Alastor Adventure by Princess

Auntie Annette tending the fire.

Me on the throne of Alastor.

We got ready to go to Alastor (a special family place) with Grandfather, Uncle Danny and Auntie Annette. We got in the cars and began driving. We were in the Blue Mountains. We drove straight through Blackheath and down a winding road into the Megalong Valley. 

Daddy on the throne of Alastor.

We parked the cars and began walking. It was so extreme and adventurous all at the same time. After two hours of extreme bush bashing we were starving hungry, exhausted and desperate to get there. 

We sent two of the adults to get the cars and walked further down the road. When the cars came we drove up the road and to find a place to have lunch but before we could have lunch Grandfather found Alastor. 

Some of the beautiful fungi we found.

It was beautiful, and we were successful! There were cliffs towering majestically overhead. To the right a stream bubbling softly over rocks. To the left the queenly moss covered throne of Alastor. There was a name tree with names carved into the tree, and a moss fireplace. 

We had lunch and went to explore our superb scenery, with moss covered boulders, fungi and rainforest trees. It was so wild yet so beautiful. We stayed for a few hours before we left. We had so much fun. Finding Alastor was really an adventure.

Can you find the A in the cliff ?

Written by Princess

Alastor by the Tiger

Fungi and moss on the side of a tree.

In the Blue Mountains,.. near a town called Blackheath,.. there is the Megalong Valley,.. it has a steep winding road,.. and a few metres down from the road is... Alastor!  Alastor is a secret family place discovered and made by my great grandfather when he was 12 years old and it was there that his mother taught him the Christian faith. And we recently went there with grandfather and the Wotherspoons, (Uncle Danny and Auntie Annette).

The fire...on which we are drying the kids clothes because
they got wet in the creek.

We came down the deceivingly scary winding road and after a while parked the cars on the side of the road, then we went into the valley. We had decided before that we would park a little away from Alastor so as to go for a bush walk to find it, but... we had calculated wrongly and so we were walking (or rather bashing) our way through the extreme and exhausting bush of the valley for hours not knowing that we were going the wrong way! Whilst we were walking Uncle Danny taught us lots of stuff about the plants and scenery around us. We found lots of different kinds of fungi and lichen.

We decided eventually to go back up to the road and Daddy and Auntie Annette walked back to get the cars while we walked down the road. When the cars came we drove down the road and discovered that we had gone too far down the road. Whilst we were driving we saw two lyre birds on the side of the road.

Daddy resting on the Throne of Alastor

Eventually we found it and the scenery was beautiful with majestic cliffs and boulders with wonderful ferns and moss. There was an amazing tall tree with names carved in it and a queenly throne made out of a rock that was surprisingly comfortable. We think that the throne was where my Great Great Grandmother sat whilst talking to my Great Grandfather. There was also a fire place in which we made a fire. We went exploring and built a dam in the small creek that was flowing through the valley.

We had a wonderful time there and I can't wait to go there again. We didn't take enough photos because we were all so exhausted from the walking.

Written by the Tiger

Fungi

We were in the Blue Mountains, in the Megalong Valley. This is a picture of me near some fungus. This fungus was orange and white and was on a green stick. There was moss on the stick, because most rainforest sticks have moss.                

Mushrooms are fungus. You can find fungus in every different colour. They grow in the rainforest. In a creek, in a big cave there was a big colourful fungus that was above the water.

Written by Tank

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Travel Day(s) Part 2

This morning we got on the train and went to Albury where we met mummy and the other kids when we got home we gave the kids presents and settled in. We have had a wonderful time in Germany and I can't wait for next years camp.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Travel Day(s) Part 1

Today we got up and did a thorough clean of the house and then left for Frankfurt. We flew via Hong Kong to melbourne which took about 20 hours on the way we watched lots of movies such as Paddington and Captain America. We arrived back safely in Melbourne where we stayed the night at a budget hotel. Since today was ANZAC day daddy was supposed to be in Jindera but we couldn't make it.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 13

Aglasterhausen and Frankfurt 

In the morning we drove to Frankfurt to drop off the car and pick up a new car. Our new car is a tiny four seated Fiat with a sun roof, city mode (to help with stopping), and lots more. We visited Oma in hospital, and then went home and went for a swim but the pool was all booked.  It was a very busy day.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 12

Aglasterhausen

That's us with Herr und Frau Schulte

Today was a wonderful day (until the afternoon) but I'm getting ahead of myself.

In the morning we took Oma for a blood test appointment and then had lunch with a couple called the Schulte's in Aglasterhausen.  Daddy went to school with their son Tobias.

Then we went home and had a rest and then packed to go for a swim for after our visit to Oma in the afternoon.  But the swim never happened.

When we visited Oma the nurses told us that Oma had to go to hospital again because the blood tests that had come in said that there still might be an infection in her knee.  Daddy dropped Tiger of at home and visited Oma in hospital. And we never had our swim. We were supposed to fly home the next day but Daddy changed the flight and we have to take home the car tomorrow.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 11

Aglasterhausen and Mannheim 

Daddy's cousin Gwen

This morning we took Oma to church in Mosbach. Daddy thought the organ music was great.  There was a baptism, and the church was about three quarters full.

I'm listening to the audio tour in English

Then we went to see Daddy's cousin Gwen in Mannheim.  Gwen lives in Giessen, just north of Frankfurt, which is not far away. When we got there the traffic was horrible. There was some kind of protest going on and police were everywhere! There was so much of a delay that you could get out of your car and not have to move it for a long time!

We had lunch at a Turkish restaurant and then went to look at the palace there in Mannheim. On the way back to the train station there was police every were! Normal police as well as riot police with awesome suits. We think they were there because of the football match that was going on.

Apparently there are some bus companies in Germany that go interstate for only €15,00.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 10

Aglasterhausen and Sinsheim 

Today we took Oma to the market in Mosbach. Then we went to a medieval fair at a castle in Sinsheim and watched a mock fight. During the fight some of the people wielded fire balls one chains. Grandfather would have loved it.

While we were there Tiger bought a horn (trumpet) made out of cow's horn.  Lots of people turned up in medival costume.

We also went to the Sinsheim Tecnic Mueseum and it was amazing! We saw (and went in) lots of  planes including one of the Concordes of Air France and a Russian copy.  There were lots and lots of cars, tanks, and displays.

We also watched an IMAX film about life in the ocean. Tiger also went on a water ride that pulled a boat up a hill and then let it go into the water and also a ride the went round and round and turned over.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 9

Aglasterhausen 

In the morning we visited Oma and managed to get her to stand up (assisted and leaning on the bed). Then Daddy left Tiger at home while he visited the doctor briefly.  We then went for a walk around Aglasterhausen.

This is the primary school he went to when he was six years old.  The house he lived in with his family and Oma was just next door.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 8

Aglasterhausen

Tiger and Oma

We arrived back home in Aglasterhausen at 2:00 in the morning. On the A6 Autobahn there was a traffic jam (Stau in German), because of a car crash.  Daddy had to find our way back home by the back roads.  In the morning we woke up to go to visit Oma and pick up a letter from the doctor. In the afternoon at 6:30 Uncle Rolf left for the airport, so now it's just us two.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 7

Opa has three brothers and two sisters like me. L to R: Tanta Wanda,
Onkel Bernhard, Tanta Gertrude, Tanta Dorit,

This is as far north in Germany as we got.

Touching the Baltic Sea.

Kröpelin to Aglasterhausen

In the morning we went for a walk and saw where Opa once lived, at the end of World War 2 as a refugee with his family.  It is a large mansion, called Schloss Wichmannsdorf.

We then went to the nearby town Bad Doberan and had a look in the "Muenster" or cathedral. When we came back Onkel Helmut, Onkel Bernhard, Onkel Alfred, Tanta Geutrude, and Tanta Dorit were there for lunch.




One thing that the Fandrich men have in common is that all of them have big heads, big noses, deep voices, and give gifts. They give lots of chocolate, and some of them love mineral water.

After lunch we went for a brief visit to Kuhlungsborn, a seaside holiday town, on the Baltic Sea.  Across the sea is Denmark, where they make lego, and that is where lego land is (not the California one ).

We then started driving to Aglasterhausen and went to one of the fancy petrol station toilets.

We also saw some army vehicles as well as an army tank on the road. We saw lots of police and Daddy told me that there was a lot of police because that the 7 world leaders were meeting in Lübeck and I told him that they might be the group that has the keys to reboot the Internet in case of an cyber attack. The traffic was horrible and it heavily delayed us.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 6

Playmobil...one of our
favourite toys

Wittenburg to Kröpelin

You may think that in Germany you can't watch Australian tv shows but this morning and last night I got to watch: Dragons, Badou, and Octonauts! (In German of course) We called mummy on the iPad and talked to her for a bit.

We visited the Lutherhaus in the morning and it was awsome! We also went to the Phillip Melanchthonhaus museum which was a hands on museum with a key that unlocked cupboards and chests that had facts about the family and at the end you got to do a quiz. We saw the Luther Oak and then we started driving to Köpelin.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 5

Eisenach to Wittenburg

Today we had breakfast at the hotel bar and then visited the Wartburg, founded by Ludwig the Leaper in the early 1100s.  At the Wartburg we took a tour of the inside of the palace, which was amazing! One of the rooms was totally covered with mosaics! We also got to see Luther's room "Luther stube".  

The Wartburg is famous for more reasons than just Luther and his stay there for 10 months in 1521.  It was the home for St Elisabeth whose husband died on the way to the crusades, and was known for her acts of mercy and service to the sick and the poor.  She established a few hospitals.  She was declared a saint by the church only a few years after her death.  

We then started driving to Wittenburg. We took the scenic route and finally found the Highway. 

Our new car is amazing! It is a BMW, and it has a button to turn on the engine! On German roads you can go as fast as you want unless there are signs saying otherwise.  We arrived safely in Wittenburg and had a look at the church where Luther preached at when he was in Wittenburg. Then we went to our hotel (the Luther hotel) had dinner (bread and slices of meat from lunch) and went for a walk through the town centre.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 4

Aglasterhausen to Eisenach

Today we got up and called Mummy on the iPad, then we got on the train to go to Frankfurt for church and then on to Eisenach. Uncle Rolf stayed behind to look after Oma. 

At the church (Three Kings Church) there was a baptism, and so the pastor preached two sermons!  When we had communion we all gathered around the altar and had communion.  Then we held hands for the dismissal. 

Then we picked up the car at the airport. We made it to Eisenach and went to the toilet at a petrol station. Why are we mentioning the toilets? Because when I (Tiger) went into the toilets (after paying) I saw that the toilets had touch sensor flushers and after you flushed the toilet a machine came out of the wall and cleaned the toilet bowl. 

We went to the Bachhaus Museum and saw many amazing things and they had bowl chairs hanging from the roof that had headphones to listen to Bach's music.  While we were there the guides on our tour played musical instruments that Bach would have played. One of the instruments that they had there was really quiet and could be played at night without waking the family. 

We took the scenic route to the hotel and when we got there we discovered that we had somehow picked the wrong dates for the hotel, if we had followed the dates that we had accidentally chosen we would have been in Germany after Skipper's first birthday! We fixed up the dates and had dinner in Eisenach.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 3

Today we visited Oma and managed to get her out into a wheelchair.

Then went to the Sinsheim pool, which had a "round and round" pool, and a salt pool. All of the pools except the salt pool were heated to about 30 degrees!

Then we visited an old castle with a tower just outside of Sinsheim and had afternoon tea in the castle.

We visited Oma again in the afternoon and then went home.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Day 2

The Big Barrel

The inner court of Heidleberg Castle.

Today we got up and visited Oma and then went to visit the Heidelberg Castle. We also went to Heidelburg Holy Spirit Church and climbed the tower there.

The castle was amazing and it was Gigantic. We saw the biggest ever filled wine barrel in the world! It held 227,000 litres of wine. It was created by Prince Elector Karl Theadore.

At the of Heidelburg Kirche Turm (Church tower)

The guard of the monstrosity of a barrel drank so much wine that when someone gave him a glass of water he dropped dead! Why? I hear you ask? Because he had never had water in his entire life and in those days the water was polluted with chemicals.

We visited Oma again, did some shopping and went back to Aglasterhausen.

Written by Tiger and Daddy Fandrich.

Big Boys Camp: Germany: Travel Day(s)

We (Daddy and Tiger) got on the train in Albury and went to Melbourne. We flew to Hong Kong and transferred to a plane that took us to Frankfurt. We flew over China and Russia and directly over Moscow!  The airport in Frankfurt was huge, it had over 500 gates!

We took the train to Mannheim, and guess what?  Our first train was 25 minutes late.  So much for German punctuality.













Then Heidelberg and lastly Aglasterhausen were Uncle Rolf picked us up. We visited Oma later in the afternoon.

It has been an amazing experience so far here in Germany.

By Tiger and Daddy

Sister's Beach, Tasmania

Looking into Bass Strait

On Tuesday we woke at 3am to get to Brisbane. But our plane was late leaving. We arrived in Hobart and had lunch there. On the way to Sister's Beach we stopped at Campbelltown and played at a park there. But we had no idea just how far it was to Sister's Beach (North West Tasmania) and so we had to stay in Devonport.

The next day we went to the beach at Devonport and played at the rock pools and got wet, and then played on the awesome play equipment. The park was close to the beach and we saw a ship come in. By late afternoon we arrived at Sister's Beach and went down to play the beach before dinner.

On Thursday we had planned to walk around Dove Lake at Cradle Mountain, but we were all really tired from our big first day. So we went to Rocky Cape Cave. Before visiting the cave we went to the little beach there. The water there was gorgeous and again we got wet! We couldn't go into the cave because of the Aboriginal significance. They used to feast on shell fish there and we could see the midden (left over shells) everywhere. In the afternoon, after a good sleep by all, we took a walk to see the local caves. We left rather late, and on our way home Princess, Joybug, Mummy and Baby were a bit slow in walking. By the time the girls reached the car the sun was down, but there was still enough light for us to see the way to the car.

On Friday morning, whilst Mummy and Daddy finished the clean up of our lovely little holiday house the kids went for a wander down to the creek. Tank came back all excited. He had seen a platypus! Tiger saw it too! We all walked down and stood around quietly watching for another 15 minutes, but the platypus was too shy. It's known that a platypus lives there.

Tasmania Spring 2014

Cascade Female Factory (Hobart) ...our only entire family photo.

We have just returned from our annual holidays. This year we took 2 and a half weeks together. Just as we were deciding where to go for our holidays a wedding invitation arrived from a dear friend in Tasmania...so our destination and timing were chosen for us.

We had a fantastic time! We carefully chose an itinerary, and wrote it down in our family holiday journal.

Our journal is now an amazing record of a wonderful holiday, from which we will share our adventures.