Netherlands and me mumma

Wednesday 29 July I headed off to Holland, sans Lucy, for a few days with my ma. My little brother Stephen (15) does French and his class went to France as a field trip. My best field trip was Kapiti Island - all of three km from school. Doesn't really cut it.

So anyway, she was hanging with the rellies in the Netherlands, so I went to join her. Ended up being late for my flight cos of the stupid train being a slow ass, so I had to catch another flight - cost more than the original return booking in the first place! Anyway, got to Rotterdam eventually - was so cool flying in, seeing a massive set of gates that close off the canal. The population is really dense - but then all of a sudden becomes farm land. Their city and country boundaries are very clear and it looks beautiful from the air.

Mum and my fourth cousin Eldert (al-dirt) picked me up and took me to Eldert's family home. Lovely family, loved staying with them. Only stink thing was that mum speaks fluent Dutch and I speak zilch. Our cousins spoke ok English, but preferred Dutch, so I spent a lot of time looking bewildered.

Walked around the local town on Thursday, Leiden. It was beautiful. Friday Rigjte and Pieter (ma's cousin and cousin-in-law respectively) took us on a drive around the country side of Holland. Holland is a few provinces that together make up the most densely populated part of the Netherlands. It was really beautiful, the houses are just so gorgeous. The windmills were very pretty and we got out and took a lot of photos of them.

Flew back to London with mum on Saturday, she, Lucy, my London dwelling cousins and I went for a pub meal at the local - London's oldest riverside pub, complete with hangman's noose. After mass on Sunday we took her through a ridiculously crowded market in Camden Town, then went for a look around Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral. Monday my cousin took her round London and Tuesday took her round Bath.

Ma's now headed off to France to hang with Stephen and pops. Dad is having a wicked time. I talked to him on the phone and he sounds like a little kid at Christmas!! It's great to hear him so excited - it's his first time out of NZ and he's having a ball! He and mum are popping over to London for a couple of nights before heading back to NZ, it'll be great to see him. By the sounds of it, it won't be the last time he's up this end of the world.