Down Under with Jan Mikaela Nora and Ella

You might think that European football is an exciting game for well trained athletes, fighting for the honour of their team or their country. Well, just so you know: the Aussies think that we Europeans are a bunch of sissies. “ What do you mean Football? That’s just soccer?!? ”. Aussies claim to play the real Football: Australian Rules. It’s a mix of soccer and rugby, spiced up by a lack of rules and a preference for physical contact. Jan watched his first live AFL game the other week with our neighbour in the local Footy stadium. The Adelaide Crows were playing North Melbourne in a sold out house: 40.000 people. Quite an event and very entertaining. The locals explained that this was nothing like soccer, with only two halves played by boys running after a (round) kiddie ball, dropping on the floor in agony after the very first instance of physical contact, shouting for a yellow card. On the contrary: Aussie rules Footy doesn’t even have yellow cards. A player can knock everyone off th...

Hollands national day 'Koninginnedag', celebrated last night with around forty Dutch immigrants and backpackers. Remarkable detail: it took place in the Belgian Beer cafe !!!

(Jan's phone conversation with RAA Road Watch late this afternoon….) "So let me try to recap this: you want us to break into your car, but the car key is not in your car?!?"     "Eh, yes" "Where is your car now?"     " At home"  "So why do you need us then?"     "What do you mean?" "If you are home already, you don't need the car to get home, right?     "Well yes, but the thing is that my car key is in the house. You see?" "No, I don't see"    " And we left the home key in the car"  "So why don't you grab the car key, open the car and get the home key?"     "Because I can't get into house either!" "Hang on: so you locked yourself out of your car and out of your house at the same time?!?"    "Something like that yes" "How the %$#%@ did you do that?"    "Don't even ask." "And now you want us to bre...

Summer is officially over: last week our sweet honeymoon with Australia was rudely interrupted by something we had not experienced in a long time: rain . For a couple of days we had stormy weather, and even some hail. For a moment it felt like back in Europe: getting up early and whinging about the cold (although it was still 20°C). But then we noticed an important difference: rather than being grumpy, the locals were actually very happy. Finally fresh air, and some relief for the poor dry countryside. Indeed the rain was desperately needed, as our photo impression “Around Adelaide” proves. So funny enough South Australia is hoping for a wet winter… The summer has been great though, with almost six months of sun, beach, BBQ’s and loads and loads of festivals around the city. Especially in Feb and March it was just impossible to keep up with everything going on. You need at least a couple of summers to be able to attend all activities. Click here for some photos of our first Summer in...

It was the longest heatwave ever in any capital city in Australia. For 16 days in a row Adelaide suffered temperatures from 35° to 40° C. The streets were like a sauna, the walls in the houses started sweating, and the air-cons worked around the clock. South Australia has not had any proper rain since December, so the state is on high alert for bush fires in the hills areas. Funny enough that’s when you see most umbrellas around town: used for sun protection! So what do you do to survive? If your name is Mikaela, you actually enjoy it and wished it could last a bit longer. However, most people stay inside, do nothing, and get a little grumpier every day. They just wait it out, and pray for some relief. Finally it arrived, with a forecast of around 25°C for next week. Still sunny and dry, but I bet Mikaela will dig up her winter coat soon ;-)

It took some effort and patience, but finally Mikaela found her way back into the job that she likes best. "Detail handbags" is the employer, with exclusive stores in Norwood, Burnside and downtown in Rundle street and Myer shopping centre. So from next week on she is back in business!

Sunday we were at the Clipsal 500 : the yearly V8 supercars race in a street circuit downtown. For days you could hear the rumble of racing engines all around town, even in our own backyard. The roar made Mikaela’s heart beat faster, so of course we had to go. It’s the biggest event of the year in Adelaide, with crowds of almost 300.000 people spread over four days. Twenty years ago this was the scene of the Formula1 - right downtown - but today it serves the 8 cylinder cars (Holden versus Ford), plus all kinds of other motorized vehicles. There’s even a show of jetfighter airplanes. All heavy and noisy stuff! And although the day ended a bit more subtle, with a concert of Santana, we could still hear it when we closed our eyes at night: VRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM ……