A year ago we talked about it, and the planning and this big trip it together took about 7 months, and it was a lot of work and fun! Once we had the airlines, places we wanted to see and put the dates wanted in order, paid the price and had the tickets issued; we had to reserve the hotels, B & B.’s, Time-shares, and arrange private visits. And car rentals! That took a lot of time. Much was done via the "internet" and it worked out fine. The Airlines that we decided to use were, as main airlines, North West & KLM, plus the others that share them, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand, South African, Kenya Air, United Arab Emirates and Iberia. The nice thing about this is, you pay one price and then can use all these as you require them for your journey. One could fly around-the-world along the Northern Hemisphere for about $ 3500 (Canada.) -compare that to long-distance return flights. It really is a bargain, considering long-distance one-way fares anywhere!

Other preparations were, besides the passport (valid for 6 months beyond any entry) Vaccination for Hepatitis A and B, Cholera and Malaria (mostly for Kenya); payment for bills had to be arranged, etc. and we planned to be in England for Christmas with my wife’s sister/brothers. And we also planned to visit her son in New Zealand, who is (was) there for 1 year as a school-teacher exchange.

So off we went on Oct. 11 with NW via Detroit, Seattle to Hawaii and we stayed there on the unspoilt North coast for a few days. Of special interest was the drive into the volcano "Diamond Head" and the walk up to the top for a beautiful view, partly through tunnels; took 2 hrs. one way. And a visit to the Polynesian Village. Hawaii, great, at any time. Warm and sunny. 

On Oct. 15 we continued with NW to Tokyo and crossed the "International Date Line", where you loose a day - and since my wife had her birthday on that day - she missed it, of course, but the crew of the plane knew about it (take a guess) and nearly all of them came (10) and sang "Happy Birthday" even though the day was gone.

We landed in Tokyo after 8 hrs. (on the 16th) and stayed near the airport overnight and visited the beautiful religious shrines in Narita nearby. And we had good weather to enjoy it. We got a taste of Japanese punctuality and super courtesy, a bit much. On Oct. 17 we continued with Cathay Pacific (excellent service) to Hongkong and were there for 3 days. We visited also shrines and the "New Territories" between Hongkong and China itself, and although all of it is part of China, there still is a border to control immigration to Hongkong, which with 8 mill. people, is overcrowded.

The Brauns in Tokyo 

We also visited the Hongkong island and Victoria Peak, from where you have a most wonderful view over the city. It was warm and humid and the people are friendly / nice. The ships to and back from the island are free for Seniors. To and from the airport is a very fast and modern train which takes you to Kowloon (where we stayed) in 22 min. and to (under) the island in 28. Wouldn’t it be nice if Toronto had such a connection to the airport!!

Then came the 10 hr. overnight-flight to Australia (Sydney) and further with Air N.Z. to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. There we were greeted by the family of my wife’s son and we spent a lot of time with them. The next day we took the "Top Cat" (hydrofoil) to the North coast of the South Island were a "bach" was rented for the long-weekend (Labour Day) - which is a cottage - and the weather and scenery are fjord-like (on a small scale); we did some hiking, too.  The following week we rented a car and toured the North Island (alone) and visited such places like Rotorua (hot springs) and the active volcanoes and the west coast (New Plymouth) - with its own volcano - before returning to Wellington. In N.Z. there are 3 Mill. people and 30 Mill. sheep.

A handshake with the locals  

Driving, well they drive crazy and much to fast for those curving 2-lane roads with 100 km/h posted everywhere. There are many one-lane bridges with signs as to right-of-way. The 2^nd week we flew to Christchurch on the South Island with Heather’s son (Andy) and rented a car and drove into the "Southern Alps", a mountain chain similar to Switzerland (Mt. Cook 3 800 m)! and beautiful fjords of Milford Sound (a cruise) and glaciers with names like "Franz Josef" (named by an Austrian.) There is a bird "Kea", which will take your tires apart (by puncturing it) if you happen to park it in an area where they are. (happens quite often). 

New Zealand is fairly cheap for us; we took 2 BR., w. kitchen and Living Room units and paid only $ 90-100 Canada. p/n. I took a train through the "Alps", (railway-fan) while the others contin’d by car and we met in Christchurch. There are no dangerous animals in NZ (unlike Australia) so nothing much can happen. You get a 90-day tourist visa and cannot work.

The Southern Alps in New Zeland

Nov. 5 we flew back to Sydney (3 hrs.) Australia and continued. Stayed at Bondi Beach, where a lot of Olympic activities took place, rented a car and drove in southerly direction towards Melbourne and stayed at a T.S. in the mountains near Mansfield (Film: Man from Snowy River) and enjoyed that area. Then on to Melbourne City and Brighton (on the ocean) visiting the cousin of my wife, who she had never met. (They immigrated from England 50 yrs. ago) and had a couple of nice days there. 

Then we headed North into the "Outback", which is pretty bleak. Took 3 days to the "Gold Coast" that way and even went to a small church Sunday at 11, where we did’nt understand much what was said due to the dialect. Australia has the most poisonous animals in the world. There are many such snakes, (some deadly) - like the Taipan - and also poisonous spiders, like the red-back (deadly in 1 hr.), the funnel-web and others. And they are around the cities, too, like Sydney and Brisbane. They seem to stay of the way of people and no one seemed much concerned about it; we certainly didn’t see any. West of the "Outback" is the roughly 2 000 miles of desert, with a dry and hot climate. Northern Aussie is jungles and that is where the crocodiles are.

Not many tourists go there. For Australia we managed to get an "Electronic Visa" by telephone and had it in a few minutes. It is stored Down Under at the immigration offices. You don’t need vaccinations, etc. Australia has (like Canada/USA) a multitude of original. foreign nationals; # 1 are Greeks, then Italian, German, etc.

We then spent a week in Coolangatta on the Gold Coast and enjoyed it very much! Through this little town’s main street runs the border of New South Wales and Queensland. There are signs not to bring fruits and fruit-flies into each other’s State and searches are done by police. Good surfing on the Gold Coast! North of Coolangatta is "Surfers’ Paradise", a city with high buildings (Hotels) and a lot of noise and traffic for the younger ones. Much warmer than Sydney, about 30, just right........

We then flew back to Sydney with "Quantas" and stayed there for 3 days and took tours into the "Blue Mountains" about 2 hrs. west from Sydney and went into the bush with a 4-wheel drive van and had a real Aussie man, language and dress to guide us, and met some of the Aborigines. Did a lot sight-seeing in town, too, especially the famous Opera House and also went to (and up) the "Centre Point", Sydney’s answer to the CN-Tower (but only half as high), but still impressive with a restaurant/observation platforms. Sydney has an excellent transport system, street-cars, subway lines, monorail, electr. trains and buses. They also have a new electric train to their airport.

Oct. 22 we took the long flight (14 hrs.)!! from Sydney to Johannesburg, South Africa with their airline SAA. We stayed there (out of town) only a day (24 hrs.) and took a taxi into "Soweto" township and were also shown the downtown of Jo-burg, (very drab). In Soweto we saw Tutu’s church in detail, shown by local people to us and also Winnie Mandela’s house, where she lived and often were shot at from the hills. Wound up at a typical SA bar where tourist gather for chat and fun.

Next day we boarded SAA again to fly to Nairobi, Kenya, (also drab centre) and stayed overnight again out-of-town. We then boarded a Kenya Airlines plane for Mombasa on the coast (Indian Ocean) for a week of TS. One could see Kilimanjaro Mtn. perfectly from the plane; it is over 6000 m high and flat on top and is snow-covered. Mombasa was hot and humid and we had a TS. there, too. We took a mini-safari and went snorkeling in the Indian Ocean, (lots of fish-all colours). On the road once we were stopped by police - they wanted money - (No)! and there is also a lot of poverty around town and the villages. One thing they don’t have in Kenya are race-problems (like in South Africa).

On Dec. 1 we flew back to Nairobi and on to Dubai on United Arab Emirates Airline. Excellent service! They also don’t cheat on seating arrangements; lots of leg-room space in any class. We needed a visa for the UAE and picked it up at the airport. The hotel was responsible for us and they took our passports and did’nt give them back to us until we were on the way back to the airport. The UAE is only 20 years old; they formed a country out of 9 Emirates of oil-kingdoms and they are very prosperous. Hardly any un-employment! Also, you can walk around anywhere in complete safety; this is a very strict society. In town you could’nt see any women or children (they have their own gathering places) and the beaches on the Persian Gulf (where our hotel was) are white sand, clean water (the best we’ve seen) and low waves; the fish swim between your legs when in the water. Dubai also has the most modern airport in the whole Middle-East. One problem we encountered, we were there during "Ramadan" and that means no food from sunrise to sunset and that included tourists!! So we were often warned - and very strongly so - by religious people and police to put the bottle of water or a fruit away in public, that included beaches and in town. For inside the hotel is was different, there you could eat and drink. This was one of the highlights of our trip and we glad, that we went there. The beaches are full of mostly British tourists. Look for a job? (Teaching)? Go to UAE

5 days later we took the UAE plane with their wonderful service and on to Rome, a 7 hr. flight! We were in Rome for 5 days and took a side-trip to Florence with the impressive city centre. Between that and Rome (and the food/wine) - bennissimo - ! we walked around Rome, took the street-car, buses, Metro, and saw all the sights, Navona Square, Pantheon, Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, Colosseum and, of course, St. Peters. And even the Pope!! Since our hotel was 2 blocks from the Vatican, we wrote a letter asking for an audience; expecting a No answer; well, we got a YES and we had special reserved seats not far from the Pope. There were 130 newly-wed couples who went to the Pope for a blessing plus others and the Pope spoke in 14 languages to the groups that addressed him. Unfortunately, we did not get the same chance..... We also climbed to the top of St. Peters’, (inside) for a beautiful view and the Sistine chapel about 1 km away is just out of this world.........

From Rome it was on to Amsterdam with KLM - overnight at the airport-hotel - and went into town by train and took a cruise along the canal. Then, next day we flew with KLM to Madrid and on with Iberia to Tenerife (Canary Islands) which is off the coast of NW-Africa parallel to S.-Morocco. We were very pleasantly surprised there. Again, nice beaches, (and lots of European tourists) because of the perfect weather, 29 C. and 100% sunny conditions all along. Had a whole week there, again using a TS-exchange, right on the ocean. With the rented car we did some travelling and discovered the mountainous west-side and also the "El Teide" volcano in the middle a high altitude. And relaxed. Found good food and pleasant people there and everyone is happy with conditions like that..........

Then back to Madrid and by train to Seville. We used the AVE-train (Alta Velocidad Espanol) - high-speed train, similar to those in France. Spain has come a long way regarding train travel; it used to be horrible at one time and to-day it is a pleasure! The train makes the trip in 2 hrs.!! And travels around 300 km/h. Seville, of course, was marvelous! We took a horse and buggy ride around town and then discovered it by foot. Especially the cathedral. Even walked up to the top on stairways. We even "gate-crashed" a wedding of a young couple and the ceremony and music was just super lovely.

Now we slowly come to the end of this world-trip. Back to Madrid, then by plane to Amsterdam and by train to Brugge (Bruges) in Belgium (we loved the wonderful trains in Holland and Belgium) - you don’t need a car there - a very old and famous little city, a pleasure to see and walk around! And good food! (Try some Belgian chocolate). After a day there we continued by train the 12 mins. to the coast, Oostende, where the train almost drives onto the ship; a Hydrofoil, makes the crossing to England in less than 2 hours. (Dover). We noticed most people buying beer by the cases, and wine, too. In Dover we saw people loading these onto Vans and little trucks and it is quite legal, since Britain is in the Common Market and people can import these things and others, too. We rented a car, stayed overnight at a "Post House" and next day went to sight-see in Canterbury (the cathedral) and then continued to my wife’s sister in Welwyn north of London (toward Cambridge) for the Christmas holidays. It was the first time in 48 yrs. that she had spent Christmas in England with them. Her brothers are there, too, so we had quite nice family gatherings here or there. I took off one day to London (by train, of course) and using a travel-card, saw places, I had seen before, like Tower of London, Westminster, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly, Buckingham Palace, again, and two new things, for me, the British Museum (great)!, and the London "Eye", a huge ferries-wheel along the Thames River overlooking the city and with a beautiful view. Enjoyed many a "Pub"

while in England. But then the time came to go to the airport (Stansted) for the return flight (via Amsterdam) and back to Toronto. The final chapter of our great trip. And all this without any mishaps; no sickness, no cold, no accident. we have much to be thankful for! Thanks be to God!!!

hbraun@ionsys.com