The Brisbane group met in Frankfurt and then travelled to Kiel the next day by Train. The remainder of the group were in Hamburg and travelled to Kiel on the same train. We were very warmly welcomed to Kiel by the Kiel Friendship Force Club members. The afternoon was spent settling in and spending time with our Hosts.

Friday was the champagne reception at the town hall with the mayor and it was a pleasure to present him with the gifts from the Lord Mayor of Brisbane and the Mayor of the city of Redlands. A tour of the town hall followed which was so interesting especially the lift. It goes continually and two people jump in at a time and must be ready to jump out at the required floor. There is no door.

The whole programme at Kiel was just wonderful and places I am sure we would never get to if travelling on ones' own. From a ferry trip on the Fjord Harbour to Laboe and the U-boat Museum, to Plon castle, the Molfsee open air museum, a day in Lubeck to Schleswig and the dome, the fishing village and the castle and Barock Gardens of Gottorf castle, it was just amazing. Lots of walking but that helped keep the weight off with all the beautiful food we were given.

The farewell party was in the form of a welcome party and the Kiel club went to such wonderful arrangements with decorations, entertainment etc making for a very memorable and enjoyable night. Warren from Adelaide had everybody up doing the hokey pokey. The press from the local free paper was there and an article about our journey appeared a couple of days later.

Then it was time to move onto Merseberg and after travelling from morning to mid afternoon we arrived and once again were greeted very warmly by the club members at the station. We were transported to our hosts' homes and had time with them until the next afternoon. Again the programme was well thought out with a variety of functions and walking tours of Leipzig, Dresden, Merseberg, Naumburg, a wine festival in Freyberg and a day in Bad Durrenberg where we learnt about the salt manufacturing of days gone by. We were entertained by a puffet show with a glass of champagne before our lunch and the tour of the salt museum.

The farewell party was a barbeque held in the garden of a member and a great night was had by all. The weather was a little on the chilly side but didn't dampen the spirits of all who attended. Maybe that had something to do with the German beer and wine. Sadly it all came to a close and ambassadors left Merseberg to continue their own travels before coming home.

Report from Richard and Jean Kitchen

This was a highly successful journey, which enabled us to take a closer look at two quite different parts of Germany - Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, in the north of Germany, and Merseburg, in Sachsen-Anhalt, in central Germany, and formerly part of the GDR. Both areas offered an incredible array of historic old cities, beautiful scenery, and a rich culture and history.

Jean and I were very fortunate to have excellent hosts in both areas, who not only looked after us extremely well, but explained the history and culture of their respective areas. We made firm friends with Guenter and Lydia in

Kiel, and with Rudy and Annalies in Merseburg. The host clubs in Kiel and Merseburg went out of their way to provide us with an exceptional experience. Ellie did a fine job as ED, coping very well with at times tricky situations.

Thank you Ellie, for your leadership and good company.