New Year's Day: a cold dive in Scheveningen

We have had two firsts: our first ever New Year's Eve in The Netherlands as a family. In our recollection we have never been home since Piet and Mary left The Netherlands, now 24 and 26 years ago. We were either "home abroad" or skiing in France. What surprised us the most was the constant fireworks during the day, culminating at midnight when all hell broke loose...it felt like Bagdad being bombed! We have similar memories from our youth, but for the girls this was a real eye-opener.

The second first was the New Year's dive at Scheveningen beach, a tradition we have seen on television before, and always wondered why people want to go swimming in freezing temperatures. This year the girls were adamant to join, and they convinced their nephews Bart and Max to come over from Belgium as well. Their timing was perfect, they managed to get tickets (yes, you need them!), which were sold out very quickly. There is just a nominal entry fee, partly to support a charity,  as the dive is sponsored by Unox, a famous Dutch sausage and soup brand. Everybody gets an orange hat, and at noon 10,000 people were sprinting towards the sea to get wet and cold. Luckily the weather was reasonable: dry, 7 degrees, but with a chilly wind. Piet came a bit later and never saw the kids, and made some pictures from a distance; the main beach is closed off for the participants. After the dive there was hot soup for all the swimmers. And in the afternoon there were many orange hats walking and cycling in The Hague.

Waiting for the start in front of the Kurhaus

Sprinting towards the sea

The "afterparty": getting dressed, and then some hot soup

You can see who is sponsoring this event....

After the dive: Dorien, Max, Bart and Paula

Beau and a house move

We are having a busy Christmas holiday. Because Paula is starting her final IB exams straight after the break we decided not to go skiing and stay in The Hague. This allows the ladies to spend a lot of time with Beau, who is back in top shape, after a nagging injury in the spring. Almost every day they are riding him, both on the beach and in the stable. They also have been playing with a new toy: a ring around Beau's neck as only means to guide him. He is responding well to this (no piece of iron in his mouth), and Dorien has even been jumping with him.

In addition we have all been very busy with the move of Mary's parents to The Hague. They were living in a terraced house in Den Helder, a small town in the north, and a 2 hour drive away. They had enough of the house (3 stories, front- and back garden) and Den Helder as well, and were keen to move into an apartment without stairs and closer to us. We found something nearby, on the 5th floor of an apartment block, with a lift and a storage room, which is very suitable for them. It needs some renovation, but they could move in straight away. With help of Mary's brother (and a moving company) we moved them this weekend. Now they can start their new life....

 Dorien and Beau riding in the dunes with Eline and Jim

 Beau and Jim on the beach

Mary's parents at the stable

Dorien is jumping with just a neck ring

 The new apartment

Paula enjoying the view at her grandparents

Bikes, dogs and horses

Another busy weekend for the Lambregts family. First the dogs of the neighbours arrived, for a weekend of dog sitting (see also post of 13 May 2013). They definitely like it (lots of attention!), but have to suffer a little bit due to the much longer walks they have to make. Especially since we bought a "dog ball thrower", a very popular device of Dutch dog owners. Perfect for the beach, as we can throw a tennis ball much further than normal, and let Britt run a bit. This is something we have to take easy, otherwise we risk having to carry a pretty heavy dog home. Piet and Mary took Britt and little Fleur to the beach twice, the second time under the enjoyment of a heavy rain shower (with a beautiful rainbow!).

On Saturday Piet participated in the Rabo Beach Challenge for the fourth time; two loops on the beach, from Scheveningen to Katwijk and back. This time the weather was perfect, 5 degrees, little wind and even some sunshine. There were 1300 other cyclists, and Piet finished his 44 km in a little more than 2 hours.

On Sunday the girls did their first dressage exams with Beau, after nearly 2 years of ownership. They practiced during the week, and passed the F6 (Dorien) and F8 tests (Paula) without too many problems, for Beau this level is still a piece of cake. His limit is the rider on his back! Next time Mary will have a go as well.

Fleur, Piet and Britt and the "dog ball thrower"

Impression of the Rabo Beach Challenge

Piet finishing on Scheveningen boulevard

Bonus picture: Beau and the 3 ladies at sunset

Cape Town revisited

Piet made his fourth trip to Cape Town this year, for the project in South Africa he is working on. This time a number of meetings were scheduled: with the South African authorities, an environmental contractor, and two public participation sessions. The latter is a requirement for every project in South Africa and comprises of an open house where people can come to view project information and ask questions, which is followed by a presentation and Q&A session. Piet even had to do media training for this, to learn how to answer difficult questions. As his project is very far offshore there was little interest in these sessions, only a few people turned up, mainly oil & gas contractors looking for work and some fisheries representatives.

As he had to stay over the weekend this presented an opportunity for some sightseeing. He rented a car on Saturday drove to Cape of Good Hope, some 30 km to the south of Cape Town. He was joined by a teammate, and they made many stops on the way. The landscape on the Cape Peninsula is stunning, and it is clear why this is a popular tourist destination. After the Cape they stopped at Boulders (penguins), Muizenberg (surfers beach) and Buitenverwachting wine estate (closed). The day ended up at a colleague’s house for an afternoon beer. On the Sunday Piet went out by himself, to Hout Bay, meeting up with two colleagues from the Shell Cape Town office. He borrowed a bike, and went out on a 60 km cycle along the Cape Peninsula roads. This is a true cyclists heaven, with rolling climbs (not too steep) and stunning views. Piet will be back! In the afternoon he visited Groot Constantia wine estate and Kirstenbosch Gardens, thus completing a 2-day tour of the Cape. Hopefully Mary can come over as well on one of the future “business” trips.

Noordhoek Beach

Piet at Cape of Good Hope

Pinguins at Boulders

Muizenberg Beach, a surfers paradise

Andrew, Peter and Piet at Chapman's Peak

Constantia wineries, in the southern suburbs of Cape Town

A rig in Saldanha Bay harbour

Autumn break in France

The girls had their autumn mid term break after less than 6 weeks at school. Like the previous years we went to the house in France for a week of relaxing.... 

The weather was very variable, with a  few days of solid rains, and some "Indian summer" days which felt like real summer. We spend a lot of time in the garden, pruning the trees, playing with our new lawn mower and picking apples (and eating several varieties of apple dishes). The girls also brought a lot of homework, especially Paula who is working hard in her final year on a number of essays. Luckily there was also time for some hikes and cycle rides. Piet struggled up his "home climbs" of Col d'Ornon and Alpe d'Huez, still suffering from a bad cold the week before. We also did some riding lessons with Paula (with a car!), who turned 18 at the start of the break. Only one near miss...  and she will continue proper lessons in The Hague.

As Paula has her first set of final exams early January we are skipping our Christmas skiing holiday this year. We will probably come back in the spring. 

View on the lake of Allemont 

The ladies at a fountain in Allemont 

Playing badminton in the garden 

Walking the village pony Image

Paula's International Award

Paula carried out her third trip for the International Award, this time for the Gold Level (see also posts of July 31st 2013 and June 25th 2012). With 3 friends she planned a 4 day-3 night hike through the Belgian Ardennes, along the Ourthe river and covering some 80 kilometers of a Grand Randonnee trail. They travelled down by train to a village south of Liege, followed by a 20 km hike, arriving at the campsite just before dusk. The next 2 days the schedule was less strenuous, but they still spend 8 hours on foot! The weather was not that great, but luckily it was mostly dry during daytime. The Award organisation provided a supervisor, and on the last day he allowed a shorter walk, and also drove them back to Maastricht, avoiding a slow train ride through the Ardennes. Paula's friends didn't sleep that well, as they forgot to bring a thermal mat, and also suffered from the rain at night (noise on tent!). Despite this the girls had a lot of fun. The last part for Gold Award is a week long stage in a community service organisation, but she will postpone that till after her final exams.

 Camping along the Ourthe

 Charlotte and Lara playing with corn

Paula and Charlotte on top of the world - in the Ardennes 

Survivors: Rachel, Paula, Lara and Charlotte

Summer holidays (part II)

The second part of the holidays started with the arrival of nephews Bart and Max, who flew over by themselves for an outdoors “bootcamp”. Physical activities were planned each day, and we ended up cycling, hiking and climbing a Via Ferrata, and in between taking care of Beau. At the end of week Piet’s sister turned up with the rest of the family and the bootcamp culminated in a bike ride up Alpe d’Huez where Bart (15 years old) beat Piet, Dorien set the female Lambregts record of 1 hour 21 minutes, and also Paula and Max cycled up without stopping. After a picnic we continued to Col de Sarenne, a small back road, but now famous due to the passage of the Tour de France. The week ended at the pizzeria, with the kids making  lots of plans for next year. Not sure if Piet can cope with all this activity again though…
The following week Paula and Dorien negotiated 2 days at Cecile, in the Ardeche, hooking up with some old friends and horses, enjoying rides and playing games, like previous times….unfortunately it is quite far away. Piet’s other sister and family stayed for a few days,  on the way home from the Provence. The earlier pattern was repeated with a hike and bike ride, only less strenuous this time (but still managed to get 6 people on top of Col d’Ornon).
The last few days were spend relaxing, working in the garden, cleaning inside and outside the house, and riding Beau. As always the holidays have flown past. This year we unfortunately didn’t manage to have an overnight stay in a mountain hut, but we managed to have day trips to a few of them. After Beau’s colic scare we didn’t want to leave him in someone else’s care, and towards the end we simply ran out of time. The drive back was very smooth, and everybody is back to normal again: the girls to school, Piet to the office, Beau at his stable and Mary managing the whole zoo around that!

Dorien in the Via Ferrata near Mizoen


A short rest in St. Christophe, on the way to La Berarde


Cycling back from La Berarde


Refuge des Sources, high above Villard Notre Dame


Bart taking a shower near Villard Notre Dame


Max taking a rest during a hike to Refuge des Sources


Max riding on Beau


Piet, Marc and Nel at Lac Lauvitel


Just like the Tour de France: Bart and Piet climbing Alpe d'Huez


At the finish: Bart and Piet

All the finishers on Alpe d'Huez: Bart, Dorien, Max, Paula and Piet 

 

Refuge de la Lavey

Dorien picking raspberries

 And the finishers on Col d'Ornon: Carla, Sam, Romy, Dorien, Piet and Paula