Jonesberries

Sounds like a kid’s bedtime story, doesn’t it? Well, that is where you can find us right now.

How did we get here, you may ask. Well, here are some catch-up snippets and photos.

We got to New Zealand and drove a “transfercar” from Christchurch to Wellington.

We got a 4 berth motorhome and paid $5.00 a day for it because it needed to be moved from Christchurch to Wellington. “Cool as”, as they would say around here. We stopped by a seal colony, on the way, as you do, and loved it so much we spent the night there. They were SO FRIENDLY!

You could almost hear them asking to hang out for longer. Well, if you couldn’t hear the seals you could hear the kids.

We made it up to Wellington before Christmas and did some “hanging around” with Sam, our long lost son who is being very responsible and going to University here.

Christmas was great at “Ngatiawa Camp”. We were here last year and made heaps of friends and they let us come back. Go figure.

We had a great Christmas with lots of food, 40+ people, a special visit from the “Christmas Fairy”

and of course our Jones tradition of the gingerbread house. This one they affectionately called “Hurricane Priscilla”.

When the gingerbread house started to implode the kids put a water bottle inside it and when the water started to ooze out of the bottle and got tinted with black licorice and began emerge from the depths looking like a mote it took on even more the image of a hurricane but was less appealing as a food.

While we were in Turkey we found a “Storm Damaged Yurt” on the online auction site and nabbed it. When we got to Ngatiawa they put up their Marquis for us to stay in

while we waited for delivery on one replacement part and made others. Quite a spacious home, a bit too spacious. : ) Finally the day arrived and we put up our yurt. We have lined it with wool blankets and sleeping bags. Tammy, the milking cow, was quite happy to see more company in the field. The first day she came to the door wanting to come in. Sometimes the chickens come in – we see evidence. A few sheep came in before they moved to the next field. All good. You know I have had a dream before of living in a field with animals. So, that’s us up to date.

Our lovely Elizabeth has declared that she doesn’t want to be defined by her long blonde hair. She said she feels like a “walking cliche” at times. She is making a new beginning. Yesterday, Priscilla, her sisters and friends cut her long blonde hair and then shaved her head. She can’t stop smiling. She feels that for the first time in her life she isn’t a blonde. She seems to feel a new sense of freedom of identity. She has frequently been pulled down by concerning herself too much with the opinions of others. In this one strong statement she has silenced the voices and declared her individuality and inner strength. She seems to be riding on the “Wings of Eagles”. I think she has never been more beautiful.

A regular part of our travels is sorting through left over coins. Try as we might to spend all the currency before we leave a country either by putting it into the tank, exchanging it at the border or (the kid’s favourite) spending it on special foods.

We always seem to find extra coins in pockets or corners or…. So, a natural part of our homeschooling is to sort through the coins and put in small ziplock backs labeled with the country. Now we put the smaller bags into one larger bag of the continent. Alot of times the kids will count the money in each bag and put a small piece of paper in with the amount.  The bag goes into the safe and comes out when we return or when we meet someone going the opposite direction we make an exchange of currencies. It is always nice to have enough for a loaf of bread, or coffee or a pay toilet when coming into a new country, as we always say.

Hannah is our bookeeper. At first we did an XL document on the computer. Now that she has her own ipod we have put Xpensilite on it. We save receipts in a metal box on the dash. She takes the receipts and enters them into her ipod and converts the currency back to USD. She takes photos of any that are over USD 50 in value. She seems to really love doing this and she does it well.

We have changed to an ipod app for pocket money as well, called “allowabank”. Abi keeps her home currency in USD but the others keep their home currency in NZD. Every purchase must be converted to their home currency.

The world is quite small for our kids. They grew up understanding multiple currencies. They also understand different economies. Just crossing a border bread can go up to 10 times the cost of the previous country. We were poor in Germany, we are rich in Bulgaria. However we have the same amount of money. It is one thing to know this in your head. It is another thing entirely to know how it feels.

Well, once again we were to be found at The Freakstock Festival in Germany. We think this makes 9 years we have gone. We didn’t plan to come back for the very next year but here we are.

First we had to reunite the family.

Sam is back after about a year and a half away from the truck. He met the older girls in Scotland and journeyed back with them. Really great to have the family all together again.

Every year we seem to get closer to the noisiest part of the festival and have lots of friends, old and new, around for most of the time. Some highlights were…

Being with friends.  Old friends and new friends like clowns, physical theater artists, musicians and other artists and just plain ol’ amazing people.

When the blog carnival theme came up this month for “RV Parks and Kids” my mind came up with a bit of a blank because we just don’t go to them very much any more. A couple of reasons come to mind. They are too dang expensive. With our amount of people we have paid €65 for just one night at a campground. Also, many of the higher end campgrounds can tend to smell, look, feel and act way too much like suburbia for our tastes. These ones also tend to cater to older clientele with visiting grandkids or small families.  We end up getting lots of photos taken of us but not much conversation.

However, sometimes we need a break from our wild camping ways. We look for a small treat when we are especially tired.  So, I will start off with some of these jewels and end up with alternatives to campgrounds in Europe and beyond. As you read our recommendations please be aware that we are a bit of a …. ferrell family and a great place for camping for us might not be your choice. We prefer to dive into local culture rather than find the perfect pool or shower temperature.

Here are some places we have camped.

First, some ground rules.

Look for places that are more down to earth, where you see lots of local license plates and away from touristy cities. The best places you find will be the ones that you discover on your own that fulfill your own specific needs.

In all of Europe an R.V., motorhome, camping car is the way to go. Do not think a caravan gives you the same privledges. A caravan reminds people of gypsies and you will be limited to camping grounds or your friends driveways.

Germany. Our favourite campground was one that we found when our car broke down. We took a taxi with our tent to a campground (their website) outside the village of Grunberg while our vehicle got repaired. In a great display of the German precision they have 7 stainless steel pools each age appropriate from infant to olympic swimmer. It is a set of community pools with campground attached. We go every year for a bit of a break. We also love camping at Edersee. Lots of campgrounds to choose from. We went to Teichmann (their website). It is a family paradise. Lake, daily family activities including BBQ and pancakes. Book ahead because they are crowded.

Spain. Campgrounds are expensive. Wild camping is dangerous. If we hear about anyone being robbed at night while they are sleeping in their RV it is always in Spain.  You can get a good deal on a campground here if you stay in the same campground for 2 months or more. That is not for us though. We rarely spend a great deal of time here, unless we are staying with friends. We did find a campground (TJs post) that was perfect for our needs north of Barcelona once.  Expensive, but it was only for a couple of days and we loved it.

Portugal. Our favourite camping experience is at Conscious Earth (their website) (our post). Great people. Great place. Say hi for us if you go.

Italy.  A couple of our favourite campgrounds are here. Asissi had a great campground (their website) and hostel in an olive grove with a giant, open air, family-style restaurant under a grape arbour. The type of things dreams are made of. You know how sometimes a place seems so perfect in your memory you wonder if it was real. Halfway down the country we found a huge, simple campground on the coast, next to a fishing village.

Croatia. Stay away from places with big, flash signs. Take the smaller road and look for small signs. Hope you find that farmer who was fortunate to have a bit of land on the coast and welcomes you to his family style campground. These special gems have no website just a friendly host and reasonable prices.

Macedonia. Our favourite campground here is outside of Lake Ohrid. Ask the locals in the town – they will all point you to the same place. It is called Autokamp Gradiste. No website. We went just before the main season and had the place mostly to ourselves. It is very popular during the main summer season. If you walk along the rocks on the small bridges you will find many cafes, clubs and even a cave church from the 1400s.

Albania. First of all, a bit of warning on the roads here. Only drive during the day and stay alert. People steel the huge manhole covers and leave huge holes in the middle of the road. Also, seems EU gave money for divided freeways but nothing for onramps. So, you will find a divided freeway coming off a dirt road with people going both ways on both sides of the road. Road signs are also frequently missing. Your GPS will be of little or no use as the information is not kept up to date. Beware also of speed traps. The speed limit will drop to 20 km for no reason except to give the police a chance to get money from the unknowing tourists. In reference, to camping, we only saw 2 campgrounds in the entire country. The route to Campground Praemer (their website) takes you through 10km of a road that is sinking back into the swamp from whence it came. 4X4 only. Nice campground and nice people, if you can get there. It is the heart project of a great couple. Strange, doesn’t mention the difficult route on the website.

Czech Republic. Did I ever say that we love the Czech Republic? Great campgrounds with pubs and cheap restaurants. The places we have stayed, on a lazy river, in the middle of the green countryside and the hopfields. Ahhhh.

U.K. Campgrounds generally charge by the vehicle and not the person. Much better prices than on the continent. Had some problems because we have a self-build motorhome and they are a bit scared of the Irish Travelers in England. Motorhome clubs are good to join if you stay around for a while because they offer “registered sites” and “farm sites”.

New Zealand. DOC campgrounds (our post) are great. These are government campgrounds. Off the beaten path. Some are quite standard, some are the idyllic, some are quite adventurous. We saw some great wildlife rooting around our campsites. Best to get your maps sent to you before you get to New Zealand as they can be difficult to find.  Our favourite "normal" campground (our post) was coming south from Rotorua and almost into Taupo. It was marked by a blue teapot and full of semi-wild chickens and peacocks. Heaven for us.

Now for the UN-CAMPGROUNDING.

Ground rules here.

If you park near some local businesses support them. Get coffee at the cafe. A beer at the pub and talk to the owners. Ask if it is ok to park for the night. One wild camping spot in Silves was emptied by the local police until the local complained that the police were putting them out of business. They petitioned to get the wild camping spot reopened.

Do not spend the night anywhere that is within 40 km of an international border. That is unless you want to get robbed, caught in an international dispute or accosted by prostitutes.

In France and Germany, remember this... In France, "Aire-de-campingcar"... In Germany "Stellplatz". These beautiful places can be found in a magical book "ADAC Stellplatzfuhrer".  It is possible to get on amazon.de or from any large bookstore once you get to Europe. DO NOT go motorhoming in Europe without this book. We bought our handy, dandy book in Germany and keep it in the front of the truck with a German dictionary. Good to have a GPS as well as many of these places are difficult to find. We have been to a beachfront parking lot in France with electricity, water and bread delivery in the morning for €3.00 a night. We have stayed in parking lots of camping grounds with use of all the facilities for a 10th of the price of those staying in the camping ground. We have stayed next to swimming pools for free. Horse riding clubs. lakes. rivers. pubs. etc. Facilities can be very limited but it keeps us flexible and creative. The book lists a few sites in other EU countries but none in Spain. A couple of our posts on Aires are here and here.

Would also like to mention that we have friends whose parking lots and fields they are generous enough to let us use. We are currently parked next to a castle. We have a key to the front door and use the facilities inside. Before this we were in a forest where other friends are renovating an old farmhouse and restaurant. We have stayed in hippie communities, squats, driveways, farms, fields and festivals. From here we will go to visit a friend who, with his invitation to come, told us where we can stay in our truck.

And beyond....

New Zealand. The ONLY way to see NZ is in a self-contained campervan. Many places to rent from . We thought the funniest ones were with a company called "Wicked". The back of one said "They call it pms because mad cow disease was already taken". OK, well, appeals to my sense of humour. Maybe not yours. So....where were we. If you have a self-contained motorhome you can go and park just about anywhere. We had tents and stayed at the DOC campgrounds. DOC campgrounds are cheap government campgrounds that can take you to some of the most idyllic places or on bizarre adventures.

OK, that is it. Have I wet your appetite? So, who is coming to Europe... or New Zealand?

This post is part of the FOTR Blog Carnival.

Oh yeah! I think I am supposed to be hiding my age about now but I am so excited. I am 50 and am living the life I want to be living. I spent my birthday surrounded with my greatest treasures, my family and my friends. What could be better! We had friends fly into Prague from all over the world. Abigail, excelling in her gifts of social coordinator, arranged all the details and got everyone into one of Matthias’ amazing hostels (Sir Toby’s, Miss Sophies and Mosaic house) each hostel completely different and chosen to match the guest.

On the morning of my birthday we had a birthday brunch at Miss Sophies. Have I ever had such a breakfast? NO. Beyond what you can imagine. A wall full of beautiful nibblies of baked goods, muesli bar, fresh fruit etc. while dish after dish emerged in front of our eyes. Eggs, crispy bacon, sausages, grilled tomatoes, Pancakes and chocolate sauce, french toast with bananas and chocolate.

Matthias was truly in his element with Miss Sophies breakfast chef, Irena at his side. WOW!

Later in the day everyone made their way to the truck for another party and feast where Andrew was truly in his element in our outdoor kitchen making a killer goulash and a full grill of fry up while Abi made potato salad and Tina sat down to prepare a mountain of fresh fruit salad.

We finished off the day sharing my decade birthday tradition of a shared cuban cigar (I know wierd, long story). Is there any better way to spend a birthday. I think not!

I am up early this morning. It is day 2 after the funeral. My brother flew out yesterday and left a nice row of ties on the washing machine. Perfectly sorted, lined up and secured in place with some black duct tape. Another use for duct tape. I set up my mom’s sewing machine and start to work on the ties. Eric wants me to sew them together to make a bag, no, a pillow. I am going to try keep them in the right order.

First the Dark blue one. I think every other one is a dark blue one with the little white spots. Like rain. Or tears. I sew it to the grey and brown striped tie. My dad’s old ties. What a great idea to sew them together like this. Eric is so clever. So artistic.

Next comes another dark blue tie. A christmas tie. Little green reindeer named in red. Vixen. Prancer. Donder. Blitzen. Donder? Is that really how it is spelled? Dang.

Next comes a brick red tie with geometric flowers. Very professional looking. Mom said yesterday that since he retired over 20 years ago he has only worn a tie once. He still has them.

A grey striped tie with flecks of blue. Why does my dad still have them?

Dark blue with white stripes.

Eric doesn’t wear ties. He is a creative, artistic guy at an ad company in NYC. Artistic ad guys in NYC don’t wear ties.

Grey stripes with blue white and red.

I remember buying my dad ties growing up. I wonder how many of these we bought for him over the years.

Blue and coral swirly things.

Dang what are those swirly things called.

Grey with red and white triangles.

I wonder why my dad kept them all these years. Is it because we bought them for him or because so much of his identity was with providing for his famlily.

Dark blue with small swirly things.

I still don’t know what they are called.

My mind is so numb these past few days.

Small grey checks with yellow and white uniform spots.

This one is balled up in the middle. I think it was his favourite.

I wonder why it was his favourite.

Dark brown brick red and cream stripes.

I think I remember him wearing this one.

Simple Dark blue and small white stripes.

It helps to do something with your hands at times like these. Nothing too stressful. Nothing that needs alot of serious thought. Hands busy in order to give the mind to show random movies and think random thoughts without pressure to make sense of it all. I think this might be an american thing. Strong work ethic.

Burgundy with white spots.

I hope my brother likes this. I am glad we decided on a pillow. This is way too heavy for a bag. Talk about carrying around your family’s burdens. Dang.

Plain dark blue.

I am sad my dad is gone.

This one says “British Sport” on the tag.

It looks a bit British. Not usual for my dad. He likes brighter colours. He likes Hawaiian shirts.

Fading blue stripes.

Elvis liked Hawaiian shirts too.

One of the pictures I put up of my dad looked a bit like Elvis.

All done. No more ties.

My mom told me a story about my dad yesterday. He said he felt he had lived a full, rich life. He was happy.

He was ready to go.

Well, I didn’t sew them all together all that great. Kinda hard with them cut along the cross-section of fabric.

My dad wasn’t perfect either. None of us are, are we. Mostly good memories. Some bad.

A full, rich life.

Today started with a ride around the lake with my sister, Pam. We were both awake early. Even after my 25 hour journey from Prague to Portland. The boat ride was short so that we could work on photos of my dad and make a playlist some old gospel tunes. ‘How great thou art’, ‘ The old rugged Cross’. My dad’s favourite ones. Some of my favourite childhood memories are of the family gathering around the family piano while my dad played old hymns from that old orange hymn book. His voice booming in perfect harmony.

Time to remember.

We are now all back at my sister’s house. The kids are out on the lake. Christian is taking the chicken off the BBQ.

Time to eat.

Andrew and the kids sent an email to say that they dressed in black and had a bacon and egg breakfast to remember grandad today.

Time to remember.

My dad has moved on. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, 4 kids and 16 grandchildren.

Most RV’s cater for a retired couple and their dog. We, on the other hand, are a family of 7 including Mum, her 6 foot 6 inch husband who needs a custom bed (that’s me) and five kids who all need beds and a place to stash their stuff. And who wants to travel around the world in an RV unless they can bring their own bike?

Already you can see that most RV’s are woefully insufficient. Not big enough. Not strong enough. Not fun enough.

We were fortunate to find a big, strong, 4×4 truck with an empty box awaiting our design. It was a lot of work but the kids are happy with the result.

These are the 5 best modifications we made to our RV to make it family friendly:

1. An outdoor kitchen. Our main kitchen is located in a big steel container outside the RV with a hinged door. Huge gas burners for some serious flamage and big pots to cook for the kids and their friends. Plenty of space outside for everyone to cook and eat.

2. A roof that opens. The front part of our roof opens up to allow our kids to sleep on the roof. We also built a high rail that pops up around the roof so that nobody falls off during the night.

3. Storage boxes underneath the truck to store the inflatable kayak, tennis rackets, extra tents, art supplies, etc.

4. Lockers for everyone. Located under the couch, the lockers are not large but they give everyone their own storage space.

5. A double decker bike rack. 7 bikes for 7 people. It’s also a great deterrent against thieves. Who wants to rob the Partridge Family?

Other family friendly modifications were less successful and short lived. The double hammock snapped in the first week, crashing to the floor with mum and dad still in it [ouch] and the climbing wall instead of a ladder was a little too awkward. But the RV is still a work in progress and the kids have more ideas. Like this one:

What’s a family-friendly RV without a slide coming down from the roof?

This post is part of the May Blog Carnival on Families on the Road. Check out the others.

Last night we got together with the cousins on Andrew’s side of the family. We enjoyed a collection of food of magnificent proportions that grew as each carload arrived through the front door to make their contribution. The stars of the night were Uncle Neil’s lamb chops, Sister Sarah’s scalloped potatoes, Cousin Megan’s roasted pumpkin and pinenut salad, Auntie Jan’s brown rice medley and Nana’s  homemade lemon merangue pie.

We gathered around the table with sisters and cousins and aunties and uncles and nanas. We talked about what we have done since we were last together and some of the heartbreak. We talked about cats, dogs and chickens, a common theme among Andrew’s relations. We talked of nothing mind-blowing or world-changing. We joined with people we were stuck with. People connected by blood and marriage. We did not choose to be related but we chose to be at the table together.

Outside, in the back garden, was the next generation of cousins. Why outside? Because they chose it. After 5 minutes of “Bohemian Rhapsody” being sung at full volume by cousins of mixed musical ability, we understood why it was good they were outside and wondered what the neighbours must be thinking.

Cousins are important.

Most of the cousins, from last night, will be joining us for our family outing to the Perth Zoo. Once it was all decided and the meeting place and time were set they must have remembered that they forgot to invite the parents.

I am sure they will have a great time.

You know, cousins are a big part of why we took this flying part of our trip. Our kids had cousins they have not met. That should not be.

Cousins are important.

The biggest heartache of last night was talk of one of the cousins who married a woman who has severed ties with the family. A nana that will never see her grandchildren. Cousins that will never meet

Cousins are important.

I was closest to my cousin, Terre. Her parents had split up and she was making life difficult for Aunt Fran. Terre came to live with us in high school where my mom snapped her into shape. Anyone who knows my mom can effortlessly imagine this, I am sure. I am so glad that Terre came to live with us for those years. It has been so nice to see her grow from troubled teen, to beautiful young woman, faithful wife and doting mother.

My cousin, Terre, died of cancer last night. I was woken up by a tap on the shoulder from an unknown source at the moment of her death.

She is survived by her husband Mitch, together for 29 years, her  boyscout son, John, and she just missed her daughter, Ruby, becoming a teenager.

Cousins are important.