We are here!

In Holland. In a little village called Brielle, which if you google map it, looks like an island.

It is very cute looking out of our hotel window with paved narrow streets and Dutch brick buildings. Funny that, being surprised to find Dutch brick buildings in Holland, but they are so different from the brick buildings in New Zealand. I know it’s corny, but here is the picture outside our hotel room.

The main street of Brielle taken from our hotel room. 
Very pretty and very Dutch.

We picked up a brand new Peugeot 308  from Europcar at Schiphol airport and managed to slip back into driving on the wrong side of the road,  fortunately because we had an hours driving through fast busy traffic to get south of Amsterdam down to Rotterdam and out to this pretty little village.

We are both pretty exhausted after the two back to back 12 hour flights and take my advice, you don’t want to visit Shanghai, unless you really want to see why we need to hang on in desperation to the much maligned Resource Management Act that so many Kiwi developers bad mouth at every opportunity. 

China should be a compulsory case study for anyone in business in New Zealand. It has the appearance of unbridled exploitation with the evidence of environmental destruction stretching to the horizon in every direction.

The airport feels exactly like that of a country that has lurched from the peasant era into the 21st century where, despite the presence of technology, everything had to be done by hand over and over again by so many people, all dressed in suits from the 1970’s.

It really was a relief to be taking off in a KLM 747 and experiencing food that put Air NZ to shame. They really need to step up to the plate (pun intended) and stop trying to save cents in areas that really matter to the customers.

We were charged an extra US$100 by the Chinese baggage handlers, a fee we had already paid in Auckland to cover the whole flight, but it is no use trying to argue, so we coughed up and were just glad to get out of there.

Schiphol airport is wonderfully efficient, friendly and urbane, and we probably stood out as travelers from the back blocks but what the heck, we will scrub up later and blend in with this well dressed crowd. Might need a shopping trip to the local C&A’s though.

We are both keen to get out and drive to the marina down the road near Oostvoorne and see our boat, which for Anna will be the first time.

How exciting.