well, i’ve certainly been slowed down, but not stopped. i’ve been pottering around the boat for the weekend – sorting, fixing, and playing – it’s been fun. I can’t play the piano, and I can’t walk so well, but I shall soon be back to my normal vibrant self, I promise!

Thank you everyone for your well wishes through all your emails and incredible comments – but saying thank you really doesn’t seem enough at all. Creating this blog has been one of the most inspiring, soul nurturing things I have ever done. You have all opened your arms to me and are like a wonderful, billowing silk safety net, catching me and throwing me back up into the air, allowing my wings to grow and find their strength.

I won’t get too soppy on you, but I just wanted to let you know.

So how about a song? What about one from the fresh, luscious voice of Sarah Aubrey. Click here to link to her myspace page, and listen to ’empty room’. It’s a little melancholy, it’s a little deep, and it’s a little raw. Just the way I like it. Of course I also love her references to water and paper boats. While you are visiting her, have a listen to ‘Ha ha hey’, it’s a goodie too. Thank you to my dear friend Jo Jo for introducing me to her.

And what will we get up to this week in the (blog)house? You’ll just have to wait and see! But I can tell you this: I will be starting the sorting of all your My Heart Wanders images this week, getting them ready for the judges. No doubt I will be very tempted to show you one or two from the collection…

à demain! xx

I know it’s not the houseboat, but I just like this photo of the Paris apartment. I took this shot one night after coming home from shopping, I think I had just bought that fern and candles. You can see the remnants of nibblies and a bottle of wine on the coffee table – a little apéritif before preparing dinner.

Truth is everyone, I did plan to post a more substantial piece for you today, but I just had a bike accident. I am okay. More shocked than anything else. And I have a few flesh wounds. I was on my way home and as I crossed an intersection a taxi driver came from nowhere and knocked me down. I actually don’t know who’s ‘fault’ it was, I really thought I had looked, and the driver said it was his fault but I was a bit out of it. When all the bikes behind me stopped to help me up, I had no idea what language they were speaking. And then finally after a few seconds I realised, “oh yeah, that’s right it’s Dutch!’. It was all pretty embarrassing. I came home and had a good cry. But I’m okay now. I think a good nights rest is what I need. Hope you all had a lovely day!

xx

yes. you heard me. i can’t think of ANY better way to celebrate all your hard work for My Heart Wanders, nor a better way to help me unwind and rejuvenate. So come on, get your sarong on, take your towel and sun hat, grab your favourite book and I’ll order the capirinhias! It’s holiday time!!!

First of all, do you remember this photo above? I posted about it here when I was on deadline, writing an article. I couldn’t tell you about it then but guess what, I can now! The magazine has just been launched, so it’s time to spill all…

This place holds a very special piece of my wandering heart. And yes, French Boy has everything to do with it.

I will save the love story for another time but for now, I just want to take you to this special place. A few of you have already been, since one of our favourite bloggers beat me to it and posted about her recent trip there last Friday. How lucky she is to live so close by to this magical place! So for those of you who know who I’m talking about, let’s just pretend this is your first time to…

With thanks to my dear friend and editor, Vanitha Krishnasamy, it is an honour to be part of this first, awesome issue of Holiday. Here is the rest of my article below. And even though the text is small, I promise you will want to take the time to read every bit, it is packed with my absolute favourite things to do on the island.

French boy and I adore the menu at Bonton Resort. THIS is the place to have your caipirinha poolside, then wander into the pavillon for an incredible feast. heaven, I tell you…

We spent 10 days here, staying at Berjaya and exploring around, looking for the best restaurants and places to visit. The main town is very touristy so we stayed away, and in doing so managed to find the island’s best-kept secrets. One of the most fun we had was taking the scooter out for the day. We designed our own tour, stopping just whenever we felt something looked interesting and then exploring, finding a whole world within it. We saw a wooden sign pointing the way toward a mangrove jungle, and since French boy had never experienced mangroves before (wow, i know! country boy!), we headed in. I was blown away, it is the most incredible mangrove forest I have ever seen…

Can you see the monkey?

We found this restaurant called ‘The Seashell Cafe’ – it is just a little walk along the beach from Berjaya. It was fabulous – a beach hut covered in fairy lights, complete with this giant electric guitar…

I know, hilarious! We thought we had died and gone to heaven. Oh I could go on and on and on about our time there. I found so much inspiration. It was a time in my life when my heart was well lost. And it was this place, and this boy, who found it again…

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Holiday magazine can be found in travel agents and on airlines all through Malaysia. For overseas interest, please ask your local travel agent. Holiday magazine is also the proud parent of the Help Keep Our Children Safe campaign, read more about it here by clicking on the campaign logo to the right of the page. And to find out more about the magazine, click here.

As it turns out, a good nights sleep does do the trick! and a morning ride around the canals, a stop into one of my favourite boutiques, and a delicious breakfast in the Joordan…it all helps.

This morning I was returning props from yesterday’s shoot, and I can tell you, that is the worst part of the job. Sometimes I’m drawn to tears, having to return such incredible props. And many times I just can’t part with the goods so I buy them. Above are some of the flowers I bought for the shoot. Mes chères fleurs! I think they are so beautiful. Peonies of course are in season, but I also love these little fluffy blossoms. I don’t know the names unfortunately. Don’t they all go so well together?

Also on the kitchen table:

French Boy and I like to try different wines from all over the world but with the French palate that we (umm, namely he) has, we are pretty picky and often stick with the French ones we love. But we have noticed a good number of reds coming from South Africa lately. The other day, we tried this one with dinner and it was succulent. So I kept the bottle to let you all know about it, and we will be stocking up on a few for the wine cellar (aka a cupboard in the hull of the boat). And guess what – it is fair trade and organic! I know, we couldn’t believe it – we felt like we had hit the jackpot. The label is called “African Star” and the one we had was labeled ‘organic red 2007’: its harvested in South Africa by a company called Stellar Organic Winery. Proceeds go to one of the local primary schools. Jackpot, right?!!

These Oat Crumbles. I’ve been having them with my tea lately and they are sooooo delicious. They melt in your mouth. Made by Island Bakery Organics on The Isle of Mull in Scotland.

And this is my favourite outift combo du jour. I don’t know why I felt like showing you but I just do. I’m loving it that much. Maybe it’s the summer weather we are having lately, and the freedom to be in flowy frocks and flip flops. I bought this dress for 10 euros at Free P Star vintage clothing in Paris. It’s one of my favourite stops. The belt is handmade, I bought it at the art and crafts markets in The Corso, in Manly, Sydney. The cotton wrap is about 10 years old, I have no idea where I found that one but it has followed me around on my travels, it still holds its shape and is so soft. I usually pin a flower to the wrap to complete ‘the look’. And wear Thai black cotton flip flops on my feet. And my hair up off my neck.

Okay, enough procrastination on my part. Time to get back to the grind stone. Enjoy your day mes chers amis.

well here it is folks. the beginning of it all. the little adventure that set me off on this very special journey, which subsequently lead me to taking you all with me. and it started on this road. and with these sheep…

Where are we? In a dry dusty deadbeat country town called Bathurst, in New South Wales. Ha, I am only joking with you Aussies in the know out there! I am exaggerating of course, it’s my Hollywood voice (I didn’t know I had one but apparently in this post I do).

Bathurst is actually a flourishing, rich soiled country town, full of cool people, cool shops and awesome restaurants. But compared to the Sydney beaches where I come from, Bathurst is dry and isolated, so lets just go with that for the sake of my story. Anyhow, this is perhaps not where you expected the inspiration for My Heart Wanders to begin. But that’s how the good things happen: In the subtlest of ways, and in the most unsuspecting of places.

I was on a mission on this day back in ’03. My friend and artist idol, Greg Hyde, had agreed for me to come and shoot his incredible property. Getting up at the crack of dawn I drove the 3 & 1/2 hours to his country home, located in a part of Bathurst called Sunny Corner. Once I had turned onto the long winding driveway, passed his picture-perfect sheep and entered into the main courtyard, I felt something. Somehow, something had whispered to me that I was somewhere very very special.

Greg’s entire home has been made from things he found and salvaged from torn down homes and boutiques, and the rest he made with his bare hands; forming, drying, and stacking individual mudbricks. Greg and his lovely wife Trish completed the project about 20 years ago. There is also a large studio, small gallery, and pristine croquet lawn on the estate.

The main house features an old, country style kitchen with a long rustic table that seats more than ten people. This is the centre of the home, the welcoming area for guests who pop in for a cup of tea and a chat. A number of doors surrounding this area lead into other areas of the home: off to the right is a formal dining and music room, filled with artworks, books, a piano and dining table. All rooms lead to the outdoors with floor to ceiling antique French doors. These rooms are richly decorated with heavy fabrics and oil paintings in vibrant reds, oranges and black. Continuing down the hall is a gorgeous bathroom complete with a ‘vacancy and occupied’ doorknob, antique shower head and vanity mirror. Further down the hall is the greenhouse, complete with Vincent’s Yellow House which Greg decided was essential to create for this light filled space. Another one of his personal inspiration corners, no doubt.

Going left from the bathroom is the family quarters – 2 rooms featuring white painted mud bricks and wooden window frames. These rooms are cool and calming, with views out over the valley. Above these rooms is the main bedroom with a breakfast balcony that looks out over the clothes line and onto the property and surrounding paddocks.

Every corner of the property lures the eye with some creation. And upon walking back down the stairs from the main bedroom I spotted something I did not notice on my ascent – did I see correctly? A lace curtain had a distinct rip in the left corner. The rip was in the shape of a heart, and the afternoon sun was shining right through it. I took a photograph and stood there for some time, gazing at this piece. And all of a sudden I felt my heart wander – right through this heart shaped hole and out the window. I couldn’t help but smile deeply. Something had been awoken in me, and it would be a few years later before I found the meaning of this intimate moment.

Something else that caught my eye was a line of artworks with the last one an unmistakable portrait of one of Australia’s most-loved figures – Mr. Squiggle. Fashioned by Abigail Hyde, Greg’s eldest daughter, this gorgeous artwork was featured in a Sydney Gallery and at the opening Mr. Squiggle himself attended the event. He was so taken by the portrait that he immediately offered to purchase the work. Greg advised his daughter not to sell, and so the work sits in this humble home and seems like it could not fit more perfectly anywhere else.

The barn is home to the studio, artist’s library, framing workshop and gallery. Ink bottles form an artwork in themselves, with a backdrop of the croquet lawn. Oh how I felt like a game, but time was of the essence! I only had the day to shoot and interview Greg, and it was already late and I had to drive home.

Greg let me do whatever I wanted that day, I was free to play in his house and home, to wander through his private studio and gaze up at his scribblings and unfinished works, to sip tea with him and talk deeply of what we’d each learnt in this life. I felt silly telling him my wisdoms, I was just 25, but still he listened intently to what I had to say, and took it all in as if he was listening to the Dalai Lama. At 6pm I had to pull myself away from this magical place, but not before I had a chance to create a little still life set of my own with Greg’s retro table and chairs that I found in the old workshed…

Before I drove away I saw this, dangling from a tree branch. Was it my heart, caught on a eucalyptus branch, swaying and glistening in the afternoon light?

I left that place with so much inspiration. The artist in me that had been suppressed for so long had finally found it’s escape – right through that torn lace curtain and into the big wide world. I realised a piece of my little wandering heart had indeed remained on this magnificent property, and remains there still. But in the years to come I would realise that my heart had always been a roamer, and had left a little trail all over the world, from the time I was born on that big island down under, to all the places I have lived and loved in this world.

And it’s a wonderful thing, this wandering heart.

Because it led me straight to you.

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Credits:

All images and words by Pia Jane Bijkerk.

Home courtesy of Greg Hyde. To view and purchase his incredible work,click here. If you are in Bathurst you can check out his home gallery, just give him a call. Or visit this gallery in Bowral which will be holding an exhibition of his work from this Friday June 6, for a month.

Extra notes: All images were shot on my trusty Canon AE-1 – oh i do miss film. And are you wondering why I didn’t take photos of the interior? Well I did! But all the shots are on film and some were not transferred into digital files so all the negatives sit patiently for me in a box in Sydney. One day I will be able to show you the rest of Greg’s beautiful home. So there will be a Part 2 to this story sometime in the near future.

extra extra note: this post needs a soundtrack i have decided, and this is it. enjoy.