Kees, Minke en Laura
wish you all a happy and prosperous 2013
Kees
enjoying his early retirement, and Minke her two-year employment
break, we are enjoying our free-time, spending it partially in
Thailand, The Netherlands, and Spain.
On her
way to Australia, Laura was able to enjoy a two month
stop-over in Thailand. It was good to be together for a longer
time here, and among other things the three of us took part in a
DS Citroen weekend trip to Ayutia, together with eleven other 'frogheads'.
The DS is unique among classic cars in Thailand, particularly
because also the not extremely rich can own them. It was an
enjoyable trip with many cars, impressive ruins and a closing
dinner.
Laura started the year of 2012 well
with a semester abroad at the University of Sydney, Australia.
Though Laura enjoys Maastricht, it is a slight down-size from
Bangkok, leading to her quickly feeling right at home in Sydney. She
got a room in the University Owned Housing on the Sydney University
campus and made plenty of International and Australian friends.
Minke and Kees came to visit for the Easter holidays, and the three
of us traveled to the Whitsunday Islands, where among other things
we did an impressive three day diving trip on a large sailing yacht.
The trip back to Sydney was done over land in a campervan, to be able to explore the Australian outback and other
no-worries-mate sights. If anyone is thinking of migrating, we would
certainly recommend Australia: a beautiful empty country full of
friendly people.
This summer, the two
of us took ten days to travel with the E-type through France, from chambre d'hôte
to chambre d'hôte, and via the Pyrenees to our holiday house on the
Costa Brava, in the mean time stopping at every old-timer museum we
could find, including the one in le Mans. The drive through the
Pyrenees was very impressive and the E-type behaved extremely well,
apart from her tendency to waste excessive amounts of oil. In this
picture, we are crossing the mountain ridge, with a view of the natural park
of Ordessa.
This year, Minke was offered a part- time job at a St Andrews
school about 30 minutes drive from our house. The part-time deal
however did not last long, and she is now a full-time Kindergarten
teacher. She does enjoy her work, there is a nice working atmosphere
and the campus is big, with a lot of room for her children to learn
and play! She also has a good relationship with her colleagues. On
the other hand, the first weeks were intensive, particularly because
outside of school hours there is still a lot of preparation and work
to be done, and a constant feeling that the work is never
ending.
Banjer our dog is now 15, and is becoming old rapidly. She takes
pills with the help of which she remains a happy and cheerful dog,
but things such as walks to the beach seem to have become too
demanding for her.
This year we also had many visitors here in Thailand. Anton and
Noor visited while on a trip through Thailand and Burma, Frank and
Barbara came to test the waters here in terms of catamaran sailing
and scuba diving, Richard popped by too, and as usual Paula was here
for a couple of weeks around Christmas and New Years. Also Kees'
sister Ineke and her son Gideon were here for a couple of days around
New Years Eve.
The clock keeps
ticking ever faster, and Kees
turned 60 this year. We celebrated accordingly, with champagne on an
idyllic island about an hours sail away from Pataya. Laura turned 21,
which we celebrated by sending a hot-air lantern into the air for
her with good luck wishes. Back in Maastricht Laura is completing
her last year of her Bachelor of Public Health at the University
College Maastricht. She is enjoying her time there. She also
regularly visits international friends in the area, such as Paris,
Gent and Middelburg. For Christmas and New Years she was in Thailand
again, where she enjoyed being home and also did some traveling with
her boyfriend Oliver who was traveling through.
three of us took part in a 
Minke and Kees came to visit for the Easter holidays, and the three
of us traveled to the Whitsunday Islands, where among other things
we did an impressive three day diving trip on a large sailing yacht.
The trip back to Sydney was done over land in a campervan, to be able to explore the Australian outback and other
no-worries-mate sights. If anyone is thinking of migrating, we would
certainly recommend Australia: a beautiful empty country full of
friendly people.
This summer, the two
of us took ten days to travel with the E-type through France, from chambre d'hôte
to chambre d'hôte, and via the Pyrenees to our holiday house on the
Costa Brava, in the mean time stopping at every old-timer museum we
could find, including the one in le Mans. The drive through the
Pyrenees was very impressive and the E-type behaved extremely well,
apart from her tendency to waste excessive amounts of oil. In this
picture, we are crossing the mountain ridge, with a view of the natural park
of Ordessa. 
This year, Minke was offered a part- time job at a St Andrews
school about 30 minutes drive from our house. The part-time deal
however did not last long, and she is now a full-time Kindergarten
teacher. She does enjoy her work, there is a nice working atmosphere
and the campus is big, with a lot of room for her children to learn
and play! She also has a good relationship with her colleagues. On
the other hand, the first weeks were intensive, particularly because
outside of school hours there is still a lot of preparation and work
to be done, and a constant feeling that the work is never
ending. 
The clock keeps
ticking ever faster, and Kees
turned 60 this year. We celebrated accordingly, with champagne on an
idyllic island about an hours sail away from Pataya. Laura turned 21,
which we celebrated by sending a hot-air lantern into the air for
her with good luck wishes. Back in Maastricht Laura is completing
her last year of her Bachelor of Public Health at the University
College Maastricht. She is enjoying her time there. She also
regularly visits international friends in the area, such as Paris,
Gent and Middelburg. For Christmas and New Years she was in Thailand
again, where she enjoyed being home and also did some traveling with
her boyfriend Oliver who was traveling through.