It has now been 10 days in the camper van. It is a very well designed house on wheels. But the kitchen is slightly lacking. There is no microwave and no cooker. All we have is a fridge, freezer and 3 gas hobs. We have already exhausted our menu of exquisite culinary dishes - omelets, pancakes (crepes), pasta and burritos. We are now in need of some help. What else would you recommend. You know our emails, feel free to send through your suggestions.
thanks in advance
Alex
PS No need to advise on drinks - we have managed to find a different accompanying wine for every dish so far.
Saturday 29 October 2011
My wife leads the kids astray, they all spend the afternoon high....
....in the trees, on a 'parcours aventure'. Wires in the sky. I decided to stay on terra firma, nothing to do with my fear of heights, someone had to be chief photographer.
The kids had no fear and took to it like duck to water. In fact at one point I heard Benjamin explaining to Esther how to do the next part. Some photos to share the experience...
Esther only just realizing what she has got herself into..
Benjamin as relaxed as ever, Esther holding on for dear life...
Naomi, Jane of the jungle..
Sorry, no photos of me with the camera.
Laters
Alex
The kids had no fear and took to it like duck to water. In fact at one point I heard Benjamin explaining to Esther how to do the next part. Some photos to share the experience...
Esther only just realizing what she has got herself into..
Benjamin as relaxed as ever, Esther holding on for dear life...
Naomi, Jane of the jungle..
Sorry, no photos of me with the camera.
Laters
Alex
Thursday 27 October 2011
5 things you may not have known about living in camper vans
We have now been on the road for almost a week. Here are some observations From our real life experiences:
1. It is bigger than a car. Just when you think you have plenty of room to pass cars BANG, you manage to side swipe someone's wing mirror. And it is a loud and scary BANG. It has now happened to us twice. First time we filled in the accident form - refer previous blog entry. Second time, was in this little village and we didn't really have a chance to stop (I don't think it did any damage to their mirror, but I'm still looking over my shoulder in case they are following us)
2. The camper van is small when you have a young child with a stomach bug who wakes up in the middle of the night vomitting and doesn't stop until the end of the day. Poor Naomi must have eaten someone (actually meant something but thought i would leave the spello in) bad, the trouble is she ate everything we did and the last meal was cooked by moi.
3. You have no choice but to stay tidy. We seem to be washing up before we start the dinner. Everything has it's place, as there are not many places things can go anyway. However we lost the torch this evening - I blamed Esther assuming she used it last, she said she would only have put it in one place, and it wasn't there. 30 mins later, benjamin admits he used it the night before and was keeping it safe under his pillow. So now we know everything has one of two places - it's own place or under benjamin's pillow -where else!
4. The fuel cap is right under the drivers seat (a la gauche - the left). we found this out by going on the wrong side of this rather small garage to fill up. Rather than reversing (refer no. 5) I tried the shortcut of stretching the nozzle across the windscreen and pulling the pipe taut. Suffice to say no fuel came out. We asked the teller, who was next to useless and suggested we tried the other side. In taking the nozzle out, there was a rather loud bang (common theme) and we managed to break the fuel cap cover off it's hinges - yet another claim on the insurance I'm sure.
5. Reversing is all about 'doing it together'. As the driver you have no idea where you are going and what you about to hit when reversing. It is definitely a double act. Total trust. And I'm glad to say We haven't had any crashes as yet.
And we are only 7 days in, another 6 weeks to go...
Layers
Alex
1. It is bigger than a car. Just when you think you have plenty of room to pass cars BANG, you manage to side swipe someone's wing mirror. And it is a loud and scary BANG. It has now happened to us twice. First time we filled in the accident form - refer previous blog entry. Second time, was in this little village and we didn't really have a chance to stop (I don't think it did any damage to their mirror, but I'm still looking over my shoulder in case they are following us)
2. The camper van is small when you have a young child with a stomach bug who wakes up in the middle of the night vomitting and doesn't stop until the end of the day. Poor Naomi must have eaten someone (actually meant something but thought i would leave the spello in) bad, the trouble is she ate everything we did and the last meal was cooked by moi.
3. You have no choice but to stay tidy. We seem to be washing up before we start the dinner. Everything has it's place, as there are not many places things can go anyway. However we lost the torch this evening - I blamed Esther assuming she used it last, she said she would only have put it in one place, and it wasn't there. 30 mins later, benjamin admits he used it the night before and was keeping it safe under his pillow. So now we know everything has one of two places - it's own place or under benjamin's pillow -where else!
4. The fuel cap is right under the drivers seat (a la gauche - the left). we found this out by going on the wrong side of this rather small garage to fill up. Rather than reversing (refer no. 5) I tried the shortcut of stretching the nozzle across the windscreen and pulling the pipe taut. Suffice to say no fuel came out. We asked the teller, who was next to useless and suggested we tried the other side. In taking the nozzle out, there was a rather loud bang (common theme) and we managed to break the fuel cap cover off it's hinges - yet another claim on the insurance I'm sure.
5. Reversing is all about 'doing it together'. As the driver you have no idea where you are going and what you about to hit when reversing. It is definitely a double act. Total trust. And I'm glad to say We haven't had any crashes as yet.
And we are only 7 days in, another 6 weeks to go...
Layers
Alex
Shopping in France takes a long time...
....but for rewarding reasons.
We were staying in Rambouillet and spent Friday walking round the township. Me and the kids enjoying the window shopping, esther needing to go into most shops. We spent a long time in a kids shoe shop and had a great conversation in franglais. I seem to be able to understand French not so bad. My Spoken French is a bit hit or miss (some would say like my anglais). Esther is very good, wanting to speak French at all opportunities.
As I say, long time in shop, lovely conversations.
Laters
Alex
We were staying in Rambouillet and spent Friday walking round the township. Me and the kids enjoying the window shopping, esther needing to go into most shops. We spent a long time in a kids shoe shop and had a great conversation in franglais. I seem to be able to understand French not so bad. My Spoken French is a bit hit or miss (some would say like my anglais). Esther is very good, wanting to speak French at all opportunities.
As I say, long time in shop, lovely conversations.
Laters
Alex
Sole AB supporter
The scene was set. Le Napoleon, a quite local cafe in Rambouillet. A crowd of Les Bleus supporters. The skinner family supporting the kiwis - although we were just as loud as the competition at times. What a game. I bet NZ has kicked off. World champions, fantastic. We enjoyed our scrambled eggs on toast, the obligatory espressos and the game. There were a few times when the crowd disagreed with the refs decisions - no change there. And the result 8-7 win. The cafe owner was very honorable with the French loss and gave us a celebratory champagne to wash down the breakfast. All good.
Laters
Alex
Laters
Alex
Only 20 mins in.....
So we picked up the campervan. We had the mandatory DVD lesson on how the camper van worked - parts of it twice as the DVD was scratched! Covered most of the campervanning stuff, limited info on driving rules/tips.
We arrived at Avis a little late, the guy organizing us was great but it was quite clear by 12.30 that he wanted us out. The place was meant to be shut at midday - I thought it was just Mexico that had siestas. He put us in the van and stood on the other side of the road shouting out that most australians (we had said we were kiwis - but maybe he actually meant most aussies and not kiwis) smashed the side of the camper van on a particular post when turning out of avis. So he wanted to guide me - quickly.
We were all strapped in, I started the engine and then we were off. We passed the post and was waving the nice Avis man goodbye. Trouble was we hadn't really sussed out where were going accept we 'had to stay in the right hand lane in 2 km time to avoid going into a low tunnel. So I was focussed on stay right - which is actually quite sensible when driving in France.
We were 15 min into our journey. There was traffic overtaking me in the left lane, there were parked cars on the right, I was focussed on staying on the right otherwise we lose the camper van's roof. We got up to 50km, stress levels were waning but then BANG. A van which was pulling out from a stationary position on the left (I did see the indicator) was obviously a little more out than the rest of the parked cars as our wing mirrors decided to say hello to each other. Scary moment.
Managed to find somewhere to pull over (on the right) and the courier man came running after us. Esther was calm and collated. I was cursing and swearing and generally explaining to anyone who could hear that a 50 day camper van holiday driving on the wrong side of the road (for me) was a silly idea.
The guy didn't speak a word of English. We managed to fill in a form which I'm sure says that it was all my fault - it happened so quick I'm not sure whether he was pulling out or or stationary. The smashed wing mirror managed to jam back in place. The side of the camper van had this wonderfully artistic black streak from front to rear where the plastic from 'the guys's' wing mirror rubbed off. If it was red we could have got away with it being a go faster stripe.
So after much calming down (Esther with me), we were off again. I now realise that we had three alternatives. Give up on the holiday there and then, me to get my confidence back up and running or Esther to drive. As I said, Esther was great at motivating me to get back in the driving seat again. She would admit that option 3 was not an option.
20 minutes in, one less wing mirror, a large go faster stripe on the van and a knock to the ol' confidence. We headed on, and thankfully made it to the first campsite. We realised that my worries with driving on the right, were at the same levels as esther's worries with map reading and taking full responsibility for directions. What a perfect couple!
Laters
Alex
We arrived at Avis a little late, the guy organizing us was great but it was quite clear by 12.30 that he wanted us out. The place was meant to be shut at midday - I thought it was just Mexico that had siestas. He put us in the van and stood on the other side of the road shouting out that most australians (we had said we were kiwis - but maybe he actually meant most aussies and not kiwis) smashed the side of the camper van on a particular post when turning out of avis. So he wanted to guide me - quickly.
We were all strapped in, I started the engine and then we were off. We passed the post and was waving the nice Avis man goodbye. Trouble was we hadn't really sussed out where were going accept we 'had to stay in the right hand lane in 2 km time to avoid going into a low tunnel. So I was focussed on stay right - which is actually quite sensible when driving in France.
We were 15 min into our journey. There was traffic overtaking me in the left lane, there were parked cars on the right, I was focussed on staying on the right otherwise we lose the camper van's roof. We got up to 50km, stress levels were waning but then BANG. A van which was pulling out from a stationary position on the left (I did see the indicator) was obviously a little more out than the rest of the parked cars as our wing mirrors decided to say hello to each other. Scary moment.
Managed to find somewhere to pull over (on the right) and the courier man came running after us. Esther was calm and collated. I was cursing and swearing and generally explaining to anyone who could hear that a 50 day camper van holiday driving on the wrong side of the road (for me) was a silly idea.
The guy didn't speak a word of English. We managed to fill in a form which I'm sure says that it was all my fault - it happened so quick I'm not sure whether he was pulling out or or stationary. The smashed wing mirror managed to jam back in place. The side of the camper van had this wonderfully artistic black streak from front to rear where the plastic from 'the guys's' wing mirror rubbed off. If it was red we could have got away with it being a go faster stripe.
So after much calming down (Esther with me), we were off again. I now realise that we had three alternatives. Give up on the holiday there and then, me to get my confidence back up and running or Esther to drive. As I said, Esther was great at motivating me to get back in the driving seat again. She would admit that option 3 was not an option.
20 minutes in, one less wing mirror, a large go faster stripe on the van and a knock to the ol' confidence. We headed on, and thankfully made it to the first campsite. We realised that my worries with driving on the right, were at the same levels as esther's worries with map reading and taking full responsibility for directions. What a perfect couple!
Laters
Alex
Wednesday 19 October 2011
All forms of transport in Paris...
We arrived by plane, we spent hours on tourist buses (literally hours - needed to get to the Eiffel Tower for a boat trip which we decided not to go on - and it was in the middle of rush hour). The traffic felt much like this..
OK slight exaggeration. The Champs Elysees only had 7 lanes or so - not that anyone stuck to them.
We have travelled by foot - many hours trying to find key landmarks with maps which don't have a clear sense of scale (perhaps a user error!).
As mentioned earlier, we almost made a trip on a boat. The weather wasn't great and our enthusiasm, after slightly longer on the bus than planned, had waned.
We didn't make it on a bike either - although saw plenty of them, especially when standing in the middle of what looked like the path by the road but was actually a pedestrian crossing across a cycle path - bbrrringg, bbrrringg.
Tomorrow we take a step up and pick up the camper van. Apparently it takes at least 45 minutes to take a 'newby' through the instructions. I reckon I will need 45 minutes just to be shown how to go round a roundabout!!
Today we discovered the metro. Probably 4 days too late. How easy it was to get round town.
We have had a very entertaining and full 5 days in the apartment and have enjoyed living right in the middle of town. Esther did say that she could easily become a Parisienne - Im not convinced, the apartments do not have enough storage space for her lamps, handbags, shoes and clothes, let alone space to live as well.
The highlight of today was tramping round the Louvre (not the tramping bit, but what we saw). Here is a photo of the Skinner family with a relatively well known piece of art. If you look carefully, everyone's eyes are looking towards the camera....
Laters
Alex
OK slight exaggeration. The Champs Elysees only had 7 lanes or so - not that anyone stuck to them.
We have travelled by foot - many hours trying to find key landmarks with maps which don't have a clear sense of scale (perhaps a user error!).
As mentioned earlier, we almost made a trip on a boat. The weather wasn't great and our enthusiasm, after slightly longer on the bus than planned, had waned.
We didn't make it on a bike either - although saw plenty of them, especially when standing in the middle of what looked like the path by the road but was actually a pedestrian crossing across a cycle path - bbrrringg, bbrrringg.
Tomorrow we take a step up and pick up the camper van. Apparently it takes at least 45 minutes to take a 'newby' through the instructions. I reckon I will need 45 minutes just to be shown how to go round a roundabout!!
Today we discovered the metro. Probably 4 days too late. How easy it was to get round town.
We have had a very entertaining and full 5 days in the apartment and have enjoyed living right in the middle of town. Esther did say that she could easily become a Parisienne - Im not convinced, the apartments do not have enough storage space for her lamps, handbags, shoes and clothes, let alone space to live as well.
The highlight of today was tramping round the Louvre (not the tramping bit, but what we saw). Here is a photo of the Skinner family with a relatively well known piece of art. If you look carefully, everyone's eyes are looking towards the camera....
Laters
Alex
I have this problem
Over the years, Ive had this problem which has been getting worse and worse. When out with Esther, we would be walking down the street, and when we stop, at a pedestrian crossing or something, I would look away for just a second and my good lady wife would be off; into the nearest shop. I would be standing there like a lost soul. Sometimes it would be up to five minutes before she showed herself. Well, the guys at the Eiffel tower had things sorted for me. I was able to agree up front with Esther that in the event we get 'split up' then we had a meeting point...check out the photo....
Laters
Alex
Laters
Alex
Monday 17 October 2011
We turned our backs and the kids just disappeared, quell horreur...
We just couldn't see them anywhere....
The French know how to park
Couldn't believe it when we passed this car parked on the side of the road. I've heard of tight squeezes but this is ridiculous...
Saturday 15 October 2011
101 - driving in Paris
I have seen it all. Didn't think about the time of arrival into Paris and therefore the time we would be getting into town. Rush hour and then some. Rush hour on steroids would be a good description. Motorbikes (and cars for that matter) ducking and diving into non existent gaps in the traffic. 3 or 4 lanes of traffic on 2 lane roads. Many examples of ducking and diving gone wrong - i.e. dents. We made in one piece (after lots of expletifs, I think) from our charming taxi driver. And the lasting thought for me is what the hell is it going to be like trying to get a 5 berth camper van out of town on Thursday. Await that blog!!
The apartment we are in is quintessential and up four flights of stairs, so my fitness regime starts from now. It is along a popular tourist street with lots of boutique shops and restaurants. Esther already managed to get some window shopping in when we went out for some food.
Bon nuit
Alex
The apartment we are in is quintessential and up four flights of stairs, so my fitness regime starts from now. It is along a popular tourist street with lots of boutique shops and restaurants. Esther already managed to get some window shopping in when we went out for some food.
Bon nuit
Alex
Friday 14 October 2011
Jet lag kicks in...
...and The first thing I do is the blog. Well actually second, the first was to down load a new blogger app. I'm awake and the family are asleep - no change there I suppose.
Was met at the airport by the whanau. Great reunion. The kids had made a plaque with 'daddy' on it. Luckily they remembered me after 2 months otherwise they could have been whisking away a stranger.
Spent the day at legoland yesterday. A dream come true for all the kids including me!
Favorite bits - the laser shooting game, which we got half round and then it broke down. You go in a car and get driven round a building with lots of targets to shoot. Naomi wasn't liking it though until it broke down and we all had to leave.
2nd fav -the mini city. We travelled the world in a matter of minutes. All so realistic albeit it small. With lots of working parts.
Back at the hotel now. Benjamin was keen to get up and watch the rugby - that's my boy. Just seen it is a 9pm kickoff, so hopefully we get time in between breakfast.
Some quick snaps...
A tall building in little london (HSBC tower i think) - spot the darlek.
'finding ne-aomi??
Just lovely. Funny thing was, we were taking this picture when someone calls esther's name - a fellow mum from St Benedicts in khandallah. Small world or what!
Laters
Alex
Was met at the airport by the whanau. Great reunion. The kids had made a plaque with 'daddy' on it. Luckily they remembered me after 2 months otherwise they could have been whisking away a stranger.
Spent the day at legoland yesterday. A dream come true for all the kids including me!
Favorite bits - the laser shooting game, which we got half round and then it broke down. You go in a car and get driven round a building with lots of targets to shoot. Naomi wasn't liking it though until it broke down and we all had to leave.
2nd fav -the mini city. We travelled the world in a matter of minutes. All so realistic albeit it small. With lots of working parts.
Back at the hotel now. Benjamin was keen to get up and watch the rugby - that's my boy. Just seen it is a 9pm kickoff, so hopefully we get time in between breakfast.
Some quick snaps...
A tall building in little london (HSBC tower i think) - spot the darlek.
'finding ne-aomi??
Just lovely. Funny thing was, we were taking this picture when someone calls esther's name - a fellow mum from St Benedicts in khandallah. Small world or what!
Laters
Alex
Location:Chestnut Close,,United Kingdom
Wednesday 12 October 2011
A reflection from the HK Koru Club
Half way there. An easy trip so far. Managed to watch 2 films - now that would never normally happen for me but Esther would manage it when we travel as a family!
The house is packed up and Ive said my goodbyes to work and friends.
Only took 2 days to box up and transport away our worldly belongings. The packers arrived on Tuesday morning and they started straight away in the hallway by the front door - it didn't click until they were on their second box that they had packed away all my shoes. So we started unpacking, although I know it is very Kiwi to travel with no shoes! Im sure the packers thought here we go.
Managed to tidy up loose ends at work, I think. Hopefully no ticking bombs. And my car is now in safe hands - so Bruce reckons.
Not much happening here. Another hour then Im on the next leg to Heathrow. Lets hope there are not too many tears when the family reunite - you know me Im very emotional!
I will leave you with a quote on France (the first part of our adventure):
“France is the only country where the money falls apart and you can’t tear the toilet paper.” – Billy Wilder
Laters
Alex
The house is packed up and Ive said my goodbyes to work and friends.
Only took 2 days to box up and transport away our worldly belongings. The packers arrived on Tuesday morning and they started straight away in the hallway by the front door - it didn't click until they were on their second box that they had packed away all my shoes. So we started unpacking, although I know it is very Kiwi to travel with no shoes! Im sure the packers thought here we go.
Managed to tidy up loose ends at work, I think. Hopefully no ticking bombs. And my car is now in safe hands - so Bruce reckons.
Not much happening here. Another hour then Im on the next leg to Heathrow. Lets hope there are not too many tears when the family reunite - you know me Im very emotional!
I will leave you with a quote on France (the first part of our adventure):
“France is the only country where the money falls apart and you can’t tear the toilet paper.” – Billy Wilder
Laters
Alex
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