Seven in a Tent (ePub)

Study leave in Switzerland, England, Canada and the USA with four children aged 1 to 10 and family friend Gail brought many challenges. At the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology the author lectured on Agricultural Development and the children attended the local German speaking school. Weekends and University holidays were spent travelling. Inexperienced at skiing, Gail almost hit a building. A later loss of keys on a ski slope meant opening the car with a key from a peanut tin. A tent made travelling less expensive. Three of the family were trapped in a mountain lift and had to climb a ladder up the side of the shaft. The car was crashed while stopped at a traffic light in Germany the week they were to leave Switzerland. The insurance was not paid until return to Australia, so in the USA they could only afford a car already with a dent. After a month in Canada—and the wedding of a former student—they followed the Mormon trail across America. Camping with tent walls frozen overnight emphasized the challenges of the pioneers. In warm Hawaii, thieves smashed the window of their hired car and stole Gail's handbag with her passport and air ticket. But a lucky observation and the correct decision recovered it 30 minutes later. Their experiences are accompanied by photographs and snippets of history and family living.