Three things I miss most about The Netherlands

Over three years ago I said goodbye to the Netherlands to pursue my dream of traveling and living abroad. Even though Australia truly feels like my second home now, there are some things I still dearly miss about the Netherlands. I obviously miss my family and friends the most, but there are a few other, more unexpected things I miss as well. Can you guess what they are?

1. Good cheese!

Oh my god. I’m such a biiiig lover of cheese. The older the cheese, the better. In The Netherlands we have cheese dedicated shops, which we call ‘De Kaasboer’ (the cheese farmer, haha). Here you can taste and try any cheese to your liking so you’ll eventually end up taking the tastiest one home. There’s a good reason they call the Dutchies “kaaskoppen” (cheese heads). It’s because we simply. love. cheese.

Australia is less of a cheesy country. Even though you can find lots of different cheeses (even sometimes some boring Dutch ones, like Gouda) at the supermarket, I haven’t found a cheese yet that makes my tastebuds celebrate. And what’s up with that tasteless yellow plastic you call cheddar, Straya?!

Luckily I have the sweetest parents in the world who occasionally send me big chunks of cheese all the way from The Netherlands. I can’t wait for my next delivery 😉

2. Riding my bike

If you’re Dutch, you ride a bike. Period. They say riding a bike for Dutchies is like breathing. The reason why I don’t have a drivers license? Because I owned a bike!

During summer last year, I spent three months in Amsterdam. It was then when I realized how much I missed my dear beloved bike, and how easy it makes getting from point A to B. You go visit a friend? You ride your bike. You’re going grocery shopping? You ride your bike. You go partying and go home drunk? You ride your bike. No trams, buses or ubers needed. I loved it.

When I came back to Bondi a few months ago I really disliked having to take the bus to get anywhere. I walked as much as I could, but if you’re in a hurry or if you just don’t feel like walking, there’s no other option than taking an uber or a bus. Until Lekker Bikes came along!

I now ride my own beautiful mint green bike around Bondi and I can’t express how much I LOVE IT! Bondi Junction is only a 5 minute bike ride away, and Bondi Beach is about 3 minutes away. I rarely take the bus anymore, and people often compliment me on my bike. A few days ago, when I was conquering one of Bondi’s many hills, an Aussie cheered me on from the side of the road “push push push! You can do it!!!” I love riding a bike in this country 🙂

For more info on these gorgeous bikes, visit www.lekkerbikes.com.au/

3. A spiderless, cockroach-free home

When I’m writing this it’s summer in Australia, which doesn’t only mean endless nights, beach days and beautifully bronzed skins, but also cockroach infested homes. I even had one in my bedroom the other day!

But cockroaches are not the only creatures that currently make me want to book a one-way ticket back to Amsterdam. Spiders somehow also found our way to our home. One early morning I was woken up by a loud scream. I didn’t really know if I was dreaming or I actually heard it right, but it turned out my poor flatmate Carol was greeted by a big black eight-legged creature in our bathroom. And just two days ago I found its buddy right outside of our bathroom window. As if that wasn’t enough, Carol sent me another picture of a scary spider that also paid a visit to our house. Burn the house downnnnn!!!

Of course there are many more things I miss about the Netherlands, and of course there are also some things I don’t miss at all. But more on that in another blog 🙂

❤ Eef