"Welcome to my homepage!" petwouters's Profile

Belgian Fries with Samurai Sauce & Meat Croquette

Hi!

My name is Peter and since the 14th October 2004 I live in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Before that, I spent 23 years of my life in Belgium, my country of birth and for me, the most beautiful country in the world. I came to Australia to live with my wife Suzanne.

We're living in Wollongong (as I said), which is some 80 kms. south of Sydney in New South Wales. It's a pretty nice town - that's if you don't look at the steelworks too much :-) No seriously, it's nice. If you visit Sydney and you want to get away from the busy life there, "the Gong" is the place to visit! Nice beaches, a huge buddhist temple, quaint restaurants, nice walks, awesome lookouts, etc. It's all part of it!

Before all my adventures in Australia, Belgium used to be my home. You know what it's like: you don't really like the country you live in, until you leave it forgood. Now, I think it's one of the most amazing countries in the world. What I miss the most? The atmosphere of being amongst Belgians (especially in spring and summertime near the Cathedral in Antwerp), the good BEER (seriously, without bragging, Belgium really has the best beer in the world!) and the CHOCOLATE (once again without bragging, it's the best chocolate in the world :-)) Oh and one more thing: the French Fries!

I need to say something about French Fries. They're not French. They're Belgian. Believe me. Belgium has specialist CHIPS SHOPS - or rather caravans, because half the time they don't even look like shops! So where does the "French" in French Fries come from? To cut something French is apparently kitchen vocabulary to cut vegetables in a certain way. So... the French in French Fries has nothing to do with France - it's just a way of cutting them. Now I know that the French like to say it's their invention - well too bad - it's not. Je suis désolé, vraiment. Les pommes frites sont belges. So yeah, I do miss them. Why? Because somehow, no-one seems to be capable (apart from Belgians) to cook a really nice lot of chips. Oh - go check out those chips shops in Belgium - they're everywhere. Order a portion of chips in a triangular bag (the only right way to eat them) and choose a sauce (plenty of choice: there's probably about 20 to 30 different sauces to choose from, some of which have very exotic names like "Américan", "Samurai", etc.) They are not the healthiest option I agree, but if you're European you'll understand me when I say that taste goes before health :-) In some ways though. Enjoy them!

If you happen to go to Belgium some day I'll be happy to help you with any info you need.

I just love travelling, therefor I really like VirtualTourist.com. Can't think of a better way to meet fellow travellers and share thoughts with them.

But anyway, most of my travel pages aren't finished yet, as I am constantly busy with absolutely everything - but I promise to update them as soon as I have some more time.

For now - enjoy your stay at my page and... do keep travelling!!

Beautiful Bogong Village in Alpine Victoria (Aus)

Future Trips:

26 June - 2 or 3 July 2012 - Perth and surrounds, WA (Australia)

April 2013 - hopefully, Belgium, to see the family!

My Last 5 Trips took me to:

April 2012 - Blue Mountains, NSW (Australia)

September/October 2011 - Tahiti & Moorea (French Polynesia)

July 2011 - Cairns, Port Douglas & Palm Cove, QLD (Australia)

April 2011 - Bright, VIC (Australia)

October 2010 - Melbourne, VIC (Australia)

Beautiful mirror lake in the Mongolian steppe

Mongolia is a country that fascinates me. Also the language is really intriguing...

One day I'd really love to go to Mongolia - unfortunately it's only a dream right now... Thank goodness dreams come true sometimes ;-)

Mountains in Kyrgyzstan

One day I would really love to travel to Central Asia, in particular Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. From what I've seen, it must be one of the most beautiful places in the world! Too bad it's soooooooo unknown for most people - I truly believe that Central Asian people deserve a better life which can be obtained through tourism! Anyone who wants to share thoughts with me on this magnificent place can contact me!

Nuuk (or Godthåb) in Greenland

1) Greenland and Iceland
2) Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan)
3) Russia & Mongolia
4) Brazil and Uruguay
5) Baltic (more of Estonia, but also Latvia, Lithuania and Finland)
6) Antarctica (better start saving!)
7) Scotland, the Hebrides, Shetland Islands and the Faeroe Islands
8) Vietnam & Cambodia and more of Laos
9) Costa Rica and Honduras
10) Bhutan and Nepal
11) More of French Polynesia
12) More of Eastern Europe - in particular Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Moldova and the Ukraine.
13) Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
14) More of Turkey

Universidade de Coimbra - Portugal

1) Portugal
2) Laos
3) Estonia
4) France
5) New Zealand
6) French Polynesia
7) United States
8) Greece
9) Italy
10) Turkey

Luang Prabang

1) Antwerp, Belgium
2) Prague, Czech Republic
3) Oporto, Portugal
4) Luang Prabang, Lao PDR
5) Tallinn, Estonia
6) Sydney, Australia
7) Las Vegas, U.S.A.
8) Rotorua, New Zealand
9) Aix-en-Provence, France
10) Tokyo, Japan