followed tradition and watched The Grinch like I do every year :).

We got up early the next day for Art Basel in Miami, my cousin had asked me to join him and my aunt and other cousin would go to a beautiful botanical gardens in Miami. Art Basel is all over Miami and is an Art Display of International and local artists. Very interesting to see, but a lot of walking and a lot of different art pieces and styles, so that we had to take a lunch break to rest our eyes. At night we all got together for dinner on Espanola Way in Miami, sat down at a cute little Italian place we had been before. The waiters all danced and made music with pots and pans whenever Fireball played, probably to get customers. After dinner, we took a stroll to Miami South Beach and watched the beautiful moon over the ocean shine. We walked back and everybody was exhausted, my aunt was so tired that she had asked me to drive the last half, cause I wasn't that tired. And once we got home, everybody went straight to bed, forgetting that the next morning would be Sinterklaas...So I grabbed shoes, one for every family member and stuffed it with a Chocolate Letter I had brought over from Holland. My cousin had ordered a 'Sjoelbak' from some Dutch guy in America that makes them himself, so I put that together with the shoes and put down some half eaten carrots and a half empty cup of water. I know the kids don't really believe in it anymore, but it's tradition and left my little cousin (11years) in doubt about Sinterklaas. We had a Dutch breakfast and played 'Sjoelen'.

After Sinterklaas, it was all about Christmas..I have seen so many beautiful Christmas lights! We went to Hoffmans Chocolate and passed a neighborhood that was mad with (homemade) decorations! So American, so over the top but beautiful to see! And even went to a boatparade....where all the decorated boats passed on the Inter-coastal...wow...we wondered why the rich didn't decorate their houses and that night we knew why haha. 

I also kept going to Thursday $6 movie night until I found out a better, more comfortable movie theater did the same on Thursdays, so I saw a lot of movies, of course I couldn't miss out on The Hobbit! Which I saw in Real 3D, HDF whatever..blabla, great quality. And I went to Renegades a few times, also brought my cousin for a kids linedance lesson and tried some steps myself :).

My cousin from Holland, Camille, arrived on December 15th and we would both be there till I left on the 24th, she stayed till the 30th of December and got home this morning. We picked out and decorated a Christmas tree the day after she arrived. I didn't look forward decorating it, but once ready, it looked beautiful :). We did lots of things together, girls day out for manicures/pedicures and shopping for Christmas. We went to a Christmas concert in which my cousin played the Oboe with the rest of her class. Had a last day of school dinner and footmassage in a place that looked like a happy ending salon at first and we were all massaged by men haha but no happy endings and my little cousin fell a sleep during it, poor thing and yet we had to take pictures :). My aunt treated me and Camille to a haircut via Groupon, beautiful salon and mimosas while you waited. I didn't know until later and Camille isn't old enough to drink in America so no mimosas for us. We had dinner together, hibachi, so funny and we had told the staff it was my aunts birthday so they sang for her. And on my last two days we went bowling, I won of course haha, with some of the teachers and all of us. And on my last full day SANTAS ENCHANTED FOREST!! I was driving and my aunt had told me that we needed to stop somewhere on the way...surprise surprise, it turned out she had contacted the artist of a painting of an elephant that had been in my room, in the guestroom I stayed in, that I loved and she had picked one out for me for Christmas! How lovely, totally surprised and so sweet she remembered!!

Santas Enchanted Forest, what can I say...all 4 of us sat in a cart behind a bike to get from the car to the entrance, haha. When we go to the entrance it was lit up with Christmas decorations! Waaaa cooool :D!!! Unfortunately after the Christmas decorations, it was just a fair, well a HUGE fair with lots of rides!! Which we pretty much all rode, even my aunt that is scared of rollercoasters, went with us a couple of times and I had my first CORNDOG! Which is basically a hotdog covered in batter and fried...wasn't as bad as I imagined and finished it...what a great last night! 

I had already packed my stuff before I left knowing that I needed some space for all the Christmas presents. My aunt wanted to celebrate 'Christmas Morning' with me still there, so a day early, we celebrated Christmas morning with family and two family friends. We had a delicious brunch and started unwrapping all the gifts, which I mostly wrapped myself haha, but it was so sweet that she had wanted to do all of this for me and Camille, all together :)! After packing all of it too, I was ready to leave, afraid my luggage would be overweight... and it was by two pounds and let's not forget to mention I had 3 pieces of handluggage too haha, but that's never much of a problem in the States. Bye beautiful family, thanks for everything! See you on the flipsideeee!

Off I went, layover in Atlanta, watched some movies on the airplane and was surrounded by people from India, no idea why. Arrived in Amsterdam on Dec. 25th and for the first time ever I was being picked up by CAR haha wootwoot! A friend that I hadn't seen since I left for my last trip in October 2013 came to pick me up so we had a lot of catching up to do!

Back home, I got in my own car, which of course still started after standing still for almost 3months MICRA POWERRRR, and went to surprise visit my grandma with my mom for Christmas! On the 26th, 2nd Christmas Day in Holland I went to Ikea with my best friend that temporarily moved back next door (hoooray) to buy myself a mattress, way overdue but I finally did it! Unfortunately it's a foam mattress and therefore needed to lay untouched for 72hours to get back into shape before I could actually sleep on it. Ah well. And of course to make my Christmas complete: SOUL TRAIN!! Oh what a joy! Lots of friends went and it was an amazing night!! I've got a bit of a memory black out for part of it, but did see the video of me dancing in the DJ Booth on my song Proud Mary by Tina Turner!

After a relaxing and white saturday (we had SNOW!!!!!), I had a birthday party on Sunday in a city nearby of an old friend that I recently came back into contact with. Went to Germany on Monday, since I live close to the boarder, to get some booze for New Years with two friends, it's cheaper there and went out to dinner with them afterwards. And yesterday I took my mom to an Indonesian night market (Pasar Malam) in our local zoo. The Zoo is one of the best in Holland, haven't been there for a while, but not much changed. It was cool to walk around the market stalls in it, they placed it in the 'Busch' part of the zoo, which is sort of a tropic rain forest. There was live music and more Christmas lights outside.

And today is the last day of 2014... my New Years plans are still a bit unclear but what I do know is that I had an amazing year! It will be hard to do better, but not impossible! So to all of you a SUPERB 2015 and do better, nothing is impossible :)!

Cheerio all the best dearies! 

"Cabin sweet cabin" in the woods - Thanksgiving Weekend..

Thanksgiving, an American holiday to give Thanks or so it used to be. These days it's mostly a food festive where families and friends come together, only to wait for Black Friday. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and a day that stores give huge discounts up to 90% discounts on their products, a day people stand in line, knock each other over and fight till 
'death' to get what they want. It's not just a day anymore though, there's whole week for Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday to shop shop shop some more, most of the shopping can also be done online, so less need to knock each other over in the stores anymore. Something we skipped this year to go off the grid, a weekend in a cabin in the woods. 

Thanksgiving day was celebrated though, started with me and Amy going to the movies; Hungergames Mockingjay part 1, what other way to start my $6 Thursday movie day off with?! Unfortunately because it was a holiday, the $6 deal was off! But I got even by snuggling in some snacks in a sweater and even a bottle of OJ in my pants haha, thanks for that Simone ;)! After the movie, we headed home for a Thanksgiving lunch/brunch/early dinner, my aunt Simone had been preparing for. It was us, my aunt, cousins and me and Auntie Anne (Amys godmother) and her sister. A festive feast and not a traditional dinner, although there was stuffing and turkey. After we emptied the plates and filled our bellies, we crashed a party for dessert. I was especially looking forward to my friends Fireball caramel pie, you couldn't taste the alcohol in it, so why not take a sip of the fireball drink she also brought with her. We mostly chitchatted about everything and even made plans for 2017 to see Scotland together! Who knows...

Black Friday didn't start off quite how it would for most. For us it meant getting up early, packing our stuff and getting ready to leave for a cabin in the woods. A magical place Simone found this year and super remote to anything. Off we went, about a 3hour ride and it was beautiful. It's on the lake, where you can go kayaking or canoeing (of which I neither did) or just sit by the water. The dogs loved it too, Simone's got two, a tiny gremlin chihuahua named Peppi and a bigger, cuddlywuddly beautiful dog Roxy! The cabin is up the stairs made out of wood (of course). Very peaceful, but since it was so cold outside, we watched Medea..haha! I pulled out the pull out couch, the kids and Simone had the bedroom, and slept alright :).

Saturday wootwooot...I was soooo excited because I was going to BUSCH GARDENS! I have been wanting to go for EVER but it was always too far to go and I was able to borrow the car today and drive just another 40 minutes for it! It's an amusement park combined with a zoo, something I've done in Hong Kong too (Ocean Park). And the best part, since Thanksgiving was over, it was already decorated for CHRISTMAS!!! The park opened at 9am and closed at 9pm, of course I was there at 8.45am! I had purchased my ticket online before I went so didn't have to stand in line, haha..like there was a line at 9am ^_^.  We had to wait till it was 9am, I looked at the map, trying to come up with a good strategy, but I already found the map very confusing...so I figured I'll just go and do as many roller coasters as I can before it gets busy! Just 2 more minutes..."Ladies and Gentlemen, our national Anthem"...Are you kidding me?! Easy to spot the tourists though haha. Off we went! I just started walking and got to my first roller coaster, the were still testing it and I had to put my bag in a locker, paid 50 cents, jeez on top of an 80 dollar ticket (90 incl. taxes and stuff) and 17 dollar parking, they dare asking for more! Fine! First roller coaster was a GO! And I just kept going and going and going until I'd done them all! I must say, they've got some awesome roller coasters. My favorite was Sheikra, which broke some world records and since it wasn't busy, I was able to stay seated and ride twice in a row! And everything was 'christmassie' so happy day for me! I finished riding all the coasters before noon! So I had the rest of the day to see shows, the animals, the Christmas decorations, ride the train (which transformed into the Christmas Sing a long train at night) and the gondola (brought over from Swiss), maybe it was good planning but probably just luck that I saw the last minutes of the sunset from the gondola :)! And the entire park was lit with Christmas lights at night! They used over a million lights and started planning this in July! 

All and all a LONG, exhausting day, but beautiful and thrill seeking! I LOVED IT! Funny, cause it's my 3rd day this year that I spend 12 hour in a row in an amusement park hehe...Walibi Summer nights, Moviepark Germany Halloween and now Busch Gardens, Florida (oh and a regular day in Thorpe park, London)! I was walking around all day and was glad to be on my own, I don't think anyone could have and wanted to keep up with my craziness, but I got to do, see, experience it all! And yes, I even had time to sit down a few times for a bite to eat!

Drove back to the cabin, but not before I went to Taco Bell for rolled chicken taco's, something I'd seen on TV and looked like egg rolls. It was not an egg roll though, haha, the outside was a corn tortilla, but wasn't bad. Got back to the cabin "Cabin sweet cabin", told Simone about my day and asked about theirs over a cup of tea.

The next day, we enjoyed the last couple of hours at the cabin, had lunch by the river, packed all our stuff and got in the car to go home. Only to receive a phone call that the turnpike and I-95 (major highways here) were blocked due to Thanksgiving traffic and accidents, so detour after detour and slower roads, we made it home 2 hours after expected (so about 5-6 hours in total). Home sweet home!

I guess it's time...

I guess it's time for a new blog to share my amazing adventures ;). I haven't done much exciting stuff lately though, except work, organize and attend dinner parties, go out and dance, have drinks, attend a wedding of a good friend and had a lot of drinks, see movies, go to an amusement park, danced some more, walked the Airborne with my mom (10k) like I do every year, reunite with old friends, go to London and meet travel buddies from all over the world for a reunion :), finally see the Lion King musical there after wanting to see it for years and years! and do the Harry Potter studio tour, celebrate my 26th birthday many many times, go away for the weekend to Baarle with friends, celebrate Halloween in Moviepark Germany (just over the border), celebrate my grandma and moms birthday and many others, celebrate my last day at work (again) with lots of cookies and fly to Florida for my annual family visit! Like I said, not much exciting going on...

It was great going back to Florida and see my aunt and cousins again! A lot has changed and the kids got older, it's great seeing them grow up over the years but I also always feel like I missed so much. It's been a little over a year since I was last here, a couple months before I went on my big trip. I was greeted at the airport by my cousin Amy and my aunt holding flowers and a bag of veggie straws (chips). My other cousin Max and uncle were back at the house doing homework. And I felt like coming home again, like I do every year.

I've done a lot so far during my time here and was reunited with some great friends! A friend I've known since High school, Dennis and his brother were traveling through Florida and came to visit for a night. It was strange but great to see them here! I loved finally showing one of my friends where I've been hanging out for a couple months a year since 2007. We had so much fun and of course had to go to Walmart around midnight and sit in an electric shopping cart and ride bikes in the store :). We did a Boat tour in Fort Lauderdale on a Riverboat, one like the New Orleans boats as seen in The Princess and the Frog. We passed some amazing, huge houses and yachts! Ended our time together with dinner at Hooters...boys will always be boys.

I also helped out at my cousins school, helping organize, set up for their HUGE Halloween party, haunted house and everything included. Very hectic but fun night! Had lunch at Rosies in Wilton Manners, a gay town we 'discovered' a couple years ago, it's so much fun to have lunch there! And walk through a beautiful garden; Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Miami. And of course have a Halloween party of our own! My aunt hired a DJ to play in the front yard and it was amazing! One of her friends is a Zumba instructor, so of course having been doing Zumba for the last 5 years, I had to tell her and we started doing Zumba moves on the streets, me on bare feet (definitely noticed that the day after) and soon the entire neighborhood joined! A great way to celebrate Halloween, a friday, and life! And how else to end a festive weekend by going to a high school play of Anne Franks diary.... but it was my first time seeing the story (I know shame on me) so that was nice. After dancing on the street with the Zumba instructor, she invited me to join her class as a guest! I loved being able to do Zumba, it always gives me energy! Also joined a Zumba masterclass for charity with my cousin and her friend, so much fun!

I've also been helping out the woman I did my internship for in 2007, a couple of times, great seeing her again and work side by side remembering when I was first here for my internship. Not to forget that I discovered $6 movie Thursdays, how can I not go and see a new movie!! The seats might not be too comfortable but it's not too busy there so I usually have some of the surrounding seats available to stretch out on.

Not only did I see my friends from back home, I also met up with Momma JoJo from England whom I met in New Zealand, then again in Australia and during the reunion in London! She's traveling around and happened to be in Miami while I was here too, so drove up there and had a day together, visited the Holocaust memorial and the Aventura mall since it was raining. A week after, the kids had a day off and the weather was beautiful so we went to Jungle Island, which was about time too! Too bad it wasn't the great'zoo' I imagined it to be, but I did get to see my first LIGER!

After seeing the brothers Klom, their sister came to visit me for 8 days. I had been planning for it for at least a week since she was only here for a short time and likes to have some sort of a plan/schedule, and hoping the weather would be great for that weekend! And it was! I picked her up at Miami Airport and we spent that night in Miami. The next morning was beautiful and sunny so we had breakfast outside and drove up to the Florida Keys, I love the keys and it's been a few years since I was last there. It was great to share this with someone and we had great stops on the way! The world famous Tiki Bar, I still don't know what for, but we took a picture! And I fed Tarpons, HUGE HUGE fish, kind of scary and yucky when I found out I had to feed them dead fish! But it was fun and my aunt's been telling me about it for years! We also saw the Key deer, who only lives on the Florida Keys, it's basically a small version of a regular deer. Very cool to see them in the wild. And even though they're used to visitors, they still run away from sudden movements and noise but not from slow moving paparazzi. We finally arrived in Key West, the most southern Island and also America's most southern point. That night we took a ghost tour stroll and learned about Key Wests 'scary' history. Obviously we spent the night in Key West and left to go home the next morning but not without going to Zoo Miami, since it was such a sunny day, it would have been a waste to be inside. The zoo is beautiful and not expensive at all! The animals have so much space and so do you, you are even able to rent a bike with two seats next to each other or two in front and two in back to go through the zoo. It was great to see the animals with all this space and all being pretty active after seeing them all sleeping and being in little cages at Jungle Island. We spent a couple of hours walking around and drove home after to introduce Louella to my family.

After a day of rest and the weather being terrible, I still had made plans for Louella and me to do since she only had till saturday! We went shopping, went to West Palm Beach and Lake Worth where I showed her some huge houses and Worth Avenue, a very very very expensive shopping street! We also did a Everglades airboat tour, which is one of the must do things while visiting Florida and yet I had never done it in the last 7 years, so I guess it was time to finally do one! And I loved it! The surroundings were beautiful, we saw one gator Damien, so cool! And at the end I held a baby gator, another animal to add to my list of animals I held/petted. Of course no visit to Florida is completed for a girl who loves shopping without going to Sawgrass Mills Mall, a huge mall with hundreds stores of which a lot of outlets of expensive brands. 

And then Mother Nature was finally kind and gave us a beautiful afternoon we were able to spend while having lunch outside! We met up with one of my friends here to go to Renegades, a country bar where people linedance. Very strange to do, can you imagine going out and when someone asks you where you're going, you say linedancing. It would be fun to have something like that, but I guess in Holland it's not very popular under young folks. It was great seeing my friend again and doing a few linedance steps :). Oh yeah and not to forget the manicure/pedicure we did that afternoon.

On Louella's last full day, we went back to West Palm Beach for the Diva Duck Tour. A vessel that's both a boat and a bus! We passed some of the rich and famous houses including Celine Dions old house, which she gave to her mom. Maybe she got sick of a boat tour passing twice almost every day... We went to my cousins school for a dance show, it was amazing how these kids dance at such a high level at such a young age. After that we went disco Bowling till midnight.

Louella left today after getting breakfast in bed, made and brought by my cousin and her friend, packing the last bit of her stuff, and a quick stop at Hollywood Beach! I feel bad for her, she had terrible weather here! Not a lot of sun at all... so all the more reason to come back someday! It was great having her here and sharing all these touristy things, especially the ones I have never done myself either! And I loved driving around all week with my own music (I made CD's for our time together Cruisin' vol 1-5), it makes me feel so free and adventurous! 

Now that everyone is up to speed of my 'oh so boring life', it's time to finish this little bedtime story, make a cup of tea, lay back and watch tv before going to sleep!

Cheerio! 

What a difference a day makes (or in this case a country)

After returning from my 'world' trip 3months ago, it was hard to stay in one place...so I didn't. I booked a trip to visit my brother and his family in Munich, went on a 3day cruise to Newcastle with a friend, visited a travelbuddy in London for a week and went to Baarle Nassau with a group of friends. 

And they were all such different visits. Munich was all about catching up with my brother and his wife and seeing their beautiful little girls again, who grew so much since I was last there. We walked the dog several times each day, since they are surrounded by beautiful nature. Newcastle was a spontaneous thing to book and on sale. The boat trip itself took forever, our hut was really small but bigger than my room at home haha which is tiny but it's fine. The 'entertainment' was alright I guess...I expected more...we had a couple of hours in Newcastle, did some sightseeing and shopping and went back on the boat for our return to Holland. A day or two after I returned from Newcastle, I went away for the weekend to Baarle Nassau with a group of friends, our 4th time together! It was fun, we always seem to do the same activities though, drinks, games and movies (mostly Disney hehe)..oh and midget golf if the weather lets us, which it did! And then there was London! Seeing the last person I traveled with before coming home, again. I stayed at her house for an entire week, met her family, a couple of friends, saw all my favorite spots again and more and went clubbing in Oxford, what an experience. The girls were all ready to go, heels, proper make-up, hair perfectly in order and short dresses of course, they looked gorgeous. I told them they should come to Arnhem where I live, haha, they would be well liked ;). So there I was, the only one in flats, the only one whose feet didn't hurt at the end of the night. I had so much fun :)! And after you're done clubbing, what is a girl to do? Right..find some junkfood...fries with cheese, wow...that was a first for me...! So naturally I ate the grated cheese of it first and then the fries :). They were all different trips and all such different countries (cities), but I loved each one of them! 

I had a job interview, the day I got back from London, at the same company I worked before I left for my big trip last October and after a 10min 'interview', I was hired, since they already knew me there wasn't much left to ask. Due to some paperwork stuff, I couldn't start until the week after which was fine by me, the last 7days of total freedom after not having to work for a year...I was excited to get back to work though!

I've been back at work for about a week and a half now and I still love it :), it's only a temporary project but to be back at the same company and with the same people, it's hard not to like every day there :). 

Other than that, there's been the usual stuff, dinner parties, housewarmings, having drinks with friends, still trying to see everyone (there are still a couple of people left, I haven't seen since I came back) and yeah, that's about it....just still enjoying each day as if it were my last!

I won't go anywhere outside of Holland for the next couple of months...but I won't be in Holland for the rest of the year either :). Am planning my annual family visit to Florida and want to go back to Australia next year to finally make use of the Working Holiday Visa!

Well, till next time, cheerio!

Things may change..but memories remain

I've been back for about a month now and I guess it's not too bad here. I was very happy that there was free wifi in the train when I arrived early in the morning, hooray :)! Not so happy hearing Dutch all around me again, but I quickly got used to it. Took a taxi home to stay "undercover" and everything had changed...they were building houses, new roads, etc. everywhere, it was weird, it confirmed that I really had been away for a while. Went home first and saw my mom, gave her some souvenirs, talked for a bit and went up to start unpacking. Something I always like to do right away, just to get it over with. I was meeting a friend for happy hour later that day and I got to surprise some other friends in the evening :). It was a blast. Oh and finally back on my bicycle! Felt good, still a piece of freedom, wind blowing through my hair. 

And that's what I've been doing for the last weeks, seeing my friends and family again, sharing stories. And it's funny, seeing so many beautiful things while I was away, it made me look at my homecity different too, the beauty it offers :). I've also been busy getting rid of a lot of stuff, clothes, etc. When you live out of a backpack for 7months, you realize you really don't need a lot more, at least not everything that was waiting for you at home.

I also went to see my car, my little smurf and what do you know, it still works..MICRA POWERRR :)...it has been growing a little mold on the inside haha...then again it's a 20year old car and it can get pretty moist during cold and wet months, so it was expected. After a couple of minor surgeries and cleaning the inside, it was approved for another year and I, well we were back on the road. Together..at last haha. 

Trying to find a job as well, something temporarily again of course...since I already started planning my next trip :). But for that I need money...so I might be working a bit longer than expected..following dreams might be hard work...but totally worth it! 

Sit back, relax and enjoy Fijitime / Feeling right at home in Bali

Arrived in Nadi, Fiji, once again :), as expected we were welcomed at the airport by live music! My pick up waited for me at arrivals and took me to my accomodation Tropic of Capricorn, also known as staying with “Momma“ (owner). Beautiful place, close to where I stayed before. Checked in, private room, pool outside, nice and quiet. Walked over to the hostel I stayed in before to say hello to everyone. Everyone remembered me (of course) and welcomed me back. It was good to be back. I was only in Nadi for 2nights, just catching up with everyone before leaving for my island trip. But was coming back to Nadi for another week after that.

Island hopping was great. I got to see more of the Fiji islands. Met an English guy and a girl on my first island, Tavewa. Stayed in Coralview resort, dormroom. What a nice place. Lots of sunbeds near the water. We went to a sandhill in the middel of nowhere for a couple of hours before the tide came in and the sandhill would dissappear. Other than that, just relaxed a lot and ate lots of myummie food. Second island was Matacawalevu, where I stayed in Bay of Plenty and I was their only guest, so special guest. Beautiful, very quiet place. Didn't do much there, it's a family owned resort so it was just me and the family (who I pretty much only saw during mealtimes). And you eat what they eat..so fresh fish and you all know how much I love fish (not..), clams the first night and white fish the second night. They gave me a house with a double bed and a bunk bed, but mostly cause of the double bed, because I was there special guest :). I had to walk up a hill to get there, nice walk through bushes and flowers. I saw millions of stars at night from the hilltop cause there was no other light and in the morning I could see the sunset from my window. I had a lot of time to think, write and for the first time since I started my trip, read my own journal and add some comments. It was really nice but I am glad I only had 2nights there. Oh and on both islands the would play drums to let you know when breakfast, lunch or dinner was served. So no need for a watch. My third and final stop was on Waya lai lai, Naqalia Resort, my favorite! Small resort, just 4houses (3bures and 1dorm) and perfect for solo travelers. They put all the tables together for dinner so a good way to socialize with everyone. The staff was really friendly and reminded me of the staff in Nadi. I did a snorkeling shark feeding trip, they fed them and you were able to touch them (white tipped sharks), played some volleyball, walked up a hill (pff) early in the morning for a sunsethike, snorkeled some more and got tricked into a church service haha, didn't last long and they sang a song so it was pretty nice. Oh and I did some weaving, made my own ring and bracelet and made another shell bracelet.

Back to Nadi, all of the staff of Naqalia told me since day 1 not to leave them and made up excuses; there's no boat going tomorrow, there's no room for you, there's a storm coming haha. I asked them not to sing me the sad goodbye song and they didn't. Met great people there!

Back to Nadi, visited Lautoka, went to see Noah in the theater there. And on most days I relaxed during the day, went to the hostel I stayed in before at night for some kava and beers and went out a couple of times. Good fun and hard to leave again but happy to see Ellen in a couple of days!

Left Nadi to fly to Sydney..where I had a 18hour layover which I decided to spent at Sydney airport. Had McDonalds for dinner, looked up a lot of stuff since there was free wifi at sydney airport and after that looked for a place to sleep...slept on the floor, hard and cold but I was tired so was able to sleep for a couple of hours. Got up around 5ish am, found a shower with hot water :), went for breakfast and walked around for a bit until I could check in...waited again at the gate until boarding for Denpasar (Bali)!!! Ellens flight was landing an hour before mine so I knew she was going to meet me at arrivals...excited :)!

Met a guy on the airplane that talked to me during the flight about traveling and stuff, which was nice since there were no entertainment screens and at the end we watched a movie on his laptop. So that kept me busy, first airplane 'friendship'.

Arrived in Bali, after customs and security check and picking up my luggage, I was going to see Ellen again, waaaaaa!! It was so good but so weird to see her again, to see her not in New Zealand but in Indonesia! But we were happy together :)! Had a beautiful, huge room and got a mani and pedi! Stayed there for a couple of nights and went to Ubud. I was only suppose to stay for 3nights, but how could I leave such a beautiful place! I felt like I came home, like I belonged. Must have been those deep burried roots I have in Indonesia :). So I decided to stay an extra two weeks and travel with Ellen!! I loved Indonesia, the people, the food, the prices, the culture, everything! We went to some of the Gili Islands, nice and relaxing. Finally got to go on a bycicle again, felt good! And went snorkeling again, a few times, WE SAW A TURTLE!! Insane, but beautiful...I was happy it wasn't right next to me though hihi. I had such a good time here that me and Ellen started talking about working here next year, so who knows, it's a possibility :)! Spent my last day and night in Kuta, loved the place and definitely need to come back and see more. Ellen and me ended our time together how we started it too in Indonesia, mani and pedi :).

From Bali to Bangkok, last day/night before flying back to Holland to surprise everyone! And what a surprise it was :)!

Back to Oz, meeting friends and family

Started my return to Australia in Adelaide, where I was 'finally' seeing Tess again (haha after saying goodbye to her in New Zealand about a week ago). After having had a couple of flights throughout Australia without any trouble, I was shocked how I was treated at customs coming into Adelaide. I felt like being on Border Security, I was in that same area, same situation. Bags were checked, lots of questions were asked, two of them read through my journal to check if I hadn't been working or looking for work (luckily I've been writing in English so no questions there), doubt was raised on how I was able to travel for so long without working, just because she wasn't really listening, yes my last job lasted for about 16months but I've been working full-time for the last 3..eventually everything was fine and I was cleared to go!

Met Tess at the bus stop and she took me to her house, it's so weird seeing each other again and in a different country but very exciting too. Went to the center at night for a tour around the city, a couple of (free) drinks and some kind of an old carnival festival with a laid back atmosphere, a bunch of food (including Dutch Poffertjes and Oliebollen) and 'freakshows'. I only stayed in Adelaide for a night, left at 6pm the next day and Tess had to work so I went to explore the city on my own. Definitely want to come back here someday, loved it..there might not be too much to do but I just liked it :). Had lunch with Tess at where she works, which is Central Market, wow I would love working there! And totally random, met up with Ellen and her boyfriend, friend from back home, who happened to be in Adelaide. A quick drink with them and a waive off from Tess and I left Adelaide by taking my first Greyhound bus for an 11hour ride to Coober Pedy.

Coober Pedy...wow...totally deserted haha. Only reason I wanted to stay here is because my sister once told me that you can sleep underground here..sounded exciting! Arrived in Coober Pedy at 5am and could jump straight into bed, 6.5meters underground. I must say, I loved it..it was so quiet, I had no idea what time it was and of course there was no daylight. Went out for a walk around the city later that day and it was totally deserted, lots of aboriginals on the streets and a few cars. Walked for a couple of hours and ended up at an old opal mine which they turned into a museum. They displayed the life of opal miners, both at work and after (how they lived in rooms they had built underground), pretty interesting. And as a true trooper, I looked for my own opal outside, found a couple of small pieces :)!

After sleeping for a couple of more hours, I was being dropped up at the bus terminal again for a 7 or 8hour bus ride to Alice Springs. Arrived in Alice Springs and noticed again that there were a lot of aboriginals on the street, just hanging around and drinking at night (I later learned that this is because they only discovered alcohol about 60years ago, so they are going nuts with it now). Went to my hostel, bottom bed, air conditioning and a swimming pool. Woehoe looks good but no time to hang around here because I had a date with Momma JoJo (also someone I met during my time in New Zealand)!!! And what a great date we had, going back to her hotel to hang in and around the pool, check out the sunset and went out for dinner and drinks! It was great seeing her again :)! Said our goodbyes and both went to bed early because we both had our Uluru/Kings Canyon tour the next morning at 5 or 6am, a 3day/2nights for me.

The tour was pretty neat. I spend most my time with a couple of Dutch guys, a Swedish and English guy and a girl from Switzerland. We learned about the aboriginal culture, flora and fauna, helped cooking and washing up (of which I was banned from on day 2 because I did too much already), saw Uluru, some wildlife and my two highlights: Kings Canyon and sleeping under a million stars in a swag. A swag is sort of a sleeping bag with a thin mattress built in and it also included a pillow. Falling asleep under a million stars, seeing the milky way again. It was magical! And as for Kings Canyon, getting up at 4am again, starting our 10k hike at 5am up the Heart Attack Hill was not my favorite moment haha. But I loved the rest of Kings Canyon, just walking through massive rocks and having some of the best views and not to forget my little Lion King moment haha.

Next destination on the list: Perth, meeting more family and seeing Dutchie Floor and Ozzie Dave again (also from New Zealand). Arrived in Perth after some delays and eventually a change in flight and went to Gelorup by bus after I finally found the bus stop. Got picked up at the bus stop in Gelorup by family. Met my grandfathers sister (my great aunt) and some of her children (2^nd cousins) and grandchildren (3^rd cousins). It was great meeting more family and we hit it off straight away, might have been because of the beers at night ;), guess it's all in the family. I liked hearing about some of the history my great aunt told me and reading her Dutch recipe book from when she was younger (where I was amazed reading a recipe for our Dutch 'kroketten', which they used to make themselves. I explained that nobody really does that anymore as they are pretty cheap). They showed me around Bunbury/Gelorup as much as they could but a lot was just getting to know each other and meeting more family that they had invited over. Also went to The Pinnacles, Floors life long dream haha. Got picked up by Dave for a mini roadtrip of 3days/2nights, of which one was with Floors host family and the other one in the back of Daves ute at a caravan park. The Pinnacles were pretty cool but after seeing tens of rocks sticking out of the ground, they're all the same. Went back to the family for my last couple of days here, did more fun stuff and went fishing for the first time ever..didn't catch anything though. Said goodbye, but told them I would be back, just as I told the other family members I spent Christmas with.

Last stop in Australia, Darwin, jeez...so humid and hot!!! Didn't do too much in Darwin. Met a 60 or maybe 70 year old guy in the hostel on my first night, who offered to show me around the next day. And met a Dutch girl and later on 3ozzies. Went to the Crocossaurus with the Dutch girl, lots of crocs, big crocs..biggest weighed 800kg!! And held a little snake and a blue tongue lizard. Got back in time for lunch and my private tour around the city in his van (sounds dodgy I know, but it really wasn't). Saw most of the city, lots of the harbor, fish and eventually the museum. The day ended by him buying a life mud crab and some mussels, telling me I had to help him eat it..now we all know I am not the biggest seafood fan..and I told him but he wouldn't take no for an answer. Luckily he also invited the other Dutch girl, who was in heaven with this royal meal so she ate most of it. I did try the mussels and ate the crab right from the shell..yikes..would never think I would but I guess it wasn't too bad. We hung out with the Ozzies at night.

I also visited a couple of markets on Sunday, not much to see, lots of food of which one sold SATAY AYAM and LONTONG..made my day!!! MJUM! When I went to a travel agency to book a jumping croc cruise I discovered I had my dates mixed up and was flying the next day instead of the day after that..so no cruise for me this time.

Had a one night stopover in Sydney before flying back to Fiji. Location of the hostel was fine, but didn't care much for the hostel itself. It was pretty close to the hotel I stayed in before with Robert and Dennis which was pretty strange. Walking the same streets without them, good memories though :).

Got ready to leave for Fiji and when it was my turn at the check in counter, she said I couldn't be checked in because I had no ticket out of Fiji. So just to get this clear, last time they almost didn't let me leave Fiji because I didn't have my ticket out of NZ printed and now they don't want to let me in?! Sigh..tried to go online and book it, but no luck, even with Simone’s help (aunt in the States), still no luck. So finally went to the Flight Center, where I knew they were going to overcharge me but time was ticking...so fine, just book it. Took a while..tick tack...time to pay..argh credit card declined, when he said that it happened before, I asked my card back and ran to the ATM where I used both my Debit and Credit card twice (because of the withdrawal limits) and I finally had the money together, paid the ticket and ran back to the check in counter where I arrived 2min before they would close. Yes made it! And they NEVER even looked at the ticket I just booked! Anyway, went through security..they scanned my bag for explosives, yup POSITIVE..haha you have got to be kidding me...after retesting it again and again for more than one negative I was cleared and they blamed the machine. Made my way to the gate..and surprise surprise, the flight was delayed..this must have been one of my unluckiest day ever...but at least I wasn't too late. After an 1,5hour delay, we were good to go and I was once again flying to Fiji!

Ozzie Roadtrip - Enjoy Fiji Time – New Zealand Kiwi Experience

A change of scenery and definitely a change in transportation. Arrived in Sydney and there they were, Robert and Dennis on the other side of the world meeting me, reunited for our roadtrip! Lucky us that we first had a couple of days in Sydney to enjoy a bit of luxury before stepping into the campervan.

Sydney is great! Walked around a lot to see the hotspots, went to Manly for a day and saw The Hobbit on the worlds biggest IMAX screen. We decided that Robert would drive the campervan, at least on day 1 (eventually he drove the whole way).

Took the train to the pick-up point and had a 15min walk ahead of us, but a nice lady decided to take us there, because us poor travelers couldn't walk those miles :). While me and Robert took care of paperwork inside, Dennis was outside collecting crackers and toilet paper from a nice family that didn't need it anymore.

It was fun to be in a campervan, sleeping arrangements took some days to get used to though. It's a different way of travelling and to be able do it with friends from back home was great. We traveled along the East Coast from Sydney to Cairns and stopped as much as we could. Dennis and Roberts #1 must see/do was koala cuddling and kangaroos and for me it was The Steve Irwin Australia Zoo! Robert drove the whole way while me and Dennis either took a nap, enjoyed the scenery or helped Robert with directions.

Afterwards we went back to Sydney for a day and off I went to Nadi, Fiji. Sit back, Relax and Enjoy Fiji Time is what it said on my entertainmentscreen and that was exactly what I intended on doing in Fiji..as little as possible :). Arrived in Fiji in the evening and we were all welcomed by locals playing music at the airport, big smile on my face! After some trouble of getting to the hostel, I got a warm welcome and immediately got friendly with the staff, mostly guys. We were all joking around and they asked me if I wanted to go out with them and see Obama (a club called The White House). It was great fun..did lose my flipflops in the club, later replaced by a very nice american lady I met :)! That was pretty much all I did in Fiji, going out, relaxing, enjoying the view, sleeping, kava ceremonies, hanging with the staff/locals and chitchatting with 'my american mom', who I hope to visit this year while also visiting my own family. Definitely will go back someday to see more of Fiji!

Flight back to Auckland was great, got an upgrade, still don't know how but I did. Those comfy separate chairs you always pass, thinking it would be nice to sit in them. That's where I sat after standing there for 5min comparing my seatnumber on my ticket to the one in the plane. Also received a free meal!

Arrived in Auckland, dormroom for 4 and happened to be that there was another Dutch girl (Nijmegen..hehe) leaving on the Kiwi Experience the next day! Hooray! Kiwi Experience was great! Everything was pretty much arranged for us, only had to decide which activities to do. On day one I did a skydive (16000ft), wasn't ready for it but it was now or never so I did it! Also did lots of other activities, sandboarding,black water rafting, visited Hobbiton and a Maori Village (where we also had a traditional 'Hangi' dinner), Tubing (amazing day!), Scenic Heli Flight, Horse riding, Luging and Whale Watching. All first timers! We had a great bus, meaning great people! Especially the core group, 'The Originals' and being in each others faces 24/7, we were sort of forced to get to know each other. Oh and cheap drinks along the way which meant I didn't go one day without one (or more). We made sure the last days we were all together counted and said our goodbyes daily in those last days. But not to worry, we will meet again!

Next step...back to Australia (Adelaide, Coober Pedy, Alice Springs, Perth, Darwin) and meeting some of my fellow kiwi experience busbuddies along the way!