furkew

Just came across this site.

http://www.xpat.nl/index1.html


Pleanty of info for anybody contemplating a move to Holland.

Casa Santo Estevo

Excellent web site.
We miss some of the Dutch food.
Where are you moving too?

furkew

We are off to Melbourne in July.

Spent 20 years over here, had enough generally. Too crowded, spent the last 20 years working 60/75 hours a week. Got a job in Melbourne 40 hours a week for a lot less money but plenty of spare time.

I'll miss some of the grub i'm sure. I still miss some of the British food after 20 years. I still have my PG tips, salt & vinegar crisps, cheddar & pickled onions shipped over here regularly. There is a however a big Dutch community in the area we are moving to, so hopefully we wont miss it (if we really want it !) the wife might (she's Dutch) but i'm sure we'll survive

How long where you over here for ?

Casa Santo Estevo

Irene is Dutch, and I am English. Personally I would prefer to live in The Netherlands than the UK. No matter how crowded it is.
Running your own company is hard work. As we have found out here in Spain.
Still it is enjoyable.

Good luck with your move.

Should have added may be your move could be something for Ik Vertrek or Man bijt Hond? We watch Dutch TV here in Galicia.

furkew

We had talked about Oz for for quite a few years, but never seriously until on holiday in France in 2005 with my brother in law. After a good few drinks we had a bet that the same time the next year, I would be emigrating to Oz, and he would lose weight.

August 2006 I had been to Oz on a reccy, received a job offer, and everything was on a roll, and my BIL was still a fat bastard

I like watching "Ik vertrek" and "een plek in de zon" and enjoy the goings on, but we do realize that its not all sunny beaches and one long holiday.

What kind of business do you have in Spain ?

Casa Santo Estevo

BIL? Do you mean Bum?

A friend of ours was featured in a Place in the sun.. we think he is in love with Amanda Lamb!
We run a casa rural business this time of year is nice and gentle, with customers every weekend. Summer time we are very busy.

Reading some of your posts in the past we gather you’re in the flower market trade. Are you going to continue that over in Oz?
You should be able to pick up BVN (it is free)in Oz so you can catch up with NOS and things, depending on the time differences.

furkew

BIL = brother in law

When I finally get down under, i'll be working for a company which sells and ships wholesale flowers all around Oz. They are based just outside Melbourne in large growing area. A lot of cloggies & ex cloggies up there, so hopefully the wife and kids will fit in ok.

My wife has an aunt in Melbourne, and she has some of the Dutch channels on the Sattelite. We are not really TV people. A british police series or a good detective of some type, and thats enough. I have had pirates of the caribbean on DVD for about 7 months already, and still havent watched it. Give me a terrace or patio in the sun/peace and quiet and i'm a happy chappy.

we have thought about possible doing something in holiday rentals in Oz when we get settled.

Casa Santo Estevo

BIL..yer sorry.
We don’t watch so much TV either. But Spoorloos is on tonight and Irene always watches that.

A b&b in Oz would be good. Here the Spanish tend to eat late so cooking and serving a meal in the evening means long hours for us.

furkew

My wife worked in the "horeca" for years over here. She now has her own nail studio in the house, but where we are moving to, I think that its too quiet to be able to do the same there.

I am an early morning person, and the wife is a late night person. Good marriage really. We hardly saw each other in the beginning, so we rarely had rows, but it works quite well really. I'm up at 6 on my days off (thats a lie in !), and she's up till midnight or later most days.

Casa Santo Estevo

We have looked at starting a B&B in The Netherlands, but to open something more than 2 or 3 bedrooms the rules stat you have to have a Horeca too. But with my limited skills in the Dutch language we could not do it. They say that Holland is ruled by rules and we found that out.
Shame as I love the place. I find it a very social place to live. But it can be noisy and you can’t seemly get away from traffic noise.



I would love to lie in sometimes but having guests in means rising early…for me!

furkew

I agree with the rules & regs, but I dont think its that much different around the world, and especially not Oz from what I have read. At least the language should be no problem.

I know what you mean about the noise & the traffic. The towns a re just getting bigger all the time, and one town merges into the next in the Randstad. If you head out of those areas, there are some really nice places in Holland worth living in, but i'm a bit stuck with my work. I need to be in the vicinity of one of the big flower auctions, and that meant living in the middle of it all.

never mind, I just need to be a bit patient, and the waiting will all have been worthwhile (I hope )

Casa Santo Estevo

We have looked around some nice areas. But if I lived in The Netherlands then I would want to live below sea level. It is just a thing I have. I know the defences are good, but I have a thing of loosing everything, most valueless, but irreplaceable, like photos etc.

Love to live up North, near the Hunnebedden, or south in Limburg.

But for now we are here in Galicia and enjoying it.
We went back for Christmas and New Year. Midnight and the fireworks are something to be believed. Beats eating 12 grapes to the chimes of the bells as they do here.

furkew

new year gets bigger every year with the fireworks im sure.

We live in a quite well to do estate, and it was just like the attack on Beruit all over again. It was absolutely fab. Thats one thing I will miss in Oz, the illegal fireworks

Casa Santo Estevo

The new laws regarding (bigger) fireworks seemed to have worked out well. Not so much illegal stuff about, we less people caught with them anyway.

Who is going to post on this section of the forum when you have left? Although there are one or two other poster they can hardly be called regular.

furkew

I dont know about less fireworks confiscated. This year was a record catch, but it did involve a lot of "legal" fireworks being sold illegally.

I found it no problem hold of plenty , and the illegal fireworks seem to get stronger every year as well

Even when i'm gone from here, i'll still be out there to help is possible, but because Holland is actually one of the easiest countries to settle because of the low language barrier (IMO), I think that people have fewer problems in settling as well, so fewer questions.

I actually think in a lot of aspects its easier than Oz to settle.