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These past two years we have been enjoying off-season travel to exotic
places like Australia, New Zealand, and Israel. We especially enjoyed
visiting family and the Baha'i Holy Places in Haifa, Israel.
Last year (2009) at this
time we were in New Zealand enjoying the c-c-c-c-c-cold
glaciers, gorgeous lakes and vistas, glow-worms, penguins, alpacas, and
millions and millions of sheep. We rented a camper van and
launched off on our own, visited Baha'is in the communities along the
way and toured the South Island, fixing our own meals along the route. We enjoyed being hosted by a Maori Baha'i family in their
 | | Bart & his mom celebrate their birthdays in Australia |
home and being served a
great Maori feast of pigtail with ground roots and fry bread, almost
exactly the same flavor, style, and ingredients as our local Belizean
fare!!!
We also visited
Australia's Gold Coast to be with Bart's mother and went to the zoo,
shopped, and visited the stunningly delicate and beautiful Baha'i Temple
in Sydney.
 | | Sydney Baha'i Temple |
During last year's
August trip to visit our son, his wife, and kids who serve at the Baha'i
World Center in Haifa, Israel, we enjoyed one of the most memorable
tours of our lives. We drove through the desert to Southern Israel
where you can see Jordan, Arabia, and Egypt, as well as Israel. From there we took an evening excursion via camel into the surrounding desert-mountains.
 | | Bart & Suzi on Camel Ride |
Ascending the camel was one thing --- then ascending the mountains was another. It
was worth it though; the view from the top was incredible. When the sun
dropped, we were suddenly surrounded by desert, stars and blackness.
Fortunately, the camels knew their way home.
 | | Bart's camel |
When we stopped to rest
along the return route, our camel driver made a fire to boil water, then
brought out his special Arab tea cups and served us tea! As
the moon rose over the bald mountains, we drank contentedly while he
prepared and kneeded dough, formed balls and flattened them, and made
Arab bread on a stone by the fire. After the bread was ready, he made a delicious sandwich of Zaatar and yogurt cheese (Lebne). We managed to remount our camels for a dark return from 2000 years back in time. It was an experience of a lifetime!
During the summer of 2010 we held a family reunion in Belize. We
hosted our children and their spouses and children and our
daughter-in-law's sisters and their spouses and children, about 26
people in all!! It's the first time most of them had been in Belize and
it was a wonderful 10 days.
Then we flew off to
Australia to visit Bart's mom again, to San Francisco to attend an
incredible Virtues Workshop by Linda and Dan Popov of the Virtues
Project, and to visit Suzi's brother in Auburn, CA. Then
we flew to Austin, Texas, and on to Colorado where we visited my son and
family, went to the Balloon Festival at Snowmass near Aspen, soaked in
the hot springs at Glendale, and
 | SnowMass Colorado
Suzi & Bart with grandson, daughter-in-law, & son |
enjoyed the mountains, rivers, and passes. Back
in Austin, we took a couple of personal development courses and visited with our daughter, Nadra, and her
family, then flew home to Belize after seven weeks of travel. We were happy to be home!
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