15. July: We had a short, but very nice stay in London. We liked the hotel that Philip had booked for us. Our programme included a visit to Madame Tussaud's and a site seeing tour on one of the famous double decker busses. Karen and Philip with his girlfriend Jessy, their cousin Gilly and Gerd's goddaughter Chloe joined us for dinner on 8. July, which was very enjoyable.
The next day it was David and Robert's 6th birthday which we had celebrated earlier back home with all their friends as we knew that we would be travelling on the day. In morning we left from Heathrow to Reykjavik where we were welcomed at the airport by our great friends Ellert and Agusta Schram. They accompanied us to the house close to Reykjavik which we are renting and where we are staying for the period of our visit. It is located right at the waterfront, has a garden with two football goals and an outside jacuzzi. The boys are thrilled. We spent the evening at Ellert and Augusta's home, enjoyed meeting again their lovely children Eva (14) and Ellert junior (12) and were treated to a delicious fish dinner. What a warm welcome to Iceland and what a wonderful start to our long adventure journey. We are aware that we will not be so privileged very often. Saturday was spent to settle in. Since Sunday 11. July we are exploring Iceland. We realize that it is a country of considerable size. Much bigger than one might expect. We shall report more in detail in a couple of days. In the meantime you will find a number of photographes in the gallery.

19. July: Our first lengthy outing covered the socalled "golden triangle" in south central Iceland. It is composed of the Pingvellir National Park, the place of the oldest National Parliament, called the Alping, established in the year 930, then Geysir with its hot springs as well as Gullfoss with its impressive waterfalls. Pingvellir was recently included in the list of UNESCO's world heritage. Our friends, the Schram family, joined us for the outing, which meant that we had extremely competent guides during our tour and were offered a delicious picknic on the way.
On the following days we go to the Blue Lagoon, which is an amazing site. In the middle of moon-like landscape a lake with milky, light blue hot waters. Very popular not only for tourists but also among Islandic people. Another day Gerd and Max go for an outing on horseback. A wonderful experience of two hours. The Islandic horses are indeed very special.
There is so much to see and experience in this country. We make it a point to get enough rest between the trips. An excursion to the highlands of Landmannalaugar in the centre of Iceland provides unforgetable impressions. Ellert's brother Olafur is an experienced guide, knows everything about the history of the country and has lots of stories to tell. He takes both families, the Aigners and the Schrams on a day's outing with a special off road minibus. We pass by the still active vulcano Hekla, which erupts every eight to twelve years, the last time in 2000. So we were safe. A huge area around the volcano is covered with black ashes. It is kind of spooky. On our way we cross river beds, meet lonely hikers, poeple on horse back, even two tough English mountain bikers and we end up in a remote place where people camp near a hot spring. Here we have our picknic and take a dip into the wet elements which in some places are boiling hot. We loved this outing. If anyone intends to visit Iceland and needs a competent guide for outings of such nature, here is the contact address of Olafur B. Schram, Highlander Adventure, Reykjavik, tel. +354-4866440, e-mail: highlander@highlander.is.
Apart from visits of various places in Reykjavik, we included in our programme an excursion over two days to the west central penninsula. By boat from Stykkisholmur we cruised among the many small islands to observe whole colonies of rare birds and tasted fresh shellfish at the end of the journey. We stayed the night in a house with the most beautiful view over the valley and the sea in the distance and the children enjoyed playing football and feeding the horses nearby. The weather looking a bit dull the following morning, we skipped our plan to go to the glacier Snaefellsnes and instead visited a historical viking centre at Eiriksstadir before making our way back to Reykjavik.
On gallery you also will find some pictures that were taken at the Reykjavik family park towards the end of our stay in Iceland, when we felt that we should take it a bit easy. It was fun, not only for the children.
During the entire duration of our visit we were helped in our planning and often joined and guided on our outings by Ellert and Agusta Schram. Their Children are marvellous, easy going company. The boys adore them. We hope that we shall have the opportunity to return some of the favours to them sometime in the futur.
What were our favorites of the holiday in Iceland?
Max: The outing on horseback.
Robert: The giant slippery slide at the swimming pool.
David: The Blue Lagoon.
Monique: The outing to the centre highlands.
Gerd: Attending with Ellert the European Cup Qualifyer of his club versus Shelbourne. What can beat football?

CANADA
4. August:On our way from Iceland to Canada we had a stop over in London. Likewise we had an overnight stay in Chicago before taking the plane to Calgary where we picked up our Camper which is called RV over here. Flying over the Atlantic went rather well, the kids being glued to the TV screens in front of them, watching cartoon network. To add a little exitement to the day Gerd forgot his mobile phone in the bathroom of Chicago airport before passport control and only noticing it afterwards. It required quite a few extraordinary steps and some helpful spirits to recover it. All in all, the operation lastet about two hours. Not a nice thing to happen after an eight hours flight. After another hour's waiting for the shuttle bus we finally reached our hotel, where we treated ourselves to a relaxed dinner in our room before diving into our beds. By that time it was three in morning CET. All that took place on 22. July, which was Monique's birthday!

Refreshed we continued our trip the following day to Calgary. Surprising the distances here. It took three hours to get there and we crossed yet another time zone, i.e. eight hours difference to CET. Upon arrival we made use of the time available and took a taxi to go down town. It was a beautiful hot day and we could get a taste of the relaxed atmosphere of Calagary and its inhabitants, which is a great mixture of different cultures. The next day we picked up our camper and since then we have travelled more than two thousand km visiting various places and national parks in Alberta and British Columbia. In these 12 days we got accustomed to life in a camper with the unavoidable, more or less entertaining experiences, that come along with this. This includes having to empty the tanks of black and grey waters at night time when the water would stagnate in the shower bassin. On another occasion Gerd managed to park the vehicle in the wrong place (plot O2 instead of Q2) thereby upsetting the routine of other camping enthusiasts, who incidentally where Germans and had little understanding for such lack of precision. But it is certainly an ideal way for a family with children to travel and to get to know another country and its people. An additional asset of our travel is the fact that the children have to practice their English and we notice already now the difference in their willingness to express themselves in English.

There is also some romantic aspect to life in a camper. To be able to stop when one wants to, the simple life style, the many contacts with others (where are you guys from?...) , the possibility to go to remote areas and discover the country as one likes, the BBQs and the life close to nature are things that we learn to appreciate. Which does not mean that we are not looking forward to the comfort of a hotel from time to time.

What is striking about Canada is the vast open space, the wildlife in most parts of it, the enormous forests in mountain areas on the one hand and the endless plaines of farming land on the other hand, the multitude of rivers and lakes with clean waters, the friendliness of the people and their down to earth attitude. They are very proud of their country and keen in making foreigners feel welcome. In short, a great country to visit. But one would wish to have much more time to spend here. Our stay is not completely over yet, we still have a couple of days in Vancouver before taking the ferry up to Skagway and continuing by train and bus to Whitehorse from where we shall carry on by camper to Alaska.

11. August: Although our stay in Vancouver was a very short one, we managed to visit a couple of interesting places. Gerd and Max went to the McMillan Space Centre (interesting) and Monique, accompanied by Robert and David had a little shopping tour and dropped in at an excellent Andy Warhol exhibition. We enjoyed the comfort of the Empire Landmark Hotel where we also could go onto the internet and send a few messages. Vancouver is quite a big city, some say it is the most popular city of the country. It did justice to its reputation as a rainy city, as we had wet weather while we were there, which made people happy since it had been unusually dry over several months. Here again we found a great mixture of cultures with a large part of the population being of Asian origin. One would have to spend a week here to get a real taste of the city and its surroundings.

The following days brougt some new travel experience for us. First the greyhound bus drive to Bellingham, which is located on US territory. This meant for us to unload our luggage at the border, to fill in forms (the same ones that we had already filled in when we had a stop over in Chicago on our way to Calgary), pay $ 6 per person as we had done in Chicago, answer the same questions as in Chicago, reload our luggage and climb back onto our bus to go to Bellingham. After spending 4 hours in the departure building we finally boarded the ferry to Skagway. As soon as we were on the vessel we were yet again in another time zone, i.e. Alaska time. We left Bellingham on Friday 6. August at 6 pm.

The ferry was called the M/V Columbia and was described as being the flagship of the fleet. We were located in two outside cabins with a view on the water. The cabins were adjacent but had no connecting doors and we had to sleep in bunk beds. We very much enjoyed the trip on the ship, although the children had to be permanently accompanied by one of the parents. But Monique in particular appreciated the service provided on board. There were many passengers from the US, quite a few retired people (in addition to Gerd), but also Europeans from Germany, Switzerland and Holland. The socalled inside passage is a route of almost one thousand km between the main land and the islands located just off the main land. Part of it belongs to Canada (British Columbia) and part of it is Alaskan territory. The Vessel, however, is under US flag. The scenary of the inside passage is absolutely stunning and we were lucky to have exceptionally nice weather all the way. We spotted a group of killer whales and also some dolphins early on Saturday morning. On Sunday morning we entered Alaskan waters and the ship made various stops, which were however not long enough for us to go on land.

On Monday 9. August at 1pm we arrived in Skagway where we disembarked and stayed one night. What an experience. During the day, tourists from the cruises pour into this small place and go back onto their vessel in the evening, which means that the city is then left to its inhabitants, except those untypical travellers as we are. We found ourselves a small restaurant called Sabrosa that specializes in Mexican dishes. A rather informal place, where the service is shared between the owner, a young lively lady and her two helpers and the customers themselves. No typical tourists to be found here, except a few hikers and some interesting characters as this middle aged Canadian, who had been in Skagway for 10 years. He was the owner of a 1929 Ford car that was parked in front of the restaurant. He had acquired the car without knowing it, when he bought old farm and found the vehicle afterwards hidden away in the barn.

Skagway was founded during the gold rush in the 19. century when thousands of people made their way by boat to Alaska to hunt for gold. The whole city is intentionally kept in this tradition. The trail that lead to Fraser, the place with the gold mines high up in the mountains, was lateron transformed into a rail track, which is still running today in an old timer style. We had to get up early on Tuesday morning to catch this train at 8am which would bring us halfway to Whitehorse in Canada, our next destination. The train ride was a real scenic one with very steep drops and also leading through a number of pitch dark tunnels. One can imagine how difficult it must have been for those people in the past who had to do this trail with horses. Just before we arrived at Fraser we spotted a group of deers, which are called caribous in this part of the world. What a lovely high plateau this is up here, with little streams and a number of lakes in the green landscape.

At Fraser we again entered Canadian territory (back to Vancouver time) and changed over to a coach which brought us to Whitehorse. Here we picked up our camper and stayed one night at a RV park called "Caribou" which is owned and managed by a Swiss couple who settled here seven years ago. The husband used to be a police agent and retired at the age of 51. The also convinced another Swiss couple to join them. They are running the restaurant of the camp ground. It seems that they are happy here, even if Whitehorse is quite remote as a place and winters get very cold.

Our favorites of Canada:

Max: David Thompson ressort at Lake Abraham
David: Spotting a black bear on the road side
Robert: The boat trip of the inside passage
Monique: Sitting on the upper deck in the sun during the inside passage
Gerd: The colour of the lakes

ALASKA
16. August: Starting out from Whitehorse we took the Alaska Highway and travelled approximately 800km in two days. After the overnight stay in Whitewater Crossing we crossed the border to Alaska near Beaver Creek and were warned by the lady in uniform that we are heading towards an area with wildfires. Indeed, the horizon became very hazy, but the weather was rainy anyway, so we were not able to distinguish the cloulds from the smoke. The road was at times bumpy and construction works were frequent. The scenary is however very special.

The distances are enormous and one has to be watchful not to forget to fill up the tank as the next gas station might be more than one hundred miles away. The Alaskan people are very proud of their country and whenever we tell where we come from they bid us a hearty "welcome to Alaska". Practical aspects have here absolute priority. All vehicles have strong eight cylinder engines and four wheel drive is almost the rule. All settlements are kept in a military camp style and the government is investing great energy in the management of the land and the information of the visitors. It is now the middle of August and the locals tell us that this is the start of fall. The weather is still relatively warm however.

At Tok we turned direction Anchorage and travelled a beautiful road which took us to the Richardson Highway and we spent the night at a Camping Ground near Glenallen. This was a spot in the middle of the forest and we had a place next to a romantic little stream with squirrels and some very trustful birds paying us visits while we were having dinner next to the open fire. The boys loved the place and spent hours throwing stones in the water and chasing each other.

The next day we travelled the Richardson Highway to Valdez, a city that is the arrival point of the transalaskan oil pipeline. Everything is about fishing here. Lots of people come here from the states to fish, have the fish packed up in ice and ship it home. Salmon and hallibut are the favourites. The whole camping ground is full with people who only came for the fishing. During our stay here we learned a lot about the 1964 earthquake that devastated Valdez and other cities including Anchorage. Valdez is surrounded by high mountains and the Valdez glacier has formed a lake just a few miles away from the city with huge pieces of eternal ice floating in the water.

The oil pipeline that ends in Valdez is almost one thousand miles long and it is subject to extreme security measures. It is practically impossible to approach the pipe at any time. The construction of the pipeline on its own is a phantastic achievement as it leads over mountains, glaciers, under rivers and through thick virgin forests and had to be build also in the periods when the very low temperatures prevail.

26. August: Since Tuesday 24. August we are in Dawson City in the Klondike area of Yukon. We are therefore actually back in Canada but include this part into our Alaska accounts.
When we left Valdez we took the ferry boat to Whittier. The trip was similar to the inside passage from Vancouver to Scagway but much shorter and the air was somewhat misty. Consequently we could not see very well the numerous glaciers which are normally the attraction of the journey. Nevertheless, the sun was shining and we were busy watching out for wildlife. Indeed, at one point, we saw a whole colony of sea lions on the shore. Passing outside glacier bay we were surrounded by hundreds of pieces of drifting ice. Whittier is a harbour that is only accessible by water or through a tunnel that was previously reserved for the railway but is now open also for road traffic. However, there is only one lane and the passing through alternates with almost two hours interval.

After that we made our way to Anchorage where we stayed two days. The main event for us in Anchorage was a visit to the Alaskan Native Heritage Center which was extremely interesting. We learned very much about the way of living of the various tribes on the Alaskan natives and all this was delivered directly by young natives. We are not quite sure what to think about Anchorage and the people living there. From reports in the papers and our own impressions we gather that there is quite an elevated crime rate and that alcohol is a problem. Eating out in restaurants we find the eating habits rather unconventional.

Leaving Anchorage behind we travel direction north. On our way we encounter more and more smoke clouds caused by the numerous wild fires all over the country. Via Willow we arrive at Denali Park. The concentration of hostels, agencies, hotels and campgrounds at the entrance to the park indicate that the park is one of the most visited places of Alaska. It is a restricted area and not open for private vehicles. We book a trip by shuttle bus that will take us approximately 50 miles into the park. The visibility is poor due to the smoke. Therefore the mountains, and in particular the highest peak of North America, mount McKinley, remains invisible, just as all the other higher peaks. However, we enjoy the busride and we actually see three grizzly bears, a number of caribous and some mooses.

After two days at the Denali Park we head towards Fairbanks. More smoky roads. It is a pity, as the scenery is splendid. In Fairbanks we only make a very short stop. Long enough, however, in order to observe the obvious malaise that exists with native people. Here again, alcohol is a problem. We decide to drive out to the Chena Hot Springs, approximately 60 miles east of Fairbanks. During our drive we see moose close by the road on several occasions and we are surprised, as we could see these animals only over a large distance at Denali Park. Upon arrival we enjoy the thermal bath. To our suprise we find quite a few Japanese people here and we wonder why. Lateron we learn, that the Japanese couples come here as it is considered a blessing to conceive under the northern lights (aurora borealis). Who would have thought this.
The ressort is situated at the very end of the valley and there are bears living in the area. Visitors are warned by numerous panels throughout the camp.

Nevertheless, we enjoy our stay and book a raft outing on the Chena river. It is an easy ride but very enjoyable and the guide allows the boys now and then to steer the boat. During the trip we see (and smell) lots of dead salmon as requested by nature and we observe a bald eagle and a beaver. When we leave the ressort we see wildfires on both sides of the street. However, we come through without difficulties and stop for the night at a place called Northpole, approximately 15km south of Fairbanks. It is the home of Santa Claus and we take the opportunity to pay him a visit to inform him of our new address next Christmas, when we will be in New Zealand.

From there we travel further South, through more smoke. At Delta Junction we make a break and cannot believe our eyes when we see a Moose taking her young ones across the highway. In a calm dignified manner she marches across the road expecting everyone else to stop and let her pass.
After on overnight stay in Tok we branch off to the left direction Dawson City. This is a very scenic drive and part of it is called "top of the world". Quite rightly so, as we find out lateron. But first of all we are confronted with burned down forest to both sides of the road over a distance of almost one hundred km. The sky is hidden by the smoke. On several occasions, the fires were alive very close to the road. Long stretches of the road is in gravel. When we gain on altitude we understand why the road has this name. We really have the impression to be on the top of the world. Halfway to Dawson we cross the border to Canada and not long after we see the clear sky for the first time since we left Anchorage.

When we arrive in Dawson we discover to our surprise that there is no bridge to cross the Yukon river. Instead we have to take the ferry. Free of charge, by the way. We install ourselves at the Goldrush RV Park and go to eat for dinner at Klondike Kate's. Everything is about gold in this place. In fact, the city was founded at the time of the goldrush that started in 1896. At the peak of the stampede there were 30 000 people in Dawson. Today, there are 1 700. In a way, the place is fascinating, even if some of it is touristic make up today. But the history is real and it is so recent. The pavements are still made of wood to protect from the dirt roads. Memories surface from books and films. We visit the historical places and arrange a visit to one of the still active gold mines down the valley, which is a family business. They started mining in the Sixties and made a fortune in the eighties when the gold price was high. We see how the mine is operated today, as it was done in the old days and we have our own try at gold panning. And we find little grains of gold. It is impossible not to be affected by the atmosphere that still reigns in and around this place. And we meet people who live here, who came here by coincidence and stayed. In spite of minus 40 to 50 degrees in the winter and in spite of the wolves hauling in the surrounding forests. (Last night we registered minus 5 degrees, on August 25th, nota bene). But there is a touch of adventure still present in this town and we are glad that we came. And today we went to buy a gold pan. You never know!

3. September: The drive from Dawson City to Whitehorse is almost 700 km long and we decided to do it in two steps. The scenery is again great, but the weather is changeable. We even have some rain halfway to our destination. We make a stop at Tachun Creek and spend the night at one of the non-serviced free campgrounds right next to the creek. The next morning we discover that two of the trees we had parked our RV under had their trunks nibbled halfway through by beavers and it will not take long and these trees will come crashing down. At the camp ground we meet three campers who had hired their van from the same agency as us. When Gerd notices that they have a sticker of Bavaria on their vehicle, he starts talking to them. They came from his home town Regensburg and two of them had already visited Canada in previous years and wanted to travel Alaska this time. So they were on their way north. Small world.

Having concluded our visit to North America and finalized our round trip in Alaska what are our overall impressions about this part of the world? Alaska is a vast country and there are not many people living there. The wilderness is still overwhelming. The last two years the weathe was unusually warm and dry and this caused the wildfires all over the country. They were mostly caused by lightening strikes. This also is nature and it is evident that nature dominates here. And this is uncontested by the people. There is little attempt to influence what is the natural course of things. This applies to the hot weather in summer, the extremely low temparatures in winter, the untamed waters, the wildlife that is totally respected by the citizens and the conditions that come along with this. This means also, that the wild fired are not even countered exept in situations where human lives or private properties are in danger. Maybe this is why so many Europeans are fascinated by Alaska. They like to experience this nature that dominated and rules peples lives. There is no other way than to accept and to adapt. And one cannot help but to recall the incidences when man attempts to steer the natural course of things and the negative consequences resulting from this. There are plenty of examples for this in the socalled civilized world, in particular in Europe.

What are our favorites in Alaska?

Maximilian: Gold panning in Dawson City
David: The rafting on Chena river
Robert: The grizzli bears in Denali park
Monique: Talking to the young natives at the heritage centre in Anchorage and reading the book "Alaska" by James A. Michener
Gerd: The untouched wilderness and the power of nature

USA
5. September: Taking the plane from Whitehorse to San Francisco meant that we had to have a very early start. Whitehorse has always been a very important junction for all traffic from and to the north, even during the gold rush years. The airport has today regular daily connections with other Canadian Cities and the airport can cater for big aircrafts. Security is a big subject with all planes going to USA destinations. Therefore we had to undergo tight scrutiny. We had to touch down in Vancouver and present our luggage to the USA security, which meant another lengthy procedure. Finally we were off to San Francisco. We had planned from the start to spend three days at least in this city and had booked ourselves in the Sheraton Hotel to be comfortable after the lengthy rides in the RVs in Canada and Alaska. Furthermore it was Gerd's birthday the day after our arrival and we did not want to celebrate the event while travelling on the road. All those who kindly remembered the occasion receive his most sincere thanks for their messages on the day whereas others who let the moment pass discretely are complimented for tactfully not mentioning this first return after his 60th.

We spent the day as tourists (the Sheraton is located in Fisherman's Wharf, downtown, which is a totally touristic place) exploring the city by means of the famous cable cars. In the evening we joined up with Gerd's good old friend Phil Thomas and his wife Karen who have been living in San Francisco for many years. Gerd and Phil had met more than 25 years ago in Berne. Phil worked for an English company as computer specialist on a project in Berne at the time.
We have stayed in contact over the years and it was a very happy occasion to meet once again, this time in their home town. In the evening we went out for dinner all together and we chose a restaurant named "bubba gump" which belongs to a chain of restaurants that is branded in line with the film "forest gump", so the place is full of elements based on the story of the film.
The following day we did more siteseeing. We also visited the Aquarium Bay Museum with all the fish and mammels living in the bay of San Francisco and had a look at Pier 39 which has been squattered by sea lions and seals. At the end of the day we took the ferry boat to Alcatraz, the famous prison of the past on the rock in the Bay of San Francisco. This place is quite impressive, considering the high profile people who were kept here until the Sixties. We had a guided tour and were given a lot of imformation about the history of the place and the people who were detained there.

On 3. September we took possession of our RV which will be our home and at the same time our means of transport for 26 days. It is slightly bigger than the two previous ones, has got a slide out element, TV and air conditioning. It is quite spacy and very comfortable. We found a camp ground near Phil's and Karen's home in the Marin county. They live in San Raphael, on the other side of the Bay. At a short distance to the camp ground we visited Muir Woods, which is a national heritage with its marvellous redwoods. These are the enormous Sequoia trees of almost 100 hight with trunks that can have a diameter of 5 to 6 m. Some of the trees are more than one thousand years old. It was a very hot day and we appreciated the coolness of the forest. In the evening we were invited to Phil and Karen's home. They have a lovely house right at the waterfront. Many different species of birds, including migrating ones, can be observed from their home. We spent a wonderful evening on the terrace overlooking the water including a dip in the swimming pool and had a delicious dinner. On Sunday morning Phil gave us a tour by car and showed us the area where he has been living ever since he arrived here. A lovely place to be in and a placed to be revisited, we agreed.

We were told that we were very lucky with the weather, since it was nice and warm here during our stay and never once where we confronted with the famous fog that seems to cover San Francisco quite frequently in summer. We found San Francisco very mediterranian in a way, it is very multicultural and is the city of art of the US. We enjoyed our stay enormously and regret not spending more time here. Of course, being looked after by local friends is always a privilege and makes a visit so much more enjoyable. Their advice and guidance made things very easy for us. So today, our stay in San Francisco came to an end and we took the road direction Tahoe Lake where we intend to stay a few days at the South end of the lake.

14. September: Travelling on a Sunday means busy roads, especially on a long weekend. Monday, 6. September being Labour Day in the US made one of those weekends. But even the traffic could not stop us from noticing the varying landscape during this relatively short trip that took us 4,5 hours.
We found our RV Park and were glad to have booked in advance as it was full when we arrived. We wanted to stay for three days and went immediatly to hire some bikes to be able to explore the area.
Labour Day in the US means also the end of the holiday period and the schools are starting again. So on Monday we saw an incredible exodus of vans and cars from the area direction west. And we found ourselves almost alone on the camp ground.
Lake Tahoe is a very popular recreation area for people from Sacramento and San Francisco. The west side of the lake is on Californian ground and the east side of it belongs to Nevada. At least on the Californian side great efforts are made to keep all commercial activities away from the water front. So, sorry guys, no icecreams, no beers or cocktails. The effect of this is rewarding. Beautiful sandy beaches that are completely unspoiled. And cristal clear water of refreshing temperature. The lake is more than 500m deep.
Wherever you go in this country you find always he same business entities and in particular the fast food places. We were really happy to see that all of this is kept at a distance from the lake. Americans rely largely on the comfort of a car. Walking is downright odd, biking not very costumary. We felt that we got some degree of admiration for doing the latter, especially as it was very hot weather.
However, people are very friendly and go out of their way to help you if you appear to be lost. Seeing you looking for something, they often address you before you have a chance to approach them and it is not unusual that they stop their car, turn the window down and ask whether they can help you.

Nuitrition in this country is a big issue. We have never seen so many people who suffer from obesity as here. Even among the very young this is a big problem. The fast food business is extremely powerful and you really have to make an effort to escape from it as it appears to be omnipresent. Monique bought a book that analyses the interconnections and the interwoveness of the business, being it meat, potatoes, sauces, flavours and many other elements of our daily nuitrition. It describes the scandalous malpractices and accidents in the production process that have cost the lives of hundreds of people and made thousands sick. Anyone reading this book, I am sure, will never again feel like consuming such products or give in to the pressure of the children to buy the staff. The book has the title "Fast Food Nation", the author is Eric Schlosser.

The days at Lake Tahoe went by very quickly and we moved on through Nevada down to Mono Lake, which is located at the entrance to the Yosemite National Park. The drive was a beauiful one. You could easily imagine the Indians moving in this landscape with dry patches, almost desert like, rocky hills and deep canyons.
Mono lake was another interesting place to visit. The lake has been an important breeding ground for local birds and a rest place for migrating birds for hundreds of years. It is located in desert landscape and it is characterized by the tufa, which are pointing out of the water like candles. There is a tragic story about this lake. The city of Los Angeles decided in the fourties of last century to divert the major part of the water from the rivers flowing into Mono Lake to cover the city's need for fresh water. The result of this was that over the years the level of water in the lake went down by 40 feet and the salinity doubled. This represented a major thread to the bird population. It took a long battle of poeple engaged in the protection of environment and wildlife to obtain a decision in the nineties that ensures that enough water comes back to the lake to stabilise the water level or even allow it to rise again over the years.

We had some hesitations about going over the Tiogo Pass into Yosemite Park as our RV is 31 feet long and we expected the road to be windy and difficult. However, the road proved to be quite easy to drive on, apart from the steep beginning to reach the peak of the pass. This was one of the most beautiful landscapes to see for about a third of our drive through the park. Afterwards the view was limited by thick forest on both sides of the road which became very busy. It was a Friday and people came in masses into the park for the week end. All camping grounds in the park very fully booked. Reservations are made up to 6 months in advance. We made a stop in Yosemite Valley, visited the village and continued our trip to escape from the crowds.

Our next destination was Lake Isabell. This is an artificial lake. Again, it was a very scenic drive with stunning views along the river Kern. Just before reaching the lake area we noticed a wild fire above us which reached the roadside just in front of us. We must have been the last vehicle to pass, as the fire fighters were just preparing their gear on the road and we met a large number of fire brigade vehicles coming into the area while we continued our drive. It is true that fire warnings are to be seen throughout the country due to the great heat and the very dry weather.
Our campside was right at the riverside. We spent two days there and enjoyed the refreshing waters of the Kern river. The boys are at present all wrapped up in indian lifestyle due to stories being read to them. The river and the bushes growing along its sides offered the ideal conditions for their adventures. And Gerd discovered again his talent for making bows and arrows. We were happy to have such a break before tackling the long stretch to Las Vegas.

22. September: No other city in the world gets such contradictory qualifications as Las Vegas. We have heard so many different comments, positive and negative ones: "plastic city, artificial place in the middle of the desert, fun town, players' paradise, hot spot of show business, marriage paradise, cheap copy of cultural and architectoral values from other parts of the world, superficial glitter showcase etc". There is some truth in all these descriptions. The latest was formulated by a taxi driver who has been living in Las Vegas for 30 years: "Las Vegas is the city of the loosers", he said. Even that is only partly true. Someone must be winning in this great circus; at least in terms of money.

We had found the best RV park ever in Las Vegas, the Oasis RV Park. Really neat and classy. It was like staying in a hotel with park-like surroundings, swimming pools, whirlpool, social activities etc. Even TV, telephone and internet connections were available on our site. We enjoyed it. And the weather is always fine (and hot). We appreciated the comfort in particular after our visits to town in the heat of the day. Of course, everything is about money in Las Vegas. Either you spend it in fun parks, shows or restaurants or you loose it in gambling. It is not really a town for children. Of course it was fun to see copies of places that we know from Europe, such as the Eiffel Tower and Little Venice. We took an extensive walk through all areas of Ceasar's Palace and had dinner there. On another day we went to Circus-Circus, which was more fun for the boys.
But they had just as much pleasure playing with other kids in the pool area of the RV Park. In the end we only stayed three nights in Las Vegas.

On 16. September we headed direction Grand Canyon. We had to pass by Lake Maed and the Hoover Dam that creates this artificial lake of the waters of the Colorado River. The security measures are impressive. We were stopped and our RV was searched. Such arrangements appear to be in place for all places and matters of national importance. We noted lateron on two more occasions, that similar controls were carried out also on the Freeways. The drive to the Grand Canyon led us through very dry landscape. Traces of extensive mining activities were visible all along.

The Grand Canyon really is very impressive. It is so big and so deep. We had decided to stay at an RV Park in Williams, some 25 miles south of the canyon. From there we took the train to the south rim. This is a historical train which started to run more than one hundred years ago. There were not tourists then. But mining was one of the reasons and also the cattle ranches required means of transport. The trip took us through cowboy country. There are still three big active ranches between Williams and the Grand Canyon. The latter is one of the national parks of the US. We had a guided tour and learned about the history of the Grand Canyon which is of course closely linked to the Colorado river. We also were told that more than 600 people have lost their lives in the Canyon. We acquired a book that gives a rather cruel account of these tragic cases. Max has already read it and was amazed about the stupid reasons that in most cases caused the tragedies. It should be read by everybody intending to visit the Grand Canyon.

On our way back to Williams our train was stopped by masked bandits who made a lot of noise with their pistols and boarded the train to take the passengers' money. It was a good gag and it made the day for the boys.

30. September: There would have been other interesting places to see near the Grand Canyon, but the remaining program did not leave enough time for this. Our next destination was San Diego. We decided to cut across direction Southwest by avoiding the big freeways and instead see more of the countryside. This meant that we saw quite a bit of typical Arizona landscape that varied from desert, to rocky hills, forest areas and cattle farm land. The trip was most enjoyable. We passed through a city called Prescott and were surprised how many people lived there. It appears that more and more US citizens move to Arizona for health reasons because of its warm and dry climate. Some of the trip led us through mountainous areas with windy roads which did not allow fast driving.
We made an overnight stop in a place called Blythe which is situated at the Colorado river. Our campsite was right on the river. During the night we experienced one of the most violent thunderstorms ever. We all woke up and sat together until it was over. Luckily Gerd had switched off all electrical applyances. Some other campers had no electric power the following morning. We had been told beforehand that hurricane Ivan had been pushing deep inland and that we might get some wind and rain on our way, which was the case.
From Blythe we continued towards El Centro which is on the border to Mexico. For some time we were accompanied by the Colorado river until we turned west through desert like territory which led us to the chocolate mountains and through the Imperial Sand Dunes. This was a particularly nice drive. Everywhere we saw the traces of the floods caused by the thunderstorm of the night before. We had already earlier noticed that water from the Colorado river was diverted by a range of canals to the dryer parts of California and the crossing of the Imperial Valley delivered the explanation for this. The whole valley is geared up to fruit and vegetable growing, thanks to the Colorado waters. Heading South towards El Centro we encountered a strong warm wind with sand clouds against us. Greetings from hurricane Ivan.
The freeway from El Centro to San Diego is a very scenic one. After passing over dry rocky mountains, we entered an area with high green valleys and lakes. Ideal for cattle farming and a privileged area for housing.

We liked San Diego. Our campsite was located at Mission Bay, North of the city and close to Seaworld. We hired a car to be able to move around with more ease. We reserved a whole day for our visit to Seaworld and it was worth it. The shows with dolphins and killer whales are the main attractions, but there is plenty of other animals to see and visit and a number of fun rides for children (and grown ups).
The following day we went to visit the Old Town, i.e. the original San Diego, a charming place with lots of little shops and restaurants. The mexican character is obvious throughout the village. In the evening we were joined by Dora's and Michel's son Matthew, who studies in San Diego State University. This was a very nice occasion and was the first time we met someone from "back home" since we left in July. A day later we went to Balbao Park. This is a beautiful area of San Diego where about 20 museums are located. We limited ourselves to visiting only one of them (the museum of man) and lateron managed to find our way down town and satisfied our hunger for some shopping, which we had not done for quite some time. Time went by very quickly and soon the boys had to say good bye to their new friends from the campground as we headed North to Carlsbad, where we visited Legoland. We spent an entire day there and to the great joy of the boys went through the whole programme that was available. To complete the programme of fun parks we moved on to the area of Los Angeles and set ourselves up at an RV park in Newport which is fairly close to Anaheim and Disneyland. We again hired a car and explored the area. We visited various beaches and found the Pacific coast quite challenging. The big waves are ideal for surfing. One day was devoted to visit Mickey Mouse and his colleagues. We had great fun and David was very disappointed when we had to leave at the end of the day. He so much enjoyed the rides in the roller coaster.

As we had planned in advance, we met with our friends Antoinette and Paul Smit. We had not seen each other for several years and it was great to join up with them at the lobster festival on Retondo Beach. To get there was quite a long drive through communities located along the sea side South of LA. At a certain point we came also through a huge smelly area with petrol pumps and refineries which represented a most ugly patch in the long stretch of beaches there.
We nevertheless enjoyed some delicious lobster and the music offered by various bands and were pleased to meet Antoinette's son Bruce and his wife Christine. It makes such a difference to be able to gather with local friends now and then during our world trip. Paul and Antoinette were kind enough to let us stay overnight in their wonderful home where we had a relaxing afternoon and evening. The boys enjoyed the heated pool and Antoinette prepared us a delicious dinner. Our stay in California ended with an excellent dinner at Dan Tana's restaurant on Boulevard Santa Monica. Dan Tana is a friend of Gerd's from his time in UEFA and the restaurant will celebrate its 40th jubilee on 1. October.

What are our impressions after the round trip of California, including the excursions to Nevada and Arizona? There would be so much to say, if one wished to make a wider analysis of the general life phylosophy in this country. The country itself is beautiful and offers an enormous varyity of natural treasures. In many instances one cannot but notice the bigness of everything connected to consumption and comfort, be it the refridgerators, the cereal packages, the car engines, just as everything else related to cars, i.e. roads, use of gas etc. and, of course, the big powerful and omnipresent corporations, who control everything.

Noticeable, however, is also the growing economic tension, which has its origin in the widening gap between poor and rich. The forthcoming presidential elections are widely debated and the general impression is that Bush will be elected. His blunt display of power and strenght still fits the views of many Americans, surprisingly also a great number of those who should have every interest in a change of conditions to their favour. But they like to hear the simplistic formulas "we are the greates nation" and "we are bringing freedom and democracy to the world" as well as "we shall finish the job we have started" from their president, who at the same time accumulates a record deficit which will bring hardship for the USA in the years to come. And it will be the small people who will have to stand for it. The powerful ones have already made their plans to use the situation yet again in their favour. And it does not matter apparantly, that certain statements by the president in the past proved to be untrue." Let's focus on the future and not on the past" is easy to sell by those in power, as people are in general anxious about the future. We all know some analogies for this also in the European context (even in football).
Only this very day, as the media report that Russia has ratified the global warming treaty, we are reminded that the USA under Bush still refuse to sign the treaty as it was negotiated by the Clinton administration, although, or more likely, because it is the worst sinner when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions (25% worldwide). We are also kept updated of the fact that the USA under Bush do not honour their pledge to contribute $ 75 billion (0.7 % of its GNP) to the developing countries but delivers only $ 15 billion instead, while at the same time granting tax cuts of $ 250 billion to the richest Americans and increasing the military spending by $ 150 billion. One can wonder, how all this will add up in the future. Let alone the fact that the USA place themselves above the position of the international community also in other crucial matters, such as the war in Iraq and the International Tribunal of The Hague. How will all this impact on the image of the USA in the world in general? But enough of this.

What did we like best during this round trip?

Maximilian: Legoland in Carlsbad
David: All the fun parks
Robert: The train roller coaster in Disney land
Monique: The Balbao Park in San Diego
Gerd: The diversity of the nature in this country

MEXICO

10. October: We found warm, humid weather in Cancun when we arrived on 30. September. We had a reservation at one of the hotels on the beach just on the outskirts of Cancun. In order to give us sufficient time to organize ourselves we decided to stay there for two nights before starting our round trip by rental car. We were not too impressed by the hotel, which is family owned and somewhat outdated. It is the low season here and there were very few customers. Surprising therefore, that we were not treated in a very friendly manner. When we explored the strip along the coast on the second day after our arrival we understood the situation. There has been an explosive development along the coast with many new hotels of American type and the shopping and entertainment possibilities that go along with this. Most probably our hotel is going out of business and the personnel is tense. We were therefore quite glad to leave, in particular also because we were not able to connect our laptop to the internet to update the website.

It was our plan to spend the first part of our visit to see some of the Maya ruins and to have a beach holiday for the second part. We started out to travel to Chichen Itza, which must be the most famous of the places to witness remainings of the Maya culture. We travelled the only toll motorway in the country and there were almost no other cars on the road. To both sides of the road there is thick jungle-like vegetation, although the trees are not very high.
We were impressed with what we saw in Chichen Itza where we engaged a guide to show us around. Gerd and the boys climbed the pyramamid that has been restored on two sides. Going up the 91 steps is one thing, coming down another. It was a very hot day on top of that. Gerd suffered from muscle ache during the next few days.
We stayed at the Hacienda Chichén which is a beautifully set up place in the middle of the jungle. It is built in colonial style and was actually the accommodation of the archeologists who worked here for several years in the twenties of last century. It has a swimming pool and air conditioned rooms which was great, considering the very warm and extremely humid weather.
Our next destination was Merida. We intended to make Merida our base for excursions to other areas. We were pleasantly surprised by Merida. It has a nice historic centre, lots of culture and people are very friendly. There is also a solid international community in Merida, as we learned by chatting to some Americans who had left the US to live here. We visited the Yukatan Museum of Antropology, went out for strolls and meals and did some shopping. There are musical events every evening in Merida. Most of them are staged in open air on the various squares of the city. We attended one of them on Plaza Lucia close to our hotel.
The first excursion from Merida took us north of the city to the seaside resort of which is the home beach for the poeple of Merida. On our way to Progreso we made a stop in Dzibilchaltun to see the Maya ruins there and in particular the examples of the "writing on the rocks". It was yet another hot day and we were only too pleased to take a refreshing dip in the Cenote, which is a sinkhole with clean fresh water. It is situated in the middle of the ruins which cover an extensive area. There are hundreds of Cenotes on the Yucatan peninsula and their formation was favoured by the lime stone surface of the ground that allows water to filter through and to assemble in such sinkholes.
Progreso itself was very windy on the day of our visit. We enjoyed a nice lunch in the restaurant "Flamingo" on the water front followed by a long walk along the beach. Indeed, on our way into the city we could observe a large colony of flamingos in the shallow waters. Progreso is a popular destination for cruise ships from the US and it has a pier that reaches a long way out into the sea due to the very flat beaches on that coast.
Our second outing from Merida took us direction South to Uxmal which we found even more interesting than Chichen Itza, however it is less accessibe for tourists arriving in Cancun. About 25 000 people are said to have lived here between 700 and 1000 AD, but researchers say that the area was occupied as early as 800 BC. On the day of our arrival we attended the sound and light show in the evening, which was very impressive. Unfortunately it was raining and it was only in Spanish.
We also visited Kabah, which is only a few km away from Uxmal. There we saw the famous Palace of he Chaac Masks. Chaac was the god of the waters. We stayed overnight at the Hotel Hacienda Uxmal, which also offered all the comfort we needed but was not quite as well kept as the one in Chichen Itza.
We returned again to Merida for one night, staying this time in a small hotel called "Medio Mundo", which was a beautifully restored old building with two small interiour court yards, one of them equipped with a swimming pool. From Merida we travelled direction Valladolid, making a stop in Isamal, the city of the hills, which could well be the oldest city of Yucatan. Here, the Spanish intruders built a Franciscan convent over one of the Mayan pyramids by using the stones of the latter. At that time the Mayas had already disappeared from Isamal. The entire town centre is characterized by the yellow painting of the houses. We climbed the hill where the convent is situated and discovered a statue of Pope Paul II. who has visited the place some years ago.
When we reached Valladolid on that day it was raining cats and dogs. Here we stayed for the night at the hotel "Meson del Marqués", which was again an ancient colonial building with beautiful court yards and a swimming pool. Valladolid has also some Cenotes and we visited one of them on the following morning. This one was in a deep whole under ground and was rather sinister. At this point we felt that we had seen enough historical places and we were looking forward to a well deserved break at the Playa del Carmen.
Nevertheless, these visits partly brought back memories of what we had learned in history lessons and on the other hand brought us much closer to some acute problems of today's world. Certainly the Mayas were very advanced in astrology and geology. They even practiced ball games. But they also had some very cruel practices connected with worshipping their gods. The most prominent god was Chaac, who was in charge of the rain. Especially in the region of Uxmal, Chaac was the most prominent of the gods and this indicates that there were acute water problems already at that time. And there remains the mystery of the vanishing of the Mayas from many of the places we can visit today. There are no distinct explanations for this. When the Spaniards arrived here in the 16. century, there was no strong Maya population and it was easy for the intruders to take possession of the region. But this does not change the fact, that Mexicans today feel that they have been robbed of their treasures and their properties at that time. Spain in turn became one of the wealthiest countries in Europe by bringing home whatever their ships would carry. Seeing the poverty today in large areas of Mexico, one has to admit that European nations did not export the best of values to the countries that they colonised in the past.

16. October: As we had planned from the start, we concluded our stay in Mexico with some days at the beach. We chose the hotel "Las Palapas" at Playa del Carmen because we knew that our friends and former neighbours from back home, the Schäfer family, would also spend some time here during their visit to Mexico and this would offer us the best opportunity to meet with them. We had communicated with each other well in advance and we were looking forward very much to see them.
When we arrrived at Playa del Carmen it was very warm but also very humid. The hotel accommodation consists of bungolows spread out in a jungle park. The roofs are made of straw-like material. We were given a spacy room on the upper level of bungalow nr. 115. The beach is beautiful there with white sand and the colour of the caribbean sea is just the turquoise that one knows from postcards, even when the sky is clouded. The hotel complex is situated at the north end of Playa del Carmen, which is a lively little town with a nice but very touristic pedestrian alrea. The encroaching on tourists seems to be particularly intensive in the off season, when shops and restaurants struggle for business. "Hey mister, come and spend your money" was about the most blunt of approaches.
During the following days we were confronted with some happenings that are typical for places with tropical climate. During the first night of our stay, Monique and Gerd woke up, when an "animal" fell on their bed that had found its way through the roof. It must have been a mouse or a lizzard. Gerd searched the place for an hour but could not find the biest. Trying to go back to sleep and staring at the ceiling he saw however lizzards running up and down the beams, but preferred not to mention it to Monique. Both managed to go back to sleep after some time, with Monique hiding under the bedcover. The next day we switched to the room on the ground floor where we felt safer. Only then the kids learned the reason for our move. It appeared that they were almost disappointed that there would be no more lizzards or other creatures paying us a visit in the middle of the night.
A day later Monique had consumed something that upset her stomach and made it impossible for her to eat for two days. When she felt better again, it was Max's turn. He had dropped his icecream in the sand at the beach and Gerd gave him the marvellous advice to wash it off under the shower. That evening we went out for dinner to an excellent Italian restaurant that was recommended by our guide book. It was not easy to find the place and we had just been served some delicious italian dishes when Max vomited into Monique's lap. We had to take a catastrophic leave and poor Max continued to be sick throughout the night. He felt better the following morning but had hardly slept a wink (neither did Monique and Gerd).

The weather continued to be very warm but with quite a bit of rain which in turn increased the humidity. However, there were nice, sunny patches in between and we could spend most of the time at the beach. We also drove down the coast to Tulum which is another place with Mayan ruins. This one is located on a cliff on the coast, overlooking the sea and two little bays with beautiful white sand. Tulum was populated for more the one hundred years even after the Spaniards had arrived and played an important role for the Mayas as a defence fortification.
Unfortunately, we were not the only visitors. There were busloads of tourists from Cancun and the place was very crowded. We spent less than half an hour there and rushed back to our car with threatening clouds hanging over us. The boys had seen enough Mayan ruins anyway and were longing to go back to the beach.
We did one more outing to Xcaret on the next day, which is an ecopark only 20 minutes south of Playa del Carmen. This was a nice excursion. It was also very expensive one with an entrance fee of $ 55.- i.e. twice the daily income of a Mexican worker. The boys enjoyed some snorkling in a small lagoon with lots of exotic fish and a boat trip on a narrow river where we could see lots of different species of animals, in particular iguanas of all sizes. Gerd and Max joined a group for swimming with the dolphins which was a special experience, also money-wise as it cost $ 115 per person. Although this was done in a very studious and serene manner by the dolphin trainers and the dolphins seemed to enjoy our company, we still have mixed feelings about such (commercialized) programmes.
When we returned to our hotel from this outing, Anna and Marc Schäfer with their children Diane and Arnoud had already arrived. They, like us, had made a round trip to visit various places with Mayan ruins and were glad to relax a few days on the beach. It was an exciting moment for all of us. It almost felt like home. The kids immediatedly were busy playing at the beach and the grown ups had lots of things to talk about. What followed were two very enjoyable days. Meeting with Anna and Marc and their kids here in Mexico will help us keep going for some time on our journey such a long way from home.

We liked Mexico. We found the people in general pleasant and very helpful. Unfortunately, there is still great poverty in this country. A worker in Yukatan earns average 250 Pesos a day, which is the equivalent of CHF 25.-. No wonder that many Mexicans try to work in the US where the minimum wage is $ 6.50 per hour, which is still very low for a rich country such as the US. Tourism is one of the main revenue streams for the economy and brings employment to the people. But we all know about the downsides of the tourist industry.

We left Mexico for San José/Costa Rica early on 15.October which meant that we had to leave the hotel at 4.30 in the morning. Our OneWorld ticket forced us to travel via Miami which meant that we had to undergo US custom and security screening once more (including taking shoes off) and fill in all the boring declaration forms for the fifth time. We also were subjected to the new ruling of taking finger prints like potential suspects with our photograph being taken too. The Aigner family members are therefore now properly registered by the US security authorities. However, we are probably not much in a hurry to return soon to a country which by now suffers from paranoia and where the majority of the citizens is capable of (re)electing a disastrous President such as George W. Bush.

What did we like best about Mexico (apart from seeing Anna, Marc, Diane and Arnoud)?

Maximilian: Swimming with the dolphins
David:The visit to Xcaret.
Robert: The visit to Xcaret.
Monique: Staying at the colonial style haciendas.
Gerd: Mixing with the people of Merida.

COSTA RICA

25. October: The advance information that we had acquired about this country proved to be quite precise. Costa Rica is said to be the Switzerland of Central America. It has only approximately four millian inhabitants, a fifth of which are of foreign nationality. Alone a quarter of a million are workers from Nicaragua. It is the most stable country in the region and has a long standing democratic political system. Costa Rica has no national army and tourism plays an important role for the economy of the country. There is an increasing number of wealthy people from abroad who acquire properties here, either to invest capital that should not be known to the fiscal authorities in their country or as secondary residence for holidays or retirement.
Sadly the country has now been affected by some corruption issues which involve two of the former Presidents of Costa Rica. The matter is reiceiving great attention in the media and among the population. It appears that the citizens are politically very alert and also proud of the fact that their country enjoys a better reputation than most of their neighbouring states. This is also reflected in the efficiency with which the juridical instances are dealing with the cases concerned.
Like Switzerland, Costa Rica is very green and the distances are short. In other respects, it is very different. It has two coastal regions, one pacific and one caribbean. And it has only two seasons, the rainy one and the dry one. There is no spring and no autumn. The tropical climate offers the ideal conditions for all kinds of wildlife. From that part of view, Costa Rica is indeed a rich country.
It was not difficult for us to find out when we arrived here that we are in the rainy season. October is the final phase of the winter and usually the wettest month of the year. The dry period starts in November. That is also the beginning of the high season for tourism.

We had chosen the Pacific coast as our base for the entire duration of our stay. We did so in order to avoid frequent moves that would involve packing and unpacking as such will be the case during our visit to Equator. Consequently, we set ourselves up with full board at the Marriott hotel near Jaco at the Playa Heradura. It is located at the beach in the middle of a luxory ressort that is being developed and that includes a 18 hole golf course and a number of residences including a marina. For some time already we were looking for an opportunity to seriously take up golfing and we decided to do it here. The location of the hotel also offers good possibilities for excursions to some of the national and regional parks of the country. The hotel has several restaurants, a beautifully laid out garden with swimming pools as well as a fitness area with spa.
The first couple of days we simply enjoyed the comfort and admired the multitude of amazing flowers and plants as well as the birds that one can observe here. On top of that we undertook walks along the beach at low tide and discovered the area. We had seen iguanas in Mexico. However, that was nothing compared to the species that can be seen in the area of the hotel. One early morning Gerd and Max went out on a guided eco-tour around the hotel and were taken aback by the abundance of nature that exists here. On that occasion they also were told that a small crocodile or cayman was living in one of the ponds on the golf course.
We met with José, the golf pro and organized our lessons. He got us all going, including the boys. José has a 0 handicap, is 31 years old and plays tournaments himself. We benefit from the fact that we are still in low season and therefore he is easily available for our lessons. For his teaching he also has a video studio at disposal. Having the visual display of your own effortl and in comparison to this the elegant style of Tiger Woods is not an easy thing to cope with. But we are improving. People in Costa Rica are referred to as "Ticos" and José must be the only tico with bright red hair. He is extremely nice and also a very good teacher.
When it rains in Costa Rica it does so at length and in great abundance. Within minutes roads and footpaths are flooded and it is as if a kind of semi transparent curtain comes down. Everything becomes hazy. Luckily, the rain is rather warm and one does not catch a cold even when getting completely soaked, which has happend twice to us before we unpacked our rain jackets. Usually the mornings are bright and quite sunny and the rain starts at around 3 p.m.. One gets used to that rythm and we have started to organize ourselves accordingly. We even had one day when it did not rain at all, which left us all confused.
One of our projects consisted in an excursion on the Tarcolés river not very far from our hotel in order to observe the birdlife and to see the crocodiles. There are more than 3 000 crocodiles in that river and they are also used to salt water. However, they are not invading the beaches, we are told. As we have our golf lessons in the morning we set out for our excursion in the afternoon. The outing takes place under the heading "Mangrove and Crocodile Adventure". Monique at first opposed the project but accepted in the end the majority vote in favor of the outing.
On our boat trip we were accompanied by two members of the tour desk of the hotel and two expert guides. The boat was for about 10 o 12 persons but the outing was exclusively for us. From the moment we untied the boat, it started to rain. The boat had a canvas roof, more for protection against the sun than against the rain. It was open to all sides. After a few minutes we were completely drenched. We could see a lot of birds at the beginning, but with the rain intensifying, even the birds went under cover. Our cameras got all wet and it became quite impossible to take photographs. After a short while we saw the first crocodiles. They were enormous. We went down the river for a couple of miles, then up again towards our point of departure. At a certain point we spotted three crocodiles on a sandbank. The boat slowed down. One of the crocodiles (the biggest one) entered the water and started to move towards us. The boat moved towards the shore and stopped. The croco followed us and came right next to the boat. One of the guides took off his shoes and stepped into the mud on shore. He had two halfs of a chicken in his hands. The crocodile slowly moved out of the water and approached the fellow thereby cutting the access to the boat for the fellow. It was a gigantic animal. It raised itself on the front legs and the guy fed the two pieces of chicken to it. The croco seemed to be happy with this and retreated backwards into the water and disappeared. We stood with our mouth open. What an experience. The crocodile must have been approximately 6 m long and 60 years old, as we were told by the guides. So much for crocodiles.
All five of us went some days later on an excursion to Manuel Antonio national reserve which is about one hour's drive from the hotel. We were lucky with the weather and had a two hours guided tour through the rain forest. It was very instructive. We spotted lots of unusual plants and saw some of the wildlife. The white face monkeys come right down to the beautiful white beaches. But we also saw howler monkeys and two species of sloths, the two fingered one and the three fingered one. We finished up with having a swim in the sea and had a very enjoyable outing.
Two days later Gerd and Max went for a guided tour in the Carrara natural reserve. This was early in the morning and they saw more of wild life. They also learned about the characteristics of the rain forest. Max even inquired about the working conditions as a forest guard.
During our stay here at Playa Herradura the hotel became a kind of home for us. It was the first time that we stayed for such a long period in one given place. We enjoyed this and the boys in particular became friendly with the Costa Ricans working here, especially the young crew of the activity centre where they spent a great deal of time. Some tears were shed when the moment came to say good bye and it created a little feeling of home sickness in all of us.

27. October: In order to visit the volcano Poas we left one day earlier from Playa Herradura and spent the night at the Marriott San José hotel close to the airport. The weather on that day was not too bad in the morning. It was a scenic drive and when we approached the volcano we stopped at a restaurant and had a typical "Tico" lunch, which was delicous. However, the weather had changed to the worse by the time we had finished our meal and when we reached the rim of volcano Poas, there was not much to see. The crater was filled with white steam, partly clouds and partly the steam released by the volcano. The lake that exists in the crater was completely hidden. We were of course disappointed, but that's life. At least we heard the hissing of the hot steam coming from the bottom of the crater and when we walked away we heard the volcano a few times growl and grumble as if to remind us that it was really there.
Coffee plantations require a certain altitude and a specific climate. On our way down from Poas we came through a large area where these conditions are present. There are some very large haciendas that grow coffee and the harvest will take place in November. We were told that the harvest is done by hand, which means hard work, especially in mountainous territory. Nevertheless, women appear to be numerous in participating in the harvesting.
We also saw large fields with suger cane. Coffee, sugar and tobacco are traditional products of Costa Rica and still play an important role for the economy of the country alongside tourism, of course, that is growing fast.
Our day ended with heavy rain, once more. But we enjoyed the outing and over dinner we reflected on our stay in Costa Rica. This hotel again was built in colonial style and we sat under the arcades in the courtyard with the raindrops bursting on the tiled patio. Somebody played piano and sang and did both very well. The acustic was great. The ambience was like in the South of Spain.
We all felt, that this is a country to revisit. It has a lot to offer and the prospects are quite good. There is a strong middle class present in the country and the standard of living is superior to most other states in Central America. People are in general well educated, literacy exceeds 90% of the population. The stable political situation brings lots of investors in the country, especially from North America. There is a lot of building and developing going on, but at the same time the authorities are very mindful of the protection of the natural treasures and the environment. Somebody developped a clever rubbish disposal system here, which can be seen all over the place. It consists of a metal frame holding a plastic bag or container well above the ground. This is to avoid that animals can access the bags. A concept that deserves being copied elsewhere.
One of the great assets of Costa Rica is its rich vegetation. Here you can see plenty of plants on the road side and in gardens, which we only know as indoor plants.
Costa Rica has also its problems, of course. Apart from the curruption scandals that erupted in recent weeks, organised crime is also an issue. This is the case especially along the Caribbean coast. Criminal acts and drug related offences often involve gangs and individuals that filter in from neighbouring countries, especially Nicaragua and Columbia. We were lucky therefore, to have chosen the Pacific coast for our visit, where we felt very much at ease.
But as a whole, the people of Costa Rica are extremely nice and open. They all seem to enjoy life and always have a friendly smile to offer. And the best way to describe their concept of life when asked how they are or how they feel is by answering simply: "Pura vida". That means literally translated "pure life" but is much better translated through the bright smile they show when saying so. And this might be another reason to come back to Costa Rica, namely to get a bit more of "pura vida".

What did we especially like about Costa Rica?

Maximilian: Drinking a chocolate monkey while playing cards with Dad
David: Learning to play golf
Robert: The monkeys at Manuel Antonio Park
Monique: Pura vida
Gerd: The walks in the National Parks

ECUADOR

3. November: When you come to Quito altitude is a subject. Quito is the second highest capital in the world with an altitude of 2 800 m. It is located in the high valley that Alexander von Humboldt described as "The Avenue of the Volacanos" beween the central and the western Andean cordilleras. Visitors are therefore advised to take it easy and to allow for some time of adaptation.
Indeed, there are 11 potentially active volcanos in Ecuador. If the weather is clear three of the volcanos can be seen from the city. Quito has an old center of colonial style, declared as a World Cultural Heritage site by Unesco, the socalled old town. It has been made more accessible for tourists in recent years. While there were barely twenty thousand people living in this city in 1920, its population counts today 1,4 million, out of a total of 14 million inhabitants of Ecuador. The climate is springlike all the year round, with the year being split in a period with more and a period of less rain.
When we arrived in Quito on 27. October it was rainy weather. We were met at the airport by our guide Mery and our driver Angel. We had followed the advice by our travel agent and agreed to a guided tour considering the programme we had in mind. We stayed the night at the hotel "La vieja Cuba" which is a smallish hotel in a convenient area of Quito. It is owned by Cubans and offers excellent Cuban food. The plan was to visit the Northern highlands of Ecuador and then descend to the oriental region to the shores of the river Napo, a contributory river to the Amazone.
Our guide Mery is a 26 years old Ecuadorian lady with Indian and Spanish ancestors. Although she had been told that her clients would be of German language she had no problems to do the job in English. She is a living dictionary for Ecuador's history, its geography and its natural habitats. Consequently, during the following week we were fed in abundance with all sorts of information about the country and its people.
Ecuador is one of the smalles countries of South America but offers more diversity than most other countries on our planet. It has 400 km of Andean moutain range, with the highest peak being the Chimborazu (6310m) and one of the highest active volcanos of the world, the Cotopaxi with 5897m. In the west, it has warm Pacific beaches as well as the Galapagos Islands and in the east it has the jungle. Unfortunately the coastal region and the highlands have been largely deforested with the inevitable negative consequences for the wild life in these areas. The Eastern lowlands are also threatened by fragmentation. The discovery of oil in the region led to the building of roads and the rain forest is gradully being destroyed. The main product exported by the country is oil, followed by bananas, fish and shrimp, flowers - in particular roses. Tourism ranks on fifth place in importance for the economy of the country.
Ecuador offers a wealth of habitats, ecosystems and wildlife which is unique and attracts an increasing number of nature lovers from all over the world. Its flora covers approximately 25 thousand species of vascular plants, compared to 17 thousand of the entire North American continent. The Fauna is unequalled. In particular birds. Over 1500 species are recorded in Ecuador which is double the number of anyone of the continents of North America, Europe or Australia. The hummingbirds alone are registered with more than 120 species.
In spite of the wealth coming from oil and petroleum, Ecuador remains a poor country. About 40% of the national income goes to 5% of the population. Progress is slow, particularly for the rural population. The country is highly endebted. Approximately 25% of the national budget is used to pay for the foreign debt.
The Indians represent about one fifth of the population. They are composed of various groups and they distinguish themselves by their clothing, depending on the region where they live. Three fifth approximately are Mestizos, i.e of Indian/Spanish origin. The rest of the population is white and a smaller part black.
So much about the country in general. It is obvious, that our reason for visiting Ecuador was its natural treasures.

On the first day of our stay we explored the old town of Quito. On our way we made a stop at the church Santo Domingo and from there we moved on to the Plaza de Independencia as the main square of the colonial part of the town with the Presidential Palace. Afterwards we visited the Monastery San Francisco with its beautiful church and we were also given the opportunity to have a glance at the court yard of the monastery. A short stroll through some of the surrounding streets gave us a good taste of the city.
Afterwards we left Quito direction North. The landscape offered great variety. We saw sugar cane fields, flower farms which grow especially roses, chicken und pig farms. For lunch we stopped at a Hacienda which is owned by an Englishman. It has a nice garden with beautiful flowers and a playroom with a ping-pong table, which found the enthusiasm of the boys.
We then continued to visit the Peguche waterfalls (holly waters for the indians) which involved a short hike through a forest which was good for digestion. Afterwards we came to a village of native indians, where home production is practised. We visited one of the houses, where wall carpets and other products are woven in the traditional fashion.
In the evening we reached another hacienda, the Osteria Pantavi. It is owned by an Ecuatorian. The place is popular among hikers who go to the high mountains in the region including the vulcanos. The owner is himself a fervent mountaineer. Photos in the building showed him with Reinhold Messner on an expedition here in Ecuador. During our stay at the hacienda arrived a group of Swiss hikers who intended to climb the volcano Cayambe with an altitude of 5790m. We stayed two nights at the hacienda and went to visit the pyramides nearby. The Inkas had built them and covered them with earth before the Spaniards conquered the region. They also completely distroyed Quito for the same reason. This happened in the 16. century. Therefore, today we can see only the hills with the pyramides underneath, but the position is in correspondence with the course of the sun on the 21 of March and the 21 of September. The ground surrounding the pyramides is rich with debris of ceramics dating from the time of the Inkas.
Another excursion took us to the thermal baths of Arco Iris. This is a collapsed ancient volcano and the thermal baths are in the centre of the previous crater of the vulcano. All this is at an altitude of between two and three thousand metres.

On 30. October we visited the market of Otavalo. The market on Saturday is a major attraction of the country. This time it was even more special as it was the Saturday before All Saints and this gave the market an additional dimension. The most striking impression we gained from the beautiful clothing of the Indians and their proud appearance. They are average only 155 to 160 m tall, but full of dignity. We spent the morning at the market, did a little bit of shopping and had lunch at the likeside not far from Otavalo. From there we continued our way direction East. We passed the Vulcano Cayambe, which had its peak hidden in the clouds, and arrived at Guachala where we stopped at a monument marking the line of the equator. There, we bought a packet of the famous Cayambe biscuits, which are really delicious. At the thermal baths of Papallacta we made an overnight stop and enjoyed a relaxing bath just a few metres away from our cabin.
On the following morning we left early for our destination, the Liana Lodge on the Napo river. The first 50km were fairly o.k., quite a few bends but good asphalt road. After that things changed dramatically. The Hundyai minibus battled its way over the most bumpy tracks one can imagine. It had rained heavily during the previous days. In some places the road had been blocked by earth slides. On other occasions part of the road had disappeared down the montain. Some bridges were in a poor state and had to be crossed with utmost care. On one occasion we had to drive right through the river, as the bridge was not operational at all. The trip would have been more comfortable on horse back. We allowed for one stop at a village, were we had a picknic on the main square. We must have been the main attraction of the day, as the whole population seemed to attend the occasion.
When we finally arrived at our destination we loaded our luggage into a canoe and were navigated down the river for 15 minutes. Liana Lodge is situated right on the river side. The lodge has no electricity. There is a generator serving only the kitchen. We were shown to our cabin by a short walk through the jungle. As it was still quite early in the afternoon we decided to visit AmaZOOnico, which is a rescue centre for animals, just 5 minutes by canoe up the river. There we were able to see a whole varyity of animals. They end up at the centre for various reasons, either confiscated by the police from dealers or tourists, or they may have served a pets and were simply abondoned. Other animals were maltreated or injured by hunters or had lost their parents while still being little. The centre was founded and is managed by a Swiss lady and here husband who is a native. They also founded the lodge which is designed to help finance the rescue centre. However, the lodge is not yet fully financed and the means are insufficient. We met a number of young volunteers from Europe who spend several months at the centre to help. They come from the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. But there are also Ecuadorians involved and in particular the veterinary doctor who comes every week to the centre to give medical care to the animals and to perform surgery. We saw a varyity of monkeys, parrots, turtles, all kind of birds including toecans as well as caymans, snakes, ozelots, etc..
Max was so impressed by what he saw that he pledged to donate part of his savings to help improve the situation as the centre is in dire need for more space. AmaZOOnico is permanently looking for volunteers and offers information for those who like to know more about the centre on its website: www.amazoonico.org
There are other projects, one of them being a bilingual school offering education to more than 20 children from families living alongside the river. The children are brought to class by a canoe, that picks up the children every morning and brings them back at the end of the lessons. Furthermore, the project Selva Viva aims at preserving the primary forest and at co-operating with the natives in this respect.
Liana Lodge employs almost exclusively native people apart from the volunteers and an Ecuadorian lady from Quito who acts as manager together with the assistent who is at present a girl from Neuchatel in Switzerland. The kitchen chef also comes from Quito.

We spent two nights at Liana Lodge. We needed to get accustomed to the high degree of humitity and also to not having electricity and to function with candle light. Gerd spent half of the first night hunting beatles, grasshoppers and other insects with the entire family hiding behind his back and refusing to climb into their beds. We had to install our mosquito nets to offer additional safety and finally we gathered the five of us in two beds which made it difficult to sleep anyway. When we finally had drifted off, a dozen roosters started to announce the new day at 5 in the morning.
The next day we had a guided tour on the island of the Napo river which is inhabited by natives. Ivan is one of the natives employed by Liana Lodge. He showed us the various plants including coffee, cacao, avocados, various types of bananas etc. He explained the use of the palm leaves to cover the roofs of houses and a variaty of possible use of natural products for daily needs. In the end he demonstrated how the indians used to paint their faces and he instructed us in the use of blow guns, which the indians used for hunting until not long ago.
In the afternoon, Ivan built a raft out of balsa wood together with the boys. Then they went down the river which has a couple of rapids on the way. That made Monique feel quite uncomfortable. But everything went well and the boys had great fun in doing it.
The second night at the lodge started off much better. However, this time we had a frightful thunderstorm with very heavy rain coming down on the thatched roof of our cabin. So the five of us in two beds had again difficulties to sleep through the night and the roosters were of course again on time to call for the new day at 5 a.m.
To avoid a seven hours drive with awful road conditions back to Quito we had decided to leave one day earlier from the lodge and spend the night somewhere on the way. So we arranged for a departure not to late on the third day and to visit beforehand a native museum not too far up the river. We were again guided by Ivan. The museum had a whole selection of weapons used by the indians and in particular also a number of traps for hunting animals. Some of them are still being used at present. The boys were fascinated. Max made a number of photographs hoping that this would help him to build traps once back in Switzerland. They also were shown the various types of snakes that lived in the jungle. It was wise of Ivan to have waited until our departure before showing those. The boys were mighty impressed.
Although our driver Angel did a marvellous job driving back he could do not much against the terrible conditions of the dirt road which we had to take. Every one was glad to stop for the night after almost five hours being thrown about in the vehicle. We stayed at a lodge in the middle of the cloud forest at two thousand metres altitude. It is a favorit spot for bird watchers. While we were there we met a couple of Norwegians who had come all the way to Ecuador for the purpose. The owner of Cabanos San Isidro is an Ecuadorian lady who speaks fluently English and is married to an American from Florida. He is a professional guide for bird watchers. They run a website: www.ecuadorexplorer.com/sanisidro, just in case.
Needless to say that we used the opportunity to do a couple of hikes in the surrounding forest to see some of the birds and to listen to them. The following day, after an early morning walk, we set off back to Quito were we arrived in the early afternoon. We had left a couple of suitcases at the hotel "La vieja Cuba" and we again spend the night there. The next destination will be the Galapagos Islands.

8. November: Travelling to the Galapagos Islands is not all that simple, because the stream of tourists is strictly controlled. It was for us an obvious choice to accept the offer of the travel agent and to book a cruise of 5 days with everything included, also the guided tours on the various islands.
On the other hand the access to the islands has to be limited in number as control would otherwise be impossible. Visiting the Galapagos is expensive; this may be the chosen option of the authorities to limit the access to the islands. At the same time the high price level provides sufficient income from tourism in order to reach the set objectives.
The Galapagos Islands were officially discovered in 1535 and belong to Equador since 1832. At that time no one else seemed to be particularly interested in the islands. They had been used mainly by pirates or whale hunters as an outpost from where to operate. In 1934, some of the islands were declared wildlife sanctuaries and in 1959 the Galapagos islands became a national park. Organized tourism takes place since the early 1970s. Approximately 70 000 tourists visit the islands every year.
When we arrived by air we landed on Baltra Island and were taken by rubber dinghy to our cruise ship, the "Galapagos Legend". The ship takes up to 90 passengers; with 82 passengers, our tour was not fully booked. The crew consists of more than 70 members. We had reserved two double cabins with connecting door. The arrangements made our travelling comfortable, since the luggage was checked in in Quito and was directly delivered to our cabins on board.
The passengers were divided in various groups. Our's was named the "dolphins" and we had Juan Carlos as guide. The group was composed of five Swedes, two Japanes ladies, a Canadian couple and us. Our boys were the only children on board, which was a shame, but they received a great deal of attention from all the grown ups and especially from the crew members. There was also a childrens' corner on the ship and a small swimming pool on the upper deck. On two mornings, Monique stayed on the vessel with the boys while every one else went on outings.
On the first day we immediately were taken to Bartolome Island. We took a hike to the summit and enjoyed a spectacular view of the volcanic landscape of the island.
On the following days we explored two different venues each day. On Friday we visited Punta Espinosa of Fernandina Island were we saw large colonies of marine iguanas, seals, crabs and all kind of birds. This was followed by a snorkeling outing were Gerd found himself in the middle of a group of sea turtles. He also had an encounter with a cormoran, which pursued it's fishing activities at arm's lenght from him, totally unaffected by his presence above and under water.
In the afternoon we took part in an excursion to Tagus Cove on Isabela Island which was long used as an anchorage by pirates and whalers. We took a hike to the volcano viewpoint and admired Darwin Lake, which is a salt lagoon just behind the coast with a water level that is 5 m above sea level. Thereafter we took a dinghy ride along the coast and saw a whole variety of marine life, including the Galapagos Penguins, sea turtles, sea lions as well as many different birds, in particular the blue footed booby.
The next day took us to Egas Port on Santiago Island. Here we visited a colony of fur seals which live in caves and grotto-like formation of lava stream that flowed into the sea. There, the fur seals house together with sea lions, marin iguanas, crabs and coastal birds. Our outing was followed by some snorkeling during which Gerd hit an under water rock with his left leg and sustained a deep cut which needed some stitching by the Doctor on board of the "Legend". Max acted as assistent doctor and did an excellent job. Monique and the boys had not come on the morning outing and they learned about the incident when everything was over and we sat down for lunch.
The second outing of the day took us to the red beach of Rabida Island, a small island south of Santiago. The striking features of the Island are its red soil and the giant cactus plants. And there is of course plenty of wild life. The flamingo lagoon, just behind the coast, was deserted by the pink birds as it has been populated by other species, including sea lions.
Sunday was devoted to the animals that have given the name to the Islands, the giant tortoises. We first went to visit the Charles Darwin Station in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. At the same time we received abundant information about the two kinds of giant turtoises living on the islands. We saw some of the species in captivity and learned about the programmes that are being conducted to ensure the survival of the species. Although the giant turtoises at one point were almost extinct, their further existence seems to be secured by the steps that have been taken. This is true for the saddleback tortoises. However, the dome-shaped tortoises are in trouble. The only living male tortoise is "lonesome George". In spite of all endeavours undertaken and special diat and other attention given to him, he so far has not done his job and the whole world is still waiting for dome-shaped tortoise babies to be produced.
In the Highland of Santa Cruz which we visited the same day, we saw the giant saddleback tortoises living in their natural habitat . They are really impressive in size and are said to reach an age of 150 years. The fact that they can survive for months without nutrition made them the ideal food for the pirates and whalers who needed fresh meat on their long journeys.
Having come here reminded us of the need to be very cautious when interfering with our natural environment. The main problem that arose for the Galapagos Islands is twofold. On the one hand the introduction of alien species and the human invasion on the other hand. The fact, that goats, donkeys, pigs and dogs were brought to the islands by pirates, hunters, dealers and other visitors, almost ruined the unique fauna and flora of the islands. Programmes involving extremely high costs are required to eradicate the species which threaten to destroy the fragile ecosystem. Remains the problem how to control the invasion of human beings on the islands and how to keep tourism under control. The example of the Galapagos Islands, what can go wrong and how much is needed to repair dammage, can be used in many other areas. Surely, all of us and in particular those who take the mandate to be political leaders should much more focus on the protection of the ecosystems on this planet rather than on the need for economic growth. Listening to them and seeing their actions is certainly not very comforting for us and for futur generations.
We liked our visit to the Galapagos Islands. The time on the "Legend" was enjoyable. We travelled during the night and anchored during the day. The sea was not always as smooth as to allow for uninterrupted sleep. In particular Monique ressented the swinging of the vessel. On the other hand, we were very comfortable on board, the meals were of good qualitiy and the service beyond average. The activity programme was welcome and good fun. We enjoyed meeting the people in our group and others who came from the US, the UK, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Switzerland. On 8. November, we flew to Guayaquil where we spent the night in order to continue our journey via Santiago de Chile to our next destination, Buenos Aires and Argentina.

What did we like best about Ecuador?

Maximilian: The cruise of the Galapagos Islands
David: The cruise of the Galapagos Islands
Robert: The cruise of the Galapagos Islands
Monique: The market at Otavalo
Gerd: Snorkeling in the sea

ARGENTINA

14. November: It is such a vast country and we have such little time at disposal. Not even two weeks have we reserved for this visit, although there will be some more days on Argentinian territory lateron when we visit Patagonia, coming from Chile.
We arrived in Buenos Aires on 11. November. Gerd had been here some years ago when the economic crisis was at its peak. Buenos Aires and its inhabitants seemed to be depressed at that time. The city was like paralysed. Well, things are beginning to pick up again. People are industrious, lively and a lot is going on. We had arranged for hotel accommodation for two nights only, a long time ago, when our programme for the country was still very vague. Now we intended to stay two more days in Buenes Aires. Fat chance, all hotels booked out. It was pure luck that a cancellation in the hotel were we were staying created unexpectedly space for us to stay on. And we still have no accommodation for the couple of days when we intend to be back here before leaving for Chile.
Through a local friend of Gerd's we had been able to fix appointments for Max with a medical doctor as well as a dentist in Buenos Aires, just for a check up. Gerd himself had to deal with his injury from snorkeling and the appointment came handy also for him. So both of them spent their first day in Buenos Aires moving from one appointment to the other. Well it turned out that Max was o.k. but Gerd's cut on the left leg was infected and needed attention. The stitches could not be removed and he had to go back on antibiotics.
One of the things that strike the visitor to Buenos Aires is the incredible number of taxis. There seem to be more (black/yellow) cabs than normal cars. And the rides are extremely cheap. The Peso has lost value to the $ since 2001 when the rate was fixed at 1:1. Now its 3 Pesos for 1$. This comes handy, as driving your own car in Buenos Aires is not to be recommended. Taxis became therefore our regular means of transport.
Argentinians are very fond of children, especially when they have blond hair. Never before our boys found themselves being hugged and kissed by people they have never seen before, not counting the hands that are put on their head, making contact with that "pelo rubio". With children you are welcome everywhere in Argentina.
What can one expect to see in three days. We managed to stroll the pedestrians area in the centre called "Florida", admired the shops, cafés, restaurants, the street performers, and the shopping mall Galerias Pacifico with its beautiful decoration. Easily recognized as tourist we were also the main target of beggars and street vendors.
We enjoyed a guided tour of the Teatro Colon, in Spanish nota bene, as the English tour was booked out. This was fascinating also for the boys, as we were allowed to have a glance behind the scene and under ground, where all the busy work takes place in preparation of the performances admired by thousands. The size of the theatre, its architecture and decoration are really very impressive.
The Plaza de Mayo is the central square of the city with the obelisk in the centre, marking the independence from Spain. On the south end of the square is the seat of the Government, the famous Casa Rosada. This is also the square where on Thursdays the March of the Mothers takes place, as a campaign in favour of a full account of what happened during the military dictatorship of 1976 to 1983.
On Sunday it rained. It is now spring in Argentina and temperatures can cool down considerably on such days. Nevertheless we decided to visit the Antiques Fair in San Telmo which takes place every Sunday. San Telmo is full of antique and art shops and the bars and restaurants in the area are impregnated with the unique atmosphere of the world of art. And they were overcrowded with people because of the rain. We managed a short walk around the market area, got ourselves soaking wet and were lucky enough to find a table in one of the typical restaurants to warm up and to have a snack.
In the evenings we took advantage of the rich choice of good restaurants in Buenos Aires. The beef is really exceptional here and the wines are of first quality. While having dinner one evening close to our hotel, we witnessed through the window three weddings taking place within two hours in the church opposite our restaurant. The coming and going of brides, grooms and dressed up people was an amazing spectacle. On another occasion, we followed through the window an art happening just next to our restaurant with hundreds of people entering and exiting, all very stylishly dressed. Yes, Buenos Aires is a vibrating place which has lots to offer. We shall be back here for a couple of days after our stay in the Pampa, that is, if we can find a hotel.

24. November: Our place in the Pampa was an Estancia called "La Bamba". There are quite a few of estancias (big farms) in this country who have opened themselves for tourism. La Bamba is located at approximately 150 km northwest from Buenos Aires near the small town of San Antonio de Areco. To get to La Bamba one has to leave the main road and take a wide dirt road for about 10 km which is extremely dusty in dry weather and very slippery when it is wet. On 15. November, when we went there, it rained, so we had the slippery version. The conditions were so bad that the van transporting us had to stop and we had to continue our ride on an off road vehicle, capable of bringing us through the mud to our destination.
La Bamba is a farm with about 150 hectars of land. It has several buildings, the main house with the living and dining rooms and some bed rooms and two annexes with a billard and tv room and some more bedrooms. It also had a beautiful Pulperia, which is a kind of canteen with a big fire place. Pulperias are places where the Gauchos used to gather to eat and drink and have some music as well. The farm also has a number of horses and two dogs. The latter make sure that no one gets lost and escort any guest who decides to go for a walk. The horses are available to guests for outings.
The property is surrounded by a big park with beautiful trees and a swimming pool. Lots of birds were nesting in the park and they provided a permanent concert throughout the day. In particular the large crowd of green parrots made a lot of noise. They build their nests in groups high up in the trees, similar to blocks of appartments. Anyone approaching is met with a united effort of protest.
The boys immediatly loved the place, in spite of the bad weather that reigned when we arrived. Within minutes they managed to get themselves covered with mud running around the farm and playing football in the park.
We spent five days at the estancia and liked it very much. We enjoyed the quiet moments of sitting on the terrace facing the park, the lunches in open air, the walks around the farm, the outings on horseback. We introduced the boys to billard (pool) and to playing cards. We also practiced some golf at the country club of San Antonio. The town has approximately 15 000 inhabitants and is very pleasant. The houses are all one storey buildings and nicely kept. People are open and friendly. We visited the Gaucho museum and learned quite a bit about their live style. We also paid a visit to the chocolate factory. Needless to say that the boys did not mind such cultural programme.
Argentinians like to be social, especially around a lunch or dinner table. Everyone, who happens to be there, is invited to join in. The favourite dish is asado, which is grilled meat. It is served in several helpings. You think the meal is over; there comes a new plate. It is obvious, there is plenty of meet in Argentina. This kind of relaxed atmosphere we had at the estancia. We met people from the US, Canada, Italy, the UK and of course Argentinians, who come to the country side at week ends. We also met a family of German-Argentinians living in the country as the third generation. They still speak German as if they had never left Germany. Quite amazing....and a little bit odd.

27. November: It was a pure coincident that we found accommodation in Buenos Aires for the three nights before our departure to Patagonia. A young German who had spent a week-end in the estancia La Bamba owns a very small Bed & Breakfast in the city near San Telmo and had left some leaflets. We took contact and luckily, he had two rooms vacant. The location is not one of the preferred once of Buenos Aires; but once we had stepped through the iron door, we discovered a nicely restored place that used to be part of a pasta factory some years ago. With use of glass and iron the owner has created the atmosphere of an art atelier with a very spacey central court where a large table is the point of gathering next to the baby foot that was immediately monopolised by the boys. René Bluhm is a silver smith by profession and he runs the place together with his Argentinean girl friend Cecilia who is still studying. The only other guests were a young German doing a training here for several months and a German-Argentinean couple with a small child. We very quickly felt at home in the place.
The three days passed very quickly. Gerd had to see once more the doctor on the day of our return from the Pampa. We also managed to go for a walk at the Parque Lezama. It was a Saturday and we enjoyed strolling through the flee market in the park. Thanks to the low cost for taxis one can do quite a few things in relatively short time. So we went down to the waterfront to Porto Madero, which is the modernised old harbour of Buenos Aires. It is now a privileged living area with lots of restaurants and coffee shops.
On Sunday we fulfilled Monique's wish to visit the Cementerio de la Recoleta, where most of the famous and important Argentineans are buried. We had no difficulty to find the grave of Eva Peron-Duarte as it is the place where most of the visitors usually gather. There is also a nice park around the cemetery and there was a large fair of artisan works to wander through. We did so and also bought some small items.
We then ended up having lunch very close to the cemetery, which was a mistake. The restaurant was focusing on tourists. The prices were a multiple of what one pays in normal restaurants and on top of that they tried to charge us for dishes, which we had not consumed. This incident reminded us that one always has to be cautious in choosing places to eat.
We then took a cab to "La Boca", which is the Italian district of Buenos Aires. It is charming because of its colourful houses and the busy streets, but one has to be careful when and where to go. On that day the Boca Juniors football team had an away game, so we could go without problems. In the places visited by the tourists, there are numerous security forces, but in other areas and also at night, La Boca is not the safest of places. We also experienced the terrible smell of the water in the harbour basin and the outrageous prices for drinks on the terraces, where dancers offer a tango show. After that we felt that we had satisfied our curiosity and gladly climbed into another taxi to return to our hotel.
On the last day of our stay we took the ferry boat across the Rio de la Plata to Uruguay to visit the town Colonia, whose colonial-era Barrio Historico is a Unesco world heritage site. The German/Argentinean couple, Axel and Ana with their baby son Valentino joined us on the outing. They have their home in Saarbrücken in Germany. The border control formalities were a nuisance. Smuggling (goods and people) seems to be a frequent offence at this point of the border. In spite of this we had a very relaxing day. Time seems to stand still in this small town, which is not so popular with international tourists but rather with people from Buenos Aires, who appreciate the slow pace of life in Colonia. The roads and houses are pretty and neat and there are a great number of old vehicles in all shades of pastel colours as we knew them in the fifties and sixties of last century. Lots of antique shops. We would have loved to buy this and that, but had to refrain for logistical reasons. We had a delicious lunch and after that spread out in the grass by the riverside until the boat took us back to Buenos Aires.

Argentina is a country which once had a promising future. In fact it possesses practically all natural resources possible. The country is huge and should rank among the wealthy nations, similar to Australia and Canada. The larger part of the population originates from European countries. However, the political leadership never really succeeded to ensure steady progress. On the contrary. Dictatorial conduct and the military forces taking over the political lead on occasions did not permit the population to practice their democratic rights. The people in government over the years have a disastrous record. The Perons were not more than a myth. The last fifty years proved to be very painful, particularly the late seventies and early eighties when thousands of people disappeared. As it was proven lateron, these people were brutally eliminated by the military leaders. The pompous palace of the Naval Mechanics School (Escuela de Mecanica de la Armada) in Buenos Aires was the most notorious illegal detention centre in this process. Ex-President Carlos Menem intended to tear down the palace but human rights circles protested against this plan, fearing that the numerous victims of the dirty war would then soon be forgotten.
The elected political leaders since the nineties have been equally disappointing and in any case unable to reverse the trend. The population is largely discouraged. There is little chance that any political leader can successfully tackle the two main problems of the country: the excessive foreign debts and the corruption. There are wealthy poeple in Argentina. They are a minority. Yet, they exert an arrogant control and most of them have at least one leg (if not both) abroad. With every crisis the gap between them and the average citizen increases. The wealthy layer of the country has the means to use the crisis to their favour.
According to the media 28,5% of the population, i.e. 10.7 million people have to live on less than 120 Pesos per month ($40). Of the working population 70% earn less than 700 Pesos per month ($235) and the poverty level is considered to be 730 Pesos per month. Considering that the poorest families have in general more children, this results in more than 50% of the population living in poverty. The situation is the worst ever. The once existing middle class is slipping into poverty. It is doubtful that President Hector Kirchner can make substantial improvements, even if he should prove to be earnest and determined to change things. How can he give satisfaction to the population in the given circumstances?
We as tourists and anyone having capital outside Argentina find extremely favourable conditions here. The country is full of natural treasures. But how can there be a peaceful development when there is no common goal between the rich and the poor?

What did we like best about Argentina?

Maximilian: Horse riding at estancia La Bamba
David: Staying at the estancia La Bamba
Robert: Staying at the estancia La Bamba
Monique: Buenos Aires
Gerd: Relaxing at the estancia La Bamba

CHILE

4. December: Our plans for this part of South America never materialized in the way we had intended. First of all we discovered that we did not have sufficient time for the programme that we had in mind. The distances are enormous. As a consequence we had to decide to leave out our visit to Ushuaia and to focus on the areas around Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales and El Calafate. So we did not travel on Fireland at all but stayed always in Patagonia, which has a Chilean and an Argentinean side.
Furthermore, we found that our practical arrangements proved to be much more elaborate than we expected. This includes the travelling as well as hotel accommodations.
To start with it must be said, that we Europeans are quite spoiled when it comes to international travel within our continent. South America is still a different world in this respect. Moving from one country to another requires still a considerable amount of formalities. The people here endure this without too much grumbling, but those who travel a lot must surely get tired of the administrative procedures. We certainly did. To cope with all this, we made it a habit to arrive at the airport three hours before departure as we were also advised by the air company. This is hard in case of early take offs, as was the case on 23. September. Our plane was scheduled to leave from Buenos Aires at 07.30 a.m.
After arriving at the airport at 04.30 we did about two hours of queueing, at first to check in, then to deal with departure taxes on two different counters, then the security check, then the passport control, then for boarding the plane. In Santiago, before continuing to Punta Arenas, we had to retrieve our luggage,
bring it through the customs, which requires queuing, then return to join the queue for check in, even if we hold already our boarding passes. Then again security check and passport control. In between we were required to fill in a form for every person of our party.
Upon arrival in Punta Arenas a strong wind was blowing. A lady of the car rental firm was waiting for us. She had a red Nissan pick up car for us, as we have a lot of luggage. It was the only vehicle that we could find with a local firm. None of the international companies had suitable cars available. The lady tried to sort out all the administrative matters with both of us sitting in the car but then declared that I will be required to come to the office in town to finalize the formalities.
We did as agreed. Then we headed towards our hotel, which was hidden away in a side road. It took us some time to find it, the one way system which is used almost everywhere in America can make it complicated for those who are not familiar with the city. Upon arrival at the hotel we were informed that one of the rooms reserved for us had sustained water damage and that we have been transferred to another hotel. This other hotel turned out to be even more difficult to find. But we managed. We got our rooms, dragged our 10 pieces of luggage up the narrow staircase and felt like going out for a relaxing meal in an Italian restaurant. The hotel gave us the hint for the best place which could be reached by foot. While we were walking, it started to rain. Cats and dogs. By the time we arrived we were soaked. Nevertheless, we decided that we would enjoy our dinner. Came the next episode. To make this one short; we had a lousy dinner which cost us the earth. On top of that Max started to feel unwell. We took a taxi to the hotel and went to bed feeling very tired. During the night, Max started to be sick and threw up everything what he had eaten the day before. We were glad when 23. September was behind us.
We had decided to spend some time in Punta Arenas at the end of our stay in Patagonia. Therefore, we moved on to Puerta Natales on the following day. We had not been able to find accommodation in the city itself and had to drive another 30km to Eestancia Tres Pasos, which was the only place with vacancies. We liked it there. The liked the cosy atmosphere of the estancia, which was entirely made of wood. The open fire place was on all day and there was only room for very few other guests. The estancia had a lot of land with it and also a lake of 4km length. It also had sheep, cows and horses. There was also a fenced in anti-tank mine field that dated back to the seventies, when Chile and Argentina had a controversy over the ownership of some islands. The owner of the estancia showed me some photographs of what happend to two of his bulls that had penetrated the mine-field while having a fight. It did not look nice.
The first day of our stay was used to relax from the travelling and to give Max time to recover. We visited Puerta Natales, which is a smallish, but lively city, packed with tourists. The numerous travel agencies organize all kinds of outings. We booked one boat trip on the Seno Ultima Esperanza to the national park Bernardo O'Higgins with the Serrano Glacier. The weather had turned bad and it was raining on the day of the outing, which lasted the entire day. There was not much to be seen, therefore, and we spend most of the time inside. The boys found the company of two young Chinese ladies and learned their first expressions in their langueage. Now and then we went out, hoping to spot some dolphins or sea lions. It was also cold and we did not really explore the national park but only had a glance at the glacier and returned to the ship to warm up. At the end of the day, when we drove back to the estancia the weather improved and stayed nice also for the following days. It was also in the neighbourhood of the estancia that we spottet the Andean Condor on a number of occasions. They are majestic, letting themselves carried by the winds without moving their wings. And they came quite close on occasions.
We had to give up our plan to visit another glacier very near the Torres del Payne as the boat trips to Glacier Grey were all booked out for days. Consequently, we did not come as close as we had expected to the Torres del Payne, which is a beautiful mountain range on the edge of the Chilean Andes. We admired the area, however, from the distance, when driving to El Calafate, which is the gate to the famous Perito Moreno glacier, in Argentina.
This drive was quite an experience. We had to be cautious to have always a full fuel tank when setting off, as the areas are very remote. The border crossing between Chile and Argentina is in the middle of nowhere. Each time, travellers are required to leave their cars and undergo the control procedures of police and customs, which includes filling in a form for each person. We were not allowed to take any food from one country to the other. Through the experience we realized that the relationship between both countries is not a very harmonious one. Taking a short cut towards El Calafate meant that we had to drive over a very primitive gravel road. The sheep a running free in this area. Now and then one gets hit by a car. We saw one lying on the road that was already half eaten up by the vultures. The animals belong to the estancias that own enormous stretches of land. We passed some of them. They consist of a group of houses, set up at a spot where there is water and they are, as a rule, surrounded by trees and green patches of land. They also maintain other animals such as lamas which are called Guacanos here and ostriches, called Nandos in Patagonia.

El Calafate is a place that exists thanks to the Perito Moreno glacier. A lot of tourists come here throughout the year. We had found a cabin for one family and liked it. There were quite a few of these cabins and they are for rent. The owner is a Scot called Patterson. We enjoyed having a place on our own and the boys had fun playing around the house. Monique was glad to be able to cook for once our own meals after eating out in restaurants for the last two months. From here we undertook our outing to the glacier, which required a drive of 80km, half of it on a dirt road through the national park. We were welcomed to the park by a friendly young lady in uniform who thought that we had nice, well behaved boys. We did not disagree with her; all three of them cope extremely well with all the travelling, queuing up, packing, unpacking and eating out often. Now and then, however, travelling in the car seems to be a difficulty for boys of that age. They need to exercise their body, use their energies. So, our drives are not always in harmony and Monique sometimes decides to sit in the middle in the back and one of the boys in the front seat in order to split them up and allow the spirits to cool off.
During our drive through the park we saw an abundance of Chilean fire bushes on both sides of the road. They are really very special. We came past the hotel Los Nostros shortly before arriving at the glacier. We had tried to reserve rooms there for us. They charge US$ 500 per person per night. We found that totally exaggerated.
The glacier appeared all of a sudden in the distance. It is a stunning view. We really were taken aback by the size of the ice masses. We walked down to the various terraces which offer a splendid view on the walls of the glacier. There is a constant cracking to be heard as the masses move forward and now and then part of the wall breaks off and splashes into the icy water. This is really a spectacle and it was worth while to come and see it. There were visitors from all over the world. We were surprised how many Italians were amongs them. We finished off our visit to the glacier by driving down to the water level at some distance from the glacier itself where we could have a coffee and cakes before tackling the dusty road again.
Our next destination was Rio Gallegos on the Atlantic Coast. We needed to go back to Punta Arenas and did not want to do so by the same road. The city is of bigger size and we were able to do some shopping, dispatch some mail and have easy access to the internet. The tight hotel situation in Punta Arenas did not permit us to return earlier to that city, so we stayed two nights in Rio Gallegos, which normally would not justify such a length of stay. Robert had a spell of unwellness during that time, so we were glad not having to be on the road while he tried to recover.
Finally we headed back to Chile on 1. December, undergoing once more the control procedures at the border and took up domicile in a comfortable hotel in Punta Arenas where we had reserved rooms before leaving from here on 24. November, to be on the safe side. The stay of a couple of days gave us the opportunity to organize ourselves, have some loundry done and also make a visit to the penguin colony nearby. The latter is located at one and a half hours drive from Punta Arenas on the Seno Otway. Again, we had to drive over a dusty dirt road, but we felt that it was worth it. The penguins there have a nice refuge for themselves and are well protected as the visitors are obliged to stay within the bounderies provided for them.
Patagonia is a very popular destination of world travellers. We felt that tourism is very tightly organised and not many visitors travel in an improvised way, as we did. Except the back pack travellers, of course. The size of Patagonia can be easily underestimated. Long distances have to be covered if one wishes to see a lot. Travel means are not always easy. The weather can be a hazard. However, the nature is spectacular and fascinating. Blue and turcoise waters, high, snow-covered mountains, uncountable glaciers, dry, almost desert-like landscapes alternating with green pastures, lots of different species of animals, a rich variety of birds and lots of blooming plants, especially now in spring time, a great place to visit. Some of it reminded us of Iceland or Scotland or even Ireland. No surprise, therefore, that quite a few of the pioneers came from Britain and Scandinavia and a good number of settlers today are origininating from there.
On 3. December we flew to Santiago and spent there two nights befor travelling on to Easter Island. Santiago is not as interesting as Buenos Aires, but we were able to get a taste of the city by visiting the centre with its pedestrian area as well as the museum of contemporanean art and the parks Cerro Santa Lucia and Cerro San Cristobal, from where one has a superb view over the city. To get to the top of Can Cristobal one can use the funicular train, which is idential to the one we have in Berne to go up the Gurten. The city offers many contrasts between modern development and old, untidy and messy quarters. The traffic is difficult, polution is a problem and the environmental conditions are a serious issue. Being the capital of Chile, the political history is mainly reflected here. The traditional "respect" for army and police is still inherent in the society. Even today, when the tortures and disappearances of people during the time of the military reign are openly debated in the media and among the political representatives, it is obvious that the shadows of the past are still oppressing the people. And the process of transition and change is slow, in the institutions above all. People in Chile and in particular in Buenos Aires are not jolly. They don't readily smile, especially the men. May be it is, because life simply is not fun for them. Let's hope that this will change in the futur.
Finally, for all those who inquired about it, the wound on Gerd's leg has healed and he can look forward to swimming and snorkeling again, which we hope to be able to do in Tahiti and New Zealand.

What did we like best about Chile and Patagonia?

Maximilian: The Perito Moreno glacier
David: The Perito Moreno glacier
Robert: Visiting the penguins
Monique: Reading "My invented country" by Isabel Allende and "Across Patagonia" by Lady Florence Dixie, written in 1881!! Also the vast dimension of the landscape in Patagonia.
Gerd: Spotting the Andean Condor

EASTER ISLAND

11. December: After a five hours flight from Santiago we arrived here on Sunday at 10 p.m.. Due to the time difference, it was for us midnight. It was raining. In fact, it had been raining throughout the week here.
The island is rather small and has a triangular shape. It is located 3700 km west of the coast of South America and belongs to Chile since 1888. It has 64 volcanoes which are today inactive. The history of the Easter Island (in the native language "Rapa Nui") is an interesting one. Of volcanic origin, 3 million years ago, it is generally acknowledged today that the first inhabitants came from the Polynesian islands. This must have been around the year 500. They lived here in tribes. To express their admiration for the deceased chiefs and to ensure the goodwill of their spirits, they built these enormous sculptures which are named Moai. They were made of the stones that exist on the island, i.e. the lava stone and less frequently they used basalt. The sculptures were erected near the coast facing the inland. It is a mystery how they managed to transport the extremely heavy gigantic figures. They are up to 14m high. One of the explanations given today says that they used tree trunks, most probably palm trees. This is however not certified. They had their own writing also, but here again; no one so far has been able to decipher what they engraved in stone tablets.
To organise their living together, the different tribes agreed on one chief, who had a mandate of one year. The decision, who was to take up the position, was brought about in a competition. The centre for this cult was the village of Orongo where the elite of the tribes stayed in stone houses. Each of the tribes appointed their athlete to compete. The task consisted in descending the cliffs to the sea, to swim to the nearby island Motu Nui and to collect the first bird's egg and bring it back to Orongo. The master of the winning tribe would then be the birdman for one year, i.e. he would take decisions in matters of common interest, when there was no consensus. There is no accurate account, how long the birdman's cult was practiced. The last time the competition took place was in 1867.
Around the year 1700 the population apparently had grown to a degree that it became difficult to provide sufficient nutrition for everyone. At the same time the sculpturing of the maoi had taken a fanatic character. More and more statutes had to be built and transported to the coast. In the end there were no more trees left. The land no longer provided enough food and the animals had all been extinguished. The tribes went to war against each other. It must have been at the beginning of this conflict that first European explorers discovered the island. After the fighting, this involved even cannibalism, the situation normalized. The production of sculptures had ceased and the existing ones had been thrown over. The surviving population may have ranged between 4 000 to 20 000. After the first European explorers from the Netherlands, Spain and England in the late 18th century, North and South American countries began to recruit slaves and cheap labour in the Pacific which resulted in many inhabitants of the island being taken to work in mines in far off countries. Through deceases transmitted by colonizers and unwise policies of the missioners the population shrank further until only 111 inhabitants were left. This was around 1880.
Today, there are approximately 4000 people living in Easter Island, the majority of who are natives. There are a number of Chileans and also Europeans living here, but they are the minority. No property can be bought by externals. The relationship with Chile and the government in Santiago is not the best. Frictions are caused by ownership issues, as the Chilean government had made the island its property when taking it over. Yet, the natives are more and more unwilling to accept this as their population is growing.
We remained three days in Easter Island. We stayed at a family owned hotel in Hanga Roa, the main town of the island and had a guide at our disposal. Patrice is a Frenchman from Brittany, married to Clara who is native. He has been living here since 14 years and considers himself as fully integrated in the local community. He is also an experienced sailor, having sailed all oceans. He took us around the island in his old green VW bus, which definitely needs a new clutch.
On the first day we went to the volcano Rano Kau. On our way we stopped to see some of the ragged coast line and we saw a few sites which had not been restored. Parts of maoi are spread out on these sites with their foundations partly still standing. We also visited a cave that was easily accessible. Most of the common folk at that time used to live in primitive caves that offered however good shelter.
The Rano Kau volcano is one of three massive volcanoes on the island. Today it is filled with water which used to be the water reservoir for the population of the island until a more modern supply method was organised. Near the volcano we found the first engravings in stone of the birdman. A little further we arrived at the village Orongo. Here we found 52 houses built in the typical style and a great number of engravings in the rocks overlooking the sea with the three islands Motu Kao Kao, Motu Iti and Motu Nui. It is very high over sea level and it must have been not only difficult, but also dangerous for the competitors to climb down to sea level.
On our way back we drove around the airport, which meant going to the other side of the island as the runway measures 3500 m. It was built by the US and serves as an emergency landing track for NASA's space shuttle. There is also a NASA ground station on the island but it may be disbanded shortly. That evening we had dinner in a restaurant at the small harbour which is owned by another Frenchman who presents himself as Obelix. After that we attended a cinema show at our hotel of the film "Rapa Nui". It is a film which has been co-produced by Kevin Costner. Half of the population of the island participated in the making of the film. The play script deals with the bird man's cult, the sculpturing of the maoi and the armed confrontation between the tribes. The action turned rather cruel at one point and Monique and the twins left to go to bed. The film never became a bestseller, but it certainly gives an insight into part of the history of the island.
The following day we went to another volcano. It is named Rano Raraku. On its south slope are the quarries situated where the stone of the maoi was cut. On the way to the place we observed a number of finalized maoi lying on the face. They were abandoned during transport. Approaching the quarry there were more and more figures, finished and unfinished. In the quarry itself there were quite many maoi that were in the process of being sculptured and then abandoned. This is quite impressive. There are a total of about 900 sculptures to be found on the island, around 400 alone in and around the quarry. It is incredible how many of these figures were intended to be built. It must have been a period of excessive megalomania at the time. No wonder that, at some stage, the people turned against this and toppled the statues without exception. Only a few sites have been restored so far, mainly with the help from outside sources.
Before we went to see some of the restored sites, we had a pleasant pick-nick at the house of another Frenchman, François, who escaped from the hectic life back home and lives here with his native partner in the middle of the island. We were received in the most hospitable manner. The house is very simple, no electricity, no water supply, but plenty of outdoor life. The kids were allowed to light the outside fireplace and loved it there.
The sight of the 15 restored maoi at Tongariki is really stunning. Already from the distance one cannot believe ones eyes with the figures standing in line with their back to the sea. One of them is decorated with the hairpiece that seemed to be the fashion during the late period. The hairpieces are made of a different lava stone, which is red. None of the figures have their eyes. There are in fact very few statues on the island which have also the eyes restored. One further maoi is located at some distance from the 15 statutes. This statue had been for an exposition in Japan and unfortunately shows some traces of the long journey.
On our way back we passed the third volcano Maunga Pu A Katiki with its gentle grass slopes. We also paid a visit to the lagoon of the kings, which is a nice sandy beach that used to be reserved only for the higher ranks in the past. The water was warm and we had a nice swim there.
On the last day we spent the morning visiting the museum at Hanga Roa and the coast close to it where there are also some restored maoi, including one with the eyes restored. One wonders how the people must have felt at the time, having the penetrating gaze of dozens of giants directed at them day and night. "Big brother is watching you".
There is a catholic church in the village with beautiful figures sculptured in wood that have clearly a resemblance with the natives. In the afternoon Gerd and Max went along fishing with Patrice's wife Clara and Claudio, one of her relatives. This took place on top of the volcanic cliffs above the boiling sea. The expedition was moderately successful. Both caught half a dozen of fish which Clara's companion killed with a bite in the neck!! Quite an experience. We then were invited to a fish dinner at Patrice's house and we had a marvellous meal. There were other members of Clara's family present. Most of them spoke French, some only Spanish.
We felt very privileged to be invited for the second time in such an open and warm manner to meet with people from the island. The locals have mixed feelings about the developing tourism. They are very aware of the benefits but also of the dangers for their culture and their island. They are afraid, that greed might destroy their togetherness. We felt that they have good reason to have such concern.
We had to leave that same evening and had checked in our luggage beforehand. There is only one plane coming to Easter Island every day. It is the one coming from Santiago that continues afterwards to Tahiti. The same plane comes back, lands in Easter Island and continues to Santiago. It was already dark when we saw our plane coming in from Santiago. It passed at a distance of only 200 m from the house. There was still enough time for us to drive to the airport and to board our plane direction Papeete/Tahiti. We felt that we would have liked to stay longer here. It is a very special place, with a significant history. A history that can repeat itself in different shades may be, elsewhere on our globe.

MOOREA

20. December: We were given a Polynesian welcome on our arrival: music and flowers. And it was very warm, despite the late hour. We rushed to our hotel to get some sleep. Approximately 90 000 people live in Papeete. Our ferry boat left on the next day at noon. So we had the morning to explore the city. Enough time to notice some specific characteristics of the place.
First of all we discovered that Tahiti was extremely expensive. There must be a two lane lifestyle in this region, one being the world of tourism and everything related to it and the other one being the world of the locals, who have to live with very little. Secondly, there is a much laid back way of acting on the part of the locals (and also the non-locals), which on occasions degenerates in a "couldn't care less" attitude.
The Islands are of course French territory and many things are organised as it is the custom in France. This is normal considering the fact that most key roles are occupied by French citizens who very often also own businesses here.
The period of the "discoveries" started in 1520 by the Spanish, followed by the Portuguese in the following century. The real competition for this territory took place once more between France and England. In this period fell also the Mutiny of the Bounty, which took place in 1788. In the end Tahiti became a French protectorate in the middle of the 19th century and was transformed into a French colony in 1880. Today the islands are considered an overseas territory of France.
The mutiny of the Bounty became the story of a very successful film in which Marlon Brando had a main role. When shooting the film he fell in love with one of the Islands (and a female member of the native population) and he chose to acquire the whole Island. Other famous people made Polynesia their home, such as the painter Paul Gaugin and the singer Jacques Brel, both being also buried here.
Today the population of French Polynesia consists of 66% natives, 17% are mestizos, 5% of Chinese and 12% of European origin, the latter mostly French. Only one out of three natives has a regular job. The families stick together with several generations under one roof and the ones having a regular income provide subsistence and lodging for everyone of the tribe. Children a born in great number, many of them outside marriage. It is not unusual for young girls to have two or three children from different fathers without being married. Children are always considered as welcome and it is the mother's job (and her family's) to look after them. It must be said that child allowance is paid for every child, similar to the system in France. If birth is given in hospital a special premium is paid to the mother, this to counter the many accidents that occur when children are born at home.

We came to this part of the world with the intention to enjoy the nice warm weather and the wonderful beaches rather than undergo a specific tourist programme. We had booked a bungalow with a hotel in Moorea, which is the island closest to Tahiti. The transfer by ferry only lasted 30 minutes.
Moorea is a beautiful island with a coral reef around it. This means that the beaches are calm and the water is warm. We stayed 9 days in the hotel "Les Tipaniers". We also hired a small car to be more mobile and that gave us the possibility to visit villages and do shopping, whenever we felt like it. The boys enjoyed this stay. There were private homes just next to the bungalow park and there were plenty of children. They made friends with some of them, which resulted in local kids knocking at our terrace door sometimes early in the morning when we were still in bed.
Apart from lying at the beach, we also went kayaking to two nearby islands and did snorkelling which was great fun. The amount of fish one could see and the variety of colours is simply stunning. Robert's statement: "This is better than any aquarium". On one outing we paddled to a spot where one could see the giant manta fish. Indeed, when we arrived at the spot there was already a boat with a group of tourists. Two local guys, together with a number of tourists went into the water and the mantas were swimming around them. They allowed even to be touched. Gerd could not resist. He put on his snorkelling gear and in he went. It was fascinating to see these giant fish so close and to touch them. Then the local guides started to feed the fish and they threw some bigger bits of fish into the water. Within seconds the sharks turned up. They were lagoon sharks. Only about 1,5m long, very elegant, pearl grey with black fin tips. They are not dangerous. Nevertheless, one cannot help having a certain respect for these creatures. There where about ten of them circling around the people in the water. No one took the risk to touch them.
Gerd and Max also did some fishing. But they still have to make up their mind whether they want to be serious about it. Whenever they catch a fish, they feel so guilty that they throw it back into the water.
We had a great time. Lying in bed and hear the waves of the sea is the sort of thing one dreams of. It was nice to be able to make our own meal if we felt like it or otherwise go to one of the two hotel restaurants, one of which was located right at the beach with a nice shady terrace, ideal for aperitifs at sun set time. The hotel is owned by a Frenchman and the quality of the food was very good.
On one occasion we went for an outing by car to a place called Belvedere and indeed the view from there was quite spectacular. On the last evening we allowed ourselves to be tourists and we visited the Tiki Village, which is a place where the natives demonstrate how they used to live and show their craftworks. There was a show organised and we were served a typical meal, which always includes pork meat, fish and lots of fruit.
They grow fabulous fruit in these islands, in particular a large variety of bananas, mango, papaya, guava and in particular delicious pineapples. Then there is this abundance of flowers, esecially in spring time. The national flower is the tiare, which is of pure white colour with a strong perfume. You also find a multitude of different coloured hibiscus and the tipanier flower. Again and again one can spot the bright red fire tree, which actually seems to be a tree on fire.
Typical for the Polynesian islands are the black pearls. They are cultivated in some places where the coast water is not affected by the influx of sweet water from rivers. The pearls are offered on many spots on the islands but prior information about quality characteristics is advisable before purchasing. We couldn't resist the temptation to buy some typical clothing and got ourselves the flowery shirts which you can admire on the photographs. Quite extraordinary is the manifold use of the colourful Pareos which the women wear here. The can be used as beach outfit and can be transformed into very attractve dresses for any occasion, including evening dresses. We had an impressive demonstration of this during our visit of the Tiki village.
Finally a word about the weather. We visited French Polynesia in the final stage of spring, which is considered the rainy period. Indeed we had some spots of rain. But the weather was unusually hot, as we were told by the people living here. They feel that the climate is changing. We certainly suffered quite a bit from the heat and also from mosquito bites, in particular Max. One wonders what the temperatures will be like in the summer. But here again, the climate might provide another surprise.
We left Papeete for Auckland where the temperatures will be less extreme and we are very much looking forward to see again Karen and Philip and Monique's relatives, the Kidd family.

NEW ZEALAND

1. January: We had planned to consider the first two weeks of our stay in New Zealand as a break in our travel programme. Therefore, we just enjoyed being together with the family over Christmas and New Year without any ambition to visit specific places.
So we lived day by day, taking long walks at the beach, playing midget golf or taking golf lessons, playing snooker, kicking the ball or playing petanque. The weather was not always kind, which offered us moments at the fire place, reading a book or playing a game with the children.
We were lucky to have a nice, cosy house at our disposal, which Liz and Warren Kidd had found for us and which is located right at the beach. There is a stretch of approximately 80 m at garden level towards the sea, then a drop of around 4 m to beach level. The beach itself is 100 m large at low tide. A lovely spot to spend a holiday and we had a very relaxing time.
Our peaceful time was brutally disrupted on boxing day by the terrible disaster in the Indian Ocean. We are grateful and relieved, that our dear friends Danielle and Louis Villars and their children Alexandre, Estelle and Lara, who were in Phuket on holiday when the Tsunami occurred, had a guardian angel and escaped the disaster virtually by minutes. The same counts for Roland Favrod and his wife Phadaphon, whose house is half a mile away from the coast where the tidal wave did not reach. But our thoughts are with the hundreds of thousands of families of the victims who are in deep pain and despair and for whom the end of the year could not have been more traumatic.
We shall write new chapters under this heading and add more photographs to the Gallery in a few days time. Thanks for your patience.

10. January: New Zealand has plenty of hot springs all over the volcanic country. Not far from Pauanui we visited a hot water beach with the whole NZfamily. People go there and dig their own pool in the sand and sit in hot water (swimming suits full of sand and no showers...) In some places the water is boiling hot, too hot to put the feet in.
The beginning of the year saw us on a boat outing with Warren's friend Mike, a guest in our house in Tuscany with Liz and Warren a few years ago, who took us up to Whitianga (north on the Coromandel peninsula) where we finished the day with a delicious meal at the "Fire Place" which is a well known restaurant (there are so many good ones here in NZ now..). The boys enjoyed the outing, as they could do some fishing and were also allowed to command the boat under Mike's control.
Due to the low temperatures in spring this year, the sea was stil too cold for good fishing. But we had nice weather and enjoyed cruising among the islands and seeing the mainland from the sea. The 'youngsters', i.e. Karen with boyfriend Brian and Philip with Jessy, had gone fishing 2 days before and saw 3 killerwhales (!) early in the morning.
For us it was the first time to spend Christmas under the sun. The same songs (I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...), wrapping paper with same design such as snow covered Christmastrees.. etc. all together a very different experience but being with 'people we know......' according to the boys was absolutely wonderful for us. We had been so much looking forward to this holiday and being in a house after almost 6 months on the road, all together it was a big succes. Time went by very quickly and the day of departure from Pauanui beach came for us on 3. January. Having stayed for two weeks under these wonderful circumstances with many very nice evenings (lots of bottles of excellent NZ-wine..) and outings with the whole NZ-family (Monique's father's sister Bep with husband Gerard with 3 daughters Liz, Annet, Glennys with partners Warren, Ken and Ian and children Russel, Allistair, Matthew, Ella, Courtney and Micheal) we found it very difficult to motivate ourselves to move on. With some reluctance we packed our cases and hit the road again to drive down to Thames. There we stayed the night at Warren and Liz's house. For dinner we were invited by Stratos, another friend of Warren's, who stayed with Liz and Warren in our house in Tuscany and is of Greek origin, a pioneer in growing olives in this country. He has close to 300 olive trees on his property. Our Greek dinner was delicious and we had a wonderful evening.
The following day we had to pick up our camper van in Auckland. We planned to stay a couple of nights North of Auckland at another hot spring resort and then to head South.
After two weeks in this country we can say that, indeed, people are very laid back. They allow for enough time for everything that needs to take place. No rush. Of course, it is now the holiday period here and that may further contribute to this impression. The only exception to this perception is the attitude of some New Zealanders when they sit in a car. Motor cars seem to change their character and they become much more aggressive. Indeed, in the short period of time since our arrival we have witnessed some cases of ill temper and quite a few bad car accidents.
Another thing that we noticed is, that restaurants here offer very sophisticated dishes. This is the opposite of what Monique experienced 23 years ago here in NZ on her visit when it was still just lambchops and mint-potatoes. It is true that there has been substantial immigration from various parts of the world and that has led to a great variety in the meals that are offered here. And many NZ-ers have travelled to Europe and Asia etc. A little bit peculiar, however, is the strange way in which the meals are sometimes composed. A big international mix in one dish. Very daring but mostly delicious. Especially with their excellent wines....
That it can rain quite substantially in New Zealand was not unknown to us. Extraordinary, however, is how changeable the climate is here. One can get the weather of four seasons in one single day. This concentration applies in general to various features of nature. What we in Europe find typical for different seasons and different geographical regions of the continent, is concentrated here on one single spot and at the same time. We have planned in total 6 weeks travelling in the camper van until Christchurch which seems a lot of time but it will get tight.

20. January: The easy going attitude of the people here has also had its effects on us. We somehow did not manage to update our diary on a regular basis. Therefore, we limit ourselves for today to indicate the route that we took since we travel by camper van. More details will follow in a couple of days under this heading. However, we have loaded a number of new photographs for you to look at.
From Auckland we headed direction North-east to the Waiwera Thermal Resort. After this we took the Nr. 1 Motorway South to Hamilton, which is the biggest inland city of New Zealand. From there we crossed over South-east to Rotorua, which has the most active thermal springs of the country and a number of lakes around it. Thereafter we went South to Taupo, which is a superb spot in the middle of a great landscape with a beautiful lake. We then continued South-east to the coast and the city of Napier, which was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt in art-deco style immediately afterwards. There are great beaches nearby, ideal for surfing. Hastings is renowned for its wine and is only a few miles away from Napier. From there we took the road South to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand.

24. January: It was cold and rainy when we arrived in Waiwera. Our campsite was situated directly on the waterfront, right next to the Thermal Bath. We spent the whole following day in the Thermal Bath. There were several basins with different temperatures and we enjoyed being in the warmth. The resort had several slippery slides of different categories and the boys (+Gerd) had great fun coming down on them.
Hamilton is about one hour's drive South of Auckland. It is the home town of Karen's boyfriend Brian. We met up there with them as well as with Philip and Jessy. They had been camping for a few days in the Northern part of the Coromandel Peninsula. We also managed to visit the Waikato Museum which has a good Maori collection, including a Te Winika war canoe. The Maori are said to have come to New Zealand on such canoes from Polynesia, long before any European put sight on this country.
Rotorua was our next destination. It is also nicknamed "Sulphur city" as there are hot water springs all over the place. Even the turf at the campground was warmed by the presence of hot water under ground. The youngsters decided to join us in Rotorua and they set up their tents in the same campground as us, which was fun. They also cooked dinner for us! What a treat. The next day we had to say good bye to Philip and Jessy as they had to return to London. Another attraction of Rotorua is the Maori village with its gigantic geyser. We paid a visit to the village and also attended a Maori concert. The boys were mighty impressed with the dancers rolling their eyes and sticking their tongues out in order to exercise also those muscles in preparing to fight the enemy. We will have to ensure that they will not copy such behaviour once we are back home.
From Rotorua we turned south to Taupo. It is situated on the shore of Lake Taupo, the biggest lake of New Zealand. The lake was formed by probably the most gigantic volcanic explosion of all times some 25 000 years ago. Across the lake one can see the volcanic peaks of Tongariro National Park. It is a beautiful setting. The city itself is lovely, full of cafés, restaurants and shops. The surroundings of Taupo offer plenty of attractions and all kinds of activities. We went to the Huka Falls of the Waikato River with crystal clear water. It is the longest river of New Zealand and has its source in Lake Taupo. Taupo with its king size trouts is also world famous for fishing. One could easily be tempted to settle down for good in this beautiful spot.
However, our itinerary took as further south to the city of Napier. Napier was completely destroyed by an earth quake in 1931 which hit the area of the Hawkes Bay. The city was immediately rebuilt and is world famous for its Art Deco architecture and objects. We visited the Hawkes Bay Museum which has an important section on earth quakes. There is also an active seismograph installed in the museum and it was interesting to see it in operation. We were able to see also the chart of 26.12. i.e. the day of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The graphic chart shows only minor movement in New Zealand on that day. In fact, there is seismic activity practically every day in this country which goes almost unnoticed, but is registered by the seismograph. Activities between 3 and 4 of the Richter scale are not uncommun. Obviously, the whole of New Zealand is sitting on the meeting point of tectonic plates, which explains the intensive volcanic activity in this area. Talking to people, one is surprised how indifferent they appear to be. No one would see the geologic circumstances as a reason to move away from New Zealand. Neither seem the tourists be worried about it.
From Napier we went further south to the coast and spent a day at Ocean Beach. This is one of the most beautiful beaches and one of the best for surfing. Talking to the life-guards we learned that it is also a very dangerous beach with strong outward currents when the waves are very high. In fact, only last week two adults drowned there and two four year old twins also nearly drowned in shallow water. One always has to be careful at those beaches and this is explained by the presence of numerous life-guards. On our way to the beach and back we came past some wineries of considerable size. The wine culture is growing in New Zealand and the area of Hastings, close to Napier, is one of the best know wine regions. But there are large stretches of farming land in-between and all that made a beautiful setting when we drove across the country.
We concluded our tour of the North Island with a visit to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. We stayed at a campground North of Wellington close to the Hutt River. This gave us the opportunity to spend a relaxing afternoon at the river. It was a warm day and we appreciated the fresh clear water.
We did not have any high expectations following the comments that we had heard about Wellington, but were pleasantly surprised when we visited the town. It has a splendid harbour and plenty of cafés and restaurants which gives it a friendly, convivial atmosphere. It claims to be a centre of culture and art and the "Te Papa" Museum supports this. It is an impressive building, the construction of which took five years and cost more than $ 300m. There is an extensive Maori collection and many other interesting presentations of historical or environmental nature. The interactive sections made it particularly interesting for children and our boys liked it so much, they did not want to leave at the end of the day.
We were lucky to be in Wellington when the boats of the Global Challenge could be seen in the harbour. This is a race of 12 boats around the globe. They started out in Portsmouth in the UK and arrived here from Buenos Aires. The next destination will be Sydney. New Zealanders have a passion for sport in general and for sailing in particular. The Global Challenge boats therefore attracted lots of people which made the harbour an even busier place.
On 17. January, our round trip of the North Island came to and end and we took the ferry boat to Picton on the South Island.

29. January: It was a very windy day when we crossed the Cook Strait by ferry. While we were waiting in our campervan until we could drive on board, the wind shook us in a fashion that we thought it would topple us over. The crossing was in accordance and Monique had to take some fresh air at a certain point when the ship was battling through the sea. Luckily this did not last too long and when the ship entered the Marlborough Sounds we had a very pleasant journey through stunning nature.
We stayed one night in Picton and then took the road direction Golden Bay. This led us through Havelock, Nelson, along the Tasman Bay and then north west around the Abel Tasman National Park over Takaka Hill to our destination Pohara. We made stops on the way of course. In Havelock we saw the renowned restaurant "Mussel Boys" with giant green mussels playing rugby on the roof. We found a nice café for a snack. There are so many coffee shops in New Zealand, all are quite original and well maintained and they serve any time of the day.
In Nelson we stayed one night in a campground not far from the city. We visited the town which belongs to the wine growing area of the Marlborough region and is well known also for its breweries as well as for its art and craft works. It has also an interesting history. We went to see the alleged oldest preserved street on New Zealand with restored workers cottages originally built around 1865 and a particular shop renowned for its pottery. The top event for us, however, was a visit to the shop of Jens Hansen, the gold and silver smith who made "the one ring" of the film Lord of the Rings, which was turned in New Zealand. The boys were over the moon when they were allowed to hold the original model of the ring. Max has actually read the three volumes of the Lord of the Rings while we travelled South America and is now watching all three on DVD. He is also busy with identifying the different locations of the films while we are travelling the country.
The Golden Bay was at the beginning a little bit disappointing for us. We had seen nicer beaches. But, one day we went out kayaking and we landed on some beautiful smaller beaches, almost deserted. We enjoyed the outing which took us around some small rocky islands with seals and cormorants and along a mussel farm.
Our next destination was Blenheim, known for its wineries. This meant for us quite a long drive, but it led us once more through picturesque landscapes which we were happy to see. Apart from the vineyards there is a much farming land and lots and lots of sheep. There is only one million people living on the South Island of New Zealand, but there are about six million sheep.
Leaving Blenheim we stopped at the Montana Winery, one of the well know wineries of the Marlborough area. In particular the Cabernet Sauvignon from here has been successful and received international recognition by outclassing the competitors from France and elsewhere. We found the wines in New Zealand in general of good quality, but not cheap.
On our way to Kaikoura we stopped at a famous café, "The Store". It is very original and situated right on the water front. A place worth while visiting. It was a nice ride along the coast. Kaikoura used to be a simple fishing village but it has become now a popular destination thanks to the presence of sperm whales just off the coast. Another factor is the crayfish that is found in abundance here. In fact in the Maori language "Kai" means food and "Koura" means crayfish. We had booked our outing by boat to meet with the whales, but the trip was cancelled because of the stiff wind. Since we did not want to wait another day we chose the option of a helicopter flight. We were lucky, since we saw half a dozen of young male whales, which measured about 6 to 8m.
It was nice weather when we arrived in Christchurch. This is a very British city. Lots of old schools for boys and girls and also a renowned university. Plenty of museums and art galleries, cafés with terraces. The city is also very green. We explored the town centre, visited the cathedral. There were impressive presentations by international street performers on cathedral square to which the local newspaper devoted two entire pages. We took a ride on boats on the river Avon and discovered that there is room for improvement in our navigation skills. We also visited the International Antarctic Centre near the airport. This was really interesting. In fact it is unique. We even experienced an arctic storm in a special cabin with temperatures far below the freezing point. This way we got a little bit of winter which we miss out on this year. Christchurch is the gateway to the Antarctic. The USA have their Antarctic Centre at the same spot. All air transport to the Antarctic goes through Christchurch.
One thing that strikes us in New Zealand is the awareness of the people for environmental and health matters. The protection of the environment appears to be totally uncontested and has been adopted as a principle by the population. Wood is very much used for housing and we have seen that there is a vast programme of reforesting in operation to make up for this loss. We also observed a multitude of possibilities to purchase organic nutrition and the traditional medical care is backed up by many alternative methods and treatments that seem to be widely available.
We also noticed the existence of second hand shops in almost all towns. This is something we have completely given up in Europe, it appears. We visited some of the shops and were surprised about the variety and quality of the articels that were available.
Having travelled now again for almost four weeks by campervan, we came to the conclusion that this is indeed for us the best way of travelling and exploring a country. Our campervan here in New Zealand is smaller than the ones in America, which gave us a storage problem to start with. But we appreciate now the mobility of the vehicle, which enables us to park it also in the city. It is, of course, a special way of living, but the campsites in New Zealand are in general well equipped and organized. On top of that, we meet many other travellers. Most of them were from New Zealand, as it was the summer holiday period. Therefore, the boys met lots of other children. There are also quite a few Europeans travelling the country. Most of them come, guess from where, from Holland and Switzerland. But there are also some Germans and British and now and then French and Italians.
New Zealanders speak the English language with a slightly different intonation. They are in general friendly and open to contact and the foreign traveller will be met with a "ye doon" early in the morning in the shower facilities. Assuming that this was a polite opening, Gerd chose to reply "good morning". It took him some time to find out that "Ye doon" means "How are you doing?" Resisting his inclination for precision he decided that this question does not want a real answer and he replies now with a simple "hey" which sounds Swedish and seems to satisfy also New Zealanders.

10. February: Those who have not visited New Zealand before may not be familiar with the fact, that the expression "Kiwi" has a three-fold meaning. Firstly it is the denomination that New Zealanders like to apply to themselves as citizens of this country. Secondly it is a fruit, as everbody knows. Thirdly, there is a bird, which only exists in New Zealand. The Kiwi is a nocturnal creature and is therefore difficult to spot in nature. It cannot fly and was close to extermination. But it is protected today and there are colonies of various types of Kiwi birds in different parts of the country. We had to go to the Kiwi House in Christchurch to get to see a couple of brown coloured Kiwis in a dark hall. It required an adaptation period of 15 minutes so that we actually could see them.

From Christchurch we headed towards Queenstown. At first we travelled south under thick clouds and then crossed over direction west to Lake Tekapo where we met bright sunshine. The colour of the lake is simply unreal, it is opal. The colour is created b has y "rock flour", i.e. finely ground particles of rock. The water is glacial. Tekapo is situated at almost 700m altitude. Benefiting from the clear sky Gerd and Max went on a star watching outing to a small observatory on one of the hills around Tekapo. The sky in the Southern hemisphere looks different from the one in the North. The Milky Way is overwhelming. One can detect with bare eyes the two galaxies nearest to ours; they look like white veil and each of them hold billions of stars. The Southern Cross is a composition of four stars that we can not see in the northern hemisphere. It was a crucial help for the early explorers in the past to find their way across the ocean.
The following day, Gerd and the boys decided to do some flight seeing. Originally we had planned to travel to Queenstown via the west coast, which would involve coming past Franz-Joseph Glacier and Fox Glacier with Mount Cook in the background. Fearing that this might take too much time, we had skipped that part of our itinerary. However, from Tekapo it was possible to see all this by helicopter. So, off they went for a 70 minutes flight which they enjoyed very much, including the landing on a small snow field on top of a mountain vis-à-vis Mount Cook. Monique did not have a positive view on this undertaking, but since the whale watching outing by helicopter had gone well, she resigned also to this one.
Our next destination was Wanaka situated on Lake Wanaka. It is a small town, nestled around two bays and surrounded by hills and mountains. There are some good skiing areas in the region, good enough for the alpine elite from Europe to come here for their summer training. We liked Wanaka, its easy going pace and the relaxed atmosphere around the lake and its public beaches which are extremely well serviced. Leaving Wanaka we stopped at a place where Gerd could practice on the driving range, Max did archery and Monique with Robert and David did Mini-golf. Then we took a scenic drive through the mountains, as a short-cut to an otherwise much longer ride over bigger roads. This drive took us through some very dry county side, which reminded us of some parts of California.
Queenstown was somewhat disappointing, which, quite frankly we had almost expected. It is very crowded and everything is about adventure sports, bungy jumping, sky-diving, hang-gliding, white-water rafting etc. A lot of building is going on, houses squeezed against mountains. It is a fashion place, a tourist high flyer. But, of course, exciting for young people and a must for all tourists from abroad. Hence, we also dived into this world for two days, leaving aside the adventure part of it. Queenstown is situated on Lake Wakatipu. The water is too cold for swimming in it. Consequently, we went to nearby Lake Hayes on two occasions where we could park our campervan close to the water and take advantage of the much warmer temperature.
Gerd and Max went on a half day guided excursion by jeep which focussed on visiting venues of the films "Lord of the Rings". We visited a fairy tail forest, which is a natural reserve and identical to the one in the film. Furthermore we went to see Isengard and Camp of Ithilien. It was quite interesting and also funny. Max seemed to be almost more familiar with the story and the locations than our guide. On our way back we branched off into an area of complete wilderness. There was a clear mountain stream which we had to cross several times with our Land Rover Defender. This was the place where in the second film Gollum was about to munch up an uncooked hare. (We ask for forgiveness for these details from those unfamiliar with Tolkiens books or have not seen the films).
We left Queenstown without regrets accepting that this is the prejudiced view of a family with small children. For us Wanaka was a much nicer place if one wants to compare. Somebody told us that Wanaka today is what Queenstown was like 20 years ago.
Exiting Queenstown we came to Kawarau Gorge, the original place for bungy jumping. The guy who started it all is called A.J. Hackett. He apparently has seven commercially driven bungy jumping places in New Zealand. We stopped, had a coffee and watched a number of young people from all over the world diving down towards the green waters of Kawarau River. After a meeting of the family council it was decided that nobody of the Aigners would take the plunge (although it should be said that Philip did it in Auckland just before returning to the UK).
We drove towards Dunedin, our next destination. The road took us through beautiful parts of the South Island, lakes, hills, mountains, vineyards, fruit lands, along the rivers Roxburgh and Clutha to a place called Lawrence, where the first gold was found in the country. From there we took a shortcut, we thought. The small country road turned after a while into a dirt road over hills and through forests until we reached the Waipori Falls followed by a very narrow, deep canyon. One would not have thought that there is a road going through, but there was. This was the most testing drive so far during the entire world trip and our camper van was covered with dust, outside and inside, after this ride.
Dunedin is a Scottish city, founded by Scots. The names of the roads, of the people, are Scottish. The architecture of buildings, such as schools, Churches, the Town Hall and other public buildings reminded us of Scotland. When we arrived, the weather was nice. Later in the day, fog clouds settled in over our campsite, which was located in a valley just outside Dunedin. It appears that this is a frequent phenomenon that fog is building up over the ocean and covers the coastal area towards the late afternoon. Sometimes is comes and goes the whole day through. We explored the centre of the city, visited the Cathedral and some of the shops, but did not drive out to the peninsula because of the weather conditions.
The date of our departure from New Zealand approached. We had to return to Christchurch to take the plane on 11. February. We decided to spend a few days in Akaroa, which is a French settlement on the coast Southwest of Christchurch.
Travelling North we made a halt to see the boulders at Moeraki. These are completely round stones like giant marbles, lying on the beach. Some show a network of veins, which make them look like turtle shells.
Further North along the coast we paid a visit to the town of Oamaru. Europeans have settled here at first in the middle of the 19. century. There are a number of well preserved historic buildings, particularly in the harbour area, built with the local lime stone, which has special characteristics. We had a snack at the café at the Woolstore (with very original and excellent dishes) and visited a collection of car oldtimers. This was ta very interesting place indeed and Gerd was able to buy a miniture MGB GT for his collection of cars, which he had possessed over the years. Caroline beach of Oamaru is widely praised as one of the beautiful coastal spots of the South Island. We were rather disappointed. Nevertheless, we spent an hour there and Robert and David enjoyed a refreshing swim.
About halfway to Christchurch we made a night stop over at Peel Forest, which is a natural reserve near a place called Geraldine. The campground was located in a forest park with beautiful old trees near the river Rangitata. There were not many people, mostly tent campers. This was quite romantic and the walk to the river through high bushes, a mountain stream and over a large sand bank covered with pebbles and rocks was rather adventurous. Unfortunately Max's fishing rod was broken, so we had to leave the fishing bit to others.
Over the inland scenic road we travelled to Akaroa, circumventing Christchurch in the South to arrive on the Banks Peninsula, which was formed by two gigantic volcanic explosions. We had to come over some steep hills to finally arrive at the coastal town of Akaroa, which is a charming little town, full of French characteristics, the names of the streets, the shops and houses. It is beautifully nestled in a bay, surrounded by hills which hold quite a few vineyards. The climate must be rather dry and mild here.
We were lucky to be able to visit a sheep farm here, something that we had in mind all the way, but never managed to materalize. Paua Farm is situated above Paua Bay. The farmer is a direct descendant from the French settlers who arrived here in the 19. century. He has 4 thousand sheep. By the way, there are 40 million sheep in New Zealand, i.e. 10 times more than inhabitants. The wool used to be the primary focus of sheep farmers years ago. Now it is the meat production as the wool price is too low. We had an impressive demonstration of the work of sheep dogs. And the farmer confirmed to us, that the dog is the farmer's best friend. He could not do his job without being helped by the dogs, which each has a different task in supporting the farmer. Paua Farm also holds a deer herd. Deers are primarily used for meat export and the main destination is Germany. The farmer was kind enough to deliver a great deal of information about today's life of a farmer, the benefits and the disadvantages. And of course, the boys felt immediatly at home on the farm.
As our last touristic venture in New Zealand we went on a boat outing to spot some wild life and to see some of the bays of the Banks Peninsula. We enjoyed the relaxing outing on a new ship and we saw some hector dolphins, who are very playful and like to put on a race with the ship. We also spotted some blue penguins and some seals. Akaroa would deserve a longer stay. It has some good cafés and good opportunities for hikes, kayaking, cruises and horse riding. It is mainly a summer resort for people from Christchurch and Canterbury. While the normal population amounts to 600 inhabitants, there are 3 500 people staying here in the summer.

What did we like best about New Zealand?

Maximilian: Whale watching by helicopter in Kaikoura.
David: My first helicopter flight.
Robert: The Hector dolphins at Akaroa.
Monique: The many art galleries, the Te Papa museum in Wellington and the eccentric cafés.
Gerd: Pauanui Beach and the family gathering at Christmas.

AUSTRALIA

28. February: Victoria and South Australia.
It was raining when we left Christchurch on 11. February and the weather was not any better upon arrival in Melbourne. The flight took not quite four hours and we had to turn back the clock by two hours upon arrival because of the time difference. This should prove to be a handicap for later in the evening. We went out to town and we were caught up in big celebrations as it was the New Year for the Chinese. Fighting our way through the crowds we ended up in a Greek restaurant. By that time it was almost 21 hours which meant for us 23 hours. We ordered our food and after waiting for 45 minutes we inquired with the waitress. She had made a mistake and told us that we would have to wait some more time until we could get served. At least she was honest about it. Finally we started to eat at 22.15. Needless to say that the kids went to sleep in the middle of dinner and we had to carry the twins back to the hotel where we arrived at 23.30 which meant for us in fact 01.30. Given the circumstances we called up the campervan company the following morning and deferred our pick up of the vehicle to Monday instead of Saturday morning. This gave us the opportunity, not only to have sufficient rest before we would go back on the road but also to explore the city over the weekend. Melbourne is the second largest city of Australia after Sydney. It has more than three million inhabitants and is a real melting pot. In particular the Asians are largely represented but also people from Africa and of course Europe.
The city knew a rapid early development thanks to the gold rush at the middle of the 19. Century. Today the city is a vibrant place and has a great volume of modern architecture mixed with historical buildings of the Victorian area. We used the City Circle Tram (free of charge, by the way) to visit various sectors of the city centre and spent almost the whole of Saturday at the Melbourne Museum which includes the Imax cinema with its panoramic screen to view films in 3D. We saw "Polar Express" there, which was a great experience, especially for the children. Apart from strolling through shopping streets and one or two of the various parks, we also visited the Arts Centre and the Crown Entertainment Complex as well as the Rialto Towers Observation Deck, which provides for a splendid view of the city and its suburbs.
After picking up our campervan we left Melbourne to the west and headed for the Great Ocean Road. It was built in memory of those who fell during the First World War and with the involvement of the soldiers who had returned from the war. The road goes along the coast and has many scenic parts. But before reaching it we left Melbourne on one of the big exit roads which took us through an area which did not present a pretty sight. Big factory plants with smoky chimneys reminded us that Australia is one of the great sinners per capita in environmental terms and the state of Victoria is one of the worst green house gas polluters on the planet. Australia has not signed the Kyoto Protocol. It is in good company as the USA, Japan and China haven't signed it either. Having just left New Zealand we can easily confirm that the awareness for environmental matters is much higher there than in Australia.
We made our first overnight stop in Angelsea. The weather being nice we took advantage of the nice beaches there and the boys had a lot of fun with their body surf boards. When we went for dinner at the restaurant of the local golf club we had a pleasant surprise. We saw our first kangaroos. There were various families with small ones on the fairway. Mind you, they kept off the greens, which shows that they were properly educated.
After that the weather conditions worsened. However, we enjoyed the ride on the Great Ocean Road, passing through Lorne, Apollo Bay and making a stop in Port Campbell, where we could see the Twelve Apostles, which are giant rocks of limestone in the sea. The limestone coast with its golden coloured cliffs is indeed very special. In bad weather the sea appears to be very angry forming large white foam waves that splash with enormous power against the rocks. In fact, during the last 40 years not less than 80 vessels were lost along this coast. This has given raise to a new tourist attraction, the "shipwreck trail". Further along the coast we admired the Bay of Islands as we followed the road via Fort Fairy and entered the state of South Australia to reach Mount Gambier with its famous "Blue Lake". This is a volcanic crater filled with water which over the summer changes its colour from grey to ink blue. No one has so far been able to explain this phenomenon. The Coast of Southern Australia is also famous for its excellent cray fish. In Europe we call it lobster. We finally managed to treat ourselves to a delicious lobster meal at Robe, which is a small town with a beautiful beach. It also has quite a bit of history to it which is connected to the gold findings in Victoria in the middle of the 19th century. Many Chinese miners landed in Robe at that time. The buildings from the early years are all made of the golden coloured lime-stone and the town has been very well developed over the years. Wine production has also started in this region. We liked Robe and its surroundings and regretted not being able to stay here for some more time.
From Robe we made our way to Adelaide in one day. We stopped approximately 30km west of the city in a place called Hahndorf. You are right in guessing that this is a German settlement; in fact it is oldest remaining one. The town was founded in 1839 by Lutherans who left Prussia to escape religious prosecution. The name of the ship captain was Hahn, hence the name of the town.
We chose the place because it is near the home relatives of Karen and Philip, i.e. their great uncle Ken Peak-Jones and his wife June as well as their daughter Sarah with husband Leigh Cowling and sons Angus (5) and William (3). Ken had his 90th birthday last summer. He and Sarah had visited us in Switzerland in 1989 and Sarah came once more on a visit in 1995. We enjoyed seeing them again and to meet the other members of the family. Sarah and Leigh are living on a farm where we had a great lunch gathering. Needless to say that the boys had a great time exploring the place and we went for a lengthy walk around the property and picked a bucket full of blackberries. A couple of days later Sarah's family came to see us at the campground on the coast South of Adelaide and we had a lovely day at the beach. The weather had been quite disappointing since our arrival in Australia. We were, therefore, pleased to have a few days with pleasant weather since we arrived in the Adelaide region.
We spent only one night in the city of Adelaide before flying out to Perth. Not enough time really to see a lot but we managed to visit the Indigenous Cultural Institute "Tandanya" and we learned more about the people who were first in Australia, the way they used to live and the cruel destiny of many of them after the arrival of the Europeans. To our regret there was no time to visit Kangaroo Island, which is renowned for its abundant wildlife. But there will be more places that we miss out on and that will give us enough reason to come back to Australia in a few years time.

10. March: Western Australia
When we arrived in Perth we realized at once that we got into much warmer climate. It is quite a pleasant city with lots of green areas and water, of course. It was not our intention to stay in Perth for any length of time, but rather to move on South to Dunsborough where we had rented a house overlooking the golf course. Therefore, we just managed to explore a little bit the centre of Perth and to visit the Perth Mint. There, the boys where able to mint their own coins with a special inscription and we watched how a gold bar was produced. Perth has well over one million inhabitants. It is a modern city. We appreciated the three circle bus lines in the city centre which are free of charge and therefore very popular. Perth's development is closely linked with the gold findings in Western Australia towards the end of the 19th Century.
Dunsborough is situated on the Geographe Bay approximately 250 km South of Perth. We planned to use it as our base to explore the area and to take advantage of the beautiful beaches. We had rented a car for the outings that we had in mind. The weather continued to be very pleasant and warm, in spite of forecasts to the contrary. Therefore, we spent quite some time at the beach.
Nevertheless we fulfilled a steady programme of visits. It started with the visit to the lime stone cave Ngilgi followed by the Light Tower of Cape Naturaliste, which is 102 years old. From the top of the tower one has a splendid view over the coast. Migrating whales come past this coast in October/November and can be easily spotted from the Tower, as we were told by the guard. He had seen as many as 15 humpback whales in one single day last November.
Gerd started to go the driving range of the local golf club early in the mornings in order to improve his swing. He was quite surprised to see that the driving range was situated at the edge of a lake and understood that he was supposed to hit the balls over the water which is about 250 m wide. More experienced golfers may not have a problem with this, but as a learner he felt that most of his balls will be lost in the water, until he found out the balls actually floated on top of the water. They are specially made for the purpose. In fact, the system is quite clever; thanks to the wind the balls all drift to one side of the lake and thus can easily be recovered. Gerd is very secretive about his progress; he intends to be very active in golf once we are back.
Cape Leeuwin is situated at the southernmost point of Australia where the Southern Ocea and the Indian Ocean meet. We had a nice excursion to Augusta, which is the town closest to the Cape. On our way south we took a side tour and drove through a Karri Tree Forest. This was a very pretty ride. Karri Trees only exist in this part of Australia and nowhere else in the world. They reach the impressive height of more than 50m and they have no branches except on the very top, which makes that the forest gets a lot of sunligh. We felt that this was a very special image.
Some days earlier we were searching for these trees and arrived at a small town called Nunnup. It just happened that there was a music festival in that place and we got a taste of a real Australian country music happening. A similar event took place in Dunsborough last weekend with a jazz concert at the beach. People brought their own drinks and food and they settled in groups in the grass and enjoyed the company of friends and listening to the music. All that took place in a very relaxed atmosphere with dozens of children having their own fun at the playground or the beach volley ball field.
There is another special type of tree, typical for Australia: the grass tree. It has a solid trunk and on the top a bunch of grass that looks like a hair piece.
Another outing took us to Busselton where we visited the Under Water Observatory which is located at the end of a 2km long Jetty. The observatory goes right to the bottom of the sea, i.e. approximately 8m. There is an abundant under water wild life to be admired. We particularly liked to watch an octopus in his garden.
Travelling around the country we were amazed to see how of the many properties are for sale. The housing market is extremely dynamic here. The area of the Geographe Bay is very popular with people in Perth and many of them build their second home in this region. Dunsborough is said to have four times as many inhabitants in the summer than in winter time.
The entire coast of South East Australia offers great conditions for growing grapes. The region is known as Margaret River. Although only 1% of the entire Australian wine production originates from the Margaret River area, it holds a share of more than 20% of the premium wines of the country. This indicates how favourable the climatic conditions are here for producing wine. We have visited the Amberley Winery and were given a guided tour. We also did a little wine tasting and have to admit that we liked the very full and fruity flavour of the local wines. Obviously, we will be much more familiar with Australian wines after this tour of the country and will be interested to see what kind of Australian wines we can find in the shops back home.
One can hardly imagine any other country having as many beautiful beaches as Australia has. Our favourite beach in the area was Eagle Bay. It is a wide and long beach and the water is relatively calm. The beach is never crowded and now and then, towards the evening one can see groups of dolphins in the distance. But there are plenty of other beautiful beaches, such as Bunker Bay, Meelup Beach and also Dunsborough Beach. Unfortunately there are also jelly fish at these beaches and one is advised to wear so-called stingers, which are special tops to cover arms and torso.
We liked our stay in Dunsborough and we appreciated the space of the house after having spent 8 consecutive weeks in campervans. We also feel that we get better sleeps in normal beds than in the conditions offered in camper vehicles.
On our way back to Perth we made a stop in Bunbury in order to see the dolphins. They live in the bay and seem to enjoy meeting people as they come deep into the bay every morning and evening. A special area has been identified as the interactive area, where people are allowed to swim while the dolphins are present. When we arrived in Bunbury the dolphins had already left the area. Therefore we went out by boat and sure enough, it did not take long and they came close to the boat in various groups. Especially a group of young male dolphins gave us a real show. They seemed to enjoy having an audience. Needless to mention that the boys had great fun watching the dolphins from such close range. It is quite a difference to see and meet them in the open sea instead of an aquarium where they are trained in captivity.

18. March: Northern Territory
We were warned of the hot temperatures in this part of Australia. In fact, the tourist season here is in winter, i.e. April till August/September. When we arrived in Ayers Rock on 11. March we were glad to have accommodation in a hotel with a swimming pool as the temperatures exceeded 40 degrees during daytime. We had arranged for a four wheel drive vehicle for our trip to Alice Springs.
Flying into Ayers Rock not only shows that the place is located in the middle of nowhere but it also offers an immediate bird's view on the famous rock, which is called Uluru in the local language. There is another similar rock formation in the same national park called "The Olgas" or "Kata Tjuta", which is even higher but consists of several rocks. However, Uluru is the one everyone is focussing on. It is an enormous monolith, apparently the world's biggest. It gained its popularity mainly because of the changing shades of colour especially at dawn and at dusk which makes it a supreme object for photographers.
The attractiveness of the rock for tourists is also the cause for tension between the Aboriginals living in the area and the Australian Government. Uluru plays an important role in the spiritual live of the natives. At one time the uncontrolled tourism was such that the Aboriginals started to rebel and the government had to make concessions after long negotiations. Today, the rock, and indeed the area of the national park belongs to the local Aboriginals, who in turn had to lease it back to the government. The management is split between both parties and there is a good co-operation between the rangers of both sides to safeguard everone's interest. One point is still a soar issue, i.e. the climbing of the rock by tourists. A handrail is leading up to the top of the rock to allow a safe climbing to the peak. The Aboriginals have difficulties with this. In fact, tourists are discouraged to climb the rock and a number of walks at the base of Uluru are proposed instead. This approach is made in a very polite way, by way of persuasion rather than protest. We felt that this is a good approach and hopefully it will lead to a complete ending of the climbing.
The Cultural Centre at Ayers Rock is very instructive in this matter and provides excellent information about the way of living of the natives and the natural habitat of the region. This is complemented by Uluru walks managed by native rangers who offer a good insight in their culture. We took part in one of such walks and we learned about tales from ancient times, how tools and weapons were made and how the natives are able to live off the bush land.
Being out in the open during the day was not very advisable and we had to cover ourselves with fly nets whenever we had to go somewhere. We all had received one as a present (thank you again Sarah and Leigh); we could not have done without them.
Our next destination was Kings Canyon. The road led us through red bush land but the ride was easy and comfortable. Only the short stretch to the Canyon itself was not asphalted. There, we met a Dingo at the car park. It appears that the animal has chosen the place to be fed by tourists who park their vehicles there. Not a good thing, really. Kings Canyon is located in the Watarrka National Park, a dry and ragged area. We spent one night there and enjoyed a lovely dinner in a typical outback café, which is a kind of western style saloon with bare wooden tables and benches. However, the food was good and the beer was excellent after a long hot day.
The next day we followed the Mereenie Loop Road. This was quite different. More than 200km red gravel road through uninhabited bush. We met only two other cars on the way. One is advised to always take lots of water along in case of a flat tire or other technical problem. Mobile phones have no signal in this remote area. In some places the road was very bad, to be compared with a ride beween the rails of a train track. Luckily our car passed the test and we arrived safely at Glen Helen Resort, which is an isolated homestead built in 1900. We enjoyed the special atmosphere at Glen Helen, a mixture of backpackers, adventurers and normal tourists, very unconventional, warm and very easy going. And yet, very good quality service. We admired the young people working there, so far away from everything else. And it had a swimming pool. Hurray!
The surrounding landscape at Glen Helen is beautiful, with the Gorge behind the homestead and the wide flat valley towards the North with the MacDonnell mountain Range in the distance.
Although we spotted now and then some Aboriginals, they are not very visible. They live in their own communities in remote places and on territory specially assigned to them. We have seen some very interesting paintings of native artists which are exposed and can be purchased at Glen Helen Resort.
The road from Glen Helen Resort to Alice Springs was again of good quality, leading us through ragged, mountainous landscape. We stopped at Ellery Creek Big Hole, which is a water hole squeezed in-between rocks, with clean and cool water, like an oasis in the desert.
At Alice Springs we had time to visit the Reptile Centre before taking the plane to Cairns. The young girl acting as a guide made it really very interesting for the boys. They were able to see all the reptiles living in the dry part of the Northern Territory and they were allowed to hold a python snake and a big blue-tongued lizard. We felt that this was a very worth while visit.

28. April: Queensland
The flight from Alice Springs to Cairns lasted 2.15 hours and it felt like moving from a sauna into a Turkish bath. Cairns was lucky to escape the recent cyclone Ingrid, which turned north and caused heavy damage at the coast there. But it got quite a bit of rain as a consequence and the rainy weather was still prevailing when we arrived.
We had arranged for a rental car and spent a few days in Cairns to explore the city and the region. The coastal region of the northeast of Australia reminded us a lot of Equator and Costa Rica. Tropical climate and thick rainforest everywhere. Hence an abundance of plants and wildlife.
Cairns is one of the main gateways to the Great Barrier Reef, together with Port Douglas, an exclusive coastal resort 80km north of Cairns. The Reef was one of the main focus points for our coming to the east coast of Australia. After some studying we decided to approach the Great Barrier Reef further south at Airlie Beach, which is about half way down to Brisbane.
Those who commented on our frequent visits to beaches will not have to reiterate. The beaches of the coast north of Brisbane are not very suitable for leisurely enjoying the water. There are three reasons for this. Firstly the box jellyfish, secondly the saltwater crocodiles and thirdly the sharks. The box jellyfish is present in the waters of the North coast most of the year. It has venomous tentacles that can be up to three metres long and its stings can be lethal. Saltwater crocodiles are species who are equipped with a special filter to be able to live in salt water and they are largely present in the warm coastal waters, in particularly where rivers debouch into the sea. They are a real danger. Although the danger of sharks is probably widely exaggerated, it is a fact that they are present in many areas around Australia and attacks are reported on a regular basis. We prefer to admire them in an aquarium.
Our outings from Cairns took us to Kuranda to the Butterfly Sanctuary. We had a guided tour and learned amazing things about the live of butterflies. 2000 of them could be admired at the sanctuary and the colours are simply unbelievable. Halfway to Port Douglas there is the Cairns Tropical Zoo, where we were able to see all the animals typical for the tropical areas of Australia, including crocodiles of impressive size. The boys were able to cuddle a Koala and also a four year old crocodile (with mixed feelings).
The stay in Cairns and the convenience of a first class hotel apartment gave us the opportunity to finalize details for our further travelling, which involved a visit at the Quantas office and consultation with travel agents. The weather had improved by the time we moved on to Townsville which is 350km South of Cairns. For the first time we stayed at a B&B in a colonial style building, which had a lot of charm. However, we realized that this is not the most suitable type of accommodation for families with smaller children.
Townsville is the location of the Reef Headquarters, an institute that focuses on the Great Barrier Reef and its conservation. The Great Barrier Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage Area. It measures more than 3 000km in length. A lot of research work is undertaken at the Reef HQ. For us it was the ideal place to acquire sufficient background knowledge for our visit to the reef. We took our time over this and spent almost a whole day there. We also went to the IMAX cinema in the same building to see the film "Living in the Sea" which is simply breathtaking. Sting made the music to the film and Merrill Streep spoke the commentary. When we left the Reef Headquarter we knew a lot more about the Great Barrier Reef and we were sad to learn that the Reef is condemned to disappear within the next 20 to 30 years due to the global warming. This is a real tragedy. Nevertheless we could not wait to see it in real.
Before moving on south we also visited the Townsville Tropical Museum which holds a special section devoted to the shipwreck of the "Pandora". The ship sank in 1791 in the Great Barrier Reef on its way back to England. It had been sent out by the admiralty in England to recuperate the "Bounty" and to capture the mutineers and bring them to justice. Well, the "Bounty" was never found, nor was the chief of the rebels, Christian Fletcher. Only a handful of the mutineers were found. They were on board when the "Pandora" went down. The entire story of the "Pandora" is presented in a documentary at the museum. Needless to say that the boys were fascinated by this.
It was a lengthy drive to our next destination was Airlie Beach, from where visits to the Great Barrier Reef can be easily organized. On our way we went past huge areas of sugar cane, as well as banana and mango plantations. Australia must be one of these countries that could be entirely self sufficient. There is a whole network of railways especially put in place for the transport of fruit and sugar cane and there were at least 50 railway crossings on the road that we travelled down south.
In Airlie Beach we found a great Campground where we stayed in a self contained cabin. It was like being in a hotel. The weather was fine and we enjoyed great outdoor live with BBQ and swimming pool at the campground. The visit to the Great Barrier Reef took an entire day. A boat took us from Shute Harbour out to Knuckle Reef, approximately 100km from the mainland. Everything was provided for, food, refreshments, equipments etc. The ship was very speedy and we had almost four hours to spend on the pontoon that was anchoring there. Gerd and Max went on a guided snorkel safari while the twins enjoyed the slippery slide from the pontoon into the sea. Later, David and Robert each had their own snorkel outing with Gerd to the corrals. The under water wildlife is simply stunning to see and no doubt we shall never forget what we have seen at the Great Barrier Reef.

4. April: Planning our trip in Australia we were wondering what we should do for Easter. We felt like having a short genuine holiday over the Easter weekend. This was not easy as the children in Australia have a school holiday and people make their bookings well in advance. We finally managed to book us into the Club Med of Lindeman Island. Most of the island is a National Park. It is part of the Whitsunday Islands which embraces a total of more than 90 islands, which belong to the region of the Great Barrier Reef. It is one of the preferred holiday areas of Australians.
We did not regret our choice. Those, who have made holidays with Club Med will understand the advantages of Club life for families. For the first time since we left for our world trip we had someone else looking after the twins. They loved to spend their days in the kids club with all their friends and the GOs who looked after them extremely well while at the same time doing lots of activities with them. Even the meals were included in their programme. Being completely unused to such freedom we started to miss them after a couple of days. However, e took advantage of the wide range of activities, such as sailing on a catamaran, pétanque, ping pong, golf and archery. The kids went on a trapeze, the trampoline, they had their first tennis lessons and played lots of games at the club. They also painted their own Easter eggs and of course participated in the egg hunt. Lucky David won a prize at the subsequent raffle, i.e. a giant chocolate egg and a bottle of good Australian wine, which made Gerd a happy man. All that in only four days.
On Tuesday after Easter we headed back to the mainland and drove further down to Yeppoon. We had chosen this overnight stay for the simple reason to avoid having to travel too far on one day and had therefore not very high expectations. When we got there, we realized that Yeppoon is one of the coastal regions with the most dynamic development. It is the gateway to Great Keppel Island and its pleasant climate makes it attractive for many people from the back country and also for tourists.
Our real destination however, was a farm approximately 120km inland from Rockhampton, in the so-called back country. Since our stay at the estancia in Argentina the boys had continuously urged us to spend some time on a farm. We spent three nights on the family run Myella Farm and adapted very quickly to the simplicity of live on a farm, together with 20 other guests. Myella Farm is a cattle station. There were also three kangaroos moving around freely on the farm. Our activities consisted mainly in horse riding, but also in feeding the animals, cow milking and riding on motocross bikes. The boys also learned how to crack a whip and throw a lasso rope. The meals were taken in open air and some of the cooking was done at the permanent camp fire. We learned about the development of farming and the particularities connected to the outback. The hot and dry climate has led to the introduction of Brahman cattle from India which copes very well with the conditions reigning here.
Going out on horse-back, on the motor bikes and on the Toyota pick-up we saw kangaroos sailing over the high pampas grass and the majestic wedge-tail eagle, circling high above the baking-hot red earth. Going out to see the sunset we looked over wide, open land with bottle trees, yellow grass, a landscape, which in the evening looked very much like the savannah in Africa. We were happy to experience also this typical side of Australia.
Brisbane being still a long distance away, we made another stop on an inland farm, where the boys had some more horse riding practice. After finding one morning the 1m long skin of a snake in front of our door and having dealt with two frogs in the bath-room we were glad to take leave and tackle the final stretch to Brisbane.
This was an interesting ride. As we came down from the hills towards the sea we passed the Glass House Mountains, which are strange looking cones in a flat landscape. Approaching Brisbane from the north we crossed an area with plenty of pineapple fields and the fruit was offered very cheaply on the road side.

I M P O R T A N T
We have decided to change our travel programme. In fact, we have deleted all destinations in ASIA. The reasons for this are the following: Based on the experience from our travelling so far we concluded that there was no suitable way of travelling China and India with children. Furthermore we noted that the security and health conditions in Thailand and Vietnam are deteriorating. Of course, the recent disasters caused by earthquakes in the region had to be taken into account as well. We hope to visit Asia (and Africa) in some year's time when the twins are a bit older.
We also discovered the virtues of returning home earlier than originally foreseen. This will give us enough time to settle back into our "normal life" after being away for almost one year and also to see our families and friends before everyone takes off for the summer holiday. Moreover, the boys need to prepare for the next school year.
Nevertheless, we have decided to benefit from our stay here deep down under and add some more time to our visits to Australia and New Zealand. Therefore, we shall return to New Zealand on 7th April until 5th May and then come back to Australia for another two weeks to travel from Brisbane to Sydney. On 19th May we shall take a flight from Sydney to London, via Singapoor. We intend to stay in London for one week until 27th May and then continue to Holland to visit Monique's family until returning to Geneva on 10th June.

8. April: Brisbane is the third-largest city of Australia. It has 1,5m inhabitants and is growing rapidly. The river Brisbane is crossing the city like a serpent. It is heavily used for transport of people. Ferry boats permit a comfortable crossing of the river and the fast City Cat boats are going up and down the river in great frequency. They are very popular and are specially equipped for the storage of bicycles. Luckily, the river offers this option of transport as Brisbane is one of the worst cities to drive around in a car, as we found out through practical experience. There is a lot of building going on in Brisbane and in general we found the city a very noisy place.
We had intended to stay here for three nights before going on to NZ. Due the changes in our travel programme we stayed eventually five nights in order to have sufficient time for dealing with the new situation which is explained above. Nevertheless, we took the time to visit some places of interest. We had read that the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium had a new presentation which had just arrived from the USA, titled "The Search For Life: Are We Alone?" focussing on the possibility of live on other planets. This was a spectacular and very informative show, presented in 3D in a dome-like auditorium and narrated by Harrison Ford. Although the subject is almost beyond comprehension because of the dimensions of time and distances involved, the boys were fascinated. The visual effects and the close-up images were simply overwhelming.
As the Planetarium is located at the foot of Mount Coot-tha we also went to the Summit Restaurant for a snack from where one has an excellent view over Brisbane and its suburbs. Mt Coot-tha is the primary recreation area of Brisbane with plenty of walks and the presence of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens.
We also paid a visit to the Queensland Museum where we could visit a special exhibition "How to make a Monster". The show provided a glance into the John Cox Creature Workshop and explained how movie monsters are brought to life. We saw characters from movies such as Peter Pan, George of the Jungle 2 and Inspector Gadget 2. There was plenty of possibility for interaction. The same was true for the Science Museum under the same roof. We had a great time and wondered whether museums in Europe offer similarly entertaining exhibitions.

20. April: We had visited Sydney 12 years ago and were very impressed by the then laid back life style and the relatively slow pace of the city. Everybody seemed to have time for chats and people appeared to be extremely relaxed. Well, this is not longer so. With an affluence of 100 000 new inhabitants each year Sydney has grown enormously and is now one of the big metropolitan cities on the Southern Hemisphere. But it has loads of charm. The water is one of the great attractions here. The harbours and the bays in and around Sydney make it a great place for activities in and on the water. Seen from the water, the skyline of the city is quite exceptional.
We arrived here on 10. April and Karen came from New Zealand to join us for the last few days of our stay in Australia. The city explorer bus is similar to the London two storey buses and is an excellent way to move around the city with ease. The same applies to the Monorail. We made use of both during our stay and visited some of the places that interested us most. Our hotel was situated right next to Hyde Park and close to the big shipping opportunities. To start with we went to Darling Harbour and enjoyed a lengthy stroll along the waterfront, which is a lively area with lots of cafés and restaurants. We also went to the Rocks and spend an hour at the famous street market there. Since our boys enjoy going to the museum we went to the Powerhouse Museum and also to the Australian Museum. Both places offered a wide range of interactive opportunities for children. The Australian Museum covers just about everything that can be found in the country and the boys are fascinated by all creatures that sting or bite and are poisonous or otherwise dangerous. Monique and Max also paid a visit to the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art while Gerd with Karen and the twins went to the Tower Observatory where they also enjoyed the so-called Australian Experience, which is programme that takes you around the country in a breath-taking way by means of simulated flights and drives while sitting in a chair with fastened seat belts.
Sydney is also a very good place for shopping, so we did also some of that. A great place to do this is the Queen Victoria Building which is a classic shopping centre with more than 100 shops and coffee-bars, all set up in an impressive Victorian style building.
Of course we did not want to miss a harbour cruise which is a must in Sydney. From the water one gets the best view on Sydney, in particular the city centre, the harbours and the Opera House. We had organised a guided tour at the Opera House one afternoon and were thrilled that unexpectedly we could purchase tickets for a programme in the evening. It was a concert in the Great Music Hall with the title "The Secret of the Music" with two excellent performers who sang pieces out of various musicals. This was a real highlight of our visit to Sydney. The boys did very well by staying awake almost through the entire performance.
The weather was not always kind to us during our stay in Sydney, but it was a fine day when we visited Paddington, which is a charming district of Sydney with lots of nice houses dating from the late 19th, early 20th century and plenty of boutiques and cafés, restaurants, art shops and small hotels.
On 14. April we took our flight to London via Bangkok. Karen returned to Hamilton in New Zealand. It was great that she could be with us during these days in Sydney and as it was her birthday on the 14th we had a little festive dinner at the Opera House Restaurant the evening before prior to the concert.
Clearly, there would be much more to see and to do in Sydney but we had to make our way back to Europe, leaving enough space for another visit to Sydney sometime in the future.

Australia was a great experience for us. It is more than a country. It is a continent and one with lots of dangerous wild life. But this is what makes it special in a way. Sport plays an important role in the life of Australians. It was a shame that we did not manage to see one of the big events, be it Rugby, Aussie rules football, Cricket or Horse Races. Athletics and swimming are particularly popular, but also tennis, sailing, surfing, rowing, horse riding and last but not least golf.
Australia offers almost the entire range of climatic conditions, from the desert to the rain forest, from the jungle to the snow. It has huge areas with hot and dry climate. Water management becomes a more and more crucial issue.
Australia produces excellent wines. The climate is probably more favourable to wine growing than in Europe, particularly in the southern part where the sunny season is longer and dryer than our summers. Our favourite wines come from the Margaret River area, south of Perth.
The population is very multi-cultural. Many Asians have immigrated in recent years. This is reflected in the variety of food that is available. We found the food courts very interesting. They consist of up 10 to 15 different food stores in the form of kiosks grouped around a larger court with seating facilities. One obtains instant supply from any of the counters as take away or for consumption on the spot. The food is in general delicious and inexpensive. Food courts are a much better option than ordinary fast food places.
Following the national political scene in the media during our travels in Australia made us aware of the comparatively rough climate that reigns between the political components. It is true that Australians are quite blunt in their way of communicating and that may also explain the various aggressive articles in the press against the late Pope and the Royal Family in the UK. However, towards foreign visitors we found the Australians very open and friendly.
Australia must be the country that is closest to the US in many ways, also geologically. It ranks second after the US in obesity in the population; there is not a great sensitivity for environmental problems. Politically, Australia considers itself as a close ally of the US, even with respect to the invasion of Iraq. There is clearly a certain parallel in the live style of the Australians and people in the US. We had the impression that the social climate in Australia is deteriorating. At least this is what we gather from our talks with people we met. There is a general lack of qualified work force in the country and this matter is permanently raised also in the media and discussed by politicians and the representatives of the industrial circles.
The natural treasures of Australia are striking and the beauty of the country is stunning. The outback offers great adventure opportunities. The country is huge. We met Australians in campervans who travel their own country for one entire year. And they think that this is really not enough time. In the two months which we spent in Australia we certainly could not see everything even if we travelled through five of the six states. There are some places which we would have liked to see, but did not have time, i.e. Tasmania, Kangaroo Island near Adelaide, Darwin up North and also the North West of the country. We also did not see the so-called Gold Coast between Brisbane and Sydney as we had to cut our stay short for the known reasons.

What did we like best about Australia?

Maximilian: The stay on Lindeman Island in Club Med
David: Cuddling a crocodile
Robert: The Koalas and the Kangaroos
Monique: The Outback
Gerd: The Great Barrier Reef

LONDON

We found London much cooler than Sydney. The sky was clouded and drizzling rain on occasions forced us to make use of our rain jackets. We arrived early in the morning and had booked our hotel rooms for the previous night so as to be sure to have a bed to go to sleep in after a 23 hours flight. In hindsight we are not so sure whether we did the right thing. The fact that our family includes three generations in a way made it more difficult for us to overcome the jetlag as a group. We all seemed to sleep and be awake at different hours regardless whether it was daytime or nighttime. The problem did not leave us until we left for Amsterdam on 18. April.
In spite of the lack of uniformity in our sleeping pattern we managed to do a few things in London. One of the highlights was a delicious Chinese dinner that we all had in Philip's and Jessie's tiny flat near London Bridge. This was the last opportunity to invite ourselves as they are going to move back to Switzerland at the end of May. Quite close by to their place is the Modern Tate Museum of London. It is a building of special character, adapted to the dock area and extremely popular. The restaurant on the top floor makes very tasty lunches and one has a great view from there over the city. To get to the museum we had to cross the Millennium Bridge which is an elegant light metal construction and is reserved for pedestrians.
A good place for strolling and eating is Hay's Galleria on the South side of the river which is an old area that has been transformed into a modern and attractive complex, partly covered with a high glass ceiling.
One evening we dined out at Kettner's Restaurant in Soho, a place where Gerd used to work as a Bar mixer in his younger days in order to enhance his language skills. That evening we had three sleeping boys at the dinner table.
On Sunday London was completely taken by the marathon fever. It was difficult to go from A to B and taxis were very difficult to find. However, we found our way to the West End and were able to see an afternoon performance of "The Lion King" at the Lyceum Theatre. This was special. The costumes where just unbelievable and the boys could not believe their eyes. Of course, the music and the singing were great. Having seen the DVD many times, they were familiar with the story and could lend all their attention to the acting and the decor. Nobody of us went to sleep during the performance!
We became quite experienced riders on the underground but we did not manage to see more in these few days. So the London Eye, the change of the guard at Buckingham Palace, the British Musebum, Hyde Park, the Premiership Football Grounds and the Tower of London, etc, etc, will have to wait until we come again to London, sometime in the future.

SWITZERLAND

2. May: This passage of the Diary tells a sad story. Our Rhodesian Ridgeback Dasha had to be put to sleep on Thursday, 28. April in the evening, the day when she was born eight years ago.
When Gerd arrived back in Switzerland he picked up Dasha the following day from the family where she always went "en pension" whenever we were away. As usual she was beside herself with joy when she saw him. But she looked thin and fragile. Gerd then had an appointment with the vet who had been looking after her since she started to have health problems around Easter. He understood at once that the situation was very serious.
Back home Dasha seemed to be quite happy. But she was much quieter than usual. Then she had difficulties to eat. Gerd had transferred her to our own vet who undertook more blood testing. By the time the results were known, Dasha had lost more weight. The test results revealed that she suffered from Lyme Decease following a bite by a tick. Since she stopped eating, antibiotics were given to her by infusion. However, all efforts were in vain. Her kidneys did not function anymore and water accumulated in the lungs. We could not allow the suffering to continue.
Dasha's death casts a shadow over our world trip. We enjoyed travelling the world but we love our home and Dasha was part of our home and of the family. We will need some time to cope with losing her. For us she was so special. She could be so naughty, cheeky and pushy but she was lovely, totally loyal, and so attentive and protective of the family. We shall miss her for a long time.