Return to Houten, Netherlands

We are not currently in Houten, Netherlands.  We are in fact waiting patiently, but in great comfort in Emma and Steve's house, for our flight back to Australia. 

This blog relates to our week in Houten, three weeks ago.   We were supervising the packing up of our house in England, the day after the last photo was taken for this blog.   How time flies.

After we left Camping Manjastre, in the south of France, we arrived back at Camping De Vliert in brilliant sunshine.    This camping ground has immaculately groomed grounds, bright green grass and hedges between each site.    Quite a contrast to the bush setting in the south of France, but then the Netherlands is generally green and immaculate.

Our caravan was parked in a lovely sunny spot, opposite the bike shed, toilet emptying shed and ablution block.   Could not be better.

All ready to unpack the car.  

Abi and Raphy came to visit each afternoon after school, and Mia also joined them for dinner on Wednesday afternoon.   After that it was too hot to comfortably play there.    The Netherlands can be very unpleasant in hot weather, probably due to the flat ground.

The camping ground is very well set up for children, with go karts, a playground and games room.   All free to use.

Abi, busily drawing, and Raphy, playing games on my Chrome book.

It takes about ten minutes to ride a bike to Aaron and Kylie's house.   Very convenient.    Abi and Raphy's bikes standing on the lawn in front of the caravan.

My English bike, which I now leave in the shed at Aaron and Kylie's house.

The self help boxes, full of boxes of eggs, apple juice and potatoes.   It is a matter of putting money in the slot, pressing the relevant number, and hey presto the little door opens.

The front of the sheds, which they use for caravan storage, amenities block, games room, relaxation room plus a small apartment at the top of the far shed.    The camping ground used to be a dairy farm, which the owners converted into a camping ground.    They also grow crops on the remaining farmland.

Plenty of hens and little chickens.

The narrow road back to Houten.   Very flat.

The large empty space at the Rond in Houten, which is currently having a facelift.    They have extended the shop fronts out, and providing more terraced area for the cafes.   They are also building a raised brick area in the centre, and have planted a huge tree in the centre of it.   It is so definitely more attractive now.

I took Mia, Abi and Raphy swimming at the outdoor pool, which was definitely preferable to swimming in the heated pool inside, which is very chlorinated.   Raphy thought otherwise.   After a quick swim in the cold water, he spent the rest of the time inside. 

And what I love about Dutch swimming pools, is that one can eat and drink within the pool area.   So we enjoyed our containers of chips, together with cans of soft drinks, in the sunshine beside the pool.   There was one mother there, plus a staff member, smoking cigarettes which I thought was a bit naughty.

My birthday, celebrated on the Sunday, was a very special day.    Walter, with a great sense of humour, gave me a dog card, plus a collar and lead as I have been talking about getting  a small dog when we live in Adelaide.    I currently have the lead, but not sure where the collar is.   I have a feeling it found its way into the chest of drawers that was packed two days later.   I wonder what the packers thought!

I also received two games from the Dutch family, which I am looking forward to playing in Adelaide.

We went to a Chinese restaurant in Utrecht for my birthday lunch.    Delicious food.

Raphy looking very happy.

Looking good:  Kylie and me.

Three very happy customers tucking into the Chinese food:   Aaron, Abi and Mia.    My apologies to Walter for the lack of a photograph, which was due to me looking terrible in the one taken of us together.

We went for a walk around the streets of Utrecht, always interesting.

There had been a running event that morning, with a good supply of portaloos around.   We were fascinated by the conveniences for men, the pissoirs, so practical.   This one had been left outside a pub, where a great number of men had gathered to celebrate the occasion.

Bikes, bikes and more bikes,

and a neatly arranged double storage bike rack.

The railway station, and the area around the station, is being redeveloped, with new shops, offices and open spaces. The canal, which had been made into a through road, is being reinstated as a waterway.   So looking forward to seeing it all finished.

After saying sad goodbyes to Aaron, Kylie, Mia, Abi and Raphy, we repacked the caravan in an orderly way.  Everything that was going to Emma and Steve's house in the back boot, and anything that was going to our house, in order to be packed the next day on the back seat.   We did appreciate our precise organisation as it made it easier when unpacking the car in England. 

We were loaded up for sure, as we had our clothes, bedding and anything else we wanted to keep from our touring caravan, plus Emma and Steve's bedding etc from their caravan in the south of France.

I am not sure if we mentioned that we sold our English touring caravan to the owners of Camping De Vliert in Houten.   They will use it as a rental caravan.   And yes, we will be able to rent it back when we return in the future.    We were very pleased with this sale.

Walter standing in front of our caravan, just before we left Houten.

We had a very easy trip back, again in sunny weather.    Our last ferry trip from Calais to Dover was  made in calm weather, thank goodness, as we have experienced some very rough crossings.   However, the ferry was full of coaches, which seems to be the way of ferry crossings these days.

Our view of the white cliffs was superb.    What a lovely memory to have for our last English channel crossing.

Altogether a lovely four weeks away, and we certainly came back to England feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the last few weeks in England.