One day we dragged ourselves away from the Black Forest on a day trip. This is where we went. Cool huh?

 

  

 

Camping Muellerwiese is a charming site located in the little village of Enzklösterle in the northern part of Germany’s Black Forest. We arrived in style, as the youngest WB had been spectacularly sick due to the ‘twirly’ mountain roads (as his big brother described them). “Oh dear” said the lovely landlady faintly, as we checked in, covered from head to toe in the projectile vomit that had somehow managed to cover almost every surface of the car’s interior. One of us had to pitch the tent as best we could alone, while the other grimly set out to ferry buckets of water and swab down reeking upholstery. The car cleaning effort attracted much attention and for the next few days complete strangers would inquire about the health of our car, and our son, in that order.

We had chosen to camp in the car free tent area, so setting up involved first hauling our gear across a field in a small wagon, a task that seemed Herculean as the evening closed in. Other people were extremely kind. We are eternally grateful to the lovely lady next door. A guide leader with three children and an impressively efficient camp, she had whipped up chicken and chips for dinner, and kindly made extra for our hungry children while we worked to get set up before nightfall.

Despite our rocky start we had a wonderful time at Camping Muellerwiese. The people who ran the site were friendly and gentle, and the beautiful natural environment was fabulous for children. The boys ran wild with other kids, paddled in the stream and fished for frogs. They are still talking about the friends they made there so it was a highlight of our trip.

 

 

 

After a puzzling couple of hours trying to remember precisely which arrangement of wheels and pedals had enabled us to fit 3 bikes onto the rear of the car, we tore ourselves away from the Efteling in the early evening and drove from Holland, via Belgium to Luxembourg City. Three countries in three hours – we thought this was exciting but the boys, unimpressed, dozed through most of the journey.

We arrived at the Luxembourg YHA in the flogging rain and felt grateful not to be camping yet. Backpacking just like the old days! Hmm – but with two small children in tow. Tired, grumpy children. Not quite the same I’m afraid.

The Wild Berry Boys were in good form the next morning and loudly broadcast their good spirits to the other guests at the YHA who I’m sure appreciated them very much. Hastily we embarked on a quick tour of Luxembourg although ongoing rain dampened things down a bit. Luckily we happened upon a fantastic tourist train which took us past the major landmarks while the rain streamed down the windows.

We had a great time exploring the old casements and siege works underground later on. But I’m afraid the most memorable part of Luxembourg for me will be the amazing cauliflower soup we enjoyed at a fairly nondescript local bar, and the kind man who brought the children warm milk in their own little cups with a straw each.

 

  

 

Anyone who hasn’t been to the Efteling should go. Immediately. What a fantastic, magical place for children and the grown ups who accompany them. The fairytale forest; the rides; the characters, the music, the Frikandellen, the light show on the lake. We rode our bikes there. Enough said.  

  

  

  

 

Okay, so we needed to pack the car first. Would it all fit? Is that the kitchen sink? We’d been providing plenty of free entertainment for our street over the past few days and departure day was no exception as we struggled to fit all our camping gear in the car while the children got increasingly irritated and hungry. Oh dear. We were obviously amateurs at both packing and parenting. Finally we were off with a flourish, but much later than planned (thanks for the lovely wave, dear neighbours at no. 26!)

Would we make our ferry to Hoek van Holland? Yes, we jolly well would. Despite our Sat Nav, which determinedly sent us in the opposite direction to Harwich and was still insisting we had 30 minutes left to drive while we were boarding the ferry! Garmin, we now have major trust issues.

We can recommend the ferry. The cabins are surprisingly comfortable and the whisky in the lounge is quite adequate for soothing frazzled nerves.

On 20 July 2015 the lovely people at Anglo Pacific managed to dovetail our worldly goods into one 20 foot shipping container… so, our epic journey from London to Sydney began. At this point we had lost the will to live and couldn’t remember why we had decided to move back to Australia nor spend several months camping in Europe along the way. Lots of people had been asking us why we decided to go and right then we couldn’t think of any good reasons

We loved our neighbourhood, friends and work colleagues in London and both ourselves and the Wild Berry Boys were very happy. They had been offered places at an excellent local school and nursery for September. Yet we missed the warmth, outdoor lifestyle and relaxed pace that we remembered from our former time in Sydney, and wanted to be closer to family.

Off we go. Goodbye, lovely Winston Road. Goodbye, neighbours and friends in London. See you all for a few days in November.