Sunday, at home.

Saturday: A quick bus ride into Amersfoort where we hopped into the train for Amsterdam little knowing that people had been hopping into things and arriving in Amsterdam for at least a solid 12 hours before we got there at lunchtime.

The place was chocker. It was stinking hot in the very high twenties without a cloud in the sky and no wind. There were gazillions of people who’d come to town for the fine weather and a Saturday out. More obvious were the teams of people identifiable by the fact that they all stuck together and spoke with a Scottish accent and tried to arrange seating for 17 at a restaurant or those wearing naff printed t-shirts advertising that they’re out on a hens night. This lot sounded like they came from England. And then there were the four mad kiwis in amongst it all…suffering from the heat and hunger and just the bustle of the streets. It took us at least an hour of walking around until we finally found a restaurant with a table free.

Pizza, beer and Coke Zero suited each individual and shortly after that we went on a quick scoping mission for our hopefully more leisurely return tomorrow Monday – Imelda must have more shoes.

And now we sit out in the evening heat of Sunday night...the kids are tucked up in bed and we're reviewing our day. We trekked the paths in the neighbourhood of our cottage today and just hung out together. A family ritual has evolved where I now download whatever pictures we've taken for the day and I arrange them as a slide show on the lappy.

We’ve been caught short here today with only a couple of beers in the fridge and absolutely no shops open all day. Fortunately we have some kai for tea but if we had a cat it would have gone hungry. The supermarkets close early on a Saturday night too so you have to be prepared with provisions tucked away.

We had another lovely day and managed to go to bed with quenched thirsts and full tummies due to The Cook’s dash on a borrowed antique bike from the office for chocolate milk and fizz and his spicy chicken (prepared the night before).