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After one of those trips from hell where you find yourself stranded in the US , wearing only shorts , T-shirt and sandals , carrying only a computer ( no toothbrush , sweater , or clean undies ) , at an airport thousands of miles from anywhere on your itinerary , getting to a hotel at 1 AM ( after a long argy-bargy with airline officials ) and being collected from it at 4 AM , with a dinner voucher and a breakfast voucher ( only to be used on that day , at that hotel ) , he eventually arrived at Calgary and set off in search of Anna . Perhaps the most amazing act was a hypnotist who laid people out on the cold stone castle steps and had young men lift extreme weights and young girls believe ( in German of course ) that everyone was naked - - including themselves . Between the five of them they could manage four recorders , three viols , a flute , a piano and a harpsichord : the combinations were many and varied . No-one is getting any younger these days , and it just brings it home whenever you see your parents . Stephanie is a wheelchair-bound eight-year-old with Rett 's syndrome , an unusual condition that affects only girls . We often pass by these , but this was the first trip ashore . For us it has been hard spending a whole year without her , particularly when she has been miserable on the other side of the world . On the other hand , Magic , Ritual and Religion focused on native , mainly Polynesian , cultures and described rituals like kava ceremonies , initiation and rites of passage , and death . These activities are in collaboration with Michel Loots , a " humanitarian entrepreneur " from Belgium , who stayed with us for several days in March . We put into Whangerei further up the east coast and spent the next three days or so riding out the cyclone at the town pier , eating pizza and drinking cappuccino in the nearby restaurant . The house is in an up-market area among many trees - - a worry with all the conflagrations around Sydney at the moment , but Anna assures us she 's OK. For many months Anna worked in a video rental store . Sailing under jib alone we made the rendezvous in Coromandel Harbour and picked up Michael and Rosaleen to take them round the corner for a night on the boat . No problem sailing alone round the Pacific , he explained : he had US Navy charts that showed where and when the wind would be under 35 knots 99 % of the time , and he stuck to those . One liked to sit and eat grass , the other to chase squirrels ; so with a leash in each hand Pam found herself stretched to the limit in order to satisfy each cat 's requirements simultaneously . Claire , another weird out-of-time experience since he used to race regularly with ( also very similar ) Pippa all those years ago . This gift , mundane as it sounds , was really wanted , in striking contrast to all those socks , ties , and executive toys in years past ! And the other nice thing , also unexpected , was that our stomachs and guts behaved perfectly . For those of you who spent the year outside the solar system , this is where the Goliaths of the sailing world-the US , with four or five separate boats , Australia , France , Italy , Japan , Spain , Switzerland-jousted furiously for the honour of smashing little David , aka New Zealand . As Ian 's Dad used to say all those years ago , if today you walk down Royal Avenue ( the main street of Belfast , staunchly loyalist as ever ) you 'll find a man with as many heads as there are days in the year . " international " event that is always held in the US - - it is unusual ( unique , actually ) for a non-American to be in charge . Tourists are rare in South India , and you are continually greeted on the street , offered help if you look puzzled , and accosted by groups of delightful grinning kids daring each other to shake your hand and ask your name . We all took a magic trip to Quedlinburg , an ancient town , formerly in East Germany , that escaped damage in the war and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site . She has been studying Travel and Tourism at the local Polytechnic , and has picked up all sorts of useful skills including mixing drinks .