Europe Part 2

Werchter, unbelievable. 70 000 people gathered together on a piece of land. Just to enjoy the music. Its been 5 years since i left the meadow to fly to the outback. And i`m standing , probably better said, dancing on the meadow again, with friends from the old days and new days. Dancing around a rainbow. Listening to up to date song lyrics for 5 days. And closing the festival with the most beautiful rainbow i ever saw and that caused by just one simple beer.

Time to organise my own goodbye party. A youth house where old wall remains from long last times still exists.And again a travel in time. A reunion of the three musketeers. Time does really can stop and live its own rhythm and suddenly catch up again. Especially early in the morning.

Time to fly back, no, plans don`t hold. Life has a strange way to interfere with your own design of the future. My heart in love wasn`t ready to go back and disappear in the bush. My heart wanted to go to the Netherlands. So the next month i spend more time in Holland then my holiday destination. So i stole the car of my sister, and was gone. Not a good idea, one morning the car gave up on me.

No problem, i thought, one of the survival demands, is knowing how a car works. Full of confidence, i open the bonnet of the car. Where was the engine? The only thing i saw where wires , computer chips and a big black cube what supposed to be the engine. A good thing i didn't have to walk another 437 km to find a mechanic. Thanks to the computer technology , car mechanics are around every corner of the street, or is the way around. So, i ended up , to wait a week to get to know that there `s just a small leak in the fuel line. Computer didn`t recognize the problem. No, give me a car where you can see the engine, fuel line, oil filters, air filters and all that other stuff that keeps an engine running.

Driving from Belgium to Netherlands, and from the Netherlands to Belgium, we also managed to get two stones in the window to crack it, in two different cars. How lucky were we. The next fourteen years will be fantastic.

A day out in Amsterdam, a day out at the maasplassen, Spending a relaxing weekend in loppersum, a spa and beauty, A late birthday gift to me and Bianca, A luxury place where mud and gold , steam and heat makes a person 10 years younger. A head massage that relax you so much that you start making noises without knowing, and suddenly waking up by hearing the laughing in the background.

Time goes so fast, time just is a pain in the ass, when you feeling good. Even so fast that i even didn`t had the change to catch up with all of my friends. This was one of those holidays that change who you are. It wasn`t really a holiday, it was a visit in the past of my live and a visit for the future. And living in a complete other culture for the first time you notice things where you never payed attention at in your previous culture.And suddenly you start missing them. A reunion with family brings you back closer.

This time i definitely left parts of my heart back in Belgium and mainly in the Netherlands. This time stepping on the plane was not an easy thing to do. It was not saying goodbye, but going away to come back.

Europe Part 1

What a trip it has been. Going to Belgium has not been a normal Holiday. But maybe what can you expect if you live for several years amount the wildlife of the rock..

Where do i start. I probably start at the moment that i set foot in the country that i have been born. The moment that i landed , i knew something was gonna happen. A country where the summer colder is then the winter in the outback. Mmmmmh , wrong luggage. Only summer clothing, but no winter gear. Going from a nation where the dress code a singlet, short and tongues are to a country where the clothes makes the man. I felt like a savage after a flight of 24 hours, and probably because people kept staring at me.

So straight to the shops and hair salon, a complete make over that would tip on those tv shows. First thing was to scare the shit out some nieces and cousins. The fact that one of them was a hairdresser probably had something to do about it. And with the professional guiding of my sister i managed to get the outside look a bit more European. The inside was still savage. Amazing what 5 years outback does to somebody.

Once the rumour was spread, the invitations were coming in. A beer there , a meal over there, and another meal somewhere else. So the following month, i was literally eating like a pig and drinking like an empty vessel. And what do you reckon? Eating kangoroo and flies comparing with a pepper steak, vol au vent, american prepare, own prepared cheesecroquetes, and much much more.

It was a good thing my sister had the brilliant idea to put me at work on my holiday, to loose the weight i was gaining after every meal.

Even going out was a mission, learning to drive on the right side again, or is it the wrong side? Even going for a piss was dangerous. Living amongst the deadliest creatures of the world you wouldn't imagine going for a leak would be life threatened. But it is! I almost drowned when i walked towards a fence and dropped a meter in a hideous waterway in the Belgian bush.

Going to a dance place for semi young people, where woman are hitting your butt to have your attention. The last time they ever touched my butt was when i was 5 years old and who knows what i did wrong that day. Strange to be chasing wildlife and suddenly to become wildlife yourself.

And how could i forget, the reunion of the nieces and cousins. It was a step back in time. We all felt like 16 years young. And feeling 16 years again, somebody came up with the crazy idea to rent some sumi suites and have fun with it. It seemed a great idea, but after a knee injury, a black out , dog injury and an ankle dislocation and a lot of hurting muscles, we decided that we were grown ups and would behave like that.

Countdown

The countdown started. My last week that i`ll see the different moods of the rock. The last days of living in a remote resort.

But whats been happening the last weeks here?

First i had an Easter break. Flew with a good mate to Melbourne and drove with his mother her dog chuckie and anty to Jarvis bay. A 40 year birthday party of his brother.Chuckie had the time of his life, was so exciting that we had to bring him twice back to life. First time he dropped dead while eating and after the brothers CPR he came back to the world. Second time he dropped was while running around the bonfire. The boys were prepared now. They had a diving bottle with self made breathing apparatus prepared in case of emergency and chuckie came back again.

The next days we went snorkeling and fishing.The snorkel day was as usual. I was floating and holding the bacon in the middle of the ocean with no intention to leave while the other guys were chasing fish and sharks. No, water and no ground under my feet is not one of my favorite situations that i want to be in.

The fishing day was nice and relaxing. The guys all caught a fish except me, so far my beginners luck. The only challenge was having a pee in the middle of the ocean. Standing on the edge of the boot , a boot that's moving up and down with the waves. Hearing my water connect with the water of the ocean while fisher boots are passing by. And after drinking whole day you can imagine that it is not a quick act. Again a situation that`s not really flattering.

The last days of the easter break we spent in Melbourne.

Walking around during the day among more people that i saw during the whole time i have been living at the rock. And at night enjoying the beautiful nightlife whats absent in Yulara.

Back in yulara, for the last chapter. My work ute is back in Alice and i`m testing my lady. Testing my new suspension and shock absorbers on the dirt. Flying trough the dirt and chasing other driving clouds in the distance. When a car drives trough the dry dirt it leaves a dust cloud visible for miles. Having fun and have been able to catch some clouds , except one that was keeping his distance. I was already wondering by myself , how fast they had to go, probably a crazy local. When the cloud suddenly went straight up. Mmmh, strange. But when i came out of the corner and saw all food, eski, clothes and parts of the car spread on the dirt, i know what happened. A juicy van, rental car, was standing on the side of the road. Probably half the size they normal are and with horizontal front wheels. Stopped and walked over, prepared for the worst. Two Germans guys struggled out the car with a few bruises and in shock .They managed to roll over three times and to walk out with just bruises. Even today , i still can`t believe it.

Till the last day, before i`ll say goodbye to the rock, its working overtime. A kind of emergency situation at the power station. A few engine are not producing electricity and need to be dismantle to send for repair. And i`m talking about engines, just to dismantle one, you need two weeks full with overtime. The driving shaft only weights a few ton.

A good thing that most of my things are already packed, and that my lady is anxious to get on the road.

Preparations

Its getting closer. the time to say farewell to the red centre.

My home since the last five years. Since the moment that i made the decision to leave, my interests in the job left with it. Its hard to get motivate while you working on your own and the job is no more a challenge , more a way to pass time. A good thing , that there a few big jobs , that demands more

few hands then the lazy ones of mine. Those hands motivate me to keep going. Keep working till the time arrives to step in my car. and when the boys from Alice are here, its always a bit of a true bush job. A team that is motivated to work hard and to party hard, don`t forget the last, probably the most important.

The outback is getting a more familiar place. The outback i`m talking about is the bar here at the resort. An international place in the middle of the true red centre. Its funny to see the faces of the internationals fixed in their own local language , when suddenly a singlet and tongs dressed black guy mixes in the conversation. Its like if you caught a little child doing something secretly." Merde, il nous comprend" or "verdomme, die gast verstaat ons". but all by all, its nice to hear

the different opinions, and different reasons people come to a place like the rock.

And once a while you meet people where you really feel a connection. Where the conversation becomes interesting and talking becomes an interaction between minds. And time is no longer existing. And so you end up drinking your last beer as fast you can before you got electrocute with a friend from new york. Yep, you read it right, a big storm put the outback completely under water, electrical tripping out, water seeping trough every hole in a building that's been build when they were expecting a

drought of 30 years. Viva la outback!

And the rest of my time i spend preparing every thing i need to start my unknown road again. Starting with the most important thing. My ever trusting lady. i neglected her a bit the last year, so i had to make up a bit. i bought a lot of stuff to make her happy again, and also ordered a complete make over, so she would feel a couple years younger again.

New leaf springs and new shock absorbers, extractors, and a full check up. She also gets a new bull bar that's winch compatible. a matter of not getting stuck in the muddy outback. On top she gets a rooftop tent, handy to keep the crocs out of your swag. And at least a little generator to fabricate electricity in the middle of now where to start a crash party on my own and the local animals.

The first signs of the winter are here. The temperatures dropped 20 degrees in two days. Waking up with 25 degrees and putting a beanie and jacket on because the cold really gets too your bones. Wonder what i was thinking about going to Europe. Seeing myself standing at the summer festival dressed in a Siberian winter outfit.

Partee

2011

He, its the end of January. Xmas and new year has been passed.

Happy new year wishes to my "die hard" fans, who still have the courage to come back to my blog. Here at the red centre, xmas and new year day were just camouflaged as a normal day. In my case anyway. I can imagine that at the outback resort plenty alcohol and new year kisses have been available.

While half Australia is under water, the red centre is sunny and around the 45 degrees and my finches are back . In my garden of eve, 107 finches are chattering away. Amazing little buggers. So energetic, never a moment to relax, flying around, from Branch to

pond and from pond to Branch. Its really a spectacle, you barely see the tree and sky, everywhere little birds. I wonder if they also have the same human problems. "hey , you there, move your big ass so i can have a drink too" , "Hey stupid cunt, you fucked my wife so i`m gonna throw you of my branch". "hey look at that pussy, what the fuck is he wearing?". Or would they just flying around and just doing what they doing. Imagine a life like that. No educated morals , no forced laws by a minority of the population, no social rules to follow and to fit in.

Oh , i bought myself a new years present.A ticket to my old roots. I`m gonna visit Belgium again after 5 years. In June and July , i`ll be visiting old memories. Even catching up with a festival, werchter , here i come. I`m gonna throw a party too, Saturday the 16 July. So, if you read this, you are invited.

It`s the perfect time for a change, so I resigned of work, still have to work till end may, but after Belgium, i start completely new again. Fly back to Alice, and step in my car and drive to an unknown destination, part of it. I`ll be driving to west Australia, and travelling along the coast line. I`m finished with Yulara, it has been good, but is time to move on. i`m back on my feets, saved a bit of money , so time to seek out my precious piece of land to settle down. Or maybe just driving on.