Miniland was a theme park in Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia. It was opened in 1972 by Peter Zorgdrager, a Dutch immigrant who was inspired by Dusneyland. The park featured a variety of giant sculptures, including dinosaurs, animals, and landmarks from around the world. It also had a children’s playground, Read more
Jan van de Stool, International Musical Therapist – was a successful Real Estate Agent before giving it all up and making a natural progression into becoming a Self-Help Guru. She lives in Woy Woy, with Pieter, her husband and cousin, and their son Henk, and promotes her unique brand of Read more
Ype is the President of the Associated Netherlands Societies in Victoria; a position he has held for 29 years. He worked for 32 years with the Gas & Fuel Corporation, during which time he held several management positions and set up a training school in Victoria for technical and non-technical Read more
William Alexander Christiaan Johannes Wiebenga was an Indonesian-Dutch-Australian geophysicist and artist. He was born in Benkoelen, Indonesia (now known as Bengkulu, Indonesia) on December 5, 1910. His father with the same name, William Alexander Christiaan Johannes Wiebenga, was a Dutch civil servant. His mother Jeanne Helene de Rochemont was born Read more
Maria Johannes Brendel is a secretary and the mother of Australian actor Anthony LaPaglia. She is originally from the Netherlands and has Dutch ethnicity. Her husband Gedio “Eddie” LaPaglia, emigrated from Bovalino, Province of Reggio Calabria, Italy. They had two other sons, the Australian actor Jonathan LaPaglia and Michael LaPaglia, Read more
Dutch Football Club Austral was a soccer club that was founded in Sydney by a group of Dutch immigrants, under the name Hollandia at the Black Tulip Restaurant in George Street in 1949. Its restaurateur David Bos became the first president and also was its main sponsor. The first game Read more
Hilma Dymphna Lodewyckx (1916-2000) was the daughter of Augustin Lodewyckx and Anna Sophia Hansen. She was born in Stellenbosch, South Africa and later moved to Melbourne, Australia with her family when her father was appointed lecturer at the University of Melbourne. She mainly used her middle name Dymphna. Her father Read more
Dutch Communal Life in VictoriaBy Henk Overberg Henk Overberg’s detailed sociological and historical analysis of the Dutch in Victoria reveals that ethnic communities do not simply emerge by demographic presence alone. Rather, they must be made—through shared identity, communal interaction, organisational structures, and the development of collective memory. Overberg contends Read more
Jan Wakker was a Dutch-Australian jockey who had a successful career in horse racing. He was born on January 10, 1943, in Groningen, and emigrated to Australia in 1950. His family settled in Moe. Fred Wakker (Jan’s father) found a racing pigeon in the family loft and decided to chase Read more
Dr. Cornelis Wouters was the founder of the Dutch Folk Dance Group, a group of over 30 enthusiastic Dutch immigrants (later joined by Australians who married Dutch immigrants). They performed folkloric dances at charitable association gatherings. No other group could boast such original national costumes, as all Dutch regional costumes Read more