Week 6 Aussie Visitors

 Week 6

Glen, Nicole, Jaz and Lily arrived for an all too short visit... nice to have some time with them.

Glen arrived a couple of days earlier for a little extra time, texting to request a "cold beer" when he was still on the train...

We still had some snow...



We managed to get in a bit of walking and talking...so good to catch up on where he is at - now semi-retired due to his successful business enterprise. (He lived with me for a while as a teenager going to RMIT - I was a bit worried early on, but the penny seemed to drop from one day to the next and he didn't look back ever since).


He's bought a farm down near Colac and wants to indulge his hobby of growing vegetables...the key being soil quality - for which he has done a few courses and a lot of research...

Nicole and the kids (no longer kids) duly arrived - the European Holiday was a 21st Birthday special event - Nicole is (still) working in palliative care for kids - so much respect for her! and Lily and Jaz are still at University...

Watching the Olympics...


More walking... in "our" forest...





One home-cooked meal...

...and out for dinner at our local...


...and all too soon, farewell at the train station...






Thankful that this guy is not in charge of our Health Services...

RFK Jr: I'm not scared of a germ. I used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats

Were they ALL in the Epstein Circle?

Back at the farm

Janny has been sorting things out in our Day Activity workplace...good work to do indoors...


This cupboard was given to us by Leigh and Alexandra in Australia circa 1990...

...now relocated ...Tjeerd has to do a bit of repair work on the runners for the drawers



More of Tjeerd's handiwork fixing up another cupboard...




Ben discovered a pair of "Frisian" shoes in a 2nd hand shop in Thailand...

Boating Season inches closer...

It looks like we won't be going to Dokkum for the King's visit - security is too strong - boats not allowed to moor near the walking route.

So, thoughts are turning to Blokzijl again- going through the Weerribben National Park





 A New Life at 60

Starting a new life at sixty. That's what Hendrik Bijnsdorp and his wife did. While others are cautiously considering retirement, they made a major career change. They bought a barge and went into freight shipping.

The choice of this relatively modest ship type was no coincidence, as they chose Belgium, the Netherlands, and France as their sailing areas. With their 42-meter-long barge "Avenir," they sailed for ten years, carrying cargoes such as grain, animal feed, and fertilizer. The ship also served as a floating B&B, so passengers were sometimes also on board.

How did you come up with that?

Hendrik is eager to share his experiences aboard the Avenir. On Sunday, March 8th, he'll give a presentation with plenty of photos and a video, taking you on a journey. He'll answer pressing questions like:

How did you come up with the idea of ​​doing this at the age of sixty?
What was involved in living and working on board?
How do you get work, what about loading and unloading, sailing and navigation?
And what was it like living on board and having B&B guests?
What beautiful and special sailing routes did they take?

https://museumwerf.nl/



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