A day out on the sprinter train

Sprinter trains in the Netherlands run between  the towns and cities, stopping at all stations.   They are the local commuter trains, designed for short to medium journeys, with easy boarding, wide doors and open carriages.   Perfect for people like Walter, with his walker.

We always use this train service to travel into Utrecht, 10 minutes away, but never thought to travel in the opposite direction.

The first day we used the sprinter to travel to the other side of Houten, Houten Castellum, for coffee and apple cake.      Not the best coffee or apple cake, too much sugar in the cake plus cream out of a can.  Well it is always cream out of a can here!  

On the next trip out we thought we would go as far as Geldermalsen, a couple of stops further along the line, and have a look around the town.

But not so, as the train stopped at the middle platform, and the lift was broken, which had been happening here often, and they don't get fixed straight away.   The lift in Houten did not work for a few months, not long ago.    If there is no lift, then people like Walter, with his walker, or people in wheelchairs, parents with children in prams and buggies, and people with bikes, cannot use the train service.   This is very limiting, as you can imagine.

So Walter was stuck on the middle platform, feeling very frustrated, while I quickly walked down the stairs to have a look around. 

A beautiful old railway station in Geldermalsen.

The edge of Geldermalsen was very pretty, with large houses and plenty of trees.   Interestingly the grass verges had dog poo scattered around, and it would appear that the locals here still maintained old ways, in that they did not pick up their doggy poo.   I kept to the path.

A very large and beautiful house and garden.   

A commuter town for sure.

Finally a train arrived, and we continued on to another town, called Tiel. The town is surrounded by three rivers, the Waal, the Linge, and the Amersterdam-Rhine Canal.

It also has a beautiful railway station.

                                         

It was quite a long walk into town.   We passed lots of lovely gardens, which helped quite a bit, and the beautiful old church below.    

The initial part of town was a little run down, and quite poor looking.   

Once we arrived at the city centre, with its old buildings and cafes we could feel quite a change in atmosphere.   Much cosier.     We ate lunch at the Hema (a popular department store) where we ate rolls filled with an unidentified sausage.   We managed to survive the lunch.

Tiel was chartered in 1200 AD, and is known for its medieval ports, and as a market town.   It became a member of the Hanseatic League, which was a powerful medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns of northwestern and central Europe.

It is now the centre of the fruit growing areas.

The town gate, with a museum beside it.

The pedestrian crossing which leads to the River Waal.

Walter taking a well earned rest.

A very small and cute electric car.

A little playfulness in the town.

Finally we slowly walked back to the train station.

Houston revisited

Market Day in Houten.   I love the assortment of flowers and plants.   

Off to a local park.   Abi, Walter and me.

Trees in blossom.   

The manor house in the park.   Very grand.

A climbing plant over the ornate gates.

The leaves are coming out on the lower canopy in the woods.

Always plenty of water around.

Abi, Walter and Kylie.

I love the espaliered trees here.   The one below is opposite the local supermarket, but I think people use them as wind shelters.

Coffee and apple cake plus heaps of canned cream.   It was all a little sweet. 

Reflections on the canal behind Aaron and Kylie's house.

Off to the Netherlands

 Here we are, in the Netherlands, visiting Aaron, Kylie, Mia, Abi and Raphy.     It is really lovely being here again.

Of course, we did not realise when we booked the plane tickets that there would be huge problems in the Middle East, but luckily we had booked flights on Turkish Air, who codeshare with Malaysian Airlines.    Therefore we travelled on a Malaysian Airline plane to Kuala Lumpur, and on Turkish Air planes to Istanbul and to Amsterdam.   We had originally planned to travel with Qatar Airlines but they were too expensive.   Luckily!

However, it was still a little scary, due to Trump making announcements that America would flatten Iran, which he did not, of course.    Our time spent in the lounge in Kuala Lumpur was dampened by the constant news alert on the television.  

Walter looking very happy, in the photo below, during breakfast at the hotel at Adelaide Airport.    It was lovely staying there, the night before the flight, as it meant we could have a leisurely breakfast before walking across to get our tickets.

We also were able to meet Andreena the night before, when she returned from her two weeks in New Zealand.  

Due to getting older we decided to fly 'Business Class' last year.  Of course this is a luxury, but now that we know what it is like, we can no longer go back to 'Economy'.   So getting a good price is so very important.  

All ready to go, and feeling very relaxed and happy.

Walter's walker was booked as luggage, all the way to Amsterdam, which was not our preferred option.   Last year he was able to use it until the cabin door, where it was taken down to the hold, and returned to him once we landed in Doha.    

So this time he had to rely on wheel chair assistance, which was very good, except for one thing, the speed through security.    We were always in a priority lane, due to the Business Class tickets, plus fast tracked due to wheel chair assistance.    Trying to organise all our bits and pieces as we sped through security was quite challenging, and Walter nearly lost his watch at one point.   I also had to run to keep up with the wheelchair pusher!

As we left Adelaide, Walter is also looking very relaxed and happy.

There were many Emirates planes sitting at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, going nowhere.

In the past we have travelled extensively and independently and it is very difficult to find we now have to rely on other people.    So not only do we travel through an airport at a very fast pace, we also have to wait for staff to arrive with the wheelchair.    

We have always liked to leave plenty of time to board the plane.   After pacing around, and annoying the staff at the lounge in Kuala Lumpur, the wheelchair assistant eventually arrived with what I could see as barely enough time to catch the plane.    My heart was in a flutter.    

The staff members were very calm, and totally relaxed, and reassured us that all was fine, and to stop worrying.

The same thing happened in Istanbul.   We were due to board the next plane and we had not left the plane from Kuala Lumpur.    'You will be okay' was the response from all staff members.  

And it was!

My lovely mushroom soup, set on a beautifully laid out table, with linen and good cutlery.    

Mood lighting and very cute salt and pepper shakers.

Once we arrived in Amsterdam we knew we would be fast tracked through immigration, in front of the queues of 'others'.    We were looking forward to that.

But we were delayed, for a very long time.    No fast tracking here.    All due to a woman who had a disagreement with the electric buggy driver.     He told her that her disabled husband could ride in the buggy but she would have to walk (run) behind it, as there was not enough room.    She pointed out that I was sitting on the buggy!   Oh dear.   I sat there looking very innocent.  She then took a photograph of the driver and said that she was making a complaint.    He told her to remove the photograph, and of course she would not.    Stale mate.

So we all waited for the supervisor, who did not turn up.   Eventually we were told the supervisor was by immigration, so we moved off, with the woman now on board, as there was a spare seat!   Then we waited at immigration for the supervisor, who actually was very supportive of everyone and managed to sooth all parties, and the woman deleted the photograph.   

An interesting half and hour or so.     

Finally we were through immigration and collected our luggage, and most importantly, Walter's walker.  Independence!

Fantastic to meet Aaron on the other side of arrivals.     And then to go to their house to see Kylie and a welcome cup of coffee.

Our apartment is on the top floor, under the eaves, so I have to watch my head when I get out of bed.

The eaves on my side of the bed.

Our view, with the bike lane in front, and shopping centre and flats on the other side.

Malaysian Airlines was, as usual, very good, and it was lovely to fly with them again.   However the surprise was Turkish Air, which we cannot fault, with comfortable seats/beds, excellent food and friendly, helpful staff on the plane and in the airport. 

Nhill Revisited

Here we are, back in Nhill, on the Melbourne to Adelaide highway.   The town with the highway that runs through the centre of it.   Plus the toilets, that used to play classical music.   The town where the locals always ask 'How's your morning been?'.    And the lovely Vietnamese cafe which has excellent coffee, plus a huge array of delicious cakes on display.  

The local Council run caravan park which is one of the best we have seen, with its recently refurbished ablution block that has heat lamps over the shower cubicles.

Plus the lovely park next door, and the lake and board walk.  

 A place worth stopping at for a rest.  

I also forgot to say that the caravan park in Shepparton had fluffy bath mats in each shower cubicle, the first ever, however even that cannot beat the heat lamps here.

Yesterday, we set off reasonably early, from Shepparton, intending to follow the route that we used to take from Adelaide to Benalla.    A bit of a zig zag route.   We followed the road map instead of Google maps which wanted to take us on a different route.     No doubt there was a shorter way.

At one point we did check our spot on Google maps just to make sure we were heading in the right direction.  Lack of confidence!  

It appeared from the sign posts that all roads lead to Echuca.    Not a place we want to return to yet.

So we travelled through Corop, Elmore, Bendigo, Charlton, Donald, Warracknabeal, Dimboola and finally reached out destination in Nhill.   

The roads were deplorable, with many potholes, but the worst road was one that was corrugated, even though it was sealed, which reminded us of being on the Oodnadatta track.   Also there were road works everywhere.   Well at least there was an attempt to fix the roads.

It took nearly eight hours!   

The stop for morning coffee was lengthy due to the delay in our coffee arriving at the table.    The milk had been over heated so the gentle sips took ages.   A very friendly little settlement though.   The kind man in the shop next to the coffee filled up a bowl of water for Piper.

Piper  had a little sleep while we took our small sips of coffee.

Now I cannot remember where I took the following photographs.    

A very old country service station!

A sad looking deserted shop.

This town had a most picturesque church, with murals painted on the front of it.

We stopped for lunch, and then for an ice cream, the trip seemed to go on forever.   

When we arrived here, it started to rain.   Always the way.

All the items in the cupboards were everywhere, the drawers were out, and one of the turnbuckles on the side of my bedroom had come off.    Signs of rough roads.

Today the rain cleared and the sun came out, and the world looked beautiful again.

The ornate lead lighting above the pharmacy door.

Morning coffee was at the Vietnamese bakery, together with a pastry of course.    Then we bought some cherry filled small cakes to take back with us.   Plus two oversized bread rolls.   So delicious.

There is Vietnamese street food there as well.

After a restful day we went for a walk around the lake, in perfect sunshine.   

                                        

Tomorrow we drive the last 400 km home, mostly on the main highway.

It has been a great three weeks.

On the way home

At the moment we are currently in Shepparton, only 75 km south of Tocumal, which is where we were staying exactly one week ago.     

The main highway, Goulburn Valley Highway, runs north from Melbourne, through Shepparton, and then joins the Newell Highway at Tocumal which runs north to Goondiwindi, Queensland.     Although I have travelled on various parts of this highway, I never knew its significance as a major road north to Queensland. 

We are no longer following the Murray River, although from Albury to a few kilometres past Shepparton we are following the line of the river, just further south.    We will cross it again when the river crosses the main highway, Adelaide to Melbourne, in South Australia.  

Yesterday we followed the Hume Highway (Sydney to Melbourne) which was bliss as it was an expressway with two lanes on each side of the highway.   And a well maintained highway too.

We took the exit to Benalla, and found a place to park the car and van, with some difficulty and plenty of discussion.

Benalla was Walter's home town, he lived here from 1953 until about 1961, although his family continued to live there for many years after that.   Sadly, most have passed away, or moved to other places.

Walter's family home, which is still well cared for, and now has a high fence in front.   I am amazed at how high the trees have grown in the last few years.

The church where we were married in 1967.

                                         

This house has nothing to do with Walter's family, but It has been beautifully restored and with lovely ornate cast iron lacework around the verandah.

Harrison's Hardware Store, which Rudolf (Walter's brother) managed until he retired was no more.   It has been replaced by a cheap goods shop.    I find this very sad.   It was a fantastic hardware store.

The main street of Benalla, with plenty of trees.   It was quite busy too.    

The bridge over the local river, Broken River, which flows into the Goulburn River, which runs through Shepparton.    Walter told me he used to jump off the bridge into the river below.   I can imagine his mother did not know about it.    And to think we would not let our children jump off the Henley Jetty, although I know they did do so.   Children are fearless, and parents see danger!

So many memories.

We then drove another sixty kilometres west to the city of Shepparton, where we are currently staying in a lovely caravan park just outside of the city.

Today we walked around the main streets.  So many shops!    Sadly most of the people were gathered around, and in, the big named stores at the side of the city.    K Mart, for example, was packed with shoppers.  We also noticed that the road on the way in was lined with 'strip' shopping.    Again, all the big named shops.    Bunnings, Woolworths, BigW being some of the names.

We found this beautiful leafy street, with wide pavements, plenty of trees and gardens, and only a narrow strip for cars.   

And then we crossed over this extremely busy street, with trucks and cars, to get back to the car.

Interestingly Shepparton has a very large migrant population living here.    This was a reminder that Walter's family were in a similar situation 70 plus years ago.     However, from looking at the services on offer here, they certainly have much better support.  

The beautiful lake, with paths around it.    I took Piper for a walk around part of the lake.

Next to the lake was the Goulburn River, which starts in the mountains and ends in the Murray River near Echuca.    Another very muddy river.

The Goulburn River on its way north to the Murray River.

Tomorrow we head south West, back to the main Melbourne/Adelaide Highway.    We aim to stop in Nhill, the town that no longer has music in its public toilets.