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We were so happy to be greeted by longtime friends at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam! We hadn't seen them in 10 years, since we parted in Sydney, and after 6 weeks of "hard travel" in Africa it was lovely to have a home to spend time in. Not to mention hosts that are great travellers themselves who seemed to know exactly what sights we would enjoy seeing--all the wonders of the Netherlands and Belgium that we had never even imagined.

Apart from windmills and scenic canals everywhere, we saw lovely countryside, since our hosts (like, I suppose, lots of Dutch) were farmers before retirement and live in a small town in Belgium, so the crops everywhere (and I mean, EVERYWHERE! It was amazing how much land was under cultivation, at minus elevations, dug out from the sea) were duly noted as we passed by to more amazing and beautiful cities and engineering works.

Ghent was the first and closest city to explore after we had driven through Holland, and seen the World Heritage site at Kinderdijk (last photo in my previous blog) with 23+ windmills dating back hundreds of years.

The Castle of the Counts photo (left) with its dungeon and torture instruments didn't appeal to us--on the inside at least. And this blue sky was about the last we saw before a storm and rain came over and dampened our outdoor exploration.

Not to worry, we ended our walk with sausage, cheese washed down by some great Belgian beer, right on the canal!

And I did get some more photos suitable for painting in future, of the lovely canal frontage, some moody skies over bridges, and the guys in front of a whole window full of different kinds of Belgian beers. It will take a few more trips back to taste even half of them!

Another day, it was off to see the big sea gates that were built after a great flood in 1953 killed 2000 Dutch people when the dikes were breached. There was a big enquiry and commission formed to make recommendations to prevent such a tragedy happening ever again, and a huge 25 year project was undertaken to build sea gates which we explored. All parties came together on the principles of protecting the tidal environment (a huge bay with major shellfish fishery, and lots of birdlife in the estuary), financial positions (the cost was were to come in on budget, and annual operating costs were to be maintained at minimal levels, which they still --amazingly--are, 50 years later) . I wonder if such a project could be undertaken so successfully in this era.

First, however, we stopped at the historic town of Middleburg, which was on the island which had been swamped years before. As we explored we saw some of its wonderful architecture, and enjoyed the central square marketplace, and had our first taste of Dutch sushi--it was the nieu herring season and apparently the Dutch eat it whole, raw, with some chopped onions sticking to it. Actually it was quite delicious! But I only wanted one.

One of the places our hosts showed us which is unique to Belgium was the historic beguinages, which were a little like monasteries except they were run by women, non-religious, who wanted to do good works for the underpriveledged in their area. They built residences which usually faced onto quiet and enclosed gardens, and were lovely peaceful places to have some refuge from the busy streets and cities around.

We found other quiet spots inside the grand cathedrals that are so prevalent in Europe, although personally after a very short while the religious component, especially to the art contained inside, starts to become a little too much for me.

So, it was lovely to find this beautiful green garden close in the cathedral in Middleburg. I loved the light coming through the old glass and will probably do a painting from one of my shots here. Another enjoyable place!

And on another day we explored beautiful Brugges--and of course had to buy some Belgian chocolates, do a boat ride on the canal, and again try some more beer--kriek for me, this time, on a warm summer afternoon in a lovely market square.l\

We had some other great days sailing (including crewing in one evening regatta in which we came second), and biking around the lcoal countryside--as yhou do in the lowlands!

And then it was on to London for a week exploring Jolly Olde and visiting with cousins. We actually did an orbit in the plane over central London, and saw the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London from the air on a sunny evening, and that was as close as we got. We rented a car and circumnavigated the big city--visiting Bedfordshire and Cambridge ( beautiful city, with its many colleges along the river--cathedrals and museums and full of young educated upperclass Brits). The countryside there was beautiful too--lovely rolling green hills with old churche steeples rising above old graveyards wurrounded by trees. Idyllic, you might say. More painting material!

Then a brief drive (by North American and African standards!) down to Kent for a pub lunch with some Aussie friends, and on to Bournemouth--where my roots are on my father's side. It was great to be back in the area after a visit four years ago.

As always in Britain, and despite all the complaints about the cold weather, I was stunned by the beautiful gardens everywhere--from cottages to huge public gardens--England was at its best and getting ready for any Olympic guests that might not care so much for the sports!

I really meant to get some photos of the lovely thatched cottages with the roses climbing up the walls around doors and windows--sadly I got one of a thatched roof with its animal made of straw on top (the thatcher's trademark, apparently) at sunset but reserve that photo for a future painting--you'll have to watch for that one in future!

And the last night in England was spent with some great cousins who have bounced and boomeranged from Bournemouth to Australia and just recently returned to England to live in a little town in the New Forest (actually 1000 years old!). It ws great to see them on the other side of the world although I'll surely miss them when I head back to Australia in early 2013.

We had a few walks on the moors of the New Forest, looking at the ponies there and getting a little more exercise after all those pub lunches and good food and drink.

Then it was farewell to England, and back for another two days of Brussels, the canal works of southern Belgium (amazing feats of engineering--one of the boat lifts was 73 metres high!) and a visit to the First World War battlefields and the last post at Ypres.

I'm not a war buff, or even fan, but it was a very moving moment to be at the monument that was created in Ypres for the unfound soldiers of WWI, all 125,000 of them, with all the names ritten, battalions and regiments from England, Scotland, South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada. At 8 pm, as every night since the early 1920s with the exception of 4 years during WW2 when the Germans had possession of Iepers (as Ypres is called in Belgium) the ceremony and the Last Post is played. The evening we were there, there were lots of Australians from private schools in Melbourne so "Advance Australia Fair" was also played. It was enough to bring tears to many faces, including our hosts, and my own.

A last day spent in Amsterdam (which didn't impress us as much as the countryside surrounding) was the end of our international travels for the year.

Next post will be about our Vancouver Island adventures for the summer--with some photos of fish, whales, and lots of spacious Canadian western scenery! Hope you enjoyed these last blogs--and are inspired by them to see some of this wonderful world, yourself!