1st leg of Journey Complete - Globeriders Summary

At the end of our first leg through Africa and Southern Europe and having been on the road for 9 months, we have a reprieve in wet Ireland, a chance to rest our weary bones, earn some hard currency and await the arrival of Spring. We will set forth again in mid April 2008, starting in Belgium and through central, northern and eastern Europe before heading to the Middle East and Asia. We have been blessed to have experienced the raw beauty and energy of Africa , its many tribes and people with their welcoming hearts. Europe's history, architecture and art have guided us along our voyage in life, hopefully to a higher level of appreciation and consciousness.

Since being in Ireland we had to say a sad farewell to Eddie and Deidre, who returned to New Zealand as they were unable to secure employment in the UK. We hope to meet up again in South America and we all miss them a great deal already.

We give thanks to all from South Africa and the many travellers we met along this journey who enriched our lives, and our guardian angels who protected us along the way.

Our hats go off to our partners for their support and tenacity as teachers, navigators and incredible chefs in the smallest of kitchens - but above all, their similar infinite passion to travel and see sight after sight.

Our children have really surprised and impressed us with their strength and capacity to adapt and enjoy despite difficulties such as spending hours in the vans, tiresome sightseeing, the absence of their usual friends and comforts of home. The trip has always primarily been a dream of spending time with our most precious loved ones and to savour it, before life's finality or the magnetism of the 'modern' way of life, in search of more materialism, engulf us.

The toughest price to pay was not liquidating all our worldly possessions to finance this dream, or living out of a space the size of a small bathroom, BUT the absence of our friends, close relatives and endearing parents. But we are incredibly lucky and thankful to have this opportunity to live our dream and see the world.

Our journey has been a bridge out into the unknown facilitating meetings and new understanding of so many things and we hope our wanderings will further lead us to new adventures and to find new perspectives on peoples and cultures in search of knowledge.