To mark the end of our 3 month journey we thought it might be interesting to look back and record some of our bests and worsts!
First of all here is a photo of our Sat Nav recorded statistics. When we first found this (Maciek accidentally came by it while trying to search for something else) it told us our fuel costs and total driving time, which would have been interesting if we could find it again or remember it. The maximum recorded speed of 144 kmh must have been when we were trying to outrun the Swiss police when they caught us mowing our lawn on a Sunday! Not really. But that is an actual law in Switzerland, believe it or not. There is also a link to a Google map of our journey.
We can call our journey The Magical Birthday Tour with Maciek’s marking the beginning, and mine wrapping it up, with two little ones for each month in the middle!
We are grateful for the fact that we had no major problems at all, and that apart from a night in Torquay when Milly was sick all night and a morning on the second visit to Soest, when Noah was also sick, and a few sore throats and runny noses, we had no health issues. (Apart from the sea sickness and constant vomiting from the back seat whilst driving.)
It was such an awesome experience, however hard and stressful it was at times.
And the Oscar (or wooden spoon) goes to…………….
Worst Roads:
Winner!!! Poland, followed closely by England due to the abundance of ridiculous roundabouts.
Scariest Moment:
Winner!!! Losing Noah in France (We’ll elaborate later, didn’t mention it before as we didn’t want to give our oldies heart attacks), followed closely by - losing Noah at the aqua park in Poland (it’s okay he had floaties on). In third place is Maciek nearly breaking his shin. Joint third place is when Maciek was stung by a bee in Kitzbuhel and let go of the stroller which then rolled down the hill and into the road, with Noah in it.
Best food (excluding home cooked):
Winner!!! Ireland. Followed closely by no-one.
Most Spectacular town:
Winner!!! Annecy in the French Alps.
Cosiest Accommodation:
Winner!!! The farmhouse cottage in the Cotswalds.
Most Relaxing Place/when we felt like we were actually on holidays:
Winner!!! Second week in France, in the Dordogne, due to the accommodation, weather, and pool! Followed very closely by Sportcamp Wolfergut in the second week of Austria.
Worst Travelling Companion
Whinger!!! NOAH
Funniest Moment:
Winner!!! Amelia doing a number 2 in someone else’s apartment at Haus am Wald!
Most Valuable Purchase:
Winner!!! The Sat Nav. As much as we gave out about it, we would have been literally lost without Karen!
Oh, and obviously the car!
Best Bargains:
Winner!!! Torquay for cheap food and clothes
Most expensive:
Winner!!! Ireland!
Worst weather:
Winner!!! Edinburgh!
Most Frustrating:
Winner!!! Bad skype connections
Worst thing about long distance driving:
Mel’s winner!!! Getting seat belt burn on my neck from constantly turning around to pick up toys off the floor and pass food and drink to the monsters in the back seat.
Maciek’s Winner!!! Those @#*%!! roundabouts in England! (have I mentioned those before?)
Cheapest Banana’s:
Winner!!! Soest at 79 cents per kilo
Interesting to note: Number of different beds we slept in: 19!!
Obviously we can’t give everything a mention. We’ve done so much and visited so many places over the past 3 months that this post could go on for pages and pages. Every place had something special. I’ve noticed I’ve given out more Wooden Spoons than Oscars, but all the great stuff has already been written in the blog!
Thanks everyone for all the comments to the posts. We really enjoyed reading them, we were always excited when we got a new one and they gave us encouragment when we were struggling. We will continue with the blog as we attempt to live in Austria over the winter, but posts may not be as frequent as we will not have a regular internet connection, but we'll try our best. But for now, that's the end of the first chapter. Tchuss!
Hi Mel,
ReplyDeleteI have followed your bloggs the whole time but up intil now i have not mangaged to work out how to post something to you(due to time and working it out i think because today it was easy...lol!!)
Sounds like you all have had a exciting but trying holiday,i am so proud of you doing it with kids in tow,not sure i could do it especially on thoses small roads you talked about in the begining and Noah coming close to the edge of high walls...etc...i would have freaked what with my fear,so good on you!!
Good luck in Austria,i hope you have a permi.
Rach.xxant house sorted for you all for winter and you can get settled down to a more normal life and routine as such!
I am so jealous even of the not so easy stuff..lol!I hope everything works out for you now you are settling down,can`t wait to see you When you come home but enjoy while are there,good luck
Hey mel, unfortunately the comment i put up has dissapeared. ah well cant remember what i wrote now apart from. ROUNDABOUTS ARE GREAT. Just that australians dont know how to use them. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou need the extra half brain that is taken out when you take the australian citizenship. Better than all those damn traffic lights that evryone ignores and belts through causing mayhem. And what about knowing whats left from right lanes, inside and outside, at least its correct in UK, you dont have road hogs hogging the right lane or speed kings running up the left lane. Yeh give me roundabouts anyday. Pitty you learnt to drive here in Australia, should have taken lessons in UK ha ha.
Mind you the Germans are good at speed eh!
Love to all 'Roundabout Dad' & 'Speedy Rita'
Wow that Satnav is impressive...you can see the whole route you took on googlemaps. Thumbs up for technology. Fuel costs and everything! Does it give you the cheapest fuel report like you get here in oz!! I'm glad you gave Ireland an award, shame about the wooden spoon - not surprising though. However, one must remember quality doesn't come cheap these days! What a journey guys! What an achievement! Love your blogs. Hope your amazing but slightly calmer adventure continues in St Johan - minus the seatbelt burn, the road rage and the vomiting! Best of Irish luck. Sinead xx
ReplyDeleteThere are many such laws in Switzerland!!!! Such as driving in the middle lane of a 3 lane motorway when the road is otherwise completely empty except for the police car that pulled me over and charged me 60 chf. Bazzzztards
ReplyDeleteHope you are settling in well
Suzanne