A long weekend camping in Wales

Last week Steve went up to Swansea in Wales for the NZ Paralympics training camp. Tim Prendergast was there so Steve spent a few days training with him and doing the last few key sessions before the Paralympics. 

Tim training in Swansea.

Swansea is about 45 minutes from Cardiff in the South of Wales and is right at the start of the Gower Peninsula. It was a bank holiday weekend here so we decided to go camping and thought we would pick Steve up on the way through. Swansea is about 2 and half hours from Solihull and we carried on to the end of the Gower Peninsula to Rossili Bay and Hillend Camp ground. 

We climbed up the headland above the campsite. You can see Rossili beach on the left then the camp ground dotted with tents behind us.

At the top!

Sari leading the way!

The view from the top looking down at Worms Head

Walking back down the ridge 

We met a family of wild ponies on the way back down and they were not worried about 3 little kids at all. 

We had a wild weekend with beautiful sun and torrential rain. But we always had dry places to sit and sleep and lots of fun walking and swimming and sitting around the bbq.

 

Our awesome campsite.

The campsite was really a big field and it got a bit wet underfoot by the end of the weekend but this was lots of fun for the kids to play around in. James caught a couple of waves and Steve and the kids had fun in the sea in their wetsuits! Mieke and Caro liked being able to read in the tents and go walking and exploring the local town and market. Bella made friends with the girls camping around us and exploring with them, Sari enjoyed the adventure playground and walking barefoot through the mud. They both loved meeting wild ponies on the walk we did up the hills above the beach. Phoebe spent a lot of time playing around in and out of the tents and on the canoe parked on the grass with her cousin Elijah! Unfortunately it was too rough to get the canoe in the sea! We are back at Mieke and James'  now and Steve heads into London tomorrow to spend the next week with Tim as he prepares to race on the 3rd and 4th of September. We went into Swansea on Sunday and saw Tim run a great 800m so can report he is in really good shape for his upcoming races. We also got to watch one of Tim's teammates Holly throw the javelin. She was awesome and the girls really liked her so watch out for her in the Paralympics Javelin. 

Bella with the campsite behind 

Freddy and Bella go to London

Uncle Nick just ran a great 1000m race tonight in Linz, Austria finishing third in 2m16.58 - just outside the New Zealand record. We couldn't find it live online to watch but it is exciting to see him get such a good result. His next race is a 1500m on the 23rd August, this Thursday, in the Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, see the start list here.


Bella and Steve took me into London on the train last week. We stayed the night at Tim and Lisa's house in central London, cheered Tim on in his race and then did some sightseeing in London. Tim is running in the Paralympics next week which we are getting very excited about.

Becoming an expert at getting around London on the train and tube

Bella giving Tim some training tips

Bella riding on a double decker bus

The London Eye

Big Ben

trains 4

tubes 5

double deckers 2

Bella made the most of the London transport system and really enjoyed touring the centre of London on a red double decker bus. It was fantastic looking out from the top level at all the sites especially Buckingham Palace where she told me the Queen lives when she is on holiday. We got to see the London Eye and Big Ben and really enjoyed hearing the loud chiming of the huge clock. 

Baddesley Clinton and Kenilworth

Last week Great Aunty Gill and Bill came to stay with us in Knowle at the B&B down the road. They won a trip to the Olympics through Air New Zealand and squeezed in a visit to see us too which was just great.

We took them to see some amazing old houses and castles just a short drive from Mieke and James house. The first was Baddesley Clinton, a beautiful moated manor house built in the 1500s complete with priest holes where the family would hide persecuted Catholic priests in the 1590s.




 

Noah, Sari and Bella throwing stones into the moat

There were very helpful volunteers who told us the history of this old house. We learnt that the moat (it surrounded the whole house!) was dug in the 13th century to keep out black bears and wild boars that lived in the Forest of Arden.   

The courtyard

Bella and Sari dressing up and playing in one of the priest holes

The priest holes were amazing with so much care taken to hide any evidence of the doors and trap doors to these spaces. The kids enjoyed the idea of the priest holes and they had a space inside the house where they had made a priest hole playground where the kids could play and hide from each other.

We also went to Kenilworth Castle. We were driving through a little village and then we turned a corner and up on the hill ahead was this huge castle ruin made of red sandstone. This castle has an amazing history and it started off in the 1120s around a powerful Norman tower called 'The Keep'.

Kenilworth Castle

The castle was significantly enlarged by King John at the beginning of the 13th century and instead of adding a moat King John dammed the local streams and created a huge lake, called a mere, that surrounded the castle and proved very usefull in keeping out the enemies. John of Gaunt spent lavishly in the late 14th century and renovated the medieval castle into a palace fortress.

The inner court of the castle

Looking down towards the inner court from the castle walls

Windows of what was the Great Hall

Later The Earl of Leicester, who was a special friend of Queen Elizabeth 1, was given the castle by the Queen and he expanded it once again, making it a fashionable Renaissance palace fit for the Queen to come and stay in.

Kenilworth was 'slighted' (which means partly destroyed) in the Civil War in 1649 to prevent it being used as a military stronghold and it sadly became unihabitable and turned into a ruin. We had alot of fun climbing over, up and in the ruins and imagining what it would have been like to live in the castle.

Sari, Noah and Bella in the kitchen in what was the original oven

Rolling on the hills just outside the castle

Aunty SeeSee (Sierra) came and stayed with us too for a night while Nick was staying in the Olympic village. It was so great as the girls had been missing her and we had a nice bbq in the backyard and caught up on all the Olympic goings on.

Caro, Bella, Sierra, Noah, Mieke, Sari, Gill, Bill

Bella woke up today and asked if she could watch some Olympics - she was sad when we told her that the Olympics had finished. They go just long enough that they become part of your daily life; watching some swimming or athletics in the evening and catching up on highlights in the morning .... and then they are over. They would surely lose our interest if they did go on but we do miss them...but it means that Steve is back to stay with us which is great and we have been having a fun time as a family again. He will head off into London tomorrow for the night to meet up with Tim Prendergast and watch him run a 800m, his last race before the Paralympics. Tim races at the Paralympics on the 3rd and 4th September in his main event, the 1500m and then again on the 7th and 8th of September in the 800m.

So proud of Uncle Nick

Here is some of Team Willis just before the final at a pub in Stratford. It was all excitement and anticipation.

The Olympic Stadium was amazing and we had an wonderful yet nervous and emotional time watching the events before the Mens 1500m final. Caro was sitting with Sierra and what an honour to share this night and this experience with such a beautiful woman and friend. Nick is so blessed to have Sierra, his No. 1 fan. sharing this adventure with him.

We were sad and disappointed for Nick. That is professional sport - the highs and the lows. Why do we put ourselves through such heartache we ask? Because we believe in the talent God has given us and we are to use our talent rather than leave it unused. But it is a risk. Nick gave it everything he had to get it right for one race on one night that only happens every four years. Everything has to be perfect and come together on that one night. Last night was not quite that night for Nick but we are very proud of Uncle Nick - He made the Olympic final which is an amazing achievement. We believed more was possible and I still believe - there is much more to come from Uncle Nick. We are proud of him - He was wonderful the way he carried himself with such humility and honesty in the face of defeat. We are so proud of both Nick and Sierra - what an amazing couple together. What an amazing journey and it is not over yet!

The Semi

We didn't have tickets to the semi final due to some famous Jamaican runner who was meant to run really fast so we had a party at Nana Jill and Grandpa Mels house last night. They are James parents and all the family were invited to celebrate Nicks race and their wedding aniversary - great timing! This time we had a 'Go Nick' cake to mark Nicks semi final. 

Sari and Bella couldn't understand why they had to wait until after Nick had run before they could eat it. We will bake Uncle Nick a special cake when he wins the Gold tomorrow night as we know that he really likes dessert and has been so diligent in the lead up to the Olympics and hasn't been eating treats!





Uncle Nicks fan club : Bella, Phoebe, Sam, Elijah, Jacob, Noah, Lucy and Sari - it was hard getting them to sit still!

And Uncle Nick produced a pearler for us to watch running a really controlled race and looking fantastic! There was alot of noise in the room! Well done Nick! We all look forward to the final tomorrow night - Mieke, James, Caro, Phoebe and Elijah will be there in the Olympic stadium. Bella, Sari and Noah will be watching at home in Solihull with Auntie Emma and cousins Jack and Sophie.

We spoke to Auntie Seese today and Nick has been resting up and taking his ice baths (a big bucket with ice and ice cold water to help his muscles recover) so he will be all ready for tomorrow - GO UNCLE NICK!!!! We can't wait until Uncle Nick lets them have it - I reckon he has been reserving his energy in the rounds and is going to come out with a storming run tomorrow.....





The Heat

Last night Caro, Mieke and Phoebe were in the Olympic stadium to watch Nick run his heat of the 1500m. They met up with the family at a pub just outside Olympic Park and walked over to Olympic Park and the stadium with Sierra.

Sierra, Mieke and Caro

Entering \Olympic Park

The Olympic Park holds the main stadium, the aquatic centre as well as many other sporting venues and is right by the Olympic village, The park was amazing and was planted with beautiful wildflower meadows and a meandering stream right outside the stadium.

Wandering through the park it was a sea of people but the gardens softened everything and made it a beautiful journey to the stadium.

Caro has dreamed about the Olympics ever since she was a little girl running in her adidas three stripe towelling shorts and to finally get a chance to be there was just amazing. As she climbed the steps under the stadium and then came out onto the top level it was mind blowing, beautiful and almost overwhelming -  the scale of the stadium, the amount of people and the atmosphere of being at the Olympics gave Caro goosebumps and tears in her eyes. As Mieke and Caro found their seats, only a few rows from the top of the stadium, it was a little scary and they fought back feelings of vertigo! As they sat down at the start of the top bend just to the right of them was the huge Olympic flame. The couple sitting next to them to the left were from Rotorua and the lady to the right was from Opunake! What a small world it is! Opunake is where Caro's mum Marjorie grew up and where her Nana Molly lives.

Phoebe just having some dinner outside the stadium before the heat

Phoebe took it all in her stride and wasn't phased by the noise in the stadium

The heats of the womens 100m were up first as well as the heptathlon Shot Put. The crowd was very vocal for the British woman Jessica Ennis who is the poster girl of the Games and the favorite to win the heptathlon. Caro missed seeing her good friend Becky Wardell competing but was cheering on fellow Kiwi Sarah Cowley.

A text came from the warm-up track from Steve to say that Nicks warm-up was going well. Nearly there. Mieke and Caro's stomachs started to churn as the nerves kicked in....Phoebe went to sleep.

At the top bend 71 rows up Phoebe fell asleep just as Nick lined up for the start! The woman on the right is from Opunake!

As darkness fell the Olympic stadium emerged in all its glory; full to its 80,000 capacity

Then as the sun started to set at Olympic stadium the mens 1500m heats stepped on to the track. Hearts were pumping and it felt surreal for Caro to be finally at the race that Team Willis and our family have been focused on for months and even years, but how would Nick feel. Caro felt that maybe it would be easier to be competing as you have an active way to work out your nerves. They had to wait for the first two heats to run with Nick running in the third heat. Mieke and Caro felt like they needed a bathroom break but then Nick was on the track and he was introduced to the crowd as the Beijing Silver medalist and they were jumping out of their seats. Suddenly it became obvious to those around them that they were personally interested in the race and as there were no British runners in Nicks heat the crowd around Mieke and Caro adopted Nick as their own! And Nick ran such a great race and looked smooth and in control and confident tucked in second for most of the race and then brought it home with a strong finish to win his heat.

Phoebe didn't wake up.


One race down and two to go. Good job done.

Mieke, Caro and Phoebe just had to make it back home to Solihull. After the walk/run, tube, train, taxi and then car ride they made it safely home.... and will do it all again for the final on Tuesday! It was such an amazing night and what a blessing to be part of it!

The beautiful Olympic flame was just to the right of our seats

The Eve of racing

It is the morning of the day before the heat of the 1500m and Mieke and Caro are making their preparations to travel into London tomorrow. This will mean a 2 and a half hour car ride to the outskirts of London and then a tube into the Olympic Park. The excitement is building as we all look forward to watching Nick run in different places. Bella and Sari will stay with Uncle James and Noah and Elijah and Phoebe will come wit us - there was a controversy here when they announced that babies needed their own tickets to the olympics and we thought that Phoebe might have to stay at home but they have worked out that the babies can come if they are worn - read about it here

Nick went into the Olympic village early this morning and all is well with him which is great news. Steve is on the train now from Cardiff to London with the last members of the Nz team and will be in the village tonight.

We are missing the Nz tv coverage here with all the Great Britain athletes being the stars and last night Caro went to watch some Olympic highlights and on both channels there was football! She was not impressed, sorry to all those football fans!

On our way to the Olympic Stadium - Phoebe negotiating the Tube!