Hotel Den Halder Valkenburg

... br> The station did indeed have an eaterie and I got some Gerhaktballen and chips (which turned out to be 2 large meatballs cut into slabs, creating a pile of meat on my plate) washed down with tonic water and coffee. I felt no guilt, my body needed the calories.
I took in a few angles of Maastricht which looks even better by night, and then, as it was my last night in the Netherlands, headed into a Coffee Shop.
I have avoided this ...

... to be similar to yesterday (when there was a persistent drizzle for much of the day) however when it started to get harder I thought it was settling in and with a fair breeze out there too I thought, "It'll take a miracle for meto get to Maastricht today."
Well if you were my mother then you will say that a miracle is exactly what I got (I just hope that this is coming around not going around if u catch my drift), moving the stuff out to the bike there was ...

... to play Oware, the African game I brought with me from Ghana. After a delicious stroganoff stew lunch, I went for a wander to the apartment complex pool, had a bit of a swim (the day was 22 degrees celcius or so), then lay in the sun writing my journal.

On Monday of this week, I left early to catch my flight to Belgium. Before I left Australia, I was informed by the Chinese embassy that it was too early to get a visa for China, since they are only valid for 2 months, and I ...

(Steve)

Before heading off on our trip, I contacted some of our relatives in Holland and they invited us to spend a few nights with them. So whilst in the Netherlands we stayed with two families and were treated very well, enjoying home cooked meals, fantastic dutch beer and good company. We first travelled to Boukoul to stay with Peter, Ingeborg (Dad's cousin) and their family Maud(14), Hugo(12) and Twan(10).
Arriving in Roermond late in the ...

During our stay in Spa we had the most scary, horrible, unpleasant experience ever in a restaurant.

The restaurant to avoid is "Le Bouchon Gourmand", the owner does not hesitate to insult customers, lock them into the restaurant if there is a dispute on the bill, and claim more money than is due.

See more on www.bouchon-gourmand.blogspot.com

After popping into and out of Germany, we were now back in Belgium. It was beginning to get a bit dark, and we still had at least 200 miles left to drive.

Gaz's motor was struggling, and threatening to overheat, so we stopped to let it cool down.

With the vehicles all decorated with stickers, we attracted a bit of attention, and a Belgian couple took our ...

... aus dieser entwickelt sich alles - oder man hat ueberhaupt keine Vorgaben. Seit zwei Monaten bin ich immer montags beim Cercle d'impro-vocation. Ein Wortspiel, also der Zirkel fuer die vocation (Berufung) zum impro, die improvisation, und die provocation von Gefuehlen, Kreativitaet und so weiter. Und am Freitag sind wir alle gemeinsam alte und junge, etwa 30 Mann, ins tiefste Flandern (nach Leopoldsburg) gefahren, wo wir in einer ...

... so hopefully things get better..... During our walk today we stumbled onto a parade. With my limited understanding of Dutch I believe a new "prince" was elected for the Karnival Festival which takes place at the end of February. Apparently it gets pretty crazy. I have been told it is Mardi Gras X 10!!! So we will see.....perhaps some interesting stories and pictures to share. Take Care I hope everyone checks out my new travelogue!!! Love, Joshlyn

... amazement we saw that the sign on the black iron fence above the enclosure confirmed it was indeed a ‘Tasmaanse Buidelwolf’.

Perhaps in a bid to prevent the Dutch caging us up like our presumed-extinct local friend, we decided to flee from the Netherlands entirely, though just for the rest of the day. After hiring bicycles we had barely pedalled our way out of the western edge of the town before ...

... je moest het maar iets nodig hebben en het thuis hebben laten liggen.

Maar zo, ik vertrek! Ik ga genieten van mijn jaar in het buitenland, aan het strand, tussen de palmbomen, de blauwe zee. Zoals ik het opnoem lijkt het wel een droomvakantie. Maar vergeet niet: de nieuwe taal, nieuwe mensen, nieuwe gewoonten, nieuwe omgeving, ... Hier lijkt het een avontuur dat ik absoluut niet wil vergeten.

Later meer.

Groetjes Stefanie