June 4 2014
We started the day with continual rain. It was quite crowded in the camper with six of us. We finally got organised and made the hour and a quarter trip to Dordrecht, the birthplace and home of my mother. We met Hans my cousin at his home in Dordrecht. His mother and my mother were sisters and his father and my father were brothers so we have exactly the same heritage. That is probably why he looks so much like my brother.
Alice, his wife, and Hans were very welcoming and again we were given lots of lovely Dutch food. Everyone enjoyed it very much. Their daughter, Erin, is currently in Borneo so we were unable to meet her. Also Hans' sister Andrea and brother Paul are away on holidays and were unable to visit. I hope they enjoyed their holidays as it is good to have a break.
Again we saw albums and photos of my parents on visits and my mother as a young girl. Hans' mother and my mother were very close and kept in close contact with each other when she went to Australia. They had also done their nursing together. My aunt and uncle had kept a diary of their visit to Australia and there was a recipe for making MacDonald's fries from the eighties.
Again Trevor had been compiling a family tree for my mothers side and had gone back to the 1800s. Hans had a family tree that Oom Johan, my uncle, had spent years putting together and it went back to 1500s. It also had what careers they had but it is all in Dutch. Every member of the family had one but my mother had passed away and I don't think one was sent to us in Australia. Hans will get a copy sent to me so that I can have a better look and Trevor can add to what he has.
Hans and Alice then took us to different locations in Dordrecht that were important in my life. Firstly we went to the Giessenmondestraat, which is where I stayed when my mother took my brothers and I back to the Netherlands in 1961. I can remember being there. It is only a small semi detached and my mother and nine brothers and sisters live there. Amazing they could all fit in.
From there we went to the Merwelanden where my grandmother went to a retirement home. We went past the factory, LIPS, where my grandfather worked as sheet metal worker. He started the first union movement there. That was a surprise to me. The retirement village was where I last saw my grandmother in 1974. In those days the shrubs and trees were much smaller and there was more vacant land.
The next stop was the old part of Dordrecht. It rained on and off whilst we walked a circuit of the city. The city of Dordrecht is an island so there are canals everywhere. It is the oldest city in the Netherlands. It also has the longest shopping street although many of the shops are closed. The first constitution was made in a building from the 1200s and it is still there. When you look up and down the streets the top of the houses, as they are two to three storeys are leaning at different levels. There has been refurbishment but the fronts of the buildings have to be preserved.
In the early days the only ways into Dordrecht was through gates of which only two are still standing. Apparently there were two men who tried to smuggle a sheep into Dordrecht and they were caught. They were nicknamed 'sheep head' and it is common to be called that if you come from Dordrecht.
We found a restaurant by the water at the junction of the Oude Maas and the Beneden Merwede. The sun came out so we could enjoy a drink. The canals were very busy with boats. It is the busiest canal in the Netherlands. There was even a boat that does cycling/ boating tours. You can cycle between towns and meet the boat at the next stop. So you get off and get on whenever you want. Hans and Alice didn't even know that that was available in Dordt so they learnt something new today. One of the bridges had to open to let the boat into one of the smaller canals within the city. The boats on the canal are very long some are very low in the water with the load.
The walk took us a few hours and I learnt a lot about my mothers home town. Hans and Alice are a very good guides and knowledgeable of the area. I thank them very much for the hospitality they showed us and I will miss them and the rest of the family. I will need to make another trip to the Netherlands again.
Love you all xxxx