Many thank yous
When planning and going on such a trip many people help. With a few exceptions people were very positive about us making this trip. The number of “do you have space for me as well” reactions would fill at least a doubledecker.The whole organisation absorbs enormous amounts of time. If you want to do something similar you will need at least a year.At random and by no means complete is our thank you list.
Hoesche and Ana who kindly took us in when we were homeless. Hoesche help with the technical preparations and trials of our car. He spend many, many hours during weekends with Idefix instead of going fishing.
Andre and Rosa for cleaning, moving our furniture and bringing us to the airport. Other movers and cleaners like Toni, Ursi and Rene. Pascal for doing the odd job.
Fabi for making all shipping arrangements. Edith, Marianne, Rosa, Bärbel, René, Ursi, Ana, Lari (what’s the recipe?), Hoesche for all the salads, cakes etc. during Up Up And Away.
The staff at the hospital making Agi’s farewell a once in a lifetime experience.
Dr. Stephan Plaschy and Gabriela Collenberg for fixing my arm (it is getting better and better). Dr. Thomas Gaehwiler, Dr. Barbara Krayenbuehl, Dr. Arthur Ruetishauser, The Travelclinic (15 injections each!) and Vreni Buergi for making us fit and prepared for the worst of medical times. When we leave Africa we can probably supply a small clinic with a lot of material they can put to good use.
Very inspiring and helpful have been Wolfgang and Birgit (www.bush-sweepers.org), Idefix would perhaps never been born without them. Lorenz, Thomas and the others at MWM who have been very creative and build our van into a ‘home’(minor point is that we cannot get the gauges of our watertanks to work and some drawers are hard (nail-breaking) to open). Jonas for his valuable tips and patiently sharing his ‘Bremach-experience’ with us
Dirk and Gitta for sharing a container with us, running around Fremantle/Perth and hooking our batteries up again. May your trip be good!
Ernst and Baerbel for taking in Sissy and doing numerous good ‘neighbourly’ things. Both Freis for being good and lenient landlords (we want to come back).
Toni and Andi for negotiating a good deal with my previous employer while I was basking in the sun, so to speak.
Our friends Marcel and Andrea for being our mailbox, accountants and Swiss caretakers. Hans doing a similar job in Holland, Muriel for investing wisely and very, very profitable.
Erich Christ for preparing our car and supplying me with so much documentation on Idefix that, once I have read and understood it all, I can open up a garage or even start manufacturing cars!
Julia, Markus and Joel for being good friends and booklenders. With every cup of coffee Joel is smiling…
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Mark Twain [Samuel Langhornne Clemens] (1835-1910)