Luxembourg

We drove into Luxembourg from the northern part of France. We got our passports ready but, like every other European border we have crossed, there are only buildings of what used to be and no one stopping you or checking your car. We drove into the city of Luxembourg and then realized we would rather stay in the wine region of Mosel. So we turned around and drove out of the city and headed back to the south western part of the country to a city called Remich. As we drove into the countryside we noticed more signs for American WW II cemeteries, so it makes you wonder just how many of these cemeteries there are in all of Europe. We pulled into this little riverside town and started searching for a hotel, and after half an hour of trying to find parking we decided to go for pizza. Remich is a really pretty spot and there was quite a large tour boat on the river in front of the restaurant that loaded and unloaded people every hour.

 There was an old town called Trier across the river on the German side that looked like it may be a better place to stay, so we got back into our car and took off. As we drove up the Mosel River valley, we would weave in and out of Luxembourg and Germany. The countryside was absolutely stunning and all along the river banks were huge vineyards and little houses and the odd Hotel. I have been told that this country is so small that you could miss it if you were not paying attention. It is true that you could drive this whole country in half a day, but it is about 4 times the size of Andorra so it did not seem that small to us.

The history of Luxembourg:

It begins with its founding in the year 963, when Sigefroid, County of Ardennes,, acquired the ruins of an old Roman fort called "Castellum Lucilinburhuc"  from the monks of the Abbey of St. Maximin in Trier.

Pre-1800s

The Castellum Lucilinburhuc, located on a rocky outcrop known as the Bock, was steadily enlarged and strengthened over the years, making it by the nineteenth century one of the strongest fortresses in Europe. Its formidable defences and strategic location caused it to become known as the 'Gibraltar of the North'.

Luxembourg remained an independent earldom of the Holy Roman Empire until 1354, when the emperor Charles IV elevated it to the status of duchy. In 1437 the ruling family became extinct and the castle passed briefly into Hapsburg hands, before being captured by Philip of Burgundy in 1443. With the death of Mary of Burgundy in 1482 Luxembourg returned to Hapsburg rule.

Luxembourg was annexed by Louis XIV of France in 1684, an action that caused alarm among France's neighbours and resulted in the formation of the League of Augsburg in 1686. In the ensuing war France was forced to give up the duchy, which was returned to the Hapsburgs by the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697. During this period of French rule the defences of the fortress were strengthened by the famous siege engineer Vauban. Hapsburg rule was confirmed in 1715, and Luxembourg was integrated into the Austrian Netherlands. After the French revolution Luxembourg was reconquered by France and became a departement of the Republic in 1795, a situation formalized in 1797.

1800s

It remained under French rule until the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, when it was elevated to the status of grand duchy and placed under the rule of the king of the Netherlands. However, its military value to Germany prevented it from becoming a part of the Dutch kingdom. Instead it was made a member of the German Confederation with Prussia responsible for defence. Luxembourg remained a possession of the kings of the Netherlands until the death of William III in 1890, when the grand duchy passed to the House of Nassau-Weilburg due to Salic Law.

The rebellion of Belgium against Dutch rule in 1830 had serious consequences for Luxembourg. The country declared independence in 1835, and this was recognized by the grand duke three years later. By the Treaty of London in 1839 the grand duchy was cut in two, losing more than half of its territory to the new Belgian state. The loss of its French-speaking lands left Luxembourg as a predominantly German nation, although French cultural influence remained strong. The loss of Belgian markets also caused painful economic problems for the state. Recognizing this, the grand duke integrated it into the German Zollverein in 1842. Nevertheless, Luxembourg remained an underdeveloped agrarian country for most of the century. As a result of this about one in five of the inhabitants emigrated to the United States between 1841 and 1891.

The crisis of 1867 almost resulted in war between France and Germany over the status of Luxembourg. The issue was resolved by the second Treaty of London which guaranteed the perpetual independence and neutrality of the state. The fortress walls were pulled down and the Prussian garrison was withdrawn.

WWI and WWII: German occupations

Luxembourg was conquered by Germany during World War I and remained under occupation until 1918, when it was liberated by U.S. and French troops. Two American divisions were based in the state in the years following the War. At Versailles the Belgian claim to Luxembourg was rejected and its independence reaffirmed.

The Germans returned during World War II. In 1940 the Wehrmacht attacked Luxembourg and quickly defeated its small defence force. The state was placed under military occupation until August 1942, when it was formally incorporated into the Third Reich as part of the Gau Moselland. Luxembourgers were declared to be German citizens and 13,000 were called up for military service.

This action provoked a general strike against the occupying authorities which was violently suppressed: 21 strikers were executed and hundreds more deported to concentration camps. 2,848 Luxembourgers eventually died fighting in the German army. U.S. forces again liberated Luxembourg in September 1944, although they were briefly forced to withdraw during the Battle of the Bulge. The Germans were finally expelled in January 1945. Altogether, of a pre-war population of 293,000, 5,259 Luxembourgers lost their lives during the hostilities.

United Nations

Luxembourg ended its neutrality in 1945 by becoming a charter member of the United Nations. It also became a member of the Benelux Customs Union in 1948 and of NATO in 1949. In 1957, Luxembourg became one of the six founding countries of the European Economic Community (later the European Union) and in 1999 it joined the euro currency area.

Modern history

The present sovereign is Grand Duke Henri. Henri's father, Grand Duke Jean, succeeded his mother, Grand Duchess Charlotte, on November 12, 1964. Grand Duke Jean's eldest son, Prince Henri, was appointed "Lieutenant Representant" (Hereditary Grand Duke) on March 4, 1998.

On December 24, 1999, Prime Minister Juncker announced Grand Duke Jean's decision to abdicate the throne on October 7, 2000, in favor of Prince Henri who assumed the title and constitutional duties of Grand Duke.

I am writing this From Koln, Gemany. We did drive into Trier, but did not find a place to stay, so we just kept driving until we got to Koln. We will stay here for a couple of day’s and then head to Frankfurt to meet up with some friends who are coming in to visit us.

GERMANY

Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin, Nurmberg, Dachau, Hiedelberg, Dortmund

East Berlin

June 26, 2005

  (Written by Steve)

    I had some fears about driving into Berlin, the capital and largest city of Germany. I was told that the city is 4 times the size of Paris, and I had driven into Paris and was not looking forward to driving into something 4 times the size. Berlin became the capital of Germany in 1871 when the numerous independent kingdoms and principalities of Germany united to form a single nation-state (see German Unification (1871)). The city quickly developed into one of Europe’s major industrial and cultural centers and became the single most important city in Germany.  After driving through most of the city centre I was surprised at how clean it was compared to other large cities.  The buildings and infrastructure are amazing, and I was surprised at how many and how large the rows of buildings were, they just went on for miles.

Like most of our trip, no matter where we go, or how much I think I know, I am always blown away by the little I do know. Berlin is way nicer than I ever imagined and I don’t think I have ever seen so many trees in one city before; truly beautiful. The one thing that is a little surprising is how little colour there is here. I mean folks from Asia, India or Africa are very far and few between. I have read a few articles about the racial tensions in this city, but I did not see or witness anything that would support that theory, but we were only in Berlin for a few days. The other thing about the people here is that they are not as easy to talk to as the folks from Hamburg or Cologne. They just seemed a little more reserved, but it was definitely noticeable.

From 1945 until 1990 Berlin was a divided city. Following the defeat of the Nazi regime (see National Socialism) in World War II (1939-1945), the victorious Allied Powers—the United States, Britain, France, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)—divided Germany into four zones, each occupied by one of the Allied Powers. They also divided Berlin, which was in the Soviet sector, into similar zones. The Soviet-controlled sector of the city became known as East Berlin, and the Western-occupied sector became known as West Berlin. In 1949 East Berlin became the capital of the German Democratic Republic (known as East Germany), one of two successor states established in Germany after the war. That same year the capital of West Germany, the other successor state, was established in the city of Bonn. West Berlin remained an urban island surrounded by Communist East Germany. If you can hop on the net check out a map of the sectors it is really bizarre, it does not make any sense. The city became a focus of Cold War tensions between Communist countries led by the USSR and anti-Communist states led by the United States.

  Berlin was a divided city from1945 until 1990.

Brandenburg Gate Built between 1788 and 1791 in the center of Berlin, Germany, Brandenburg Gate was modeled after a Greek ceremonial arch. The Gate was sealed off in 1961 when the Berlin Wall was built to divide East and West Berlin. When the wall was torn down in 1989 Brandenburg Gate became accessible again.

Modern Berlin covers 883 sq km (341 sq mi). In 1920 the old city merged with 8 towns, nearly 60 villages, and a number of surrounding farms and estates to form the current city boundaries. Berlin’s city limits encompass the entire metropolitan area and include large areas of undeveloped land. Forests and farmlands cover nearly one-third of the city. From reunification until 2001, the city was divided into 23 boroughs. In an effort to make urban government more efficient, an administrative reform that took effect in 2001 reduced the number of boroughs to 12.

At the heart of Berlin lies the medieval core of the city, located along the western bank of the Spree River. To the west of the medieval city is a formal grid of streets laid out on either side of Unter den Linden, a wide central avenue stretching from east to west and flanked with double rows of linden trees. Before the postwar division of Berlin, this area, called the Mitte (city center), served as the administrative and financial center of Berlin and contained the main banks, publishing houses, large stores, the university, and government buildings. Well-known streets crossing Unter den Linden are Friedrichstrasse and Wilhelmstrasse. The former royal park known as the Tiergarten occupies the land to the west of the Mitte district.

Gradually the city’s residential and industrial areas grew around the city center. In the mid-19th century a dense mass of tenements was erected to the north, east, and south of the central Mitte district. Known as Mietskasernen (rent barracks), these buildings were home to members of the working class who labored in nearby industrial plants. In contrast, aristocrats and members of the middle class lived in the peripheral communities of that time (Dahlem, Grunewald, Köpenick).

 Wartime destruction left the historic core of the city standing amidst 26 sq km (10 sq mi) of rubble.

Prior to World War II, Berlin contained many imposing buildings, many of them built after 1871, when Berlin became the German national capital. Much of old Berlin was devastated during World War II by Allied bombing raids and by fierce house-to-house fighting that occurred when Soviet troops captured the city in 1945 at the end of the war. Wartime destruction left the historic core of the city standing amidst 26 sq km (10 sq mi) of rubble.

The victorious Allies faced a daunting task in 1945. Berlin had lost almost three-quarters of its 1.5 million residential units. During the first two months of occupation, when the USSR held full sway over all of Berlin, the Soviet Army also dismantled and removed 67 percent of Berlin’s industrial capacity.

After the war, the boundary between East and West Berlin was drawn through the heart of the city. In 1961 the East German government encircled West Berlin with a fortified wall that traced the boundary. This wall was known as the Berlin Wall. In the postwar redevelopment period, both East and West Berlin turned their backs on the wall and the area on either side of it, which remained a partially abandoned zone. So West Berlin was trapped in East Germany and it was almost impossible for people to get to West Berlin, again check it out on a map. It is like an island trapped in the middle of a country surrounded by barbed wire.

East Berlin

May Day Parade in East Berlin May Day (the first day in May) was an important holiday in Communist countries. It was originally designated by a meeting of socialist and labor parties in 1889 as a day to honor workers. During the time from 1949 to 1990, when East Berlin was the capital of the Communist German Democratic Republic, May Day was celebrated with festivities and parades.  The week we were here however they had one of the biggest parades in all of Europe: the St. Christophers Gay Parade.

For several years after 1945, East Germany paid war reparations to the USSR, thereby slowing its economic redevelopment considerably. When funds became available, East German leaders opted to focus on building housing for workers. Postwar housing construction in East Berlin often took the form of prefabricated high-rise apartment blocks that surrounded a central area containing schools, playgrounds, and shops. The largest of these, such as Marzahn on the eastern fringe of the city, housed about 100,000 people. As we walked and drove through what was once East Berlin, we were very surprised  at how beautiful the old buildings were and how many canals were on the East side.

Before reunification in 1990, the East German government restored some of the historic buildings on Unter den Linden, including the classical State Opera House and Saint Hedwig’s Cathedral, both built in the mid-1700s. The East German government also restored the neoclassical Brandenburg Gate, an 18th-century city gateway at the western end of Unter den Linden that has become an international symbol of the city. I am not sure what was happening with the gate when we were there, but you can’t drive though it anymore.

West Berlin

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is one of Berlin’s most famous landmarks. The original church, built in the late 19th century, was almost completely destroyed during World War II (1939–1945). In 1961 a new octagonal church was completed around the remains of the old one. This structure and its adjacent hexagonal bell tower feature honeycomb patterns of stained glass.

As Berlin became a focus of the Cold War during the 1940s, West Berlin’s Allied protectors strove to keep the city alive. West Germany gave tax breaks to West German firms that established or maintained businesses in West Berlin or bought goods produced there, and the Western allies provided massive economic assistance. During the Cold War years, West Berlin rebuilt its infrastructure and residential areas, expanded its subway system, and constructed a major international airport.

The rebuilding of West Berlin was particularly dramatic in the 1960s, when the West German government and its allies made an effort to make the city a showcase for the benefits of capitalism. A new central business district was developed southwest of Tiergarten along the Kurfüstendamm and other nearby streets. Department stores, sidewalk cafes, throngs of people, and office towers brilliantly lit at night by neon signs made this district the equal of any other modern city center in the Western world.

United Berlin

Cheering the End of the Berlin Wall, a man could be seen sitting on the Berlin Wall. The divider of East and West Germany from 1961 to 1989, raises a fist and cheers the dismantling of the wall. The wall was a symbol of the Cold War—the struggle between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its allies, which included East Germany, and the United States and its allies, which included West Germany. The Cold War dominated international relations from just after World War II (1939-1945) until the early 1990s.  If you visit, make sure you head to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, it is fantastic.

At the edge of Friedrichshain, next to the city center along the eastern bank of the Spree, is Alexanderplatz, a large square with restaurants and stores. Prior to unification, Alexanderplatz was the cultural center of East Berlin. Its most prominent feature is the Fernsehturm, a 365-m (1,198-ft) television tower topped by a popular revolving café. Berlin’s tallest building, the Fernsehturm was built during the 1960s in a futuristic style and has become a popular stopping point for tourists. Near the square are the Gothic-style Marienkirche (Church of Saint Mary) and the 19th-century red brick Rathaus (city hall).

To the north of the city center lie two working class neighborhoods: Wedding and Prenzlauer Berg. Wedding is an industrial center, while Prenzlauer Berg, which lies just east of the former Berlin Wall, houses workers as well as a growing community of artists and students. Even before unification, Prenzlauer Berg was a gathering point for artists and nonconformists dissatisfied with East German politics and society. Bullet holes from the war still scar the walls of the district’s aging tenement buildings, many of which are in a state of disrepair and neglect.

In the west and southwestern portions of the city, the landscape becomes more open, with grasslands, parks, and lakes dominating the scenery. Major natural features in this region include the extensive Grunewald forest and the Havel lakes, whose shores include a kilometer-long stretch of sandy beach. The Grunewald forest, which covers 32 sq km (12 sq mi) in southwestern Berlin, is a major recreational area for Berliners seeking relief from the crowded central city. North of the Grunewald are the residential neighborhoods of Charlottenberg and Spandau. Founded in the 13th century as an independent town, Spandau is best known as the site of a prison that housed Nazi war criminals. Its medieval streets remained relatively undamaged by World War II bombings.

In 2001 Berlin had a population of 3,382,200, far fewer than the 4.5 million who called the city home in 1942. Between 1945 and 1990, Berlin’s population diminished slightly in size. After unification, it increased by almost one-sixth. Compared to most major cities, Berlin’s population began aging after 1945. In the mid-1990s the largest age group, which made up 19 percent of the population, consisted of people between the ages of 25 and 34. The next largest group included those 65 years of age or older (16 percent of the population).

During the mid-1990s Berlin was home to more than 400,000 foreign citizens. Most of these immigrants came from other European countries to seek better economic conditions in Germany. More than 30 percent of Berlin’s foreigners were guest workers who came from Turkey to work at temporary jobs.

Protestants make up Berlin’s major religious group, with nearly 950,000 members. Roman Catholics form the next largest group at 341,000. The number of Muslims stands at 183,000. The smallest religious group is the Jewish community, which has about 11,000 members. This compares to 161,000 Jews living in Berlin in 1933. Most of the prewar Jewish population was devastated during the Holocaust of the 1930s and 1940s, when Nazi leaders organized the systematic destruction of Jewish people.

Following the division of the city of Berlin in 1949, the economies of the two halves of the city were integrated into their respective municipal and national economic systems. Although East Berlin constitutes only a third of the unified city and its population, it became the hub of East Germany’s commercial, financial, and transportation systems, and a huge manufacturing center.

Much of Berlin’s industrial capacity was destroyed during and after World War II, and the economy of West Berlin suffered again during 1948 and 1949, when the USSR blockaded West Berlin in an attempt to drive out the Western powers. Beginning in the 1950s, however, West Berlin’s economy was revitalized with a great deal of assistance from West Germany and from the United States, which provided support under the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan). The city eventually became an important manufacturing center, producing electrical and electronic equipment and substantial quantities of machinery, metal, textiles, clothing, chemicals, printed materials, and processed food. The city also developed as a center for international finance, research, and science.

With the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the two halves of the city were once again physically integrated. Their economic integration began in July 1990. Of the two sections of the city, East Berlin underwent a greater economic upheaval, with many formerly state-owned businesses becoming private. United Berlin plays a significant role in international commerce. In 1995 the city exported and imported 8 million metric tons of goods.

Since reunification, Berlin has been forced to deal with housing shortages, growing unemployment, and strikes and demonstrations by workers. Increased taxes, reduced government subsidies, and cuts in social services resulted as the German government faced the cost of revamping East Germany’s economic system from a state-controlled to a free-market system. Despite these obstacles new businesses were thriving within a few years after reunification. I don’t know why but there were very few panhandles compared to Hamburg or Cologne.

After reunification, the German government decided to gradually move the federal government to Berlin from Bonn, which was the capital of West Germany, although eight federal ministries remain in Bonn. This decision to move most government offices back to Berlin precipitated a building boom in the city. It has also put severe financial pressure on the federal government due to the cost of constructing new government facilities and of transferring government offices from the former West German capital.

Although the city is 177 km (110 miles) from the coast, river dredging, which began in the late 1700s, and the construction of an inland port provide the city with easy access to the Baltic Sea. The city has 74 km (46 mi) of natural rivers and 72 km (45 mi) of canals. The East German government completed a ring highway around the entire city in 1979. The central railroad hub is located at Central Station in eastern Berlin. The Deutsche Reichsbahn, a suburban railroad, connects the suburbs with the central city. To facilitate trade and the movement of people, Berlin has constructed an efficient integrated system of subways, elevated train lines, buses, and trams. Berlin has three international airports, one at Tegel in the northwest of the city, another at Tempelhof south of the center (and famed for its role during the Berlin blockade that began in 1948), and yet another at Schönefeld in the south and east beyond Berlin’s city limits.

When the Nazis came to power in 1933 under the leadership of German dictator Adolf Hitler, they suppressed all political activities not under Nazi control and put an end to Berlin’s flourishing artistic community. Under the Nazis, Berlin became one of the world’s major centers of political and military power. Hitler and his primary architect, Albert Speer, set out to transform the city through a massive rebuilding program, but they never completed their grandiose scheme. A few Nazi buildings survive, including the Olympic Stadium, site of the 1936 Olympic Games.

A reminder of the brutality of the Nazi regime may be found in Berlin’s northern suburb of Sachsenhausen, the site of one of the first concentration camps in Germany, which was built in 1936. The Nazis initially constructed concentration camps as centers for confining socialists, Communists, and other political enemies. Later, they were used as death camps for Jews, Slavs, homosexuals, and other “enemies of the people.”

World War II

Bonfire of "Anti-German" Books A belief in the genetic superiority of Nordic peoples, plus a romantic tradition disdainful of rationalism, liberalism, and democracy, fueled the National Socialist, or Nazi, movement in Germany. Pictured here are German students and Nazis throwing “Jewish-Marxist” and other “anti-German” books onto a huge bonfire in Berlin’s Orpenplatz in May 1933.

When World War II began in 1939, the British and U.S. air forces made Berlin a focus of aerial bombardments because it was the political center of Germany. Street fighting between the Soviet and German armies at the war’s end further damaged the city. By 1945 the war had destroyed about 60 percent of the city. The historic core and government quarter were left partially standing. About 42 percent of the city’s 1.5 million houses and apartments were completely devastated, and another 31 percent were damaged. Berlin’s population was reduced to about 2.8 million from a prewar high of about 4.4 million.

In February 1945 the USSR, the United States, Britain, and France agreed to divide the defeated Germany into four zones of occupation. When Berlin was finally captured by Soviet troops in May 1945, it was divided into four sectors, which were jointly administered by all four nations. The Soviet sector in the eastern part of Berlin was 390 sq km (150 sq mi) in area, while the combined British, American, and French sectors in the western part of the city totaled about 480 sq km (185 sq mi) in area.

Following the war, tensions developed between Communist countries led by the USSR and non-Communist countries under the leadership of the United States. The former Allies were unable to agree on terms for the political and economic reunification of Germany. The USSR regarded the four-power presence in Berlin as temporary and maintained that the city belonged to the Soviet-occupied zone of Germany. The Western powers asserted that the citizens of Berlin had the right to determine their own future through a democratically elected government.

In June 1948 the Allied-occupied zones of Germany, including those in Berlin, adopted a new currency despite Soviet protests. In response, the USSR imposed a complete ban on overland traffic between Berlin and the zones of Germany controlled by the Allies. The USSR acted as though it intended to use the blockade to force the integration of the western sectors of Berlin with the Soviet-occupied part of Germany that surrounded the city. The Western powers, determined to preserve their sectors as non-Communist enclaves, responded with an airlift that supplied West Berlin with food and fuel for almost 11 months. The USSR eventually lifted the ban on overland travel in May 1949. In November 1949 the city was formally divided when the USSR established a separate administration in East Berlin.

The Berlin Wall

Here I am taking this picture of the wall in 2005 and I can tell you it felt like this thing was a fake. I mean how could it be real? When I first saw it I was surprised at how short it was, and how easy it looked to climb. What I did not know was that there were 15 metres of a void space between the wall and the rolls of barbed wire, called the death zone. The East Germans had to bring in Russian soldiers to monitor this zone and they would shoot anyone who dared to enter it. Not only did it look unbelievable, it is so hard to believe the world allowed it to happen.

You see, West Berlin was rebuilt as a showplace back in 1950 to show Western prosperity in the heart of a Communist state. The standard of living in West Berlin rose above that of East Germany and East Berlin. In June 1953 public dissatisfaction with conditions in East Berlin erupted in demonstrations that quickly spread to the rest of East Germany. Clashes with police and attacks on state offices and food stores increased, and Soviet tanks and troops arrived to restore order. Some 260 demonstrators, 116 police, and 18 Soviet soldiers died during the fighting. The government executed at least 100 civilians and imprisoned many more after the suppression of the uprising.

Between 1949 and 1961 about 2.7 million people left East Germany by way of West Berlin to take advantage of greater economic opportunities and political freedom. In 1961, in order to stop the outward flow of some of its most educated and well-trained citizens, East Germany unexpectedly constructed a barrier of barbed wire and concrete around West Berlin. Berliners woke on the morning of August 13 to discover their city had been cut in two. The East German government severed telephone links between East and West Berlin and halted any border crossing that did not have official approval from the government. All roads came to a dead-end at the wall (except for a few heavily guarded border crossings). The subway system was rerouted into two separate systems.

The newly constructed Berlin Wall angered the Western Allies, but they were unwilling to risk a major international confrontation over the issue. During the period between 1961 and 1989, at least 80 East Germans were killed trying to cross over the wall into the West, even though the book we have said 1000 people lost their lives. The book said that there were 5000 reported cases of people safely making their way to West Berlin.

When the Wall came down

Reunification Festivities At midnight on October 3, 1990, East Germany and West Germany officially reunified after 45 years as separate nations. Many thousands of people crowded the streets of Berlin to take part in the festivities.

The tensions over a divided Berlin eased toward the end of the 1960s. In 1971 the United States, Britain, France, and the USSR signed an agreement that formally resolved some basic issues. Both East and West agreed to put aside some contentious issues so that they could reach agreements on more pressing concerns. In effect, the USSR conceded that West Berlin’s political and economic ties with West Germany were valid. It also recognized the right of the United States, Britain, and France to station troops in the city. The Western powers agreed to accept that West Berlin was not legally a state of West Germany.

In October 1989 East Germany celebrated its 40th anniversary. But even as government officials praised their accomplishments, the country was quietly slipping into revolution. Government reforms were underway in the USSR, which was no longer willing to use military force to support the Communist regime in East Germany. Peaceful demonstrations in East Germany gained support from intellectuals, church leaders, and even some Communist Party leaders, who called for major social and economic reforms. The border with West Berlin remained closed for East Germans until November 1989, when mass demonstrations throughout East Germany forced the government to allow citizens to travel freely.

On November 9, 1989, as East Germany verged on collapse, a government spokesman announced during the evening news broadcast that the Berlin Wall was open. Enthusiastic citizens from all over East Germany raced to see for themselves. In spontaneous rallies during the next week they tore down large sections of the Berlin Wall using sledgehammers, ropes, and their bare hands. On October 3, 1990, East and West Germany were officially united, and Berlin became the capital. I know I watched on T.V. just like everyone else, but I still can’t believe all this actually happened. When we were in the Checkpoint Charlie museum, they showed a video of the first people to run through the barricades and enter West Berlin, it is quite moving.

Most Germans agreed that Berlin had to be reunited, but how to accomplish this task was far from clear. Between February and June 1990, the East and West German governments and the wartime Allies agreed to a plan for unification in what became known as the Two-Plus-Four talks. On October 3, 1990, East and West Germany were officially united, and Berlin became the capital of a restored German state. French, British, U.S., and Soviet troops formally left Berlin in 1994, marking the end of an occupation that had lasted nearly a half century.

Although the German people eagerly embraced reunification, the social and financial costs have been exceptionally high. In 1990 subsidies to Berlin once provided by the East and West German governments ended, forcing the city to make extensive cuts in its operating budget. Public service jobs were trimmed, and the cost of social services increased. Angry postal and construction workers went on strike. Students and teachers protested cuts in education. Large migrations into western Germany and Berlin between 1989 and 1993 by Germans and foreign asylum seekers threatened to destabilize the society.

The city of Berlin has faced many challenges during its reconstruction. First among these were the costs of moving the federal government back to Berlin. Rebuilding eastern Berlin’s infrastructure, including its transportation systems and municipal services, has also been a costly proposition. In addition, high unemployment among residents of both eastern and western Berlin has proved problematic. Some experts estimate that 25 years of effort will be needed to restore Berlin to its pre-1929 status.

We are driving to Prague in a day, but we would love to come back here to Berlin. I think 3 weeks would just be enough to get an idea about what this place is all about, so give yourselves enough time because there is tons to see.

Hamburg

Hamburg, city in north central Germany, on the Elbe and Alster rivers, near the North Sea. Its full name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Hamburg is the second busiest seaport in Europe and a major commercial, industrial, and cultural center. Since 1937 the city has been coextensive with, and the capital of, the state of Hamburg (746 sq km/288 sq mi).

Hamburg consists of an old section on the eastern side of the Alster River, a new section on the western side, and several suburbs. The old section, which contains the heart of the commercial district, is crossed by numerous canals. Among the outstanding features of the city are the many bridges spanning the canals; Hamburg has more bridges than Amsterdam and Venice combined (over 2000). Other points of interest are the Köhlbrandbrücke, a long suspension bridge (1975) across an arm of the Elbe; the Inner Alster and the Outer Alster, lakes created by a dam at the mouth of the Alster River; the ancient ramparts, converted into a system of gardens and promenades around the old section; and the Hopfenmarkt, a large public square. Noteworthy historic buildings include the City Hall, an elaborate Renaissance-style structure completed in 1897, and the churches of Saint Peter (begun 12th century), Saint James (13th-15th century), Saint Catherine (14th-15th century), and Saint Michael (late 18th century), noted for its lofty spire. The composers Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms were born in Hamburg, and the poet and dramatist Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock is buried in the Altona section of the city.

Hamburg is the principal seaport and a major commercial center of Germany. In addition to vast accommodations for handling oceangoing vessels, the port has both rail and inland-waterway connections with much of central Europe. A large fishing fleet is based in Hamburg. The city also has great shipbuilding and repairing yards, as well as industries producing refined petroleum, chemicals, machinery, metal goods, and processed food. It is a major center of printing and publishing.

Hamburg was founded as the fortress of Hammaburg, established by Charlemagne in 808 as a defense outpost. Extending his campaign to gain converts to Christianity, Charlemagne established a church in the vicinity of the fortress in 811. The church soon became a center of Christian civilization in Northern Europe and was subject to frequent attacks by hostile people. Hamburg became an archiepiscopal see in 834, but in 847, two years after the community was sacked by the Norse, the seat of the archbishopric was transferred to nearby Bremen.

Despite destructive raids by the Danes and Slavs, Hamburg endured and, in 1189, received a charter from the Holy Roman Empire. The charter, an award for services rendered during the Third Crusade, granted the city important commercial privileges. Defensive alliances with Lübeck in 1241 and with Bremen in 1249 led to the formation of the Hanseatic League; Hamburg became one of the league's most powerful and wealthy cities. In 1529 Hamburg accepted the Reformation, and the city became a haven for Lutheran, Calvinist, and Jewish refugees of Europe. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the commercial prosperity of the city declined drastically. A brief revival, spurred by the establishment of trade ties with the United States in 1783, was terminated by the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), during which the city was occupied (1811) by the forces of Napoleon.

Reestablished as a free city after the downfall of Napoleon, Hamburg became a member of the German Confederation in 1815. The city recovered swiftly from the effects of the French occupation and continued to expand despite a destructive fire that lasted four days in 1842 and a cholera epidemic that resulted in 8605 deaths in 1892. A popular uprising in Hamburg in November 1918 heralded the overthrow of the German Empire, and for a short time (1918-1919) the city was constituted as a socialist republic. The towns of Altona, Harburg, and Wandsbek were incorporated into Hamburg in 1938.

As a submarine base and a center of the German war effort during World War II (1939-1945), Hamburg was severely damaged by Allied air raids, and many of its inhabitants were killed. It was rebuilt after the war and by the 1950s was an elegant, thriving metropolis. Population (2001 estimate) 1,715,400.

Hamburg, city centre

We have our very dear friends, Ron and Denise, traveling with us for the next 2 weeks and our plan is to hit Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, and maybe Heidelberg. We have spent the last few days in Hamburg enjoying the food, beer and meeting all the wonderful people. We have obviously gotten used to being treated like tourists because we think Germany is one of the friendliest places we have been in Europe. Our friends on the other hand find it a little harder and feel a little uncomfortable. The folks of Hamburg have no problem coming up to you and asking you if they can help when you are looking at a map on the street. A lot of them go out of their way to help you, and that was something we did not find in France or Spain. We feel very safe and really like this country.

Our sightseeing has included all the major sites, most of which we saw from a tour boat and double Decker sight seeing bus.

Tomorrow we leave for Berlin and we are all very excited to see this revived city. I know Berlin is going to very busy, and we will miss the laid back lifestyle of Hamburg.

Hamburg is quite a long drive if you are just passing through the south of Germany, but if you have time I would definitely recommend it.

Cologne

We have driven through most of Spain, the upper portion of France and now we’ll tackle Germany. We left Paris and headed to the tiny country of Luxembourg where we were going to crash for the night, only to get there and decide that we should continue on to Germany.

 Our first stop in Germany was Treir, but it was only for a moment because we felt good and weren’t sick of driving so we plowed on to Koln (Cologne).

The one thing that shocks you as soon as you hit Germany is the Autobahn, driving our little Peugeot bread wagon along at 130 km/h and being passed by a Porsche, or was that an Audi? The cars are going by at speeds of over 200 km an hour, so unless you have a very quick eye it is very hard to tell. We made it into the city centre of Koln (Cologne) and started looking for our hotel. The city is very busy and quite old so navigation and driving was a tad confusing. When we found our hotel it was right in the centre of town.  It was just after 9pm so we decided it might be best to just grab some food in the lobby and hit the sack. The next day we did our usual 10 mile walk and bought some food and got a new simm card for our cell phone and just walked the city until we could not walk any longer. Koln (Cologne) is very beautiful, busy and full of café’s and restaurants. There are trams running up and down the streets and bumper to bumper cars. We loved it!

We were pleasantly surprised how nice the people in Germany are, and most speak some English so life is a little easier than in France and Spain.  When we stopped to ask for directions we were helped by someone who was smiling and doing there best to speak English. I kind of feel a little guilty being here and not being able to speak German, but no one here seems to mind that much.

The Dom Cathedral is one landmark that is a must-see when visiting Koln, and we managed to visit it on the second day. This church survived WW II and that is quite remarkable considering that the city was completely leveled during the war. As you get close to the Dom you will notice many steeples and the changing roof tops of this massive structure. When you enter the cathedral, the first thing you notice is the beautiful stain glass windows that are 60 – 90 feet above you.

Of course the streets and squares that surround the church are packed with people just out for a stroll or heading to their favorite pub or restaurant.

(Posted on Aug 5, written by Helen)

Finally I am able to sit down and write about our travels through Germany.  We are in Belgium right now and Steve has been hounding me to write about Germany before I forget about it.  Well, I don’t think I will forget.  We had such an excellent time there.  When I look back it really was a great country to spend all that time in.   We were there for over a month and it was great no matter which area we went to.

From EuroDisney we drove through Luxembourg and into Germany and right away we could see a difference between France and Germany.  We saw the little Bavarian houses with the flower boxes outside each window and the cute little white shudders.  I could almost hear the “oom-pa-pa”music playing in the background.  I use to work in a German deli many years ago and I was so excited to eat all of their delicious foods. And eat I did!  I gained a lot of weight in Germany and that is probably the only negative thing I can say about it.  All that sausage and sauerkraut!  I was in heaven!  Oh, and all that great German beer.  I’m not a huge beer drinker but how can you go to Germany and not drink beer.  And their beers only come in these huge glasses or these massive steins.  The dark beer is the best and I didn’t find out until it was too late that dark beer is even more fattening than light.  Oh well, it was worth it (sort of).  To finish off with the food section we also ate a lot of potato salad with the sausages.  It is warm potato salad with an oil and vinegar dressing and lots of salt.  You also get a big basket of pretzels with your meal and the funny part about that is that when the waiter brings your basket of pretzels he just takes it off the table of the last customer.  So those people probably handled the pretzels as they picked which one they wanted and when they were done the waiter brings it over to your table.  Very bizarre.  I was very surprised that Steve (the germ-a-phobic) ate them, but he did!

The other thing you notice about Germany is that everyone drives a beautiful new car.  You hardly ever see an older car and they all drive either a Mercedes, a BMW or an Audi.  And they all drive really, really fast.  Sometimes as we were driving along a car would pass us so quickly that we could hardly make out the type of car it was.  We would be flying along in our little bread truck at a healthy speed of 130 km/h and the cars would make us look like we were crawling.  But in that month we did not come across one accident and we did a lot of driving.  It’s smart what they do.  They have the one left hand lane for the fast drivers and the two right hand lanes for the slower ones.  The other smart thing they do is that when there is construction on the road or heavy traffic coming up they all put on their hazard lights as they slow down to warn the cars behind them.  It works really well.

Our first stop was Cologne and it was a great city to start with because it wasn’t too big or too small and we were able to slowly get a handle on the language barrier.  We have noticed that we seem to catch on a little faster with the more places we visit.  You learn the basics very quick.  Like… Hello, Thanks, Please, Toilet, Ladies, Men’s, etc.  We also noticed that when you ask them if they speak English they say, “a little” and then all of a sudden they are able to explain directions perfectly.  It really is such a shame that we only know one language fluently when the rest of the world knows at least two.

 We stayed at a really nice Crowne Plaza that was conveniently located across the street from a laundry mat so we were able to get most of our laundry done.  We strolled the streets of Cologne and again it is a beautiful old city with a massive church, called The Dom, at its center.  This church, however, was the biggest, most amazing looking one we have seen.  It is black (from grime) and very Gothic and looks like it was fresh out of a scene of the Lords of the Ring trilogy.  I don’t have the facts with me but I know that it is one of the tallest in Europe and it really is staggering when you stand beside it and look up.  We got a postcard showing the church just after the war ended and it is the only thing left standing around a devastated city. It is amazing!

We also headed out one day to find a huge spa that was located on the other side of the river.  We walked for miles that day and it was so beautiful.  We walked through a huge park that was covered in big fields of grass and it was so nice to see family’s out playing soccer and having bar-b-ques.  Again, it reminded us of home.  A little like Stanley Park because this park was located right on the shores of the river.  They also had a spot that was filled with fine white sand right in the middle of the park.  It was hilarious because you had to pay to get in and they had beach chairs lined up and it was filled with teenagers as if they were sitting on a beach in Hawaii.  We found the spa but decided not to go in because the kids preferred to go back to the park and play on the playground.  We also took a miniature train ride around the whole park, it was cute.

From Cologne we headed to Frankfurt to pick up our dear friends Ron and Denise who were coming in from Vancouver to spend two weeks with us.  We were very excited because it had been a long time since anyone had come to see us from home.  My sister and her sons came to Spain in April.  We were also a little nervous because we wanted them to have a really good time because they were coming a long way (9 hour flight) for a short time.  Steve and I argued about what to do.  I thought they wanted to go somewhere hot like Venice or Greece and Steve said they wanted to see big cities.  So we saw big cities and it actually turned out really good.  Since we’re experts, we know that it’s hard to spend everyday with the same people so we were a little worried that our friends would get sick of us or get irritated with our two little kids. But we got along so well and we had such a great time with them it was really hard to see them go.  They are both so easy-going and we seemed to agree easily about where to go and what to see.  We laughed a lot, and ate a lot, and drank A LOT, and it solidified the fact that they are very special people that we hold dear to our hearts. 

When we squeezed everyone and all the luggage into our little truck we headed out to Hamburg for our first stop.  Hamburg is a very pretty city as it is situated on a large lake with many intercepting canals.  We stayed at the Crowne Plaza there and it was located just a short walk from the lake.  Our first day of sightseeing was a very overcast day but it was so hot and muggy I really thought I was going to melt.  There was not even a trace of a breeze blowing and my clothes stuck to me like glue.  It made me very sleepy and I hardly dragged my butt around the city.  Thank goodness we went on a boat tour and once it gathered speed we finally had some wind.  Everyone really liked Hamburg and I did too but it didn’t thrill me.  Other than the lake I didn’t find anything about it that spectacular.  That’s just my opinion though.

The next day we had dinner at a beer garden that was specially set up by residents of Southern Germany in order for them to show and share their food and beer that is specific to their region.  It was really great because they had row upon row of tents set up with long tables and benches set up and the place was packed.  There were a bunch of little huts that you could choose your food and wine/beer from and then you would sit and eat and listen to German folk music.  They had the full costumes on and they played the accordion and sang German songs.  It was very authentic and very packed full of people.  We laughed a lot that night because Ron was getting roughed up with everything he did.  He ordered food from one hut and sat in the seating area of another hut and the waiter gave him a bit of a hard time.  Then, because the tables were so close together, when the people behind him sat down, the one guy was so close to Ron, their backs were touching.  No matter what he did, the poor guy couldn’t catch a break, it was all very funny!  

After spending a few days there we squished everyone and all of our luggage into our little bread truck and headed to Berlin.  Poor Ron volunteered to sit in the back seat and had a mountain of luggage piled beside him.  He swore that he was comfortable but I highly doubt it.  Again, our road trip seemed to just fly by and with their wonderful company we made it to Berlin in no time. 

Berlin is a huge city and it was certainly a lot ‘prettier’ then I imagined.  It was amazing as we drove along to our hotel, the contrast between the new and the old.  Some parts of the city were all newer buildings and some parts had a combination of both, others had just older, heritage buildings.  Again, the history here is mind-boggling and we were eager to get to our hotel and start touring!

We got to the Crowne Plaza right in the city centre and were extremely disappointed with our rooms.  When Steve booked through Priority Club they told him we would have two double beds in each room.  Well, when we walked into the room there were two single beds.  They did end up setting up a cot in our bedroom but the next morning the cot was removed and we were told that we could not have four people in one room.  Well, I kind of lost it and went storming down to complain.  This is something I NEVER do and afterwards I realized why.  I felt lousy and it is definitely not worth it.  They did bring back the cot and they did apologize for the miscommunication but they were very rude to us for the rest of our stay.  We have had nothing but great experiences with both the Holiday Inn and the Crowne Plaza but there’s always one stinker in every group.  We had hoped that they would have given us a different room with bigger beds BUT, what we didn’t realize when we booked was that the city was hosting one of the biggest gay parades in the world that same weekend and 500,000 people were in the city at the same time as us.  Ha Ha!

We contemplated whether we should take the kids to the parade and decided to do it.   They have seen so much on this trip, why not a gay parade as well.  It was actually quite hilarious, outrageous, extravagant and once or twice a little sick.  But we didn’t watch for too long and right afterwards it started raining so Denise and I (and Ron) went shopping!

The next day we hopped on one of those double decker city tour buses and it took us all around Berlin.  When we got to the site of the Berlin Wall, we got off and walked up to the section that they have left standing.  It is quite remarkable when you stand on the East Berlin side and stare at that wall and consider what happened not that long ago.  The wall itself is not as tall as we would have guessed it to be.  When I saw the site of the twin towers in New York in December I told Steve that it probably would have impacted me a lot more if I had actually seen the towers before that fateful day.  I felt the same way about the wall.  I’ve talked to a few people that actually saw the wall and drove through it on occasion for business when it was still there.  To see what it was like then with all the guards and search lights and barbed wire and guard dogs and to see it today must be a remarkable feeling. 

The history behind the wall is documented on the western side of the wall and it has become quite a touristy place because there are merchants selling pieces of the wall in little plastic bags. 

From there we walked over to Checkpoint Charlie which was the U.S. part of Berlin and was named Charlie because it was checkpoint C.  For example, checkpoint A was called Checkpoint Alpha, b was Checkpoint Beta and so forth.  This area is also full of tourists and there is a great museum there that is a must-see.  It has pictures and documentation of the full history of the wall from before it was built to the day it came down.  The stories cover everything from attempted crossings, both successful and unsuccessful, to the stories of some of the guards that had to defend it’s border.  It was very interesting and quite disturbing. 

Outside the museum and half way down the street was an area of gravel on both sides of the street that had rows of crosses that each stood about seven feet.  On each cross was the picture of each victim of the wall with the date and area where they died while trying to cross.  The ironic part is that about three weeks after we left from there Ron had e-mailed us to tell us that he had read in the Vancouver newspaper that the city had taken all those crosses down.  We were quite surprised and still haven’t figured out the exact reason for that.

There was a lot of Berlin we did not see and that is one thing that we are noticing during our travels.  You need A LOT of time to really appreciate and truly uncover the secrets and beauties of a city with tons of history.  We just don’t have enough time and we seem to just scratch the surface of some of these amazing cities.  I guess the idea is to see a little of everything and if we want we can come back one day to the ones that interest us the most.  Berlin would definitely be one!

From Berlin we decided to be a bit adventurous and see Prague in the Czech Republic.  Many people that we have met have told us that it is a must-see.  So we packed up again and headed East toward our next destination with no idea what to expect.  When we got to the border it was the first time in our travels through Europe where we actually had to stop at a border crossing and show our passports.  When we drove up they asked for our passports, took them and told us to pull over and wait on the side of the road.  Well, we did that and waited for quite a while.  We were getting a little nervous when finally a guard came out, handed the passports back to Steve, smiled and walked away.  That was it.  Off we went.

As we drove into the country we started to notice that every kilometer or so there would be a little shack on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere because it was all wilderness here.  These shacks had at least two or three women sitting or standing in front of them.  At first we thought they were just roadside shops or something until we started noticing that the women were half naked and they were waving at all the cars and trucks going by.  It quickly dawned on us that they were actually prostitutes.  It was quite sad to see this and it certainly wasn’t a great first impression of this country we came to see.  We learned later that most of them are from Romania and Russia and that this started just after the fall of communism.  Interesting.

Cairns   

(Written by Steve Oct 10, 05) - received Oct 11

 We are in Cairns and we are still trying to get used to the heat and humidity. This place is a tourist hotspot, mostly because it is the best place to head out and see the upper and outer parts of the Great Barrier Reef. We are taking a 2 ½ hour boat ride to the outer reef tomorrow to Scuba dive and snorkel, should be fun.

We drove up to Port Douglas yesterday and walked around and overcooked, I don’t know how the folks here get used to it. Port Douglas is one of the nicest communities I have ever seen, super tropical. The drive up the coast is fantastic and we stopped along the way checking out different little communities.

Today we went to Tjapukai and on a Hartley Crocodile Adventure, both were very cool. Tjapukai was part of Nikolas’ school and he was to educate himself on the Aboriginal culture of Australia. He really enjoyed it and we all received lessons on how to throw spears and boomerangs. The main message is the same all over the world, the indigenous folks have gotten the raw deal and are struggling to save their culture and values.

In the next 2 days we are dropping of our rental car and booking an outback bus that takes 3 days to drive into Alice Springs. We will set up there for a few days and then down to Ayers Rock. Well, that is the plan for now, who knows where we will end up, but we are excited about heading into the Outback.

We have really enjoyed Cairns and the surrounding towns, but it is a heck of a long drive if you are just coming up to sightsee. I don’t think I would suggest it, but I will tell you more after I dive out at the reef tomorrow.

We completed our day today at Hartleys Crocodile farm and wetlands. It is a property that they use to farm the crocs for food and skin. We were starving when we got there so we wolfed down a crocodile burger and we then headed out into the wetlands. The area is full of Crocs and they hang chicken out on a stick and these reptiles come flying out of the water and try and take it.

Take a look at the pictures and you will get some idea of how cool this place is, a must if you are up here. It makes for a bit of a long day, but both Tjapukai and Hartleys Croc farm are totally worth seeing if you can.  The kids loved it!

Great Barrier Reef  

(Written by Steve) - 0ct 13 

This trip out to the reef would be the most selfish thing I did on this whole trip. You see, my wife does not feel comfortable in a swimming pool, my son freaks out if a fly lands on him and my daughter can't swim. So here we are going out to the great Barrier Reef to snorkel and I am going out scuba diving on my own, leaving the kids with Helen. When our boat arrived out on the reef the dive master yelled for all divers to get their gear and get in the water. I looked over at Helen and said "are you sure you will be O.K.", she replied "yes' and told me to have a good time. So I came out of the water after my first dive and there was my family with life jackets, Masks, Snorkels and stingers suits about to enter the water, I felt so proud as they walked towards the swim grid. I had to go and get my lunch and then get back into the water. As I was getting ready to enter the water (about 20 minutes after last seeing them) I looked out into the water and there was my family swimming. I could clearly see Danika and Nikolas snorkeling with Helen about 100 meters off the swim grid. I felt so proud I wanted to scream, but I had to get into the water for my second dive. As I turned around and walked back to get my diving gear I saw Helen, Nikolas and Danika sitting underneath the swim grid. I was stunned, I just spent 5 minutes watching some other family swim around at the great barrier reef. I ask Helen why they came back so soon and she looked at me with burning eyes and replied "we have not been in the water yet"

I will let Helen tell you the rest:

(written by Helen) -  Oct 13

The Australian Outback   

(Written by Helen, Oct 15, 05)

The slogan on the bus we were taking into the outback has become my new motto:  For those who believe that the journey is as important as the destination!”  Now, whenever I feel guilty about my fear of flying I always bring up that saying and it makes me feel better.  It’s also very true as well.

I wrote the following on the bus over the three day journey…..

We were up at 4:30am to catch the bus from Cairns to Alice Springs.  It’s hard to complain about getting up early when we’ve slept in pretty much every morning for the last ten months.  It’s been raining on the way to Alice Springs so the bus driver, Greg, has advised us that our route may be altered.  Oh well, whatever road takes us there!

Sitting in the bus and Steve turns around and has a raised eyebrow look.  The music playing is VERY country.  Can we handle three days of this?  The bus holds 42 passengers but there are only 18 people on this tour.  We left Cairns and are headed to Alice Springs.  It’s called the Reef to Rock tour as Alice Springs is the hub for Ayer’s Rock.  The first day we are to drive 660km mostly on dirt roads.  What is so unique about this tour is that everyday is a different terrain as we drive through Western Queensland.  As we drive along, the scenery consists of huge open plains; very flat and dry, almost desert-like in some places.  We are headed into Red Kangaroo and Emu country.  There are tons of cattle stations and some can be as big as 10,000 square kilometers.  It’s amazing how many dead kangaroos you see on the side of the road, we also saw one dead cow.  Our driver tells us that they lose 2-3 tourists every year in the Outback; usually Europeans because in Europe there is usually a town or city every few kms, but not in the Outback.  Sometimes they are found with water bottles full but dehydration from the intense heat kills them faster than they can drink the water.  Our driver continually reminds us to drink plenty of water.

The bus stops every two hours for toilet breaks and stretches.  He asks that we don’t use the toilet in the bus because it has a very small tank and he has nowhere to dump it so it can smell up the whole bus pretty quickly.  The roads are 90% dirt roads with lots of potholes so we are bopping and swaying along the whole way.  The road is also one lane and the rule is that the biggest vehicle has the right of way.  I thought we would be the biggest but they have these trucks called Road Trains and they are semi’s that haul 3-6 trailers.  They are very long and we get out of the way for them!

Our first stop is a path that leads to some waterfalls.  Danika and I are walking down this very rocky path together and she is eating a popsicle.  Just after I tell her to be careful and watch her step I hear a scream and when I turn around her popsicle has gone flying and she is face down on the ground screaming.  Other than some major road rash on her knee, hands, hip and belly, she is fine.  I think she is more upset about losing her popsicle.  It wasn’t a good start to the trip but at least she will be more careful with the rest of our walks.

Our next stop is for lunch at a rest stop that has some tables and chairs, toilets and a small store.  Our driver takes out two large metal bins filled with food.  He puts us to work slicing cukes, tomatoes, and lettuce.  We then help ourselves to the sliced cold cuts and bread and make sandwiches.  It is so hot and everyone looks for the best shaded area to sit and eat.  The flies are really annoying and the worst part is that they don’t fly away when you swat at them.  We are told that the flies will only get worse the farther west we head.  Great!

A few more hours of driving with pit stops here and there for toilet breaks and then we finally reached Hughenden, our final stop of the day.  It is a little town in the middle of nowhere and really, we couldn’t see that many people around.  It was 6:30pm on a Sat. night and we saw maybe a handful of folks driving around.  Most were seen heading through the drive-through liquor store where we were staying.  We were given the keys to our rooms and as we headed towards them I started to chuckle.  They were trailers up on stilts and they actually serve as accommodation for the sheep shearers most of the time.  We thought it was hot outside, but as soon as we walked into the trailers it felt ten times hotter.  I started to panic a bit because you could hardly breathe in there, never mind sleep.  Thank goodness, as soon as we walked into our rooms we saw the air conditioner and turned it on.  It took about half an hour but soon it was very cool and comfortable in our 8ft. by 8ft. room.  The only furniture inside the room was two metal bunk-beds and a tiny table, but it would do us just fine because we were exhausted. 

We first had to wash up in the communal shower/toilet and head to the pub for our dinner.  It was a small buffet but the food was quite good:  lasagna, chicken, mashed potatoes, rice, beef curry and macaroni and cheese.  We chatted just a bit with our driver after dinner and then it was straight to bed.  It was still very warm outside as we made our way back to our rooms.  My sleep was brutal.  First I felt great lying on the top bunk with the flow of the air conditioner wafting over me.  Then I got cold and went under the covers, then I got hot and pulled them off and then I got cold and went under the covers….and so on all night.  I couldn’t get it right, but did eventually get some sleep that night.

The next day….up at 5:30am to pack up and load the bus by 6am when breakfast is served.  Tea/coffee, cereal and toast.  Back on the road by 6:30am.  We start our day with a song about the wildlife of Australia.  The Australian Government had asked these singers to write a song about the wonderful wildlife of Australia in order to entice more visitors to come.  The song they wrote was hilarious.  It is all about sharks, crocs, poisonous snakes, spiders and all the things that can kill you.  It was very funny.

We are now cruising along listening to Fleetwood Mac.  Steve, the driver, me and one guy from Ireland are the oldest ones on the bus.  All the other “kids” are all backpackers from Edmonton, England, Spain, Italy, Japan and Germany.  They travel across the country and every so often they stop somewhere and get a job that pays them enough for the next leg of their journey.  Lots of them are traveling alone with limited English.  Very admirable! 

Our first stop on Day 2 is a town called Winton.  As we were pulling into Winton, Greg, the driver, played a version of Waltzing Matilda as it was being sung at the start of a rugby game between Australia and New Zealand in Australia.  At the end of the song the crowd of 100,000 sings along; it gave me goose bumps.  Winton is the birthplace of this very famous song, “Waltzing Matilda” and also of Qantas (Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service).  “Banjo” Paterson wrote the song and there is a museum that explains what the song is about as well as how Qantas got off the ground.  Matilda is what they called a swag or a type of back-pack on the end of a stick.  When the bushmen were on a walk-a-bout the swag would sway as they walked along.  It looked as though it were dancing at the end of the stick and hence the word ‘waltzing’.  Aparantly the Aussie’s would love for it to be their national anthem but the government doesn’t agree because the song is about a man that steals a sheep and jumps into a billabong (water hole) instead of being caught by the authorities. 

Our next stop was a cattle station called Toryanna.  The station is 6,000 km in size and we were met by the owner whose name was Charles.  He took us for a walk down to Python Gorge where it lived up to its name as we saw two large pythons coiled up beside some rocks at the bottom of the gorge.  The one python was over 12 feet long and the other one was even bigger but did not move so we couldn’t really tell how long it was.  One of them got an eye lock on Danika and started licking its lips.  Apparently they can eat an average-sized kangaroo in one gulp.  Dani’s about the size of a small kangaroo.  At the bottom of the gorge Charles showed us some aboriginal artwork on the rock walls.  Some dated back over 1,000 years ago. 

Danika was playing with what she thought was a rock but it turned out to be a kangaroo’s toenail.  She dropped it quickly after hearing that!  While we were on our walk our bus driver, Greg bar-b-qued up some hamburgers, sausages and veggie burgers.  We had a delicious lunch in the sweltering heat and as we were finishing, another bus from the same company was pulling up.  They were making their way from Alice Springs to Cairns.   This was the half way mark.  We packed up and left with a quick toilet break and a drive passed the homestead of Charles and his family.  Two homes, one his and the other his father’s, out in the middle of nowhere, in the desert.  Interesting life.

Our next stop was absolutely hilarious.  It was the town of Middleton.  Population:  5.  It truly comes up out of nowhere and there is a shed that has a sign on it that says:  Hilton Hotel on it.  There is a bar that is attached to a residence that houses the whole population of the town.  It was so cute.  We stopped there for a drink and a toilet break.  Our driver told us to take our time as we walked the streets of Middleton.  It took us 10 seconds to do that.

The town use to be a stage coach stop in the late 1800’s and is the only one left still standing.  Very cool!

We stayed at a cattle station on our next night.  It is called Wirrylyerna Station and is about 125,000 acres in size.  The station’s get bigger as you go up to the Northern Territory, some as big as 16,000 acres.  The largest station in the country is in New South Wales and is 32,000 acres.  Australia is the largest producer of beef in the world, but they export the majority of it.  They import beef for national consumption.  There is a family that runs the cattle station and they run it as a tourist destination.  Yollie was our host and she lives at the homestead with her husband and 12 year old daughter Eve.  As we were driving into the homestead her daughter was riding her horse beside the bus.  She was riding it bareback and with bare feet.  The sun was setting and the sky was ablaze with the most amazing colours and to watch her gallop beside us as fast as the horse could run was surreal.  She beat us and was waiting as we pulled up.  There were a lot of animals waiting for us as well.  The homestead has animals walking around everywhere.  When the bus doors opened, two of the many dogs hopped in and started walking down the isle sniffing and searching for crumbs on the floor.  Yollie entered the bus and gave us the rundown on what we were to do and how to do it.  She was very organized and extremely friendly and we knew it was going to be a great experience.  We were once again sleeping in sheep shearers quarters and they looked exactly like the one we had slept in the night before.  These ones however, were air conditioned perfectly when we arrived.  We dropped our stuff off in the room and it was out to the campfire to wait for dinner.  The dinner was being cooked in pots hanging over the fire and soon we were in line having our plates filled with delicious food.  After dinner the kids were whisked away by Eve and she showed them all over the homestead.  Nikolas wrote a little story about his experience and will have all the details there. 

What we did see was Nikolas feeding one of their baby kangaroos with a baby bottle and Danika petting the other baby kangaroo that is carried around in a cotton sack to replicate the mother’s pouch.  There is a baby calf walking around, lots of dogs, cats, pigs, a goat that is in love with one of the pigs and are inseparable, goats, cattle and lots of bugs and birds coming and going.  Eve also showed us to a shed where she does her school work.  She participates in something called School of the Air and it involves a teacher and about 8 students that communicate over the telephone for one hour everyday Mon.-Fri.  Her teacher gives out assignments and the students have to have them done by a certain time.  Her mom helps her with her schoolwork and once in a while she gets together with her classmates so that they have some actual playing time together.  Because they live in such a remote area they have no school to go to.  She seems to enjoy her life and like her brother she will be off to boarding school next year.  Her mom told us that it’s going to be hard on her and her husband because the kids are normally always around.  Her brother is one year older and is at boarding school in Rockhampton and only sees his family at holiday time.  It was so interesting talking to this family and it really makes you realize that there are many people around the world living very unique lives.  We will never forget this experience. 

After dinner we had a shower in the communal shower and thank goodness there was lots of hot water.  The only problem was that I bought some very cheap beach towels and they did not absorb any water.  When we rubbed, the water would just move around our body, the towel stayed dry.  How frustrating!  That night I had a much better sleep!

Up at 5am for breakfast at 5:30.  As we ate breakfast outside we were  mesmerized by the spectacular sunrise.  With the fresh air and amazing nature around us it was a very humbling experience.

Back on the bus and onward down the dirt road.  Our first stop was a toilet break at Tobermorey Station.  It is located just over the border into the Northern Territory.  Steve took a picture of a massive tarantula he saw in the men’s bathroom.  I am not a spider lover and it made me realize that this may just be the start of some very interesting creepy crawlies!  The terrain here is what I expected the Outback to look like.  The dirt is deep red in colour and there are very few trees.  It is cooler today and there are clouds in the sky.  Greg told us that during the summer the temperatures can reach 50-55 degrees out here.  He says that sometimes the bus can’t keep up with the air conditioning.  Sometimes the inside of the bus is 37 degrees with the air on and the passengers are relieved when they get in because outside is just unbearable.  For us, I think the temperatures were between 35-40 degrees and it was almost unbearable.  I can’t even begin to imagine what 55 would feel like.  As we drive on we see some camels in the distance and a massive lizard.  It is really quite funny to see camels walking amongst the herds of cattle.  Next we stop at a termite hill that is 5 metres high.  It is taller than the bus and is estimated to be about 200 years old.  There are millions of termite hills along our journey and it’s incomprehensible to think how many termites there are in this country.

We stop for lunch at a place called Jervois and have sandwiches again with some left-over sausages.  There are a ton of flies here and it is almost impossible to eat.  Who knows how many of those critters we actually ate without realizing it.  Gross!  Back on the road again and it’s actually hard to read my writing because the road was so bumpy when I was writing in my journal.  (I am re-writing this while in Alice Springs).  It has started to rain and Greg is a little concerned about the condition of the roads.  Just a little rain can turn the dirt roads into complete mush.  We make it to our last stop which is an aboriginal community called Atitjera.  Greg told us a little about the aboriginals.  They are very spiritual and cultural people and have a bit of a hard time blending in with modernization.  He told us that some do have a problem with alcoholism but asked us not to think that they were all like that.  He told us that most are responsible professionals and some choose to live a simple life and live in secluded communities where they are able to maintain their culture.  It sounded very similar to the situation of our Native Indians in Canada.  It was very educational.  Our driver, Greg was just full of knowledge and we think we got lucky as he was very friendly and extremely professional.  You could tell that he enjoyed his job and was very eager to tell us about his amazing country. 

We drove through the Tropic of Capricorn and as we crossed the line we entered the area of four seasons.  We left the Tropic of Cancer which is the area of only the dry and wet seasons.  And finally we made it to Alice Springs!  We were dropped off at the Crowne Plaza and I have to say it felt good to flop onto a normal bed and have our own bathroom.  I know, I am spoiled but I wholeheartedly enjoyed my journey into the Outback of Australia!   

Alice Springs, Northern Territory   

(Written by Steve Oct 17, 05) - received Oct 18

So, here we are, smack dab in the middle of Australia. This country has everything that you can imagine, and I just can’t say enough about it.

It does have a few problems though, like the size, Aboriginal issues and water supply. Traveling around a country that is the same size as the Continental United States is quite a feat. When you drive through the outback you can see that nature is still in control and humans are no match.

The Aboriginals in this country have been screwed and some are having a problem adjusting to the life of the white man.

And the biggest problem that Australia has to deal with is water. This country has enough water for 5 million people but currently has a population of just over 20 million. Forget about oil, this country is going through its worst drought in 100 years; scary.

So having said all that let me tell you about Alice Springs, or as I’ve heard it called: “A little hick town in the middle of nowhere.” I kind of resent the “Hick town” label because the city (Surrey B.C.) my city gets called that all the time.

Yes, Alice Springs is located in the middle of Australia, but I would not say in the middle of nowhere. I would say it is a pit stop for folks heading to Darwin, Cairns, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth or Sydney. Nikolas would call this place a checkpoint and I have to agree. I would not want to live here but I’m very glad we came to see it. You know that drought I talked about?  Well it was put on hold while we were here.  The Todd River has not flowed like this in almost 4 years. The few days we were here, the city kind of flooded and it was a tad unnerving. The locals were not worried but we tourists were waiting for one of those flash floods our bus driver warned us about. The next day the sun came out and aside from the major puddles and all the leaks in the hotel, you would have never known it rained.

Today we went to the Desert Park located just north of the city, it was so cool. If you are truly interested in learning about Australia’s land, culture, and evolution, then this place is a must see!

Tomorrow we head out to Kings Canyon, then Ayers rock and then down to Coober Pedy.

The only problem is that Nikolas is sick and has a fever and we are going to be spending the next week in the desert and 40 degree temperatures. We were going to sleep outside in Swags, but with his temperature we have now booked accommodation.

Well, if you get the chance, get out to Alice Springs and Kings Canyon and Ayers Rock, I think it is worth the trip.

Kings Canyon, Ayers Rock and the Olgas

 (Written by Steve Oct 21, 05)

So we just watched the sunset on Ayers Rock and it was pretty cool. We left Alice Springs 2 days ago and made it to Kings Canyon, but barely.

I have to tell you that I made a huge mistake on the trip down here from Alice Springs.

  Geez, it makes me sick just to think about the bone head move I made that could have left us in serious trouble. I rented a Patrol (Nissan’s version of the Land Cruiser) and it was a beauty, a 2005 with only 10,000 km. The day all started when we picked up the truck and headed down the Stuart Highway to Kings Canyon. The drive is over 500 km if you take the highway or only 390 if you take the 4x4 short cut, which has 100 km of dirt road through aboriginal land. I asked about the short cut at the rental office and they said it would be quicker but she was not sure if the road would be open because of all the rain in the last few days. When we left our Hotel we noticed a funny smell when we first started driving but thought it must be coming from outside.

So anyways, we are bombing down the highway listening to our favorite CD, Green Day, and all is well. I saw a road house after about an hour of driving and I told Helen I wanted to stop and ask about the short cut (4x4 road) The folks in the road house told us that they had had a lot of rain and they were sure the road would not be open.  So we got back in this shiny new truck and were bombing down the highway when all of a sudden a huge sign said Kings Canyon turn in 500 meters.  It was the short cut we had heard about. We pulled over and looked at the road.  It was dirt and there were some big puddles but the first few hundred feet did not look so bad and there was no closed gate or signs. I said to the Boss (Helen), what do you think? And she said, lets give it a try. I thought, why not, we have a 4X4 and just like my expertise in surfing (???), I am quite the expert when it comes to off road travel, so lets give it a try. We drove down to the Henbury meteor craters and asked some folks what they knew about the road, but no one could help us. One of the people we saw were stopped in a car and when we rolled down the window we noticed a burning smell coming from their car. We just figured that was why the guy was pulled over and he must have been cooling off or something. As we drove, the puddles got bigger but we seemed to have enough room on either side to just drive around them. The only problem was we could only drive at about 30 – 40 km an hour and the puddles were getting larger and looking really deep. After 20 minutes of driving we did not see anyone else on this road and I had a bed feeling and was second guessing our choice of short cuts. I asked Helen if she thought we should keep going, and she said she was quite comfy with my driving skills and said let’s keep going. We were warned by many Aussies about traveling these roads because if a rain came it could cause flash flooding and wash you away. I looked into the heavens and could not see a cloud in the sky, but if we got stuck we could end up a long way from any sealed road. We drove for about 45 minutes and maybe 25 km and did not see another car; that made me uneasy. The puddles were now small lakes and were very difficult to drive around because the truck went up on such an angle.  It felt like we were going to roll over.

Now I knew now we should not be out here.  If we got stuck, not only would there be no cars driving by to help but the heat might just cause us some major problems because it was super hot out.  One of the reasons I thought we should take this short cut was because Nikolas was so ill, the faster we got to our next destination the better, or so I thought. When the above picture was taken we were only 20 kms into this disaster, the temperature outside was in the mid 40's and Nikolas had a temperature of 104 degrees. It was not long before we came to a lake that blocked the whole road and it appeared the only way was to drive through it, but I remembered what Greg (Our Bus driver that drove us through the outback) had said about wet dirt roads. Greg told us that these puddles are all mud and sometimes 4 feet deep and once you get in there the mud just bogs up the wheels and you can’t move. So here we are stopped, looking at this lake, and I wanted to turn around but I did not want to go back through the lakes we had already driven through. So I said what I had been saying many times on that day: if I can just get through this one maybe it will get better. That thinking got us in a whole lot of trouble on that day. So I thought it would be better to risk rolling the truck rather than getting it stuck in the mud, so we drove along the angle and had no choice but to go into the puddle at the end. We made it through that one, but the puddles got bigger as we went along and we still had not seen another vehicle yet. We were exactly 50 km into this disaster and if we got stuck now and no one else was using this road, we were in major trouble. We tried to drive around on of these massive puddles but went up on such and angle we almost rolled over so we came up with a plan B. Now after 2 hours we were still moving but now having to drive into the brush, finding trees wide enough to pass through just to get around some of these puddles. Driving into the bush in the outback was one of the biggest No No's a tourist can make, but I was terrified of driving around anymore puddles. It has been  3 ½ hours since we left Alice Springs and we have not seen another vehicle and I am freaking out inside now and just want to get the heck (being nice) off this road and for this day to end. To make matters worst we could still smell that burning smell we noticed almost 4 hours ago when we picked up this truck and it seemed to be getting stronger, so I pulled over in the middle of no where and lifted the hood. I was shocked to see the engine compartment covered with oil and then I noticed the oil spraying out of the valve cover. There was no oil cap and then I checked the dipstick and it showed not a drop of oil, I mean nothing! So we are in the middle of nowhere and are out of oil and my 10 year old son had a very serious fever. Oh now we were all freaking and had very little options. We just had to keep driving this truck as far as it would take us or until the engine seized. Hopefully that would be to the main road so we could flag down a passing vehicle.

So, to make a long story a wee bit shorter, I’ll tell you that we survived and made it to the main road. That engine just kept running and running, all the way to a service station in Kings Canyon. It took us 5 hours to take that short cut and make it to Kings Canyon.  That’s an hour longer than if we had just stuck to the freeway (The longer way).

If we had gotten stuck, I would have never forgiven myself. Driving down that road was the dumbest thing I have done on this whole trip and I feel quite foolish about it and did not have a clue how badly that day could have ended. I say this because when I told the lady at the Kings Canyon Hotel that we went down that road she laughed and said, “You must be mistaken because that road is closed and the police have advised everyone that it will not open for another 4 days". I told her we made a big mistake and drove it, and she replied (as if we were dumb tourists) that we were very fortunate to have made it and they have had people die out there on those roads. I felt like throwing up while she was telling me this, but we needed to get our son into an air conditioned area so we booked a room at the hotel.

We let Nikolas cool off for an bit and then we drove up to the Canyon to see the cliffs but Nikolas was way too sick to walk.

I called the Avis in Alice Springs where I picked it up and learned that this truck had just gone for servicing and the mechanic must have forgotten to put the cap on. I drove over 500 km with no oil cap and I have no idea how long I drove without any oil. We could have seized our engine up on that dirt road but somehow this truck just kept running. The outback stars must have been looking down on us that day because I put over 6 1/2 litres of oil back into that engine and that proved it was completely dry.

I can hear my Mother-in-law right saying, “I told my daughter not to marry that guy”.

(Picture below)  When we made it to the end of the dirt road I felt sick to my stomach but got on my knees and bowed down to this truck. I am not sure how or why it kept running, but it did one heck of a job taking care of my family that day.

.

Oh thank you, amazing, oil free truck!

The Next day (Oct 22,05)

Like I said we are now here in Ayers Rock and all is well, and we get a new vehicle tomorrow because this one may has some serious engine damage and must be towed back to Alice Springs. Nikolas still has a very high fever for the 3^rd day in a row, we are hopeful he will be feeling better tomorrow. He is missing out on some serious rock climbing, poor guy.

I could go on about the Olgas and The Rock but the pictures will hopefully tell the story.

When the sun sets on these massive rocks, the colours are mesmerizing; something you have to see on your own.

So come on down from Cairns like we did (3000 km) or up from Adelaide (1500 km), because it is so worth it!

If you are going to make this wonderful journey across Australia let me give you a few tips from an expert .

 Before you leave on any long journey make sure you bring lots of water, always CHECK your oil and don’t take any short cuts!

 Next stop: Coober Pedy.

The Next day (Oct 22,05)

Like I said we are now here in Ayers Rock and all is well, and we get a new vehicle tomorrow because this one may has some serious engine damage and must be towed back to Alice Springs. Nikolas still has a very high fever for the 3^rd day in a row, we are hopeful he will be feeling better tomorrow. He is missing out on some serious rock climbing, poor guy.

I could go on about the Olgas and The Rock but the pictures will hopefully tell the story.

When the sun sets on these massive rocks, the colours are mesmerizing; something you have to see on your own.

So come on down from Cairns like we did (3000 km) or up from Adelaide (1500 km), because it is so worth it!

If you are going to make this wonderful journey across Australia let me give you a few tips from an expert .

 Before you leave on any long journey make sure you bring lots of water, always CHECK your oil and don’t take any short cuts!

 Next stop: Coober Pedy.

     Ayers Rock to Sorrento

 (Written by Helen) -   received Oct 29

It’s called The Red Centre for good reason.  Sometimes it feels like you are in the middle of Mars.  The dirt is a crimson red in colour and there isn’t much growing in this very arid climate.  We spent a few days in Alice Springs and stayed in a very nice Holiday Inn with a beautiful pool.  There isn’t much to do in Alice Springs other than walk down the main street and visit the many souvenirs shops and cafes and restaurants.  We were walking the main street when we saw some of our friends we met on the Outback tour bus.  It’s funny when you travel that you meet up with people you’ve met all over the country.  It really is a small world.

We spent four days here but I really don’t have that much to say about it.  There is a river that flows through this town and I should say that it actually flows water only once a year sometimes less than that.  Well, they had a huge rain storm before we arrived and the river was flowing so well that it flooded one of the roads.  Most of the residents told us that it’s an actual honour to be in Alice Springs when the Todd River flows.  So we feel honoured!

A day before we left, Nikolas spiked a fever and was just feeling really lousy.  Whenever he gets a cold or the flu he spikes a fever so we weren’t that concerned.  We loaded him full of Tylenol and he was quite a trooper as we made our way to Uluru (aka Ayer’s Rock) via King’s Canyon.  There are two ways to get there and we chose to take the more adventurous route by foregoing the paved road and heading out on the dirt road.  We stopped at a roadhouse just before the dirt road began and they recommended that we take the paved road because of the recent rain and the potential for poor road conditions on the dirt road.  We decided to just check out the dirt road and see what condition it was in and then we were going to make our own decision.  We started driving it and it seemed fine so we kept going.  At one point another truck was stopped on the side of the road coming the other way.  We stopped and asked the gentleman if he drove from King’s Canyon (where we were headed) and he said no.  When we did stop we smelled this burning smell and just assumed it was the other guy’s truck and thought it was the reason he had pulled over.  Oh how wrong we were!

Well, we kept driving and you can refer to Steve’s story about how that all played out.  In short, we most certainly should not have been driving that road.  We found out, when we got to Kings Canyon, that the road was actually closed.  We didn’t see any signs or blockades but there were spots where we barely made it through.  In fact, in a few spots we had to leave the road and drive around some massive puddles that engulfed the whole road.  The craziest thing was that I was never really worried.  Imagine that!  I am usually worried about everything but for some reason, when I really should have been worried, I wasn’t.  Now that worries me!!!  Oh, I am pathetic aren’t I?

Anyway, we finally made it to King’s Canyon and pulled up in front of the reception.  While Steve was inside I noticed some smoke coming from under the hood of our truck.  When Steve came out he looked under the hood and was shocked to see that the oil cap was missing and that the complete engine was covered in oil.  The worst part was that when Steve checked the oil level he found that there was none!  We drove through the deserted desert road with no oil.  Had we broken down it would have been about a 50km hike in 35-40 degree scorching heat for the family.  Very scary!

The whole fiasco with Avis has just been resolved now (it’s 2 weeks later).  We had to get another car and they towed the truck all the way back to Alice Springs. 

Everybody told us that King’s Canyon is a must-see even over Ayer’s Rock.  It is a massive red sandstone canyon and there are two options to climb it.  A short half hour option staying at the base and then a 3 hour long option that takes you to the top.  We arrived at the middle of the day in the most intense heat.  Nikolas was on fire with his fever and the flies were unbearable.  Everyone was wearing nets over their faces except for us of course.  Needless to say we aborted our walk after approximately 5 minutes and the kids and I headed back to the truck while Steve jogged in a bit to take some pictures since we just spent hours and hours driving here.  I can’t really comment on King’s Canyon because I really did not get the opportunity to see it.  What little Steve did see, he said that it was beautiful. 

We stayed at the resort in King’s Canyon and we had a beautiful room that had a huge soaker tub in the room and it looked out over the landscape.  It was great for the kids to play around in.  We went for dinner at the restaurant and had a scrumptious buffet.  It was certainly nicer than what we had planned to do here as our initial plan was to camp under the stars.  Because Nik was so sick we had to keep him indoors where the air-conditioner could cool him off. 

The next morning we set out to Uluru, or Ayer’s Rock.  As you drive along the flat terrain it suddenly pops up in the horizon.  This gigantic red rock in the middle of the desert.  As you get closer, it looks like a huge blob of red play-do has been dropped from the heavens.  It is rounded and has pot holes all over.  There is next to no vegetation growing on it and it really is a sight to see.  Just seeing it from the car I can say that personally I found it to be a more impressive sight to see than King’s Canyon.  The Aboriginals consider it a sacred site and when you stand there and look up at it you can feel that this is so true.  There is a spot where you can climb the rock but the Aboriginals ask that you don’t.  There is a rope that has been secured to one part in order to help people who do decide to climb it.  Steve wanted to climb it but did not get a chance.  We drove around the entire rock and even got a chance to watch the sun set and watched the different colours reflect on the rock.  Magical.  It is truly a must-see.  We just loved it there!

We treated ourselves to a beautiful hotel and it was so refreshing to jump in a cool pool after spending hours out in the heat!  Nik was feeling lousy and just spent the whole time in bed watching TV. and sleeping. 

The next morning we packed up and headed to Coober Pedy.  We had heard about this place from many people and really wanted to see it.  It is renowned for its underground buildings.  It is also the Opal Capital of the World.  Just a little history….(taken from a brochure)

“Approximately 150 million years ago the ocean covered the Coober Pedy region.  After the sea water receded, there were climatic changes that caused the lowering of the underground water tables.  Silica solutions were carried down to deposits in cavities, faults and fractures in the ground and now, millions of years later, these silica solutions have formed into opal.”

The first opal mining pioneers who came to the area could not handle the extreme heat during the day and cold during the night.  They introduced the unique method of living underground in ‘dugouts’.  Since then 60 percent of the population live or do business underground.  It is quite a sight to see.  We even found a Serbian Orthodox Church (my religion) built into the side of a mountain.  It is the only underground church of its kind.  Very cool! 

The majority of the population is European as many migrated after the Second World War.  The opal mines surround the town for miles in all directions.  It is a little eerie in a way because there are thousands of piles of dirt everywhere.  They don’t have to refill the spots they dig up so that they don’t dig in the same spot again.  As we were walking home from dinner we came upon an opal store and I wanted to go in and have them explain how the opals are mined.  Well, we really lucked out and met this mom and son who run the family business.  There names were George and Stella.  The dad actually mined the opals and the son made the opals into beautiful jewellery.  He explained to us how the opals are mined and showed us all the different processes.  I was admiring the rings and noticed that Steve was quite interested in one that was just dazzling.  When we got married I was working for minimum wage and Steve was just starting his fire fighting career so the wedding ring I bought him was nothing extravagant.  When I noticed that he really liked this particular ring I convinced him to get it as his new wedding ring plus his birthday was coming up.  George and his mother were amazing and did not pressure us at all and we were so pleased to buy this ring from this great family.  If you are ever in Coober Pedy do not hesitate to go into Discount Opal House and have a look around!  So, Coober Pedy is a bit of a ‘hick’ town but well worth the stop.  You have to see it to believe it! 

From Coober Pedy we drove to Adelaide and stayed in the city centre.  It is a beautiful, clean city and even though it was raining we really enjoyed it.  We didn’t do much here as we were recovering from all our driving.  It was a very well needed rest stop. 

From Adelaide we drove to Sorrento and on the way passed the Twelve Apostles.  They eroded rock formations on the beach and there use to be twelve but now there are only nine.  One actually just crumbled and fell this year in July.  The pictures tell it all.  The coastal drive from Adelaide to Sorrento is spectacular.  It reminded us of the Amalfi Coast in Italy. 

We caught a ferry across a bay and landed in Sorrento where we are now.  We are staying with Ann and Mel whom we met on the QE2.  They are the most amazing couple I have ever met.  They light up a room when they enter and are full of life and laughter.  We have laughed more in these last three days than we have during our whole trip.  We are having a blast!  Again, we are hoping that they will come see us in June next year as they will be heading to Canada.  Can’t wait to show them our great city! 

Aussie Update

 (Written by Steve) -   received Oct 31

     CANADA                  

“True North Strong and Free”

We landed in Vancouver, Canada on Nov 15, at midnight

(Written by Helen Nov 20, 2005)

I can’t believe we made it.  Well, let me re-phrase that and say, I can’t believe I made it!  To think that all that worrying was for nothing.  Or maybe, because I worried so much we made it fine.  I’m just a little superstitious. 

But really, it is so amazing to be home.  I think Danika phrased it the best by asking us, “Is this a dream or are we really home?”  That is exactly how it feels. 

Our flight from L.A. to Vancouver was truly one of the best flights I have ever been on.  I was a little nervous flying with Alaskan Airlines but it was just great.  It felt like we were just floating on air it was that smooth.  For the first time on our entire trip I got the window seat and I just spent the whole flight looking at all the lights as we glided home. Unfortunately, we arrived at 11:30pm so it was very dark and I couldn’t see any of the landmarks of our great city as we were landing.  When that plane hit the runway I almost burst into tears and to be honest I’m not sure if the emotions were all happy.  It certainly was bittersweet.  I was just elated to be home but at the same time I was so sad that our once in a lifetime, amazing, planned for five years trip was all over.  Back to reality.  How were we going to react?  I have to admit that my nagging sense of dread that I carried with me throughout the trip in anticipation of the flying we had to do, just disappeared.  I actually got down on my knees in the airport terminal and kissed the ground!  I really have come a long way though.  I think back to that flight we took from England to South Africa (the first of three 11+ hour flights) and remember how anxious I was before that flight.  By the time I boarded that flight home to Vancouver my anxiety was a quarter of what it was then.  So maybe I proved that sometimes you have to meet your fears head on and just confront them and maybe they will go away.  Now I’m getting a little too analytical. 

Like I said, it was very late when we landed but my sister and her two boys and my mom were at the airport to greet us.  I am so grateful for that.  That’s one of my favourite things about airports.  I love to watch people come out of customs and be greeted by friends and family.  I always get choked up when I see really emotional reunions. 

We all hugged each other and hugged some more and then we headed to the hotel at the airport and checked into our rooms.  Because we flew in so late we decided to spend the first night at the airport and we booked a room for my family as well.  I slept like a log that night; I guess we were really tired even though spending 5 days in Hawaii did help with the time change and jet lag.  The next morning we had breakfast at Milestone’s at the airport and checked out of our rooms.  My sister works at the airport so she left for work before we even got up.  When we had all our luggage packed up we stood in front of the hotel and took a picture in the same spot where we took it eleven months earlier.  It was hard to believe.  In some ways it feels like it went really fast and in others, it feels like we’ve been gone for years.  Steve and I talked about coming home a lot in the few weeks beforehand and we kept reminding ourselves that when we come home we can’t be talking everyone’s ear off because we have so many stories.  Once we get going it’s hard to stop us.  We’re hoping that our friends and family will tell us when they’ve had enough.

The first full day we were home felt like we were in a fog.  I’m sure it was part jet lag, part excitement and part exhaustion.  I was trying to think of a way to best describe the feeling and it reminded me of how I felt on my wedding day.  I know that sounds a little crazy but it really had that feeling about it.  You feel really happy and excited with a little nervousness added in there.  Plus you are in the main spotlight and everyone wants to talk to you and see you and hug you.  There’s a flurry of activity and excitement and everyone is so happy and you feel on top of the world.  The first few days I felt so happy to be home and that desire to jump on the earliest plane outta town didn’t happen until about four days later.  Once all the excitement dies down, the reality sets in.  When we picked up our mail from Steve’s sister’s house, the pile of letters from collection agencies kind of burst our lovely little bubble.  To make matters worse, these collection agencies were from The States and that made us even a little more concerned.  When Steve had his angiogram done in the States before we left he paid the rather large bill right away.  What we were soon to find out though, was that for some reason the communication broke down and the hospital was never paid.  Hence the collection agencies. After a few nasty phone calls from the bill collectors we were assured that the matter would be handled completely and that it was a mistake on their part and they would rectify the problem right away. 

Another ‘surprise’ was a charge made to one of our credit cards that we did not take with us.  It was charged in July and it was from Telus for some unknown internet charge and boy did that cause us some problems.  People are certainly not interested in what you have been doing in the past year, they just want their money.  American Express still can’t tell us why or how this charge was made but they sent a collection agency after us anyway. 

We also got a speeding ticket in the mail from Australia which wasn’t that surprising.  I was surprised that we didn’t get caught with all the driving we did.  But you never know maybe this one is just the first of many to come through the mail.

We also had some upsetting family matters that occurred while we were away.  It’s unfortunate to see that some things never change.  You feel somewhat removed from emotions when you’re away for so long.  All of a sudden you are thrust back into reality and it kind of throws you for a loop.  I think it will take us a few weeks to get back in the groove of everyday life.  Someone once told me that life is like a merry-go-round and once in a while they just need to jump off and take a break.  That’s how I feel.  I feel like I jumped off the ride for a year and all of a sudden I’m right back on it and it’s going pretty fast.  After reading that last bit I’ve realized that many people will probably be saying, “Oh, please!  Give me a break; your life is not that bad.”  That is not what I am saying.  I know that I am so blessed and fortunate with my life, I’m just trying to express my feelings and the reality is that no matter what it is, sometimes life has its ups and downs, whether those up and downs are trivial or not. 

Anyways, enough serious talk.  We have spent the last few days staying at hotels and a couple of nights at my sister’s new home in Langley.  They bought the house while we were away and I was so happy to see them nicely settled in their perfect home.  It is so cozy and extremely homey.  We really enjoyed our stay.  The kids were beside themselves they were so thrilled to be home hanging out with their cousins and their Nana.  My sister and mom made us an amazing home-cooked meal as a “welcome home” gesture and it was purely heaven!  My mom made her famous cabbage rolls and my sister cooked up a seafood feast.  The wine was flowing and we had an excellent time sitting around the table laughing and talking.  It’s good to be home.

We spent one day out with a realtor in West Vancouver looking at over priced homes.  When we sold our home before we left, Steve thought that the housing market would settle down a bit.  He was wrong.  We have actually laughed out loud when we see what some people are asking for their homes.  It’s outrageous!  On the flip side of that though, on a world scale, Vancouver is really reasonable.  The prices around the world are way higher and if that’s any indication; the prices here are just going to keep going up.  Well, who knows! 

We haven’t found anything yet although a few places have peaked our interest.  We also went to Whistler for one night (without the kids!) and found something interesting there too.  We have a lot to talk about and discuss in the next few weeks and it will be very interesting to see where we end up.  Who knows, maybe we will still be living out of suitcases by the New Year.  Nooooo!!!!

Overall, we are absolutely thrilled to be home.  We have loving families, and a group of great friends and we missed everyone immensely.  We are so happy to back in this city as well.  This time of year is spectacular here.  The air is crisp (about six degrees Celsius), the sky has been blue (no rain), the mountains are topped with snow and the Christmas decorations are out in full force.  It really is the best place in the world and I think I can say that because I’ve seen a fair share of it.  Since we’ve arrived we’ve done a lot of “home” things.  On our first day we went to Costco and looked around.  We have been to The Keg, Red Robin, Starbuck’s, walked Robson Street, watched a hockey game on T.V., and as we drive around the kids yell out all the familiar places they see out the window.  All these things you appreciate so much when you don’t have them for so long.  “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” is very true! 

Looking back at the last year makes me feel very proud of my family.  We could not have done this trip if our kids were not as flexible as they are.  They have matured both physically and more so, mentally and I am so very proud of both of them.  The impact of this trip will never really be known but I can honestly say that it has been the greatest experience I could ever imagine.  It has brought us closer as a family in a way that we could never have achieved had we not done the trip.  We see the world in a different light and hopefully we can take what we have seen and learned and try to make the world just a little better than it is.  I hope it will make my kids want to travel when they are older and I believe it has opened their eyes to so many different cultures and traditions.  Maybe through this understanding they will grow up to be open-minded individuals that appreciate and respect all people and all cultures.  If this happens then this trip was successful. 

We have met so many incredible people on this trip and I can say, without question, that that was the best part.  We had so many people open up their homes to us so freely and we will never, ever forget that.  We know that we have made some friends for life and we hope that each and every one of them know that we will be forever grateful to them for their warmth and hospitality.  To some we were complete strangers and yet they embraced us as if they had known us for years.  Just proof that there are good people with kind hearts out there, all over the world. 

At the beginning I really didn’t like the idea of this website but now I am so grateful that Steve persevered and forced us (me) to do it.  I don’t ever want to forget this experience and now I have it all recorded for us to reminisce about for years to come.  The other fantastic part of it is the correspondence with all the people we met along the way.  I will sit for hours and read all our guest book greetings and remember everyone that we’ve met along the way.

The trip is over now but I think it will be with us forever.  We have so many memories and so many stories and so many pictures, there’s no way we can ever forget it!  What I do have to look forward to now are all the people who promised us that they would come visit us in Vancouver.  We can’t wait to open our home to all our new friends!  We just have to find one!

Just a final Thank You to “Captain” Ron for all the hours of work he put in making this website what it is.  He did such a fantastic job and never once did he complain when Steve sent him 5,000 pictures and a bunch of stories.  He is a very dear friend and we are forever grateful!

To everyone who has followed us, supported us, and send us those wonderful messages in our guestbook. Thank you!

That’s if for now until the next trip………………………………..

(Written by Steve Nov 23, 05)

Well, here we are back in the best country in the world! O.K. maybe not, but you always have to toot your own horn once and a while.

Being back in Vancouver for me is bitter sweet for me too. I could continue to travel for the rest of our lives if I had my way, but it is just not healthy for the kids. If there is one thing we have learned, it is not that healthy for children to travel more than about 6 months. It will be the main topic in the book. If we do a book and it will be named after a phrase we must have heard over a million times, "Are we there yet?".

I am so happy to be home, but we are looking at homes, have serious family matters that have just developed and I am already involved in heart testing at one of Vancouver's major cardiac centers (St. Paul's Hosp.) I start work in just over 30 days, Yikes! So lets just say I find the pace here at home pretty fast.

I am really glad to be back though and get the kids back in school and playing sports. You know, we promised some of folks who have been following us on our little journey that I would continue a Canada story. So check it out in the next few weeks.