Zaanes Schans & Amsterdam

Today (Sunday 4 July), we had a minor sleep-in, or sleep 'out' as they say in Holland because a sleep-in means you're dead!

While I got to check out a windmill museum a couple of days ago with Daan, the kids were particularly keen to see one for themselves so Sofie took us to an historic park in nearby Zaanes Schans to see several.

The park is a bit like a Dutch version of Sovereign Hill (except free), and also had a cheese-making area where Johanna surprised us all by trying out a few cheeses and making several not-so-discrete fly-bys to get more of the local product.

Also here was a clog factory that we remembered visiting with Johanna when she was 18 months old. Again we were keen to recreate an old pic from 8 years ago by sitting in a giant clog though it had been painted orange instead of yellow as we remembered it. Is there nothing sacred from the orange brigade!

Sofie then drove us 12kms further into Amsterdam. As the weather continues to be unusually hot for Holland, and the humidity quite draining, we managed only a basic walk around the city centre before

getting on a boat cruise of the canals. Last time we did this, Johanna cried constantly and was given a toy doll by the boat's captain to keep her happy. No such dramatics this time from the 10-year-old who instead took in the sites sitting beside her brother whom she kept in line every time he got figgety.

The day finished with a BBQ with Sofie, Daan and Paul. It was also really good to see Sofie's parents at last as I'd missed catching up with them when mountain bike riding a few days ago and

at Le Tour yesterday.

This is our last day in Holland as tomorrow we jump on a plane for a short flight to London where we'll finish up our trip later in the week. We've had an absolutely wonderful time so far and can't believe how much we've fit into just six weeks, but we're also getting tired and Sandra, Lachlan and I have a cold (hopefully Johanna can resist the trend).

Sofie and Daan have been outstanding hosts, and we're very grateful for their hospitality over the past week. It was great to see them in Austria, then now at their home, but over dinner we already started plotting the next catch-up ... perhaps somewhere different for all of us like Canada? Time will tell. Thanks for making us feel at home Sofie and Daan. Farewell Holland!