Vertrek is a lively wide ranging social biography about fifteen postwar Australian Dutch families taking central stage is the Paulusse family Candidly narrated by Kees Paulusse the son of Dutch immigrants to Melbourne in the early sixties this chronicles the family s adventure and his own perceptions and experience Vertrek begins on November 9 1961 when his family sails Australia bound on the iconic Dutch colonial liner Johan van Oldenbarnevelt This fast paced and intriguing social biography resonates with the indomitable spirits of postwar Dutch immigrants This vivid chronicle details the lives of fifteen divers Dutch families whom Kees befriended when he became a postman at Portarlington a fishing village where his dad Piet Paulusse and other Dutch families operated scallop fishing boats Every day frustrated and homesick young Dutch women waited in anticipation at their front gate letter box for therapy talks to Kees de Postbode Keith the Postie This biography is a story full of Joie de vivre the joy of living it s contagious uplifting and even humorous The easygoing manner of Australians was a great equalizer to our somewhat driven Dutch nature no worries and a fair go resonated with everything will be all right The resourceful tolerant artistic and freethinking Paulusses quickly formed friendships with native born Australians Aussies resonated with links of Dutch historical strands that made up the Australian identity begun in 1606 when the Dutch discovered mapped and named the world s fifth continent New Holland The mythological retired Australian Gallipoli soldiers called Anzacs also wanted to make friends with this young Dutch postie who talked like the Belgians whom they met at Ypres and Passchendeale Arriving in at the Migrant Assimilation Camp the Paulusses were urged to drop their native language cultural norms and values Culture shocks were relentless for this liberal Protestant Dutch family whose val