Mon 23 Apr 2018. A very full day round Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse

Mon 23 Apr 2018. A very full day round Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse

Woke early, 12° (red-wine headache? jet lag?). We’d forgotten that the shops don’t open weekends so couldn’t pick up groceries yesterday. Luckily the Bread Van comes through the park each morning, so we chose fruit salad and croissants for breakfast, plus milk to go with the teabags Julia kindly donated last night.

Julia and Pocket Earth guided us to the massive Keukenhof Park full of millions of tulips, narcissus/daffodils, hyacinths and other bulb flowers. Started at children's nursery and clog-making area before hitting the main floral displays. The 2018 theme is Romance which the many gardens and massed displays reflected: Cupid’s Garden and Delft Blue Garden. Great views of spectacular bulb fields from the windmill. 

Couldn’t believe that in 8 weeks, well over a million people view the park’s 7 million Spring-flowering bulbs. We read that to do this Keukenhof uses lasagne/ layered planting; the bottom layer contains late flowering varieties, the middle has April flowering bulbs ( the ones we are seeing today) and the top layer contains early flowering bulbs. Over 40 gardeners plant BY HAND in mid-September (takes 3 months). Also new grass is sown before every opening season. At the conclusion, all the bulbs are dug up and destroyed.

Buying orchids for Julia’s daughters/ daughter in law was a challenging task in the Beatrix Pavilion - much to-ing and fro-ing on iPhone sending photos and taking calls until three orchids were satisfactorily purchased.

In the Willem Alexander Pavilion we admired creative displays, then sat in a glassed enclave to eat the sandwiches Julia had packed.

After lunch we moved to busy Oranje Nassau Pavilion with its elaborate displays of love, love, love. Some of their flowers were most unusual. Watched a demonstration of grass weaving and decorating to make a heart arrangement. 

Inverted lillies - hollow stems filled with water for orchids!

Reluctantly said farewell to the gathered beauty of the gardens. Wandered back to the carpark astounded at how many vehicles had turned up (now where was our hire car??)

On the way back to camp stopped to take in the stunning vistas of the tulip fields, with their almost-too-bright lines running into a distant single point.

Wanderoos turn to cook dinner; browsed shops and market in Noordwijk (flower town).

The cheese wheels were so tempting...

With the fish shop closed, settled on pork wrapped in prosciutto with potato and khol salad. Eskil brought his own contribution, “New Herring” raw, dipped in onion, held by tail and eaten from head (apparently it’s a Dutch tradition). 

This was complimented by Niemolet, a hard gold-coloured cheese. Very tasty. BoyRob had picked up Cornet beer, which turned out to be very “hoppy” (AND 8.5% alcohol!!) Half way through dinner the power went out, next thing the park was full of strolling people (sad for them - no TV!) Luckily the sky was light until 9pm so we could see to eat, and the power returned just in time for hot water for the dishes (but internet a no-go; it was only available on one device anyway)

Sun 22 Apr 2018. Munich, Germany to Noordwijk, Netherlands

Sun 22 Apr 2018. Munich, Germany to Noordwijk, Netherlands

Woke at 5am Europe time, so wrote first blog entry. Saw Julia’s Facebook post on the brilliant flower parade in Amsterdam yesterday; GirlRob doubly jealous she hadn’t known about the event before making travel bookings. 

Breakfast turned out to be included in price, delicious light corn yellow bread, and muesli with fresh berries. The "House Smoothie" had a hint of thyme. Shuttle bus to airport cost €18 so yesterday’s taxi was not overpriced. Sitting alone in the lounge we gradually became aware we'd been told wrong gate number - rushed with all the luggage to new gate only to find plane was late arriving, with subsequent push back for cleaning, restocking and loading baggage. Stood in line in hot crowded corridor for an hour past boarding time, everyone wilting, kids fretting, passengers anxious about missing connections. Finally boarded KLM to Amsterdam; felt we'd hardly settled when arrived in The Netherlands an hour later (yay - a new country!!) Interesting airport, dark and spacious, interesting shops, and tulip souvenirs of every description. Had a tasty tuna roll for late lunch before collecting our Avis hire car, a manual (grrr…) Citroen. Attached our Garmin, but for some reason it wouldn’t launch - fortunately we had Sat Nav on board. Avis staff set it up in English and we had no trouble following it down to Lisse (and then so glad we'd downloaded offline maps of all our countries on Pocket Earth so we could find our way to Noordwijk from there). BoyRob was happy with the briefness of the journey; after two years full time driving in Australia, he finds the first drive in a strange vehicle in the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, is always “fraught” - plus the Citroen has the gear change shift with the right hand as well. Too much to adjust to, too soon, he reckoned.

The glimpses of the Netherlands channels, canal boats, windmills, long long fields of bright tulips, people cycling everywhere (cars must give way!) was tantalising – can’t wait to get out amongst it tomorrow. Arrived at Topparken on Noordwijk Dunes on the North Sea (voted 13th most beautiful beach in the world by National Geographic) Picked up our carry bag of towels and 1 roll of toilet paper at reception, and found our “chalet” (not!) as well as a note from Julia and Eskil to say they had booked in to the caravan park side, and were making us a “Welcome to Europe” dinner!! Yay!! It was so good to see them again, tanned and slender, as healthy as ever (loved their Moroccan shoes). Swapped many travel stories over Spanish champagne, French ePoisses cheese, Comfit de Canard (which amazingly came out of a can!) Caught up on the news of one another’s families, and friends in common. A most pleasant evening.

Fri&Sat 20&21 Apr 2018. Brisbane, Australia to Munich, Germany

Fri&Sat 20&21 Apr 2018. Brisbane, Australia to Munich, Germany

It was the rainbow lorikeets in our backyard who saw us off on our travels this year. We’d said our farewells to close-by family over Easter holiday weekend, and at the Baptism of our 8th grandchild. Our far-flung grandchildren had to settle with waves and kisses via FaceTime. Now that both daughters are close to the city we have no one to drive us to the airport, but the consolation prize was to meet a nice Japanese driver for Bribie Limousines (at $130 still cheaper than local cab companies who quoted $150-$180!!) 

Check in at Emirates was painless after we had picked up more locks for the fancy new wheeled duffle bags we’d had to purchase. After careful measurements BoyRob had chosen the 80lt version over our old 90lt ones, to ensure they’ll still fit into the top box in the camper once unpacked. We departed Brisbane on time, comfortable in spite of a full plane. GirlRob chatted to a British woman beside her, whose partner managed “The Sheik's” racehorses - what a fascinating lifestyle! Watched a couple of current movies, dozed and ate when food appeared. After 14+ hours and two hot towels, were glad to get onto terra firma at Dubai (7am, already sunny). In the final days rush packing and cleaning the house, had forgotten to take our effervescent vitamins, so quickly dissolved one in the hope of warding off germs from Other People. Embarked on next leg, to Munich (a mere 5+ hours). T’was a bonus to see the final two episodes of the British drama Kiri (GirlRob does hate to go away for months without finding out how a TV series ends!) More thrilled though to see clear view of snowy Alps as we flew up over Bulgaria and Adriatic Coast.

Did someone tell them we're going to Africa soon??

Arrived in Munich Saturday 1.30pm.  At 26° Spring in Germany was the same temperature as Autumn in Queensland! Delay at passport control - 4 lanes to process EU and locals, but only 2 lanes for most of planeload of passengers. Quick bag pick up, how pleasant not to be delayed further by dogs/customs/police. Found luggage storage area in the terminals central area and left our broken/strapped suitcase (with truck spare parts) for the days we’ll be in and around Amsterdam. No shuttle buses in sight by then, so took taxi with Turkish driver to hotel - roomy, comfortable, and breakfast included. Free wifi - read emails. Heavenly shower, but had to go down to restaurant for milk for cuppa (not everyone takes powdered creamer!). Put knowroaming SIM card in BoyRob's phone, and put phones/ iPads/ Fitbit on chargers. The “travellers pattern” has begun! Sorted folder with itinerary, flights and car rental papers so tomorrow’s schedule is on top. As the duffle bags will be over 23kg limit on smaller plane, lightened by carrying the travel books. 

GirlRob took her camera for a walk into Halbergmoos village, admiring pretty Spring flowers and beautiful trees in blossom. The tulips were overblown in the hotter conditions, but hopefully will still be plentiful and pristine in Lisse tomorrow. 

Had dinner in garden restaurant, veal with button mushrooms. Ah, yes - a complimentary Swiss chocolate with the bill - we’d forgotten that tradition. Sweet-talked the restaurant into more teabags and milk for our room. Drooping eyelids won out (after all it WAS 3am at home!) Set alarm in case jet lag wins in early hours.