My Dutch Australian children have spent a few years of their life in Australia, but we have now settled in The Netherlands. When we left Australia in 2012, our girls were aged 3 and 5. They still remember a lot of things about our life there, but it’s sadly fading fast.
While in The Netherlands, we still try to hold on to the Australian side of our identity. I speak English with them, we observe days such as ANZAC Day and Australia Day and I provide some tastes from my homeland from time to time like Milo, Vegemite, Tim-Tams and Lamingtons.
We’re very fortunate though to have regular holidays to Australia. So on our holiday here last Christmas and now again this Christmas, I’ve made a very conscious effort to “top up” on those experiences in Australia, many of which I had in my childhood.
Here’s what we’ve done so far, have you got any other suggestions?
Seen a snake
Thought I’d get this one out of the way immediately! We saw a snake in the Buderim Forrest Park – then watched him catch and start to eat a baby goanna. Pretty unique Australian experience for the girls!
Slip, Slop, Slapped
I grew up learning the importance of protection from the hot summer sun, now my daughters are learning to make sure they (and papa and mama) are slathered in sunscreen!
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Dug a deep hole in the sand
Remember the simple pleasure of digging a hole in the sand near the shoreline and “discovering” water there?
Chatted to a wallaby
At Couran Cove resort on South Stradbroke Island, we found several friendly wallabies to chat to.
Devoured mangoes
Yum! Though you can find mangoes in The Netherlands, they are nothing like the delicious, sweet, juicy Bowen Mangoes in Queensland – we’ve been having one a day!
Bomb-dived
Jumping in the pool over and over and over again!
Run up and down a sand-dune
The beautiful blue sky is a lovely backdrop for this pristine sand-dune on South Stradbroke Island that the girls just couldn’t resist covering in footprints.
Watched Bananas in Pyjamas
I grew up with a different version of this but the theme song is the same!
Ridden a bike with a helmet on
Though the girls are regular bike riders in The Netherlands, they need to wear a helmet here which they find very hot.
What other Australian experiences should I work on adding?
Renee
Dutch Australian 
Your girls are so grown up Renee! It’s lovely that you can come to Australia for regular visits. Some other Aussie experiences…have a bbq and a picnic with the flies! Collect shells along the beach, camping under the stars listening to the crickets singing, sunset walks smothered in aeroguard and eat lots of iceblocks! Hope you enjoy the rest of your time here…I’m sure you will. My love to all! Xo
Some lovely suggestions thanks Felicity! A couple we have done already, I’ll have to add them into the list. Hope you and your family are doing well. Renee x
Take them yabbie fishing in a dam (bacon an chicken necks are excellent bait) visit a shearing shed, drive on a dirt road with heaps of corrugations 🙂
Capture the sounds of kookaburras
Great idea Marjolein! We heard a lot of them last year, my daughter thought at first it was a witch laughing! They don’t seem to be around this year at my parents for some reason. I played a sound of them to a dutch class recently and none of them had ever heard a kookaburra laugh before. -Renee