Elise & Daphne came down for a day to hang out with their NZ cousin. Anna completely loved hanging out with them.

We went to the pannekoekenbakker in thorn which was as delicious as ever.

I biked off to Roermond on my own and successfully bought salmon for making sushi. Also tried out teriyaki chicken sushi which I think may have become Anna’s new favourite. Good job too, salmon is way more expensive than chicken ;)

Anna was reunited with Caiden, her old school buddy from when we were here 4 years ago. They do get on so well, even if they only see eachother once every few years. It’ll be interesting to see whether they still gel as they get older.

Oud Limburgs Schuttersfeest is a massive festival for the province of Limburg. This year it was held in Melick which happens to be where Oma and Opa live. Very handy. Lots of traditional music and costume, and the Schutterij (civic guard) competition. They have these really long heavy looking muskets and need to shoot (in order?) tiny little targets mounted really high on a pole. It’s a big event and definitely takes a lot of skill to win it.

We had a nice wander around the Kabouter Bos (gnome forest)

Fun way to get over jetlag. Lovely being back in The Netherlands. They have so many yum nibbly things and beers and it’s just generally a great country!

It was time for Anna and I to join Maaike in The Netherlands. Absolutely stunning view of Taranaki as we flew up. You can see the distinct circular boundary of the national park. It’s literally a 6 mile radius from the summit!. Very cool.

Long haul flights are never fun, but, it has become infinitely easier to travel with Anna now that she’s a bit older. She gets unlimited screen time so is perfectly happy ;). Singapore Air are pretty nice for the kids, they get kids-themed headphones, the apps etc. are locked down to them (annoyingly though they didn’t have games – you had to have your own device and I wasn’t going to give that to Anna). The food is also a little on the spicy side, even when you choose kids meal. Still, we got through it fine having a stopover in Singapore.

We had planned on going to the in-airport swimming pool, but, it was only open for an hour after we arrived and I wasn’t quite sure if we needed to completely exit security or not, so, in the end we just footled about for a few hours. It was fine.

So, 20 million hours later we flew into NL and were reunited with Maaike (and her Aunt and Uncle who came to pick us up). Being made to stay up while you get trains & bike home definitely helped with the jetlag. Still took a few days to get over but not too bad all told.

It was Matariki, big thing at Anna’s school (Māori new year) and they had their usual display of florescent creations. Pretty fun.

There was also the fireworks out at New Brighton which we went to. It’s absolutely mental getting in and out of New Brighton when the fireworks are on. The council however put on an excellent bus service so you could park at one of the malls and then there were busses every 5 mins on the way in and out. Absolutely smashed the queues (as you just skip past them all). Zero stress of finding a carpark etc. Would totally recommend.

Maaike had headed over to visit family in The Netherlands a couple of weeks before Anna and I are due to follow. We’re being sent pictures like this (needs login)

Mind you, it’s not all fun and games as Europe is currently in a massive heatwave. Like, 38° or something silly. Very glad we’re not there for that as I melt if it goes over 30°.