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For years I had been researching my family history. I knew that my great-great-grandfather, Mello, had immigrated to New Zealand from The Netherlands in the 1850s. Through some very good websites I had found more family members and traced back a few more generations. It then came to a point that I decided I needed to travel to The Netherlands, and see these places for myself and find some of my ancestors. It took a couple of years to save and organise what I was going to do, where I will go and ultimately what I’m looking to find. After finally arriving in The Netherlands, I hired a car in Amsterdam, and for the first time in my life, I drove a car on the right side of the road with the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car. Here in New Zealand we drive on the left, like not many other countries. Following the cars navigation system and reciting ‘keep right’, I headed towards north Netherlands. I was aiming for Ameland Island, and I hit it. Ameland is one of an island chain off the north west coast of Netherlands, in the Wadden Sea. Ameland is in the province of Friesland with a population of about 3,600 people. Being on the Island, I felt a little awe struck, I was finally on the island that my great great grandfather lived on. I could be walking where he walked, visiting the same shops or areas that he worked and lived. His parents lived there, sisters and brothers, aunties, uncles and cousins too. As I explored the island, I started to understand what life might have been like for everyone. My great great grandfathers’ father, Roelof, worked as a customs man, and had skippered boats, and his mother, Trijnte, worked in an Inn. When you research your family history, you form ideas about what that person’s character is like, what they thought about, how they acted and how they lived. I imagine that life might have been a little tough for this family as there doesn’t seem to be many natural resources on the island. After asking questions at the Information Centre, I was pointed in the right direction to the correct cemetery. Walking into the cemetery, the large enclosed square was surrounded by large shady trees, and beautifully manicured grass. The whole area looked well cared and maintained. I was walking around, looking at the grave stones, seeing names, dates and ages of those long dead. I turn around to look at the next line of grave stones, and they were my family. My 3x great grandfather was here, and his wife. After all this time of research, I had finally seen something tangible. I also cried. This was an unexpected reaction. It felt like everything I had been reading and researching suddenly appeared in front of me. I could talk to them, tell them how far their descendants had travelled. For me, this trip was my leap into the unknown. I hadn’t done a lot of travelling, and so travelling to an entirely different country with a different culture and a different language was one of trust that I would be alright. Did I mention, that I was also travelling alone. Every day everything was a challenge, travelling unknown roads, through towns and countryside. I also enjoyed my time travelling to new places and having new experiences and ready to do it all again. A picture of their grave stones are my background picture on my laptop as a reminder of where I came from and where I can go.