Sat, 12 Apr 2003

author Tim	location Berekuil Camp Ground, Utrecht, The Netherlands
posted 21:30 CEST 13/04/2003	section Europe2002/Europe/Netherlands/Netherlands 1 ( all photos )

Getting to know Amsterdam ( 15 photos )
Liz and I awoke quite early on Saturday since we had to get to Utrecht, about half an hour train ride south of Amsterdam by 10am. Sebastian and Jessi managed to drag themselves out of bed for breakfast (a strange all-in-one bacon and eggs mixture which worked suprisingly well) back at the hotel (we were staying in an annex building up the road), but later we found they went back and slept until midday!
Then Liz and I wandered up to the station once again, now experts (or so we thought) at navigating the Dutch transport system. We did make it fairly successfully through to where we were going, albeit on a train which stopped at places with only one other building besides the station.
Utrecht, our destination, was where we were to meet Donna, who runs a website which we had chosen as our source of campervan. After withdrawing yet more cash from the bank at the station, we rang her and she helpfully picked us up.
After quite a lot of stress the other week when she didn't have a van for us yet we had booked ferry tickets back, she managed to find a van down in a small town called Sprang-Capelle about seventy kilometers away from a dealer she had previously got vans from. She has been so helpful for us, driving down there previously to take photos and send to us, and this day was no exception. She again drove the seventy kilometers, this time in a blue campervan with me in the front and Liz in the back.
This was our first ever experience of being on the "wrong" side of the road, and boy are we glad that someone else was driving! Before she moved to The Netherlands in 1971 she was in America, and hence has always driven that way. A few hairy moments of tourists(!) not quite knowing where they were going and we eventually made it. Along the way we had seen some great little back streets of the country that we never expected to see.
The dealer in Sprang-Capelle, a Mr Timmermans, spoke only Dutch so whether he and his workers were laughing at these silly Australian tourists buying a van we will never know, but he took us for a drive in it to the post office (registration documents had to be organised), and all seemed ok.
Liz is hassling me to put the computer away and go to sleep now, so more news later!

(More 22:49 BST 15/04/03, from Platform 4, Farringdon Station, London, England)

It seems that my stop in journal-writing lasted a little longer than expected, since we are now safely back in London, so I'll try to pick up where I left off.
It's a NEW CAR! (or bus/van)

After various transactions and a quick look-over of the bus, Liz and I said "yes", and the deal was done! We were now the proud owners of a Big Red Bus, which, contrary to earlier plans, we have decided deserves the name Rosie. Bet you can't guess why. Various other names were tried but didn't quite fit, including a close second of Mr Whippy, but Rosie it is!
The next task was to get her from Sprang-Capelle to Utrecht, my first ever experience of driving on the left-hand side of a vehicle and the right-hand side of the road. I have to say that I didn't really do much other than follow Donna in her blue van in front of us, oblivious to road signage and speed limits (made more interesting as Donna's speedo didn't work) as I got used to driving the bus.
Changing gears with my right hand proved reasonably easy, and overall it was quite like driving the big SES truck (quick mention to Kogarah for winning the Rescue comp - yay guys!), only backwards and with no power steering. And Liz sitting next to me giving a running commentary of everything I was about to hit!
But no disasters came, and we made it back to Utrecht with a quick pit stop to relax in the sun at McDonalds (can't get away from them).
It wasn't quite time for our adventure in the bus to begin, so we jumped back on the train to Amsterdam, hoping our newly-purchased expensive posession would be ok parked there in Donna's yard.
Back in Amsterdam, we caught up with Sebastian and Jessi who had slept in until 12:30 (still used to the uni lifestyle - it will be all over soon...), and then wandered around the local touristy flea-market. Like other places all around Amsterdam, there is plenty of live entertainment in the squares, and even more people waiting to relieve you of your wallet while you watch it.
The remainder of the day was spent having a few relaxing pilseners and coffees in various local establishments - a great way to soak up the local culture as it unfolds around you. Dinner was Mexican at a nice little place, far better than the terrible service we recieved at a Haagen-Daas earlier on.

(customised)