20052005A Year of New Experiences & Adventures!

Christmas Christmas in in

Nova ScotiaNova Scotia

Leon, Cate and baby Rosa take a walk on a pretty winter’s day

What a cutie!

Leon’s brother Yvo came over from

Holland to join in our

Canadian Christmas

celebrations

He was excited to help shovel when we got our first big snow

Dad guides Yvo and Leon as they carve bowls out of maple on the lathe

Fun in the snow!!

… and on the ice!

All enjoy a special All enjoy a special Lobster Dinner Lobster Dinner and bid farewell to and bid farewell to Leon & YvoLeon & Yvo

See you in 5 months…

It’s a blizzardly start to 2005 in Nova Scotia

And even Holland

gets a little dusting

Cate’s last term is a busy one, and filled with good times with friends

Over in Holland, Leon and Yvo begin their own graphic design company. This is a scene they created.

Cate’s walk across the

stage on her big day

She is lucky to be supported by such wonderful family and friends

Grad day also brings another momentous event…

BEFORE…

DURING…

AFTER!

Joe

Tony

The short-haired pair is reunited in Holland in

June

While one of Leon’s friends (Lianne) is in

the USA, her cute little apartment in Utrecht

becomes our first home in Holland.

Lianne and Leon

Cate wasted no time in acquiring a bike- the national form of transportation in the

Netherlands. This is a folding bike, that can be folded quite small, and therefore can be taken on the train for free!

Spikey pretending to not be joining in on the walk

In July we moved to Leon’s Uncle Hans’

house for 2.5 weeks. While they were on vacation, his family

asked us to take care of their home

and their pets: Tjecka (the huge, but

loveable Bernese Mtn. dog), Spikey

(the independent, yet sooky cat, who also

liked to join in on dog walks), 5 fish

and 2 rats.

Big, slobbery dog kiss

Leon joined friends on a trip to Germany to see

Mother Meera- a woman who is worshipped as an incarnation of the Divine Mother around the world and who gives blessings

to those who come to her.

Cousin David

Friend Michael

The doors were always open for

us at Roland Holstlaan #772.

We’ve spent quite a bit of time here over the past 6 months- sometimes with Donate and/or Paul, and sometimes with the place to ourselves.

The balcony

In July, Yvo moved into his own place in Hilversum (1.5 hrs NE of Delft)

Typical houses in DelftTypical houses in Delft

During our summer in Delft, we did quite a bit of shopkeeping in Paul’s shop “Lan Ting”. Here we are at an antique market in Delft with some of his items.

Meanwhile, a monumental move was happening back in Kingsburg.

Can’t wait to see it!

Alkmaar

Hilversum

The Hobistee

Beer’s Eco Camping

Enkhuisen

Train ----

Ferry ----

Bus ----

Bike ----

VACATIONVACATION TIME!!TIME!!

In mid-Aug. we took a 9 day trip with our bikes and backpacks.

Here’s a map with some of our key stops in green

Did we ever look funny with

our tiny bikes and

huge backpacks

!!Makeshift cooler

Sleeping padsTent

Leon’s cousin David’s son Divine

Leon’s cousin David and his son Divine

zzzzzzThose are some pretty big shoes to fill!

Cycling in Alkmaar

Learning to make bami goreng with

Leon’s uncle Bobbie (the most

famous bami chef in the family)

Here we are in Enkhuisen, about to have some fish for lunch. This quaint town

reminded me a lot of

Lunenburg

Sailing on Holland’s network of lakes and canals is a popular Dutch activity

The large, open air Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuisen

A cold and blustery ferry trip across the Ijsselmeer. We were the only ones brave (or crazy) enough to stay on deck for the entire 2 hour crossing!

Our first camping stop was at an

“agro-eco camping” in Beers. It was a

sleepy little organic milk farm.

We had a nice place to pitch our tent in an old orchard.

The owner, this very friendly older

man, was very kind to offer us a ride

across the canal in his boat to reduce

our biking distance.

We had to smile when we saw the “Camping” sign with the missing (but later added) “P”.

Absolutely exhausted, we take a break on the

roadside. Minutes later we were saved by a bus which took us to the ferry at Lawersoog. We would

never have made that ferry (the last of the day), if it weren’t for that bus!

Flat horizon… smooth trails… into the wind no matter which direction we travelled…

Spectacular, big skies

The island of Schiermonnikoog (National Park)The island of Schiermonnikoog (National Park)White sand beach

MudflatsMudflats

Vegetated dunesVegetated dunes

FarmlandFarmlandTownTown

Pine forestPine forestSeedune Campground

Seedune Campground

A WWII bunker offers a nice view of the island

We ate well throughout our journey- here we’re having fajitas

A nasty cold hit Cate on Day 2

The beach was the largest either of us had ever been to (and we think that’s saying a lot!). It was 300-400m wide in many places!

Lifeguard house & cafe

That same lifeguard house & cafe

The clouds came and went, but for most of our vacation they hung around (we had rain everyday, and it was unseasonably cold). That didn’t stop us from enjoying this beautiful place!!

Salt water is the cure Salt water is the cure for everything~ for everything~

sweat, tears & the seasweat, tears & the sea

Refreshing, but not daggerish

Whisps of sand tingle the feet

Endless trails to explore along the beach, over the dunes and through the woods

The little town of Schiermonnikoog

It’s a car-free islands, so bicycles rule!

This is the local grocery store

Bicycles parked “double decker” at the train station in Groningen

Note the “bike only” path in red

The HOBITSTEEThe HOBITSTEE

This little ecovillage hosted us for 2 nights.Community hall

Here’s where we camped ~ a soft grassy spot under a cozy tree

canopy

Some community members make and sell candles. They are really beautiful!

A small meditation hut

Beautiful blooms in the garden

Our last stop was a pizza dinner with

Yvo in Hilversum

Yee hoo! The whole car to ourselves!

A little re-cap of our route

Alkmaar

Hilversum

The Hobistee

Beer’s Eco Camping

Enkhuisen

Train ----

Ferry ----

Bus ----

Bike ----

It’s the height of market season in Delft!

Candies and licorice of endless varieties

Note the typically well-equiped Dutch bicycle (these people really know what cycling is all about!)

Double saddle-bags

2 child carriers (front + back)

Lights that run off pedal-power

bell

Kick stand

At least 2 types of locking mechanisms

CHEESE!CHEESE!

FLOWERS!FLOWERS!

Central Delft: outdoor cafes and

bicycles

On Aug. 25 we went to

see the Lion King

musical- spectacular!

Scheveningen Beach

Yvo cooks pizza (his speciality) for us

September turns out to be a great beachin’ month too

The super-fast ICE train takes us to Cologne, Germany

The Dobek’s have invited us for a “scouting visit” to see if we are a good match for each other. They want to do some “environmental” renovations and projects, and they want us to help them research and plan.

The Dom in Cologne

Our scouting visit just happened to coincide with World Youth Day and the Pope’s visit to Cologne. The city was full of young people!

Not long after our scouting trip, we returned to the Dobek’s for a longer (3 week) stint to do our work.

Their massive house looks rather inconspicuous from the outside…

Back of the house

Sloping garden (their plan is to terrace this)

Kitchen

Living/dining room

Our bedroom

The indoor swimming pool!!

These are the beautiful woods and walking trails just behind their property in Bergisch Gladbach

Our research included everything from doing percolation tests on the lawn to taking water tests of the roof water and soil water.

Here’s Leon on the roof checking out the condition of the gutters (for the purposes of a rain harvesting system). Looks like he found something…

When we weren’t working, we had fun with the Dobek’s three girls

Bernadette (4)

Charlotte (8)

Frederique (3)

We enjoyed walks into more rural and agricultural areas

Bikes of all shapes and sizes

This bicycle is 90 years old!

Leon the Speed Demon

XIII century church

castle

Decadent ice cream! Mmmm!

Look like pasta??

Look again…

See the melting “noodles”?

Small, efficient cars, like these Smart Cars, are everywhere. These ones are part of a promotion for “The Smallest Church in the World”.

Fun with caramel apples!

We enjoyed cooking for them from time to time. Here Leon has created a huge batch of Indonesian nasi goreng (fried rice)

We could hardly believe our good fortune of being served Haagen Dazs ice cream at least every other night!! Pure ecstacy!

A typical German meat… kind of like a huge sausage served with mustard

Fun with the Dobek’s!

One weekend we went into Cologne for the day. This is the Rhine River.

Cologne’s Dom: 157m spires, built in 1248, it’s 24 ton bell is the largest working bell in the world.

Cheesy breads and sweet treats are in abundance!

These popular fruit-filled doughnuts are called “Berliners”

Small, neighbourhood bakeries are the places to stock up on baked goodies and hearty breads

Chocolate-covered EVERYTHING!Chocolate-covered EVERYTHING!

Can you believe that we found TWO of these giant gorillas during our walk around Cologne??!!

!

We couldn’t be in Germany without visiting a “brauhaus” (brew house).

Traditional bratwurst sausage & sauerkraut

As soon as Klaus found out that I knew how to prepare and eat lobster, he was set on having a lobster dinner with us.

The girls were a little unsure at first, but it didn’t take long for them to get right into it

Klaus bought a big new pot just for this occassion

“If it’s not up to your elbows than you’re doing something wrong!”

The meal was a huge success and a unique experience!

Saying goodbye to the Dobek’s after a wonderful and productive stay

Tasty meals back in Delft!

Traditionally Dutch “Boerenkool”: chopped kale + mashed potatoes

Indonesian “Soto Ayam”: chicken soup that you make yourself at the table

Rice noodles

Fresh cilantroBean

sprouts

egg

chicken

potato Crispy onion

Lemon juice

Soy sauce

broth

Leon and I decided to undertake the renovation of Yvo’s old bedroom.

First we had to remove the old wallpaper…

Then we crack-filled and sanded. Yvo came to help us out one weekend.

After sanding, you could barely the other side of the room!

Then it

was time

to paint!

Donate chose the cozy warm salmon orange colour

In late October we spent a week in England. For most of it we stayed with Trueman family friends, Vikki and Steve Hurst, and their boys, Billy and Floyd.

Floyd Billy

• =

While staying with the Hurst’s in Wimborne (Dorset), we visited a very well-kept manor house called Kingston Lacey

It is known for having the best private collection of art of any small manor house in England.

The grounds of Kingston Lacey had some magnificent trees

We visited the southern coast of England (near Bournemouth)

“See the chalk?”

They also took us to see Corfe Castle

It’s fairly run-down now, but it’s interesting to think about what it must have been like once upon a time.

We had a meal in celebration of Vikki’s mum’s birthday at this pub in the New Forest. We headed back to Vikki and Steve’s afterwards for cake and gifts.

Vikki’s dad

Vikki’s mum

Steve’s mum

Vikki’s nephew and sister

Vikki’s brother-in-law

We headed into “the Big Smoke” for a couple of nights. We joined up with my friend Mary there (I know her from Acadia, and she is studying this year at Plymouth, England)

We got a great deal at this simple, but sufficient, hotel which was in walking distance of downtown

Our hotel

Our first day in London was rainy, but that did stop us from walking and enjoying the sights!

Chinatown

Covent Gardens Market

Picadilly Circus

We had supper at a classic English pub

Just as we were ordering our meal at this pub, we saw a commotion outside.

It turned out to be actress/singer Hilary Duff (who is apparently quite famous…)

Later we saw that she was being filmed live for MTV.

It was funny to be a part of the crowd (especially because we didn’t even know who she was!)

Hilary

That night we treated ourselves to a London theatre performance. We saw the classic musical “Les Miserables” and it was a wonderful show!

The next day was sunny and perfect for exploring London on foot

A WWII monument that depicted incredible detail and emotion.

This was our 2nd encounter with fame- we walked by a “Bollywood” movie being filmed!

A surely famous Indian actor

We couldn’t believe our good fortune as we came upon Big Ben just as it struck noon!

Moments later, we came upon some traffic police and barricades. When I asked what was going on, I was told that the procession for the King of Norway was just coming up the street! Another moment of good fortune!

What a show of royalty- and right in front of our noses! It didn’t matter to us that the King himself hadn’t yet joined the procession.

Lots of people-watching going on, but no King…

Hungry bellies led us to leave before catching sight of the King. As we left we saw Buckingham palace at the end of a street lined with British and Norwegian flags.

After a bite to eat we visited Buckingham Palace. It didn’t seem overly special though, after all of our “famous moments” so far. We were so lucky to be seeing all of these sights in such beautiful weather!

Just next to the palace is the “Canada Gate”

The Nova Scotia crest

Without a second of planning, we just happened upon the changing of the guard!!

We also got to see them rake the gravel at the same time!

More walking and more sights…

Houses of Parliament

The London Eye ferris wheel

For our second night we were hosted by de Vreede family friends, Liam & Anne Quinn, at their home in Putney Heath.

The next day we prepared for our interview (for teaching jobs in Japan) and got all dressed up!

We arrived early, so spent a little time chilling out in Kensington Gardens. Our interview was to be in the hotel in the back of the picture.

Our interview was very relaxed, informative, and a huge success!

We celebrated at a fun and tasty Asian noodle restaurant called “Wagamama”

Our last moments in London were on a double-decker bus

Back at Vikki & Steve’s, everyone was getting ready for Halloween.

We had a nice “welcome back” meal with Steve’s mum, Val.

I was happy to help the boys carve a pumpkin.

They were a big help too!

On our last day in England, we visited Val’s new thatched cottage. It is absolutely gorgeous!

Lunch in the beautiful sun-room.

Val cooked us traditional British “Bubble & Squeak” (a potato dish), served with chicken. It was delicious!

The day after returning from England, I was off on another adventure… sailing!I participated in a sailing weekend organized by a Dutch youth environmental group.The next few slides are of the first morning’s sunrise… beautiful!

This was the boat where we slept and ate

As you could see from the sunrise photos, our first day was pretty calm. It was perfect for me to learn some of the basics though. All of the young people spoke English, but I had to learn the sailing terms in Dutch. Next to me is the skipper, Elisabeth.

We saw an amazing site in the sky… sun spots, and a ring around the sun! (Apparently these are caused by specific atmospheric conditions.)

Sun spot

Rainbow

Ring

By the end of the day the wind had calmed right down, so the boat had to be pulled

The boats we sailed in were called “Falcons”

The evening brought lots of fun, games and music

At sunrise of the second day we could already tell that the wind would be good

Breakfast on the boat

We were blessed with a nearly perfect sailing day…

It was a thrill to feel the boat tip in the strong wind

It was even more of a thrill to be in control of the boat in these winds. I had very helpful shipmates though, who coached me along the way. We spent most of the day on Sneekermeer, one of the prime sailing lakes in Holland.

By the end of the 2nd day, I even got to try maneuvering the boat up the narrow canals (lots of zig-zaging).

We ended the weekend with some hot soup. I had a really great time with these people, and it was fun to spend some quality time with other Dutch youth. I hope I can do some sailing in other places in the world too.

In early November, we were excited to host a good friend of ours from Acadia, Jeremy Ewing. We first met him for a day in Amsterdam.

The 3-level BICYCLE parking “garage” at the Amsterdam train station

pedistriansbicycles

vehicles

buses

We saw this fantastic street performer that evening. He had a really original act. In this trick, he is passing his body through an ordinary wooden tennis racket, while balancing a glass ball on his head!

And here he is rolling a ball of fire all over his bare upper body!

That night we had Indonesian food with Jeremy’s friends and relatives

Dutch

Canadian-American

Canadian-American

Swedish

Swedish

French-Canadian

Portuguese

French Canadian

Irish

When Jeremy came to Delft, we showed him the market square and church, a windmill that is right in town, and one of many tunnels of artistic graffiti (the city doesn’t discourage it, so there are some very artistic pieces)

Shopping for cheese

Taking the tram

Eating Dutch-style pancakes at a pancake house in a park

Scheveningen Beach on a balmy November day

We nearly had the beach to ourselves

We took Jeremy on a big bike trip around Delft. Here we are at one of the natural areas just outside the city.

As you can see, even here the paths here are a biker’s dream

A typical Dutch greenhouse

Flowers (Mums, I think)

On his last day, we decided to climb the tower of the “Nieuwe Kerk”.

The stairway was very narrow!

After 380 steps, we reached the highest point (about 90m above the ground).

1st balcony

2nd balcony

This was the view from the 1st balcony

And this the view from the 2nd balcony!!

The market was going on below us

And we could even see Lan Ting!

We had a beautiful view of the city

This is about all you get for leaf colour in Holland (taken Oct. 28)

Paul’s Birthday, Nov. 14

In November, Leon did some “temp” work in a few places. We visited him one day when he was working in the kitchen at IKEA.

One of the customers thought he was so friendly that she wanted me to take a photo of her with him!

Bikes at the Delft train station

A common sight

This “TRUEMAN’S” label caught my eye in the grocery store one day. Strange to see it spelled with an “e”

(…also strange that hot dogs are sold this way!)

Another strange thing…

Delft has wild parrots! We often can see and hear them from the apartment. We’re not sure how they came to be here, but they do seem to live here all year round.

Just the other day I counted a flock of 18!

We recently attended a “Recycling Party”, which was organized by a sustainability group that we have become a part of.

Everyone brought clothes and other unwanted items, and then you could dig through the pile and take home whatever treasures you found! It was great fun, and I picked up some much needed sweaters

Sinterklaas Day (Dec. 6) is a big deal in Holland (just as big, if not bigger than Christmas). Instead of Santa and elves, it’s Sinterklaas and Black Peter who deliver gifts to good children. We were part of the excitement at the parade.

Black Peter hands out kruidnoten (little cookies) to the children

Everyone wanted a peek at Sinterklaas who was giving a greeting with the mayor at the City Hall

Our next adventures will have us living and volunteering at this place called Sunseed. We plan to be here for Dec. & Jan.

Sunseed is located near the town of Sorbas in the Sierra Nevada mountains (50km from the coast).

The nearest big city is Almeria.

We will be taking the train through Belgium, France and Spain to get there (29 hours!).

Title photo from their newsletter (available from: http://www.sunseed.org.uk/downloads.asp?

sid=Newsletter)

The Main House

Merry Christmas Merry Christmas Everyone!Everyone!

Love, Love,

CateCate

Christmas 2005