In Niewe Wehl Holland my Dad was born into a large famliy with 9 brothers and 1 sister. Having missed being conscripted into the Dutch Army due to an administrative error and not wanting to be part of the family egg business he decided to take to the water (Brave for a man who can't swim!) and spent over 5 weeks on a ship travelling to New Zealand.

Once in New Zealand he had to overcome the language barrier of not speaking english by learning from 4 year old who was more than happy to teach him. (Probably like most 4 year olds, they wouldn't stop talking!). But to the very end he always had trouble with words like "horse" "house" and "Hose" all coming out sounding the same.

Dad applied his skills as a builder he'd learnt from Trade School in Holland and quickly made a good reputation for himself. He met my Mum Leone and they got married. Shortly after, a couple of children popped out (My Brother Michael and Sister Janine). They hadn't quite gotten the recipe right though and some 8 years later.... I arrived on the scene.

Growing up the family moved around a bit, lived in Australia for a while, travelled to Holland, settled in Whenuapai where we had apple/peach orchards and tomatoes under glass before moving up to a beachfront property in Waipu.

Glass houses were constructed and export grapes went in (White ones (which are green...go figure))

Still Under Construction