Germany

On our last day in France, we headed to the pick up point for our 2nd
leased car, a Renault Megane. We made a small mistake and took the wrong
metro line, entailing a long walk with luggage to find the pick up point.
However, it was all worthwhile as the car is a beauty. Very economical,
keyless entry and goes well on the German Autobahns. If you have driven on
these wonderful roads, you will realise that our 160kph is slow by
comparison with the locals.

We stayed in Meckenheim, near Mannheim with Dorothea and Hans Renz.
Dorothea's mother is my father's cousin. We had a great time together
visiting, eating and trying the local wines. The region is full of
vineyards, vegetable gardens and beautiful autumn colours. Thanks to their
satellite navigation, Ross and I travelled to Speyer a great town on the
Rhine River and watched the world go by for a while. We also had a great
Sunday outing together to the VulcanEifel area near Koblenz where there
are volcanic craters, great walks and a museum to delight every
volcanologist.

We also visited Dorothea's parents in their nursing home and I learned
some more about my dad's side of the family from one of few remaining of
my dad's generation.

Monday was a travel day north to Bielefeld where my cousins Uwe and Dieter
live with their families. Most of the journey went according to plan, but
a little glitch at the end meant a call for help to Uwe. Today Ross bought
a satellite nav system which we will load with Aussie software when we get
home. This will make our travels in Berlin, and eastern Europe a lot surer
and keep our marriage in tact!!

We have had a great time in Bielefeld getting to know our family again, particularly the new children. Uwe and Andrea have two beautiful daughters, Emilia aged 2 and learning new things every day and Alicia who is 3 weeks old, Emilia and Ross have been learning some new German words together. Dieter and Ina and their son Patrick have also been spending time with us. We also visited their father, Onkel Gerd who is in a nursing home having had a stroke 3 months ago. We were very pleased to be able to visit Gerd and talk to him, particularly about his visit to Australia many years ago.