Mother's Day, 2011

Verdun, France. Lots of secret activity. The result: a Mother’s Day to remember!

I have had a great day, today, on my 14th Mother’s Day. I was woken up by the church bells nearby and then receive somed pressies, (including slippers and chocolates – Mother’s Day staples!) and had a breakfast of croissants and cereal. My card (which Michael had brought with him from Australia and carried all this way – impressive!) was particularly touching, especially the picture Aidan drew of us all at a mother’s day disco, complete with mirror ball!



We went into the village and wandered around – the city was a major Gallic, Roman and Medieval centre. We then went towards the battlefields. Lunch was a picnic at a picnic spot by the side of the road. We sat down to eat (a very yummy lunch I might add) and noticed we were surrounded by grassy trenches – leftover from the war. The boys had fun playing there after lunch!




We then went and saw some of the sights of Verdun. A major battle of World War 1 was fought here. The statistics are devastating. In the 10 month battle, 700 000 men were killed, wounded or missing. We went to the ossuary which has the bones of 130 000 unidentified soldiers, and saw a short movie about the war. We also went to the museum which had information about the battle here and also the war in general. In France, Verdun has the same mythical status as Gallipoli has for us.



It’s very sobering, and moving. So many women sent all their sons to war and never saw them again. Whole generations were killed and wounded. On this Mother’s Day I was especially thankful to God for my four sons.

Karen

Beautiful Day

We had expected to limp over the line this week. We have been so keen to get home that we just thought we’d drive, pack, clean, tolerate each other and collapse happily inside the door of 18 Wallis Close on Friday morning.

So, to the last day. It could have begun badly. The day before we had decided to drive to Trier. We pulled up at the van park there in the afternoon and it was like a scene from West Side Story meets The Terminator. Concrete everywhere, and the site was nestled between a freeway and an underpass which was decorated with graffiti and filled with burnt out cars. The ground was covered in broken glass.

A quick decision was made – to move on. Who knew whether the next van park would be better? But it couldn’t be worse.

And so it was that we woke up on our last morning on an island in the Mosel River. Green grass, great playground, outdoor table by the river. Steep, green hillsides all around, some covered with grape vines. We sat out there to have breakfast and were joined by a family of two ducks with their six ducklings who climbed up out of the river. After brekkie the boys played, Mike washed up and I sat by the river and read my bible.

We then left and drove up out of the valley – winding roads and beautiful scenery. We listened to the ‘Sons and Daughters’ CD by Sovereign Grace which was great too. We had run out of food so found a McDonalds for lunch and as we went in we found the local vouchers for massive discounts. And, the boys met a family from Coffs Harbour in the playground!

After lunch we kept driving (and I kept cross stitching) to the RV depot to pick up our bags so we could pack them during the afternoon. Mike asked the man there where we could stay the night. He suggested a truck stop 2km away as the nearest van park was 30km. Despite that, we decided on the Laubach van park.

It was gorgeous. Helpful, English speaking Saskia who ran the place loaned us a vacuum cleaner, gave us a shady site right next to the playground and when we asked for a family friendly dinner location, she said, ‘the schloss is a great place to eat. Not too expensive and kids are welcome.’ Dredging through my year 8 German… schloss… ‘isn’t that a castle?’ ‘yes, it’s the castle in town’. Me, trying to sound calm, ‘that sounds lovely’. A German castle!!! For dinner!!!

The boys spent all afternoon playing in the playground with a fantastic old fashioned water pump which flowed to a series of troughs and dams. There was also an Olympic sized trampoline which had a workout from Luke! And Michael and I packed and cleaned and managed to get it all done.

So, then, out to dinner. It was everything we had imagined. We ate out in the courtyard next to a statue and, as the dusk fell, retold our whole odyssey, with everyone chiming in with favourite parts and funny stories. Despite the lack of English from the waitress we managed to order schnitzel, wedges and salad for all the boys and by miming various animals worked out what most menu items were! Moselle for me and German beir for Michael complemented the meal. We then sampled one of each of the three desserts on the menu. It was fantastic.

The only glitch came when we went to pay… they didn’t take visa… so the waitress led Michael back out into the marketplace to an atm. Phew… we’d still be there washing up otherwise!

What could have been a very ordinary day was a Beautiful Day. We are so thankful to God for His kindness and generosity. What a way to end our odyssey.

Karen

Happy Families

We’ve had some feedback on our blog – from readers who find it a depressing account of the perfect Williamson family happily tripping around the world, Michael and Karen gazing into each other’s eyes as we see the sights and our boys blissfully soaking up every cultural experience we can offer them and angelically reading the bible each night.

Of course, we have told the truth in our blogs about our holiday. We just haven’t told you about all the everyday, boring, frustrating times. Frankly, we didn’t think you’d want to read about that. But maybe you do.

So, if you want to know the whole truth about our odyssey, read on. If not… we’re glad about that too.

Here are some other facts about our holiday…
- we have had long, boring drives in our campervan lasting many hours.

- during those long, boring drives, one of our children talked incessantly about all sorts of nonsense. It gets wearing.

- one of our other children talked nearly as much, and twice as loudly.

- yet another of our children has a tendency to wet his pants when his brothers make him laugh.

- one of our children is a teenager. Enough said.

- two of our children are very grumpy when tired. So is their mother.

- one of our children is overly cheerful when tired. So is his father.

- getting our children to do homework was like pulling teeth.

- we usually travelled with our washing flapping on a line around our heads. Not ideal.

- one of the adults constantly hit her head/foot/leg/etc in the small space of the van. After 10 weeks of van travel, that’s a lot of bruises.

- the other adult tried patiently to cope with his spouse who didn’t seem to remember where she hurt herself the day before, and the day before that, and the one before that.

- there is no privacy in a campervan. We have all seen enough of each other in various stages of undress to last a lifetime.

- our children seemed to enjoy playgrounds more than the amazing sights we were trying to show them.

- our children grew to endure, not enjoy, art galleries and palaces.

- we grew to endure, not enjoy, dinosaur skeletons and toy stores.

- we have eaten way too much spaghetti bolognaise.

- camping ground showers range from the sublime to the ones where you need to push the button every 5 seconds to keep the water running, it’s lukewarm and all your clothes end up soaking wet.

- our London flat had a constant smell of stale smoke.

- one of our children refused to try any new foods. Hence, vast quantities of spaghetti bolognaise and nutella were consumed.

- we had to convince our children that every rock they found didn’t need to come home with us. Nor did McDonald’s toys, cardboard creations or empty chip packets.

- toilets in Europe leave much to be desired. No seats, no toilet paper and often no toilet. Just a hole in the ground.

- we were cold – really cold – for much of our time in the USA, despite wearing every piece of clothing we owned, all at once.

I could go on. But you really don’t want to hear the rest. Suffice to say, we are just like we are at home, and just like you.

Karen

Warwick Castle by Ethan

Wednesday 13th April, 2011.

First we woke up, had breakfast and left for Warwick Castle. We drove for an hour then arrived at Warwick castle. Next we hopped out of the car, walked for a bit then we entered the castle.


First we watched a 5 minute movie called ‘Dream of Battle’. It told us about preparing for a real battle which happened a long time ago. It told us to go next to ‘The Kingmaker’. So we did.

In The Kingmaker we walked down under the castle and saw wax figures which were showing us about the preparations for battle. There I got to hold a long bow and a cross bow.
Next we went 5to a show called ‘Flight of the Eagle’. In it we saw a man (called a falconer) who had trained a dad bald eagle, a baby bald eagle, a chestnut vulture and a sea eagle. It was amazing.


Then we went to story time with the dragon slayer. It was in the courtyard of the castle. He told us a story about how Guy of Warwick once slayed a dragon. It wasn’t true though.


Next we went to the Sword in the Stone show. It had an actual sword and a kid pulled it out. He was given a wooden sword instead of the actual sword.

Next we went to the raising of the portcullis. A man told us how to open and close the gate and also that there were little holes called murder holes where people poured boiling sand and urine on their enemies.

Lastly we went to ‘The Mighty Trebuchet’. A trebuchet is a type of catapult. They shot out a fire ball. It was awesome! Then we went out of the castle through the shop. In the shop I bought a quill. Then we went home, had dinner and went to bed.

London 17/4/2011 - by Luke

We woke up today, had brekky and got dressed. We had to get to church by 11:00am, so we set out as soon as we could.

Firstly, we walked a while until we got to the train station, and caught the train. From there we got on a double decker bus, and we got off a little while later. We then went into a church called St. John’s.

The people in there were really friendly, even though we came in halfway through the service. It was an extremely small church, with a population of about 30-40. But they all had passion and longing to become better followers of Jesus, which was great. The sermon was on Jesus’ trial, and how even though it seemed like he was being beaten he was actually in control the entire time. After the service finished they invited us to the church lunch, which we decided to go to. We had potatoes with different fillings in them, which was nice. At about 1:30pm we said goodbye, and started walking to the Royal Albert Hall, where we were going to see a show at 3:00pm.

We walked through a very rich area of London, and the reason we could tell this was because of the cars. I saw about 5 Aston Martins, 4 Jaguars, so many Porsches I lost count (Including a bright orange 911), 3 Masaratis, heaps of Mercedes, Audi and BMW and 3 awesome Ferraris. Almost every second car though, was a Mini Cooper. We spent a while looking at cars, but eventually we started to walk along the Kensington Gardens, and we reached the Royal Albert Hall.

After we got our tickets we went in, and I was gobbsmacked. The hall was HUGE!!!!!! The organ at the back was the largest dad had ever seen in his life, and there was row after row of seats. Above, on the roof, was heaps of strange light thingys, and I noticed a massive net filled with red and white balloons. The show then started.

The concert we had gone to was a St George’s Day concert, to celebrate England’s saint by putting on a big show with heaps of English songs in it. A full orchestra was there, along with a choir. They performed songs like “There’ll Always Be An England” where everyone waved English flags enthusiastically, and “Zadok The Priest”, which is the song they play at every king or queen’s coronation. To finish off though, “Rule Britannia” was played with gusto, and during “Pomp And Circumstance No.1” all the red and white balloons fell from the ceiling and landed on the audience. It was an atmosphere and event I’ll never forget.


Back outside, to finish off out flashy car day, we saw a black Lamborghini Gallardo, which roared through the streets, attracting everyone’s attention. We walked back past the Thames again, and by the time we got back home it was dinner time, and after dinner we got into our PJ’s and went to bed.

While I was washing up ...

... the boys were growing up.

Over these three and a half months they have all grown so much. In size definitely, each of them have grown out of the clothes we originally packed and we’ve bought new ones. Yet they have also grown as people more like Jesus as God has shaped them and matured them through this odyssey.

They have all grown mightily in patience with long waits and frustrating boredom in uncomfortable circumstances. They’ve all grown in tolerance of one another’s deficits and appreciation of one another’s strengths. They’ve all grown in appreciation of what they enjoy at home in relationships, space, freedom and food. None of these growths would have occurred so quickly were it not for the close proximity living and challenges of travel that we have been privileged to enjoy and endure together in this time.

I have likewise grown in love for each of them beyond my wildest dreams. I am quite broken hearted that our odyssey is over and that as I write this post they are in separate bedrooms once more and I am more than 10m away from any one of them. I can’t hear them breathing, I can’t hear them whispering, giggling or wrestling. I miss them terribly and I’m still in the same house.

Each night in the RV it was quite difficult to get them to be quiet and go to sleep. Such exciting days, such exciting plans for the next day and such close proximity meant that it was hard for them to calm down and go to sleep. To help this Karen would journal & plan the details of the next day in the back of the RV while I would wash-up right next to where the boys were supposed to be sleeping. My presence that close was enough to silence the atmosphere and even though I was making a racket washing up they would all generally be asleep by the time I finished. This was also a terrific time for me to observe them and pray for them. With all this time I have been privileged to see them grow more like Jesus.

Time and again throughout the trip we have had people speak to us about our boys and their extraordinary good behaviour, listening, sharing, helping, obedience, cheerfulness, patience and more. Tour guides, fellow passengers, stewardesses, people we’ve stayed with and complete strangers who have watched from a distance and then approached us to make comment. God has blessed us mightily with four wonderful sons who are a credit to his great work in them and an honour for us.

I know, appreciate and thank God for my four sons now more than ever before and will always treasure the precious time of this odyssey with them, when I was free to watch them grow.


Michael

Tour De France - Viva Le Spain

The German AutoBahn is more exciting with speeds exceeding 180km/h and their rest rooms might include toilet seats, but the French and Spanish countryside is more beautiful to drive through.

Draw a line from Strasburg to Belceon to Bordeaux to Biarritz and you have crossed the country west to south east through ever changing countryside so lovely you’ll want to do it again. Spectacular bridges and ravines, castles and villages, verdant green valleys, white cows and well maintained roads all come together to make it thoroughly enjoyable. Take a detour off the main highways and you find yourself travelling through farmlands and tiny villages with cobbled streets, sleepy squares and gorgeous architecture – you might even find yourself driving through the grounds of a castle.

The north coast of Spain, from the border near San Sebastion west across to Gijon is nothing short of spectacular. The road is rarely straight, the tunnels are up to 1.5kms long, the bridges over ravines are spectacular and the mountains are on all sides, except for where there is a cliff side run along the ocean. The mountains to the south tower into the sky and change shape continually. The little towns are either nestled in valleys or hug the coastline. The entire stretch of coast is a feast for the eyes magnificent driving experience.

Michael

Disney Efficiency

Something we have come to highly admire and sadly miss when it is absent.

Disney Efficiency refers to the way they have put careful thought into every part of (what they call) the Disney experience. If they could cure sore feet and whiny children I’m sure they would have by now for nothing else is left uncared for. The rides load swiftly and efficiently. Their Fast Pass system is effective and free. Their food outlets are consistent and plentiful. Their gift shops are abundant and duplicate their merchandise. Their parking is enormous and the traffic management is brilliant. None of these issues seem like a big deal until you are there, having paid hundreds of dollars to enter and it all goes astray because the staff and management of the park just haven’t put enough thought into people movement. Disney won without a battle over Seaworld, Universal, LegoLand on every front on every occasion in every way. They also out performed all the airports, all that is EXCEPT Changi Airport in Singapore who actually beat Disney in the “free fun” category. We only spent a few hours there but we were actually sad to leave it. Disney could even learn from Changi – those free foot massages were amazing!

Changi Airport or Disney World – we reckon it might be a close call!

Michael

U.S.A Quiz by Luke

1. Who is the current president of the USA?
2. How many states are in the USA?
3. What is the capitol city of the USA?
4. What state is the city of Los Angeles located in?
5. The biggest state in the USA is:
a. North Carolina
b. Colorado
c. Texas
6. ‘New York’ is a:
a. State
b. City
c. Both
7. The northernmost state in the USA is Maine. True/False
8. Florida and Arizona are the only states with a Disney theme park in them. True/False
9. Match these cities with the states they are in:
a. Miami 1. Georgia
b. Savannah 2. Virginia
c. Columbia 3. Florida
d. Richmond 4. South Carolina
10. What position is the USA on the biggest countries in the world list?
11. Who was the first president of the USA?
12. Which country did the USA fight for independence against?
13. What state is Hollywood in?
14. Which state is Forrest Gump from?
15. What was the building that King Kong climbed, and where is it?
16. Which is further south, Pittsburgh or Washington DC?
17. Where are these famous icons from: a. Chrysler Building b. Lincon Memorial c. 7 Mile Bridge
18. Where is the city of Houston, and why is it important to astronauts?
19. Which state was JFK from?
20. Which is the smallest state?
21. How many states have the Williamson’s been in? a. 13 b. 10 c. 11

Driving Overseas

The final tally is just over 11,000 kms on foreign roads in 6 different motor vehicles
- A Dodge Van in LA
- A Chrysler Town & Country in Orlando
- A Mazda MPV in Virginia
- A Ford F350 29 foot motorhome (5,600kms) in the USA (South to North on the East Coast)
- A Volkswagon Sharon in the Cottswolds
- A Fiat Dethleffs Motor home (4,003kms) in Europe (Germany, France, Luxemburg, Spain)

How many incidents?

We nearly took out a Pheasant in the Volkswagon & a motorcyclist in the Fiat. We did however massacre countless thousands of bugs on our windscreen. One cracked blinker on the Fiat thanks to European style bumper parking – why do they do that?

How much petrol?

Too much, our environmental footprint is now the size of a small African nation!

How many navigational issues?

Not as many as it could have been. The invention of the GPS has saved countless marriages around the world now including ours.

How many Tolls?

Way too many, especially in France. However at least the French charge to use really good roads with high speed limits whereas the Americans only ever charge for really narrow, poorly kept, unpleasant windy roads that make you question every mile of the charge.

Now all I have to do is get used to driving on the other side of the road back home.

Michael

Legoland by Max - 21st April, 2011

Yesterday morning we got up and 6am in the morning and caught 2 buses to Victoria Station where the bus which would take us to Legoland was waiting. We got on and got seats at the back of the bus. The trip took 2 hours so we played our DS’s for entertainment. When we arrived we got off and walked to the entrance and bought tickets to go in.

The entrance was very big and had life size Lego bricks and Lego men all over it. It looked really good. Then we entered in. Once we were all inside we had a look around taking in all the surroundings. There was legop nearly everywhere! After a good look around we headed on past sculptures and other exhibits till we arrived at Driving School. Driving School is a ride where you drive a Lego Fiat car around a life like road with traffic lights, stop signs, roundabouts and pedestrian crossings. It was all very fun. Next we walked to the far side of the park and went on a ride called Dragon. Dragon was a roller-coaster that goes around and through a castle, going through different Lego scenes. They were all life like and really brilliant, leading up to entering a dragon’s lair with a huge moving Lego dragon which blew hot steam at us. It was fun and very interesting. Thirdly we went on Jolly Rocker, which was a ride on a Pirate Ship which was attached to a pole which was attached to a few more poles, which were attached to an engine thingy which made you swing really high from side to side. Next we sat down on a bench and had lunch.

After lunch we walked over to the Pirates of Skeleton Bay Extreme Stunt Show. It was fun and clever, but it didn’t have much to do with Lego, though it was easy to enjoy. Sixthly we walked over to a ride called Rocket Races. It is a ride where you create your own Lego mini-figure and car and you get to race it against others on a track. It is all done electronically and the race is on a racing arcade sort of thing like Mario Cart. It was heaps of fun and I had a great time. Next we walked to mini land which was a series of world-wide Lego sculptures. It had Scotland, Denmark, England USA & Italy. I recognised lots of Lego buildings and places from the USA and from England. The entire thing was incredible and had everything perfect! Then we bought the things we wanted from the Lego shop and left Legoland. We caught another bus back to London where we had Maccas for dinner at Victoria Station. Then we caught another bus back to our flat, had dinner, got into our pj’s and went to bed.







Max

Camp Municipal

In France, there are three types of camping we’ve done – in a rest stop (amazingly well set up for campervans and caravans to stay overnight with full bathrooms and shops, it’s free but you share it with many trucks and traffic all night!); standard van parks with all the usual facilities (except toilet paper or toilet seats, grrr! But that’s another story!) and finally, Camp Municipal. As far as we can tell, these are run by the local council.

We stayed in a Camp Municipal three nights ago at Dange-St-Romain. We knew roughly where we wanted to stay the night and so looked in our book of campgrounds and found this one. The trusty GPS (nicknamed ‘Babette’, she speaks in English with a French accent!!) got us there and this is what we found

The warden spoke basic English, there was no internet, the men’s showers were basically a hose in a small room, but we were in a meadow, by a river, with only two other couples there. We camped under a willow tree and sat on a rug under the tree for our meals. The playground was awesome too! A lovely, lovely place to stay. Cost : 10.20 euros. Memories: priceless.

Karen

Travelling in the Death Star

New continent, new transport. After we arrived in Frankfurt, we went to the quaintly named ‘McRent’ to pick up our next motorhome. Here it is



Brand new, diesel, manual (tricky when it’s on the other side!), German efficiency at its best! It’s heaps smaller than our US RV but the layout is great – loads of storage and nifty ideas. A better stereo too! We originally nicknamed this campervan ‘Fritz’ but it didn’t stick – and as the brand of this van is ‘Dethleffs’ it’s become the Death Star. Way cooler.

So far we’ve driven from Frankfurt, through eastern and southern France to Gijon, Spain, and then back through France. We’re currently in Verdun (northern France) and we return the Death Star in 3 days.

What have we done as we’ve driven these huge distances? The boys have played DS, lego, done homework, written journals, drawn, chatted, listened to ipods, read their bibles, played word games with us, built air speeders from paper and played whatever crazy game Max has dreamed up next. And had very few fights. Mike has driven (obviously) and he and I have loved the scenery – we’ve tried to avoid freeways and instead have taken many backroads through small villages and beautiful countryside. We’ve chatted about how to make the readjustment to real life once we return. And he’s loved listening to all our CD collection – particularly the ‘Les Miserables’ soundtrack, his Christmas present CDs and Neil Diamond. And I’ve loved doing a cross stitch I bought in the Cotswolds of a poppy. It will probably take me 20 years to finish, but I’ve enjoyed making a start!




For those of you who will like to read the specs on this van… over to Mike ...

Compared to the American Chateau we are talking chalk and cheese. Where the Ford based Chateau was big, powerful and unwieldy inside and out, the Fiat based Death Star is clever, refined and handles like a sports car!

Approximately 18 feet long, single front and rear wheels, 6 speed manual Diesel engine, 10L per 100kms, terrific turning circle and very comfortable driving position.

Inside the 11 foot difference is accounted for in the reduction of distance between our bed and the boys beds (10 feet down to 10cms) and an extra foot in the drivers cab making for excellent leg room and a dash board as deep as a dining table is wide.

The three things the Americans did better than the Germans were the automatic internal power control system, number of power outlets and a flushing toilet rather than chemical. The rest … well … give me the Death Star every time - Storm Troopers, heavy breathing and all.

Karen & Mike

London Calling

Michael blogged a couple of weeks ago about our London highlights and promised photos... so I thought I should add some - better late than never!
Trafalgar Square

on the London Eye

view from the London Eye

Tower Bridge from the Tower of London

at the Tower of London

outside Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

off to Hogwarts

St Paul's Cathedral

our street

the concert we went to at the Royal Albert Hall

us and London Eye

the view from the end of our street!

at Windsor Castle

boys and guard, Windsor Castle

Karen

Easter in London

When we are at home, we have quite a few Easter traditions – bible readings and fun activities in the week before, memory verses, church attendance, and a special meal with friends on Easter Sunday with a lamb roast, Nigella’s chocolate nest cake, egg hunts and games.

Our boys were very concerned – how would we manage all this while away? What would we do? Easter came at a time when we were all feeling a bit homesick, especially for our church family and for remembering Jesus’ death and resurrection with them. I emailed this to my mum who (wise woman that she is) encouraged me to make this Easter a special one for our family because it is different – an Easter to remember.

So, we did (or at least we tried!) All week we ate fantastic hot cross buns – fruit but also apple and cinnamon and orange and cranberry (my fave!)On Good Friday we had a special ‘service’ in our flat – we washed each other’s feet and read about Jesus’ death for us. We also had a yummy Good Friday dinner as a special meal. On Sunday we woke up to our decorated flat (thanks to bunting and Easter banners, very English!) and our special eggs, read the resurrection story then went to church at St Helen’s Bishopsgate. It was terrific to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection with fellow Christians, to hear the bible and a great sermon, to sing the old hymns, to share in the Lord’s Supper and to chat and enjoy hot cross buns at morning tea. The boys went to Sunday School and loved that too.


It reminded us that Jesus’ death and resurrection is a universal story, celebrated by believers the world over, and that God’s love and His family everywhere have been a great joy to us during our whole trip. Truly, an Easter to remember.