2015 in pictures
Extra photos to our Christmas letter 2015
Please scroll down to view the album.
December 2014
Christmas tree at John and Tina's apartment in Mörschwil
No it is not wine in the glasses.
The Cassidy family singers. The children also love singing.
Tina and Elisabeth.
Elisabeth found this gorgeous dress for Elaine in France
Dinner in Davos with Miriam and André
Christmas surprises.
Miriam and André
This tree is just outside the apartment in Davos and looks delightful with the snow and the lights.
Sleighride in the Sertig valley. Miriam, Elvira and Harald.
Elisabeth and Kerry
Outside the Restaurant Bergführer
January 2015
View from our balcony in Davos
The balcony in Romanshorn was similar!
Celebrating in Davos with Cynthia, Elisabeth, Rosemary and Michael.
Michael and Kerry
Change to red wine!
Walking in the Sertig Valley
Cynthia in the Sertig.
Sertig Sand. A Summer alp settlement, also beautiful in Winter!
Railway viaduct at Davos Wiesen, over a hundred years old.
Pedestrians on the viaduct.
Elaine on the sled.
Liam at the start of his ski lessons. Here practising with Oma
Wow!
Elaine
Later in the day after a run on the ski lift with Papa
Elaine has found an Aussie friend!
February 2015
The logo for 150 years winter sport in Davos
Picture show outside the Congress Centre.
Display of old sleds and bob sleds in the Congress Centre
Sleds and skis on display.
Romanshorn. The sea gull is actually standing on ice just under the water.
Ice art beside the yacht harbour.
Ice sculptures on the trees and seats following a few cold windy days.
Elisabeth cooling off.
The back of the seat.
March 2015
Open day to show the renovations and extensions to the shipyard in Romanshorn
Elaine trying out a soap box racer.
Annina III ready for launching.
April 2015
We were able to launch her early in April.
Easter at John and Tina's place, Liam reading.
Liam and Elaine
Liam with Elisabeth
Elaine and Liam playing. Note the hands, they get on very well, most of the time!
Elaine in the dress she received for Christmas.
Back in Davos with the Karlstrom family. Here we are in the Sertig Valley
Anders, Ritva, Maja and Hanna.
Anders at the end of the valley with the waterfall in the centre background.
Anders and Hanna tried a bit of cross country skiing.
Maja
Elisabeth
Ritva, Erik, Elisabeth, Anders and Maja
Anders
Erik flying high. He did this many times but unfortunately the last time he landed a bit hard.
Ouch!
The moon over Rinerhorn, taken from our balcony.
Back on the lake for the first outing, Liam on the wheel.
Elaine had a go too.
John and Tina's new house in Mörschwil, 30 years old but beautiful.
Elaine helping Opa install parkett in the bedroom.
Nearly finished!
May 2015
Zürich airport 8th May, our plane waiting.
Elisabeth with Mario and Marianne
The northern great circle route took us straight across the middle of Greenland then down over North West Territories.
We had fantastic weather with great views of the frozen Fiords of Greenland.
This was our floating hotel for a week, from the 9th to the 16th May
The ship was the Noordam
Early morning on the observation deck, just before morning exercises in the fitness centre.
It wasn't very crowded at this stage
In Juneau we took a flight on a float plane to view five of the 28 glaciers that decend from the Juneau Icefield
The views were fantastic! Here we look up the Taku Glacier which is actually advancing
and here we look back down towards the ocean.
This was a shorter glacier.
This was a great view. Look to the right of the photo right back onto the icefield.
Again looking back to the Juneau Icefield
An arial view of our ship.
From Skagway we took the White Pass and Yukon train over the White Pass, where the miners travelled by foot in 1898.
View from the train.
Gaining altitude we had a little more snow.
We were pleased to learn that the train no longer passes over this viaduct, but over another bridge and then through a tunnel.
For the return trip we travelled by bus. This is the border to Alaska.
Back in Skagway
Cruising in Glacier Bay National Park. Fantastic!
One spectacular view after another. Here the John Hopkins Glacier.
The tongue of Margerie Glacier
Margerie Glacier calving
Looking up the Margerie Glacier from the upper deck of the ship.
Sitting on the aft deck of the Noordam.
Note how smooth the surface is in the protected waters of the inside passage.
Celebrating aboard!
40 years Kerry and Elisabeth
After returning to Vancouver we picked up our motor homes for the next three weeks.
The first week was spent on Vancouver Island. Here we are on a Bog Walk at Pacific Rim National Park
Large trees!
Beautiful beaches
Long beach.
Wow!
Large trees make for large driftwood.
Cathedral Grove
The tallest tree, around 800 years old.
Another big one.
Camping in Goldstream Provicial Park just outside Victoria.
Osoyoos in the Okanagen Valley. What a view and great food. I had Bison!
Lake Louise, unfortunately a bit cloudy.
Lake Louise
Moraine Lake, reflections. The water level was quite low.
Our place in Tunnel Mountain Campground. What a view!
Maligne Lake with Spirit Island in the background.
Mount Robson, at 3954 m, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.
Celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary at Mt. Robson Provincal Park, Robson Meadows Campground.
No, the dog is not real!
Helmcken Falls in Wells Gray Provincial Park. This also looks spectacular in winter.
Elisabeth on skis at Whistler. Don't look at the shoes!
Kit Price with Elisabeth, Marianne and Mario at Whistler Mountain Peak 2 Peak gondola.
Peak 2 Paek top station at Whistler mountain.
The ride across to Blackomb Mountain 4.4 km away.
The cables were all made in Romanshorn by Fatzer Ropes!
Vancouver, view from the Harbour Centre tower.
Looking down on Canada Place where our cruise started and finished.
Reflections, Vancouver.
Waiting to board.
June 2015
Elaine and Liam
Liam
Ready to ride
Liam on his bike.
July 2015
Anthony reading to Liam
Elisabeth on the foredeck with John Liam and Elaine
Liam and Elisabeth cooling off.
Elaine showing John how to play the memory game. Look at the bundle in her left hand!
John also about to cool off.
August 2015
Miriam and André's farewell party in Constance
Elisabeth with Emma Ruckstuhl
Miriam and Constanze
Miriam with Evi and Johannes
André with a fan.
Mmm!
Group near the swimming place in Constance.
Our home in Aix-en-Provence, about 12 minutes by bus from Miriam's apartment.
Dinner with Miriam and André in one of the many good restaurants in Aix.
Miriam's dining room with a view looking down over the trees. Note the French windows.
These were later replaced with new double glazed windows.
The living room.
On the way home, parking at Seillans.
We had to wind our way through the small streets to get here at the top of town.
View from the park place.
Checking out the concert possibilities.
This is the concert we came to hear.
Wendy ( Chiara's mother) warming up.
Matthias Enderle with Chiara
Beautiful music
Father and daughter
Parking in Fayence was much easier, even designated parkplaces.
The view from the top of the hill in Fayence looking back towards Seillans
From Fayence we followed the coast East as far as Ventimiglia, then turned north to follow
the E74 along a rugged and scenic valley as far as Limone Piemonte
The rugged valley of the La Roya
Note the road above us here.
Rugged beauty
Just before the tunnel back into Italy
Euro Camping at Agno, Switzerland
Bay in front of our camp place looking south over the lake of Lugano.
Late afternoon sailing on the Lake of Constance, Constance silhouetted in the background.
The full moon rising over the mountains in Austria
One can just see the mountains here.
We are not moving very fast here but it was beautiful.
September 2015
Liam climbing Mt. Säntis with John. 2503 meters.
A selfie on top. Congratulations. This was the second time they had climbed it together.
The Italian pavillion at the Expo in Milan
The Tree of Life in daylight.
The variety of architechture in the pavillions was very interesting. This was the German exhibit.
This is the Russian Pavillion. It also had a lookout platform on top of this construction.
This was the Turkish exhibit.
The Italian pavillion at night.
The tree of life at night. The variations were incredible. There will be more photos in the special album on the Expo.
This was our home during our visit. We had a direct shuttle bus from here to the Expo.
Many pavillions used an external structure to shade the main building to keep cool.
Malasia was built in the form of shells.
October 2015
Here we are parked in the front courtyard of a friends place in Sanary-sur-Mer
The harbour at Sanary-sur-Mer with the traditional boats.
More boats, all in beautiful condition.
Some were very old.
Romance was 112 years old.
Note the detail in the rigging.
Close up of the rigging.
A poster with an old sketch of Sanary. The tower still exists and we climbed it for a great view of the harbour.
And what a view it was! Here looking south east
and here looking south west.
That evening we dined in a restaurant specializing in salt fish.
The fish is packed in salt before baking.
The salt coating is later removed before serving.
Mmmh!
Back in Aix-en-Provence. Miriam and Elisabeth at the entrance to the building where Miriam and André live.
Fountain at the Rotonde in Aix-en-Provence
The theatre in Aix
Another fountain near the theatre.
The conservatorium
You guessed it. This is the library
A very modern bus station
We departed from here for Marseilles the next morning.
Departures every ten minutes.
Outside the station in Marseilles
Looking up to the Notre Dame de la Garde
It was quite windy up on the hill,
but we had a really great view over the old harbour.
The entrance to the old harbour.
Market in Aix-en-Provence
Decisions!
They all look good but some were a bit too spicy!
The market again.
Elisabeth trying out the folding balcony table that I made for Miriam.
The timber is striped ebony from PNG.
An interesting Picasso gallery in an old church.
Inside the gallery.
An old wind mill on the way to Mt. Sainte-Victore
Mt. Sainte-Victore in the afternoon sun.
Elisabeth with Miriam and André
I even made it into this photo. Thanks André
Miriam and André
Elisabeth dreaming by the Côte Bleue
Visiting Sergi and Victoria and family in Lausanne on the way home.
Visiting the Autobau Museum in Romanshorn with Erwin and Vroni Kern from Australia.
MG TF with a Jaguar Mk II in the background. Two of my favourites.
1972 Monteverdi 375L, built in Basel Switzerland.
Swiss Solar Challenge, Spirit of Biele
Aston Martin Vanquish V12
Visit to the Dornier Museum in Friedrichshafen with Erwin
Dornier DOX flying boat.
Erwin
Erwin meets a spaceman.
Looking across the airfield we saw the Zeppelin NT coming in to land
We later continued on to Bad Waldsee to visit the Erwin Hymer Museum, which has an amazing collection of caravans and motor homes.
Camping in the alps.
John and Tina with the children in Bali
Liam resting after swimming lessons.
Elaine resting in a beautiful outfit.
Entering the harbour at Lindau on our last outing with Annina III
November 2015
Camp ground at Bergheim in the Alsace. We can't get much closer to the wine fields.
A view from the wine route through the Alsace.
Châtenois
A holly bush with lots of berries.
Part of the old wall at Châtenois
Old door at Châtenois
Water well.
When we came back to the motor home after checking in at Obernai, I looked across to the vehicle
parked next to me and was surprised to see the driver.
By the look on his face I believe he had a guilty feeling. Maybe he didn't have a driving licence.
We had trouble finding a restaurant open, as the 11th November was a public holiday to celebrate the liberation at the end of the 2nd world war.
We were happy to find this place was open and had good local food and ambience.
The next morning we came back in to town as Obernai is renowned for the market on Thursday.
Here it was again difficult to choose.
Don't you agree?
Back in Switzerland, the yacht and the motorhome both put away for the winter, all cars serviced
and now we are in Davos writing the Christmas letter.
It has been snowing lightly which puts us in the mood for winter and for Christmas.
This photo was taken from our balcony on the 23rd November.
If you would like to see more photos of our various trips, I will try to get the various albums finished as soon as possible.
Please check to see if they are active.