From Bari, we drove across the country to Salerno and followed up the coast through Naples, to Pompeii. There we found an Australian couple parked outside the entrance to the excavations. We parked our vans close together so that, when both side doors were open, we could move from van to van. We had a very happy and pleasant evening sharing stories and a meal together. Pompeii is a must for all visitors to Italy, You step back two thousand years into history. On we went to Rome and Pisa, climbed the leaning tower of Pisa and traveled east again to the interesting city of Florence. There we saw a number of Michelangelo's unfinished sculptures and the famous David, Venice was also very interesting, At high tide we noticed that the sea water encroached over St. Marks Square. Venice is slowly sinking into the sea. We loved Italy, particularly Rome and all the evidence of its history, the engineering brilliance and artistry of the Romans, The Coliseum would hold 5,000 people. Its walls are still standing after 2,000 years.

Greece is another interesting country which we traveled to on another occasion. We took a ship from northern Italy to Patrai in southern Greece, At Delphi I ran the hundred meter Olympic track as fast as I could but set no record.

This time we had a British Bedford van which developed engine trouble on the hills. The motor was misfiring badly. No garage was able to fix the motor. One man pointed to the distributor and said "kaput". We thought, surely we could get it fixed in Athens so it could wait. With a misfiring engine, we continued sight-seeing to the ruins of Mycenae and north over the Corinth canal to Athens. After wasting hours trying to get the van fixed or find an agent for Bedford parts, we gave up and went sightseeing. We visited a museum, then the Parthenon and took a hydrofoil to a Greek Island. Having a faulty motor took the shine off sightseeing. Other travelers told us of people having to wait a week or more for parts to be flown out from England-People in Athens advised us that we would have to buy vouchers at the Yugoslavian border for all the petrol we would need travelling through that country and should allow at least two hours time at the border. The motor problem did not seem to be getting worse so we pressed on, changing gears on every small hill. We hadan appointment in England so needed to hurry north.

We were near the Yugoslav border as the evening approached, so decided not to cross until the morning. We turned off the motorway and followed a rough track over rocky land to be a little distance away from traffic noise. As we settled for our evening meal we could hear the tinkling of bells and could see flocks of sheep coming towards us and passing under the motorway. Each flock of about fifteen or twenty sheep was led by a shepherd who was walking in front. One of them seemed to be curious so I held up a bottle of wine inviting him to join us. He spoke no English and we spoke no Greek but it is surprising how much one can say in sign language helped with a glass of wine and the use of maps. All the sheep just hung about nibbling the odd blade of grass, waiting for him and only moved when he started walking home again. It was a beautifully clear evening; the fading light of day, followed by a canopy of bright stars and the distant sound of the tinkling bells on each sheep, made it a magic evening,

We talked about bringing up children. We concluded that they should be led like the shepherds lead their sheep and should not be driven by force. They need constant love, approval, trust, total acceptance and encouragement. They will not then need punishment or criticism. The world is in need of social change.

After crossing the border we camped in the city of Skopje, Yugoslavia. In the morning we discovered we ad a flat front tyre. After changing to the spare of doubtful quality, we called on a number of garages but no one would fix the tyre for us. Each garage attendant told us that another garage a few kilometres further on would do it for us. The first garage we encountered in Austria gladly fixed it but the motor had to wait until we got to England. We decided that we would never tour Europe again with an English built motor van.

London is of tremendous interest to those of English ancestry, Elaine, who had lived in London, was keen to visit a pub in Earls Court which had good memories for her. We parked the van under a tree with two wheels on bricks in the gutter to level us up. Later we returned and settled down for the night. We heard noises on the roof and thought that leaves or nuts were falling on us but did not worry. In the morning the dustman walked by singing "Men of Harlech, Wake from Slumber". He knew damn well that we were sleeping there. When we got outside, we discovered the cause of the noise of the night. The pigeons had painted our red van a spotty white for us!

At Grenwich we found the perfect English gentleman. After standing on the zero longitude and Viewing ancient navigation equipment, we settled ourselves in an empty car park for the night. About seven o'clock the park quickly became full and at half past eight emptied again except for a Jaguar car next to us. By ten o'clock we were in bed and heard a small noise next door. Peeking out we could see our neighbour pushing his car away from us before starting the engine. He did not want to disturb us. The most backward country we visited would be China which we toured in I985. We traveled by train for twenty odd hours from Beijing to Xian to see the terra cotta soldiers. It was very informative traveling through the open countryside. While most of the farms appeared fertile and houses were of brick, there seemed to be a complete absence of machinery, electricity or good roads. The larger cities were filled with thousands of bicycles but few cars. Public transport was jammed with people, far more densely than would be allowed under our traffic laws. Wheeled carts were drawn by donkeys with litter bags under their tails. Three wheeled cycles with trays spread between the back wheels were loaded with incredible quantities of goods.

In the city of Nanjing we noticed half a dozen men building a concrete footpath by hand. They did not even have a hand mixer to help them. All the concrete was mixed by shovel on the ground- Using sign language I took a shovel and mixed a pile of concrete for them. They thought it a great joke and stood around laughing. So I have a permanent slake in China! We came away with the realisation that this huge nation is waking up to the modem world. It has had many years of restriction in a social straight jacket of tradition. We felt sure it is destined to be a major economic, political and possibly military power in the world in the near future.

Another interesting country was Kenya which we visited in I988 with Elaine's anthropology class and Dr. Gary Tunnell as leader, Nairobi is only a couple of degrees below the equator yet its height ensures a very pleasant climate. Unfortunately I picked up a stomach bug from some un-boiled water and had to return to Nairobi some days before the tour was completed. We were long enough with the group to spend several days in the Serengeti, We were all traveling in four wheel drive ex-army trucks. The animals did not seem to be disturbed by our noisy machines. They would just go on eating and wandering about within thirty or forty metres of the trucks. The Serengeti is a vast area of rolling grass country scattered with acacia trees and thorn bushes. Large herds of animals separated into their kinds roamed over the countryside. The spaces between each species was considerable. We saw where lions had killed a buffalo and approached the kilt. As soon as the lions had had their fill and retired, the hyenas nervously took over. We could hear them crunching the bones in their powerful jaws. The vultures were a little way back waiting for their turn. By evening nothing would be left of that large buffalo.

Egypt was another place of great fascination for an anthropologist. Its recorded history goes back over 4,500 years, the oldest history of any present day nation. We flew from London to Cairo in an Egyptian plane, the dirtiest we have ever experienced. Cairo Museum was wonderful. We felt we could have spent a week there. The beauty and design of ancient Egyptian art and sculpture has always enchanted me. There is something clean and powerful about it which fascinates me.

The artifacts which came out of Tutankhamen's tomb astounded us. You imagine his funeral mask of 110 kgs solid gold inlaid with semi-precious stones! Among the treasures was a folding camp bed and, would you believe it, boomerangs! We had thought they were exclusive to Australia. On we went to see the Pyramids, one of which we entered to the burial chamber at its centre. Our tour extended up to Luxor, the Valley of the Kings and by ship on the Nile to the Aswan Dam, Our tour was only eight or ten days but it has left an indelible impression. You can buy many good books covering all aspects of Egyptian archaeology but there is nothing quite like seeing it for oneself,

In mid I994 we went again to England and stayed with Elaine's sister Marie and her husband Denis. Marie lent us her nice new little car to tour the south of England for ten days. The south country is very peaceful and beautiful. We spent each night in Bed and Breakfast accommodation. It was the first time we had done this and thought it was equal to our N.Z. motels but with the extra advantage of receiving a hot breakfast. We enjoyed meeting a variety of English people in a more intimate way.

One of the early centers of the Roman conquest of England was at Fishboume. We visited what is left of a Roman palace. The extensive mosaic floors are very impressive, Fishboume is on the sea and would have provided easy access to southern England

Our next point of interest was the great seaport of Portsmouth and its ancient ships. Lord Nelson's Flagship Victory' and the 'Mary Rose', The 'Mary Rose' was recently salvaged from the sea floor where she lay for over 400 years. We then drove north to Old Sarum near Salisbury and Bideford in Devon near where my mother was born. We could not go back to Kent before visiting again the lovely city of Bath on the river Avon. The old Roman baths are still there and some of them hold hot water for the tourists to see. Bath is my favourite English city.

Back with Marie and Denis, we collected our tickets for an eleven day tour of Russia. We flew from London to St.Petersburg by British Airways, From the airport we were taken by bus to the M.V. 'Sergej Kirov' on the river Neva. The ship is run by the Swiss and is I29,25 metres long and I6.75 metres wide. The cabins had two beds and a combined toilet, shower and hand basin. Our accommodation for the next ten nights was clean and the food was of good standard. We were to travel by canals, rivers and lakes for over I200 kilometres, all the way to Moscow,

Two exciting, full days were spent sightseeing in St.Petersburg. The city is built on 42 separate islands. There are 70 canals spanned by over 300 bridges. When we first arrived, it felt like stepping back twenty years. all the cars looked like ancient Ladas. The roads and large housing blocks looked neglected. Much of the grandeur and contents of the Hermitage Museum is attributed to Catherine the Great. Whenever her ambassadors travelled abroad, they were instructed to attend art auctions and buy. buy, buy. The result is that the Hermitage Museum boasts the biggest collection of art work and antiquities In the world. The beauty, grandeur and amazing contents of the Hermitage are breathtaking. Considering the poverty of the Russian people during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the wealth and beauty of the museum seemed to us to be obscene. The extravagance is so extreme. But that is the history of Russia. Its people have been the victims of unscrupulous and arrogant rulers for many generations.

The 'Sergej Kirov' travelled mostly in late afternoons and at night while we slept. Nearly every morning buses would be alongside to take us to the various places of tourist interest in the towns we passed. Everywhere we went there were Russian Orthodox Churches. They are mostly museums now, some have been returned to the religious leaders. Religion still seems to have a strong hold on the people.

We had public lectures and private talks with Prof. William Copeland of the Helsinki University about the history and future of Russia. We also received a lot of information from our guide, Sergei. His comment about the Russian people was that they did not understand competition and had lost all sense of initiative, many wanted to return to communism. We felt that the people were bewildered or stunned by the change of the political philosophy. For three generations they have been told where to work, to live and what they may, and may not do or think. We saw old ladies begging in the street. Prof. Copeland explained that the currency has devalued so much that old age pensions are not enough for their needs. He regularly gave them what he could.

Our ship passed through the full length of the Rybinsk Reservoir. It is a man-made lake, covering 4,500 square kilometres of productive land. The project was turned over to Stalin's notorious Committee of Internal Affairs which administered the forced labour of GULAG prisoners. One 'worker' recalls the job site, "There were chains of guards everywhere. They watched all the prisoners, most of whom were charged with article 58 (political dissent). They were very educated people. Maybe that's why they died so quickly - because it was more difficult for them to bear the unfairness of it. The food was awful. About I00 people died per day."

Before reaching Moscow Canal we passed along a portion of the Volga River. In ail we had traversed I7 locks and rose I62 meters, Moscow is a big and busy city. We spent two whole days sightseeing there. The volume and beauty of its arts and treasures almost equals that of St. Petersburg, The skyline is often strikingly picturesque, even majestic. We walked around and about Red Square and spent an hour or more within the Kremlin, its wails enclosed 27.5 hectares. There are several beautiful Cathedrals within the Kremlin walls which are now Museums. Russia seemed to us to lack the vitality and drive we saw in China. Yet it is a country with huge natural resources, I would hate to live there.

Before leaving England we went through eighteen state rooms in Buckingham Palace. The state rooms were grand and contained beautiful paintings and fabulous objects of art, perhaps of a lesser scale than we saw in Russia. On the way home to New Zealand, we spent a couple of days sightseeing in Bangkok, Thailand. There too, the intricate and beautiful work on their Buddhist temples is fantastic. The temples, however are not kept for private use but for all the people. They become national treasures.

My former wife Ruth, whose birthday is seven days after mine, joined us at our granddaughter Kiri and husband Graham's home for our eightieth birthdays celebration party. Two of our sons flew over from Australia with their families for the occasion. In all, the party comprised seventeen adult persons who are bound together by family lies, genuine interest and love for each other. As I looked on the happy and honest faces of my family I felt proud and confident of the future. As far back as I can go in our history, I know of no one who has been in trouble with the law or brought dishonour to the family name.

I published my first book 'Liberty to Live' in I980 and a second book 'To Hell With God?' at the end of I99I. Both books have sold out. I have retained a few copies for family and friends. The title, To Hell With God?' is too confrontational for many. As Elaine and I approached buyers in the shops we visited and presented 'To Hell With God?', a few buyers would step back and refuse to touch it. It is frightening for some to have their faith questioned. People tended not to see the question mark after the title which is a pity. But the content is good research, i have also written a number of articles some of which have been published in magazines.

I was offered a two hour slot on Pacific Talk Back Radio which was an interesting experience. Shortly afterwards I was rung up by George Pirie and invited to join the Humanist Society. So we found a new group of open-minded thinking friends who follow high ethical standards similar to our own. Our latest Joint adventure is to take a philosophy paper at the Tamaki branch of the Auckland University.