The WotWots, Sigriswil, Switzerland

fleursmum Posted Mar 5, 2012, 10:13 am	Hello World!!  We are  the WotWots SpottyWot (blue) and DottyWot (pink). Soon we will be ready to set off and explore the world. We are really curious about the animals on this planet and would like to see as many as possible. We are excited!!  Would you like to host us?? Spotty and Dotty Wot.
fleursmum Posted Mar 8, 2012, 4:42 am	Hello Everyone!  Today we went to Melbourne Zoo and saw lots and lots of animals! we saw a tiger - we wanted to go and pat it - it looked so cuddly! Now we are off to see real elephants!  this is Bong Su - he is a big male elephant and is about 38 years old - he was resting on his sand heap before going off for his daily bath. we side tracked in to the butterfly house - look at this beautiful green and black butterfly here is one of the female elephants more of the elephant family we went here to visit the orang utans especially the 12 month old baby but Sue was so busy watching them herself she didn't take any photos of us??!! Ooohhh!! Look at this big animal - long legs and long neck - Sue told us it was a giraffe! We like its spots though!! here we are with the zebra family and an ostrich ....not sure I like how it is looking at us...do you think an ostrich would eat WotWots for lunch??? Australian gray kangaroos having a rest an emu - looks just like an ostrich doesn't it? At least it didn't seem to be sizing us up for lunch!! Sue thought this was a blue tongue lizard and told us all about it and then she realised it was made of brass!! Teehee!! Silly billy!!  Two koalas up a tree - we wanted to hug them cos they look like teddy bears to us but we weren't allowed  Oooohhhh..an Australian lizard a kookaburra - we hear them singing and laughing outsides Sue's house early in the morning - they make us giggle! Some baboons live in here - I think they are watching us while we are watching them - although they aren't doing very much other than sitting! this is a Peccaries family - the one on the right was all bristly - I don't think it liked us looking into its home! we said hello to the brown bear and the pelicans In the water was a shark kind of fish but it is well camouflaged and hard to see Off to see the seals - we liked this poster outside the aquarium That's it from us today The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Mar 9, 2012, 8:27 am	Hi Everyone, At our house today we said goodbye to Meav, she is travelling on her way to Germany - we are hopeful of seeing Germany one day soon too. Safe travels Meav, From the WotWots xxooxx
fleursmum Posted Mar 13, 2012, 7:39 am	Hi Everyone  Today we had a little look around the city this is inside the nice hotel we stayed at this is outside the hotel in Little Bourke Street looking down towards Chinatown We drove down near the Yarra river and then walked along to the city Here we are outside St Paul's cathedral and over the road is Flinders St Railway station Now we are walking along the river again - this weekend is the Moomba Festival so there is water skiing on the river and side shows and lots of other things going on - there were lots of people around we had a little rest before walking back across the bridge to the car. Bye Spotty and Dotty Wot. xxooxx
fleursmum Posted Mar 13, 2012, 7:45 am	Hi Everyone!!  We had a chat to the Chowchow today - he was a bit sulky because he had to have a bath today!! He is a short haired chowchow and his name is Tupai - which is Maori for happy ( he wasn't very happy today!! ) Dotty and Spotty Wot
fleursmum Posted Mar 17, 2012, 3:08 am	Heello World!!  Today Diddl-Maus achieved a life mission - that was very exciting for us!! We hope to meet our life missions on our travels too!!  The mission was to eat Swiss cheese and so we all got a taste too!! From Spotty and Dotty Wot xxooxx
fleursmum Posted Mar 25, 2012, 8:19 am	Ooooohhhh...here we are going through a tunnel under the Yarra River!!!  It is raining and cloudy today so we haven't any other photos!! Love from Spotty and Dotty Wot xxooxx
fleursmum Posted Mar 25, 2012, 8:23 am	Hello !! Today we went to the beach - it isn't really beach weather but we had a walk and a look around.  This is a dog walking beach so there were dogs everywhere!! Yup, out there is the water and the boats!! sitting in the sand watching the world go by is pretty good!! Big boats, little boats, all kinds of boats!! Best wishes Spotty and Dotty Wot xxooxx
Dr.Kröbner Posted Mar 30, 2012, 2:37 pm	Hello down under....., hello Mum.. believe it or not...after a very short travel, w´ll think we are beamt from Scotty, we are in G E R M A N Y....jeahhh pictures will follow soon Spotty and Dotty Wot
Dr.Kröbner Posted Mar 31, 2012, 10:02 am	Hello Mum, After our journey, we are safely landed in Delligsen. Then suddenly there was light in the envelope and a teddy bear face looked at us  ...Dr.Kröbner..... He has helped us out of the envelope and welcomed us very warmly. Then he presented the other TV's live here...HappyPing and Mr.Lemony All were happy about the postcard and chocolate....thank you Now we are very tired ... and need to sleep ..... after our first night, we are now sitting at the window to acclimate us Love and kisses from Spotty and Dotty Wot ....and many greetings from Dr.Kröbner and hostmum to Bigfoot
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 2, 2012, 1:53 pm	Hi Mum, yesterday my new friends..HappyPing, Mr.Lemony and I visited a mountain with a funny name "Köterberg" or mountain wuff Here are some pictures from the journey, the weather was still beautiful On the ferry across the river "Weser" here are some facts...about.. The Köterberg, at 495.8 m (1,627 ft) above sea level, is the highest hill in the Lippe Uplands and lies on the state border between North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in North Germany. On its northern slopes is the village of Köterberg The Köterberg was already being mentioned in Lippe's boundary deeds in the 16th century. The Brothers Grimm called it the Götzenberg in their German Legends , because it was here that folk prayed to the gods of the heath. The Köterberg was also the setting for their fairy tale The Three Little Birds. .... unfortunately the weather was not so good...cold and windy ,but we enjoy the nice view over the landscape hui.... Later the sun came out and we made a little break that was a nice trip Love from Spotty and Dotty Wot
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 4, 2012, 10:30 am	Hello Mum, look what we found.....an unidentified flying object.. and we thought it would be a good idea for HappyPing to fly home. Dr. Kröbner was skeptical and thought it would be better if we raise helmets...safety first A brief seatfitting .. wow ....  ready for take off  we'll fly ... unfortunately, the flight was too short, we've made it only up to the balcony railing. Too bad, but we have tried it .... now Ping have to travel in a letter envelope and we must talk to Scotty and Capt. Kirk about our UFO huggs and kisses from a German balcony Spotty and Dotty Wot
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 8, 2012, 12:21 pm	Hello Mum, happy Easter from Germany ..... kisses Spotty and Dotty Wot
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 8, 2012, 6:25 pm	Hi Mum, today we went to a old tower located on a big mountain with a beautifull view over the south-lowersaxony landscape. The visibility was extraordenary good, nearly 100km!!! The first step we went by car and then we have to hike throught a huge forrest. At an old tree we find a strange kind of flying sauce!!! We tried it but..... it doesn´t works....  Suddenly some crazy things fall down from the sky, little white balls, hostmum explained it is snow!!!! .... and in small corners near the way we find some more.... but it was not enought to build a snowman  (whatever it means).... We came to a sign " Blick zum Brocken", (Brocken is the northermost highest Mountain of Germany 1142m over NN. The top is nearly 200 m higher than the timber line) We climbet on a tree to take a better view... oh look at this stone!!!.... it seams we are not the first WotWots on this trail.... When we arrived our ambition of the day, hostpa climbt with us to the top of the watchtower to take a better view.  Up there it was very stormy and we have to hang on the guard railing. Ups a great gust of wind!!!! On our way back to the car where lots of other lookout-points and we take a rest at a precipice It was an exiting afternoon but what a pity.... we see no Easter Bunny...  maybee tomorrow.... bye mum, Spotty and Dotty
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 14, 2012, 11:36 am	Hi Mum, yesterday an envelope arrived and a little bunny came out, he introduced himself as Hase and he is a TV from hostmum Andrea and while Dr.Kröbner goes to Denmark with Yosemite and Takata, he  represents him.... look Mum what happened in the evening...Yosemite and Takata arrived with sooo many TVs, we all together posed for a groupphoto on the Sofa, 18 Tvs from 5 continents... Kibblet, Napoleon, Cokkie, Khaled, Little Luzi, Baerle, Maeusle, Waffels, Bodo, plaudagei, Dr.Kröbner, Hase from Europe, Wavy Gravy from USA, Wolley and Billy from Africa, The Wot Wots  from Australia and Mr.Lemony from Asia......wow that was e great evening and we talked the half night about our adventures.... early in the morning we said goodbye and wish a nice trip to Denmark... We will also experience an adventure, hostmum and Hase has promised to go to the zoo....with us bye , bye we love you Spotty and Dotty Wot
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 16, 2012, 2:03 pm	Hello Mum, LIFE MISSION, LIFE MISSION, LIFE MISSION.... today we made a trip to Hanover, the capital city from Lower Saxony. In Hanover they have a zoological garden with a lot of strange animals we´ve never seen before. At first the controller want to debar us to enter the zoo  , he was afraid of an Virusinfluence from far unknown gallaxies....pffff Hostmum and dad had a long discussion with this dutyful person and after nearly half an hour we passed the counter…. Our first step was the apehouse with little funny creatures, we discover an affinity to all the peoples called humans. Most of them were smaller, but one (hostmum told us he is the chief of the gorillaclan) was very big so that we get afraid a little bit. At next we made a short boattrip to see funny birds, horses, animals with big noses and long necks… And then we see lions. Realy dangerous, big and greedily lions!!! What a luck, that there was securityglas between us and the beasty animal. In the next attraction of the zoo lives the Northamerican animals like caribou, meercats, Bisons and Wolves. Fortunately they were not hungry and made a digestionsleep. The following station on our trail was Asia with big thick-skinnes persons, elephants. We saw tigers, leopards and nice birds…. time for a groupphoto with Hase and Mr.Lemony …..we came around a corner and where amased….  Had scotty beamed us back home to Australia? We were on the australian highway and surrounded by kangaroos!!! Hostmum told us this is a part of the zoo and we should to cool down. Here we could explain all the orginality animals from the australian continent to hostmum and dad. It was a realy nice day ……. hugs and kisses Spotty and Dotty Wot
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 22, 2012, 1:52 pm	Hello Mum, Yesterday we made a trip to Fritzlar. first we had to drive by car , the weather was pretty good....sunshine .... Fritzlar is a small German town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, 160 km (99 mi) north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. It can reasonably be argued that the town is the site where the Christianization of northern Germany (north and east of the Roman Limes) began and the birthplace of the German empire as a political entity.The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. Thirty-eight meters (125 ft) high, the Grauer Turm ("Grey Tower") is the highest remaining urban defense tower in Germany On the plate some information about Fritzlar... here you have this great view......The monastery, hostmum went to school here The St. Peter's Cathedral is one of the most beautiful Romanesque-Gothic churches in Hesse. Three-aisled basilica The Cathedral of Fritzlar measures 43 meters (from the basement to the top). He continues to shape the cityscape of the small town in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis (formerly Circle Fritzlar-Homberg). The three-aisled basilica in Fritzlar is considered one of the most beautiful in Germanyl another view.. the marketplace with nice halftimbered houses another nice view... The city hall, first documented in 1109, is the oldest in Germany still in use for its original purpose ...here you see the biggest halftimbered house in hesse, "das Hochzeitshaus" the wedding house next stop... the Garvensburg  The castle was built in 1894-1898 by industrialist William Garvens, who was knighted in 1908 and afterwards called William of Garvens. He built a hunting lodge in the style of the late period, a castle-like villa, surrounded by an English garden here we are sitting over the  Edersee, also called the Eder dam is 11.8 square kilometers of water surface, with 199.3 million cubic meters of storage space in terms of area and volume two-third largest  Reservoir in Germany and is located on the Fulda-Eder inflow. The Edersee Dam is a hydroelectric dam constructed between 1908 to 1914 across the Eder river, near the small town of Waldeck in northern Hesse, Germany, it lies at the northern edge of the Kellerwald. The dam is primarily used to generate hydroelectric power and to regulate water levels for shipping on the Weser river. that was a very nice trip love from Spotty and Dotty Wot
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 22, 2012, 1:58 pm	Hi Mum, look what a nice rainbow....but not so easy to take a real good photo  ..sorry for that hugs
Dr.Kröbner Posted Apr 23, 2012, 6:08 pm	Hello Mum, we had a little farewell ceremony, there were all there ... here sooo many plushies live on the shelf , and of course all wanted to say goodbye. we where deeply touched  it was a wonderfull time here, but we are TVs and the journey must go on ... a last hug with Hase, Mary Möf, Joesy, Mr. Lemony and hostmums new TV Günther ...the envelope is waiting ...best wishes to Dr.Kröbner he is still in Denmark with Yosemite bye bye hostmum and hostdad.... next stop....Heidelberg love  Spotty and Dotty Wot
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Apr 25, 2012, 5:24 pm	Dear Mum We've safely arrived in Heidelberg. The weather could be better but the weather forecasts promises a lot of sunshine for the weekend, so let's hope for the best. There are already quite a few other TV's visiting here and we're looking forward to some nice adventures with them. And we met our host's cat Sammy who's quite big but very lovely. Lots of love from the WotWots
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Apr 26, 2012, 10:30 pm	Dear Mum We went to Mannheim, a neighbouring town of Heidelberg and took some photos of the water tower and the Friedrichsplatz with its fountains and flowers. A very beautiful place. Love from The WotWots
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted May 1, 2012, 4:34 pm	Dear Mum We spent two days at the UNESCO world heritage site of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. The weather was great and the landscape fantastic. Hope you like my photos. On the train to St. Goar. There are no bridge in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley and so ferries are still common, we took one from St. Goar to St. Goarshausen. Relaxing on the backs of the river Rhine near St. Goarshausen. Admiring the statue of the famous Loreley. We climbed the rock Loreley and had a fabulous view down to the Rhine valley. Afterwards we took a train to Bacharach and climbed to the youth hostel of Stahleck Castle where we spent the night. Love from The WotWots
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted May 1, 2012, 4:43 pm	Dear Mum Today we had a look around Bacharach which is a very beautiful town with old houses and towers. We also took a walk along the Rhine. Then we took a boat to Rüdesheim, a bit south. We rode the chair lift to the top of the mountain which was a great experience. Hostmum told us that this chair lift played a part in Elvis' movie "G. I. Blues" from 1960. Here's a link if you're interested. We had a great time. Love from the WotWots.
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted May 9, 2012, 10:53 pm	Dear Mum Today we said good-bye to three TV's. HolgiHH is travelling to the USA. Králi will stay in Germany and travel further north. Sheela is travelling to the United Kingdom. Bye, The WotWots
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted May 18, 2012, 7:11 am	Good morning, Mum. Guess what? We stayed awake all night long and spent it with nuriayasmin at the psychiatric clinic where she works as a nurse. It was very quiet, though, no new patients were admitted and those who were already on the ward mostly slept. Now it's ten past eight in the morning here and we're all going to bed. Keep fine, The WotWots
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted May 22, 2012, 4:52 pm	Dear Mum Have we told you that nuriayasmin's cat Sammy likes us very much? He knows where we normally sit and often comes, grabs us and carries us around the apartment. He's very careful with his teeth, so don't worry, we're absolutely fine. Well, today we teased Sammy a little. He was sleeping (which he does most of the day) and we tried to wake him up. He looked up but unlike us wasn't willing to wave into the camera. Then he put his head down again and there was no chance to convince him to play with us. Perhaps next time. Bye, The WotWots
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted May 27, 2012, 11:12 pm	Hi Mum Greetings from Denmark. We're on a short holiday here and it's really great. We're at the Baltic Sea coast and have a lot of nature around us. Bye, The WotWots
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted May 30, 2012, 9:21 pm	Dear Mum It has become quite cold and windy here but that doesn't keep us from exploring our surrounding. Here are some more pictures from the village in Haderslev community where we're staying, the port and the coast. Lots of love, The WotWots
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Jun 17, 2012, 11:13 pm	Dear Mum Sorry that we haven't written for such a long time. Our host was busy and the weather was quite rainy, too. However, we're fine and also heard that we're going to continue our journey at the end of the month. Thanks for arranging a new host for us, mum. Well, today we took a walk in the field and vineyards near the suburb of Rohrbach, so here are our pictures: Bye from the WotWots
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Jun 24, 2012, 5:24 pm	Dear Mum Here are some pictures of the suburb where we currently live. Bye, The WotWots
nuriayasmin nuriayasmin70@gmail.com Posted Jun 26, 2012, 11:12 pm	Dear Mum Just a quick note to tell you that we're leaving Germany tomorrow and are looking forward to new adventures in Finland. Talk to you soon. The WotWots
sirkku-susanna sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi Posted Jul 15, 2012, 7:38 pm	Hiiiiiii Mom! We arrived here in Lahti, Finland last week. And at very first weekend we had a change to visit Finnish country side, small community called Haapamäki. We stayed at our host’s school mate. She lives in beautiful old wooden house as you can see. There were also sauna, sheds and workshop at her courtyard. Of course we went to sauna too. It is old fashion sauna, which we heated up with wood, not electricity. And we had birch whisk, which we used in sauna. We slept in little room, where there was old stove and this funny old radio. We made this trip by train and in last photo you can see Lahti railway station. We had lovely time, although there were lots and lots of mosquitos. We miss you Mom! The Wotwots PS: We have made a new friend, she is nice little squirrel Emma, who is TV too.
sirkku-susanna sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi Posted Jul 24, 2012, 8:27 pm	Hi Mommy! It has been very quiet here. Weather has been cold and rainy and our host has been busy at work. Well, last Saturday we decided to help her with household works. First we dusted. We started with these little bowls, our host collects different colours of these bowls, then we moved to her collection of Cat wine bottles and (you won’t believe this) her collection of cat figures….This woman collects everything Mom.    And she told us she has almost 200 cat figures at box waiting for right place. We were so happy they are in that box, and we didn’t have to dust them.  Vacuuming was fun, we just sit on vacuum cleaner. And Mom, we think you have already figured it out, that here is real cat too (only one). We spent rest of the day playing with him. Hope weather will get better, so we can go out soon. Love you Mom WotWots
sirkku-susanna sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi Posted Jul 27, 2012, 7:27 pm	Hurray Mom! Yesterday weather was sunny and warm finally. And of course we went to a long walk. We walked mostly at forest.  And then we saw this little lake, which is quite near our host’s home. Can you see all those beautiful water lilies. It was very quiet and nice at forest, and we came back relaxed. Take Care Mom! xxx WotWots
sirkku-susanna sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi Posted Aug 13, 2012, 7:19 pm	Hi Mom! Our host has been busy at work, so there’s been a while since our last update. Sorry! And we have now new friend here, cute little fellow called Lotta. Our host started her summer holiday, and yesterday we went to forest to relax again. And to pick some blueberries… Mom, did you know, that here in Finland you can pick berries from any forest you want (not from anyone’s garden of course), but from forest, no matter who owns it. This right is called “every man’s right”. We found lots of blueberries, they tasted very good. Candies Lotta brought with her were also good. But what was the best, was the blueberry pie with vanilla sauce what we had at evening. Yummy!  Love you Mom! The Wotwots
sirkku-susanna sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi Posted Aug 30, 2012, 6:11 pm	Hi Mommy! We have now spent two week holiday with our host and Lotta. We didn’t do anything special. We just slept long, ate well, read and relaxed. And of course we took long slow walks almost every day. Here are some pictures of our walks. As you might see fall is coming, trees are chancing color. Actually fall is our host’s favorite season, it’s not too hot and nature is beautiful. We think we like it too Mom. Sunday we are going to harvest market. We just hope it won’t rain. Keep your fingers crossed Mom.  Love you The WotWots
sirkku-susanna sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi Posted Sep 28, 2012, 7:12 pm	Hi Mom! Last Sunday we all went to harvest market at Lahti market square as our host promised.  It was quite cold and rainy, as it usually is nowadays. Market was bit a disappointment, mostly for our host. Only few booths, and nothing to buy.  But we saw couple of interesting things. At first picture you see us with soup canon. They are used by Finnish army. Lots and lots of soup there Mom. And then we saw “maakellari” groundcellar. At old times people dig them under ground to keep food cold. At top of them there were plants growing, they were like little hills. Now you can buy groundcellar from market, as you can see. xxx Mom! The Wotwots
sirkku-susanna sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi Posted Sep 28, 2012, 7:21 pm	Hello there at home! Last weekend we went to Seinäjoki with our host. She goes there to study once a month. We were really busy, but still have time for few photos. At first picture you can see us at our hotel. And then there is the most known landmark of Seinäjoki. Church called Lakeuden risti. We spent most of our time in our host’s bag, but on our way back here, we have a chance to see landscapes from train window; Forests and fields mostly. And then it started to rain again…. Take Care Mom! The Wotwots
sirkku-susanna sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi Posted Sep 28, 2012, 7:27 pm	Hello! We have new family member here. And he has been keeping our host busy. This little fellow is called Viljami. And Mom he is quite a handful.  Our host’s old cat Veskari is not very pleased with this newcomer. It’s raining and raining. Our host promise, that we go “tree watching” as soon as weather is getting better. Trees have so beautiful colors now. Hope the sun shines soon. Kisses Mom! The Wotwots
sirkku-susanna sirkku-susanna@suomi24.fi Posted Nov 11, 2012, 5:31 pm	Hi Mom! When you’re reading this, we are already with our new host, but here is our final update from Lahti Finland. We had a change to visit our host’s workplace at Lahti Music Library. They have thousands of cd’s there Mom. Almost 50 000 to be exact. Also lots of sheet music and music books. They have two sound proof rooms with pianos. We try to play four handedly, but piano was too big for us.  On our way back home, we take pictures of colorful autumn leaves. Aren’t they beautiful Mom! Now we are heading for new adventures. Love you so much Mom! Your little travelers The WotWots
hanachan Posted Nov 24, 2012, 5:31 pm	Hello We are in Japan. We're going to visit my host hanachan. sooooo excited During our flight we were practicing Japanese Greetings. Let's say "Kon'nichiwa"
hanachan Posted Dec 9, 2012, 5:09 pm	Hello! My host hanachan works for a company in Takamatsu and I visit there today. I'm going to have a lunch at the staff cafeteria with her. This is Bento-style lunch  Itadakimasu!
hanachan Posted Dec 9, 2012, 5:31 pm	Yakiniku - Japanese Barbecue - Today I'm sitting at the Yakiniku restaurant. This menu book is illustrated. It's very helpful for the people who can't read Japanese. Hey guys, I think you'd better order more vegetables, too...  And Ice cream for us The Christmas tree has already been set on the corner.
hanachan Posted Dec 9, 2012, 6:28 pm	Now the train is running Seto Ohashi Bridge over the Inland Sea. Sorry, mum. It's not a good photo. we missed a chance to take a picture of the bridge. We'll try again.
hanachan Posted Dec 9, 2012, 6:33 pm	The night view of the Takamatsu central station. It is the most busy station in Shikoku.
hanachan Posted Dec 9, 2012, 6:37 pm	Sushi! hanachan bought 'take-out' sushi and arranged them on a cute plate Itadakimasu!
hanachan Posted Dec 9, 2012, 6:44 pm	Chiristmas is coming In Japan Christmas is not a holiday, just a commercial event for most people. However, they enjoy it, decorating trees, preparing presents for families and friends. The big tree illuminated by beautiful lights appeared at night.
hanachan Posted Feb 3, 2013, 6:57 am	Otsuka Museum of Art The world's first collection of Ceramic-Board Reproduction of Masterpaintings. Now we're not in the Sistine Chapel, Rome. The room is an authentic-looking reproductions of the Sistine Chapel's art works. This is one of the exhibits in this museum. These are not original paintings.  They are ceramic works using a special manufacturing technique. Visitors can see over 1000 full-size ceramic reproductions of major works of art. The works are transfer-printed from photographs before being fired and retouched. Of course we enjoyed reproductions of great paintings in the modern ages.
hanachan Posted Feb 3, 2013, 7:21 am	Say Good bye to 2012 Japanese people have many parties called "Bo-nen kai" in December. Bo-nen kai is a drinking party where they begin to forget about the problems in this past year and look forward to the new year. (oops, the battery of camera is empty...)
hanachan Posted Feb 3, 2013, 7:26 am	Happy New Year! - Akemashite Omedetou! Osechi Ryouri & Ozouni Hi The new year day in Japan is very calm. Family people meet together at their parents' house to celebrate the New Year, wishing for the future health of everyone. The first meal in the new day is Osechi Ryouri and Ozouni. The New Year's food arranged in the lacquer boxes and special soup with rice cakes, vegetables, etc.
hanachan Posted Feb 3, 2013, 7:34 am	Melon Pan - a type of sweet bun from Japan In Japan, western food is often developed and changed in its own way by fusing with Japanese original culture. It's interesting. What do you think? wow... the plate is cute P.S. Oh, we always eat...
hanachan Posted Feb 3, 2013, 7:41 am	Yashima Shrine This shrine was built in 1651 by Matsudaira Yorishige, the first Feudal Load of Takamatsu. It is the place where to worship his grandfather Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate. When we visit the shrine, first we wash hands. An old tap is often decorated everywhere in the world. In Japan lots of shrine and temples have "Doragons" like this. Then we went up to the long steps of stone and looked back... wow!
hanachan Posted Mar 20, 2013, 10:58 pm	Ogijima is an island in the Seto Inland Sea. It is a few kilometers from Takamatsu port. It's a very small island just 4km around, about 150 people lives. Today we go to the island by ferry boat.  But... The weather suddenly turned to bad. We reached the lighthouse in the stormy rain This is the northernmost tip of Takamatsu city.
hanachan Posted Apr 10, 2013, 12:03 am	Kobe is the 5th-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyogo prefecture. (Brisbane is a sister city of Kobe) We changed the train at Okayama station. Here the Shinkansen Express "Sakura" is coming. It's hard to take pictures of them, because they come quickly and stop just a few minutes After 45 minutes, we reached Kobe. The weather was a little bad In Sakura, the Shinkansen Express train There are lots of tunnels between Okayama and Kobe. Sakura N700 Series Shinkansen In central Kobe city The tall building behind us is Kobe City Hall. We found cherry blossoms bloom  Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park It shows the status of earthquake-stricken Kobe port and the process to recovery. That red tower is very famous as the Kobe landmark. This is a big fish monument we saw nearby   The Former Foreign Settlement The modern-era western style buildings remain standing in the new city. China Town Nankin-machi Nankin-machi is a compact chinatown in central Kobe, one of the three Chinatowns in Japan. (others are in Nagasaki and Yokohama) This area was developed by Chinese merchants who settled near Kobe Port after the port was opened to foreign trade in 1868. "Coca Cola" written in Kanji characters
hanachan Posted Apr 21, 2013, 9:47 am	The weather is a little bad also in Takamatsu, but it's warm. Sakura cherry blossoms start to bloom. Walking around my host hanachan's house, we can see many Sakura trees beside the streets. Soon they are in full bloom.
hanachan Posted Apr 21, 2013, 9:53 am	This is Ritsurin Garden, a typical Japanese garden. It is located in the center of the city, among the modern buildings. Stepping inside it is like slipping into another world and another time. For 228 years long since 1642, the Matsudaira family, the feudal lord of Takamatsu owned and maintained the garden. Today the garden is open to public. What a wonderful world! more about Ritsurin Garden
hanachan Posted Apr 21, 2013, 10:05 am	Sakura is full blooming This is a small Shinto shrine near hanachan's house. The sky is blue. It's a beautiful day. Twig of Sakura was offered to the memorial monument for military horses in equisition.
hanachan Posted Jun 18, 2013, 11:50 pm	Now our Marine Liner train is running across the Seto Ohashi Bridge over the Seto Inland Sea. We'll soon arrive at Kurashiki city. Kurashiki, this area is kept the old city view of Tokugawa Shogunate period. (17th-19th century) There are many historical houses beside the canal. These were once used as warehouse of cotton. "Kura" of the city's name means warehouse in Japanese. Today old warehouses were renovated as cute shops.
hanachan Posted Jun 27, 2013, 7:54 pm	Shamijima - It used to be a small island in Seto Inland Sea, but today the island is connected to the main island by land reclamation. Here we came in sight of the Seto Ohashi Bridge. Yes, we have crossed the bridge already. The trains run through the lower, the upper is the express motorway. Well, we are leaving Japan soon. We have lots of memories which may overflow from the suitcase.
fleursmum Posted Jul 20, 2013, 1:22 am	Hello World, We are home again...we have been home for several days but life here has been a bit busy so we have waited patiently...... We had a wonderful stay in Japan with hanachan we got to see so much - thank you hanachan for looking after us so well. Maybe we can do some more travelling soon Best wishes The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jul 24, 2013, 8:39 am	Hello!! A new TV has arrived here... it is Sidney L and he is from Germany. We are off to the beach this weekend so we are staying at home a little longer, then we are off to Germany!! Yippee!!  The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Jul 30, 2013, 8:24 am	Hello!! Here we are at the beach - it is a bit cold and windy today this is part of Port Phillip Bay - this goes all the way to the City of Melbourne. We found an interesting sea creature washed up on the beach. The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jul 30, 2013, 8:26 am	Another beach walk today in between rain showers today we found this sea creature - there were many washed up on the beach we have to run, it is starting to rain!! The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Aug 6, 2013, 6:30 am	Hello World, A much nicer day today here we are passing the Bluff we sat and had a chat by the sea on our way back we found another jelly fish on the beach. Bye for now The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Aug 6, 2013, 6:34 am	Our last walk on the beach today we are on the jetty at the boat club and now further down the beach and a photo with Tupai!!  lovely day here today!  Bye for now The WotWots
mcdaniels Posted Aug 9, 2013, 4:54 pm	Dear mum, today we've arrived our new hostmum in Paderborn, Germany. Lying in the envelope together with the little koala and the chocolate (we swear we didn't pinch a bit of it at all  ) we heard somebody whispering outside... Of course we became very curious and decided to have a careful look...first we couldn't see anybody but heard the whispering behind us...so we crawled out of the envelope and discovered a little bear and a little elk staring at us  "Don't be afraid", we said, "we're totally peaceable!" They seemed to believe us and got closer and introduced themselves: Sebastian and Mr. Moose from Finland. We showed them our little gifts and after a short time we sat together eating chocolate and talking about this and that. And then Sebastian and Mr. Moose gave us a welcome present: a pair of flipflops (beach shoes)  They look great, don't they? And of course I (Spotty) can wear them often, cause it's summer in Germany  I'll try out soon how to wear them...the little toe inside or outside... Sebastian and Mr. Moose promised to find a present for me (Dotty), too  We think we'll have a nice time together. Tomorrow we'll travel to Dortmund by train so we'll go to sleep early today. Love you Spotty and Dotty
fleursmum Posted Aug 11, 2013, 4:20 am	Hello World, Today we said goodbye to Mr Shaun, Suomi-boy, Sidney, Sunshiney and Little Squirt because we are off on our travels again - this time we are going to Paderborn in Germany. See you soon The WotWots xxooxx
mcdaniels Posted Aug 11, 2013, 3:50 pm	...just adding longitude and latitude of Gisborne
mcdaniels Posted Aug 11, 2013, 4:52 pm	Hi mum, today we drove to Dortmund, hostmum's birthplace in the so called Ruhr area. This area along the river Ruhr with many cities was well-known for coal mining, but nowadays there's almost no more mining at all. First we drove from Neuenbeken (hostmum's home village that belongs to Paderborn) to Paderborn city by bus and then to Dortmund, that is 100 kilometres away, by train. In Dortmund we started with a rest in a café  and then we walked to the 'place of peace' where a vegan street day took place. There were many stands with yummy vegan food, clothes, buttons, posters and information about factory farming. And of course we had to go into a BVB-fan shop. BVB (Borussia Dortmund) is hostmum's favourite soccer club. Just before driving home we got to know a nice red rhinoceros (no idea where it came from or why it was there...) and we saw an old streetcar. We love you yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Aug 12, 2013, 7:12 pm	Dear mum, yesterday we drove to Bad Lippspringe, a spa near Neuenbeken. A spa normally has got spa gardens and so it is in Bad Lippspringe. Of course we visited one of them. Wow! So many flowers and fountains! And a boat and a lighthouse in the middle of a wood  And of course a café  All the best Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Aug 14, 2013, 6:07 pm	Dear mum, today a mysterious envelope from Strunki has arrived. Of course we were very curious and opened it immediately. And you never guess what! There were two further pairs of flipflops in it  Hostmum said I (Spotty) could exchange the green ones into the blue or purple ones if I wanted! But what was the right decision? I liked the green ones AND the blue ones AND the purple ones...or not? Okay, not the purple ones with flowers on it...they are too girlish...blue or green...? In the end I've chosen the blue ones, they're perfect! Do you think so, too, mummy? So I sat there being happy when suddenly Dotty started crying  "I'll never wear such lovely flipflops" she said and she was inconsolable  What could we do? Suddenly I had an idea: I could write a postcard to Strunki and ask her to send us something nice for Dotty  So I did and now I hope Strunki will do so for trusting Dotty cause I can't bear to see her so sad any longer... Yours Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 7:27 pm	Dear mum, Strunki answered via email! And she'll send a necklace for Dotty Strunki asked me to measure out Dotty's neck and so I did. Bevore that Dotty chose the nicest necklace and we send all the data to Strunki. And now we're waiting. I'm so glad to see Dotty happy again  All the best yours Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 7:32 pm	In the evening we drove to Schloss Neuhaus near Paderborn for watching a stage Play in an open-air theatre. Unfortunately it wasn't allowed to take photos during the Play so you can only see the stage. It was a thrilling Thriller and we hope we can sleep tonight  Yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 7:40 pm	Hi mum, today afternoon hostmum said we could go into the garden and look whether we could find something to pick. And we did: raspberries, plums and tomatoes. We immediately started to pick them and the sheeps behind the garden were very interested in our activities. We picked almost 3 kg plums (it could have been 3 kg if we didn't tast so much) and many different tomatoes. And in the garden we got to know Lina the cat. Love you yours Dotty and Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:03 pm	Dear mummy, today we made a sightseeing tour through Paderborn city. First we visited the cathedral. The first local missionary church was built up in the year 777. The new building of the cathedral took place in 799. As it stands today, the cathedral was erected between 1215-1280. Following the destructions it suffered during the Second World War it was rebuilt to its original design with a few minor alterations. Of course we visited the 'hare window' in the inner courtyard of the cathedral: three hares with only three ears but every hare has got two ears  Foundations of the Carolingian and Ottonian-Salic imperial palaces  were exposed from 1964 until the late seventies. The Ottonian-Salic Palace was reconstructed between 1976 and 1978 in accordance with a plan made by an architect. The original building construction with its rising brickwork is clearly identifiable. Then we visited the market square with the Neptun-fountain and the townhall. After that we visited river Pader, Germany's shortest river (only 4 km) but 200 springs inside the city and a big frog At the end of the Second World War Paderborn was almost totally destroyed, only a few houses 'survived'. The photos Show the oldest house (built up in 1560) and a few other half-timbered houses. Finally we took a rest in an ice-cream parlour  See you yours Dotty and Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:14 pm	Dear mum, today we drove to hostmum's work by bike. She works as a social worker in an old people's home in Paderborn city. On our way we saw many maize fields, an old DDR-car (a so called Trabant), crossed the University grounds and reached the old people's home from the back. And then we helped hostmum making music with the old people. We played the guitar and some drums and rattles. And look what we wrote for you  Yours Dotty and Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:19 pm	Time to say goodbye to Sebastian. Have a good journey! Perhaps we'll meet again...
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:23 pm	Time to say goodbye again  Mr. Moose, have a good journey!!!
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:33 pm	And time to say hello  Today a small parcel from USA has arrived. We opened it and anted to say hello when suddenly a little frog ran out and into the toilet without throwing a glance at us...seemed to be very necessary  When he came back we introduced each other. So we got to know Sargent Froggo.
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:39 pm	Hi mum, in the morning an envelope arrived. A little mouse crawled out and said "I'm UrselHH 3" and after welcoming her she showed us a postcard of her hometown and told us about her two lost relatives  But we also talked about the nice side of travelling  Hostmum said today evening we'll visit grandhostmum and her nice garden. See you yours Dotty and Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:53 pm	Dear mum, in the evening we visited grandhostmum and her nice garden. We discovered lots of flowers, a little fountain and a little pond, a birdhouse, a hotel for insects) and some occupiers of the garden. We must admit we were wary of the owl and the crocodile  though they assured us that they were harmless... Hostmum showed us a special flower: in German 'Nachtkerze' (Oenothora biennis) that blooms in the night! Every evening some blooms open in some seconds and bloom for only one night. They looked beautiful! After all these discoveries we had a yummy evening meal and then we lightened many Chinese laterns on the ground. That looked very nice. Love you yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:02 pm	Hi mum, yesterday a small parcel from Strunki arrived. It was a birthday parcel for hostmum  Cause her birthday is today we guarded the parcel until midnight. At midnight we lightened a so called 'birthday fountain': a big flame lightened many little candles and the melody of 'happy birthday' rang out...fantastic! After this spectacle hostmum allowed us opening Strunki's parcel in which we found gifts for each of us, above all the nechlaces for Dotty  The party was great and so was the liqueur as you can see
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:05 pm	Dear mummy, in the morning we had birthday breakfast in a café in Paderborn city. You could put a cross beside your breakfast wishes...and we agreed on it! See you yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:19 pm	Dear mummy, yesterday it was a very exciting day: we were visited by Strunki, her TVs Charlotte and Helmut and her guests Gozer, Hase, Elmar and Laika. And they brought Mefito home, hostmum's TV. So we had a very big TV-meeting  In the run-up to the visit we had bought some presents, chocolate and gummi bears, wrote two placards and scattered much of confetti and then we waited... Suddenly the bell rang and they arrived!! After the welcome ceremony we shared out the presents, especially to Charlotte who built up the necklaces and finally we started eating sweets  and talked about ToyVoyager-life... After saying goodbye to Strunki, Gozer, Elmar, Hase and Laika we carried on talking the whole night... It was fantastic to get to know so many TVs! Love you, yours Dotty and Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:27 pm	Hi mum, after talking the whole night we fell asleep in the morning... Some hours later we were woken up by Charlotte: "Listen" she said, "let's make hostmum happy and clean up the kitchen before she'll come home from work." Okay we thought, good idea but Charlotte had another idea: "You'll clean up and I'll look after you" she said. We looked at each other and agreed on this suggestion immediately: No! So Charlotte hadn't any choice but cleaning up, too  After hard work Nick showed us a very nice card game: 'everybody wants Stinky'. You have to collect pairs of cards and the one who has got at last the skunk is the winner, not the looser in consideration of Mefito... Helmut won! Yours Dotty and Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:35 pm	Dear mummy, while hostmum and hostdad were working today we explored their flat. First we got to know the very old dog lady Trixi. Nice to meet you! Trixi was followed by a purple sheep and Brother Jacob, a kind monk. After visiting the orchids we discovered the best: a piano, a trumpet and a guitar  Of course we decided to become a septet! First each of us tried each instrument and soon the several talents came to light. And now have a look at the world's best septet !
mcdaniels Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:44 pm	Dear mum, today morning we visited Bad Lippspringe, a spa near Paderborn. In Bad Lippspringe there are five sources: Lippe, Jordan, Arminius, Liborius and Martinus and the water you can get from some of them is very good drinking water. There are two spa gardens, an older one and a newer on. On the photo you can see a part of the older one with many old and some young trees. We visited also the ruin of a very old castle standing in the centre of Bad Lippspringe and the church St. Martin. Love you yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 2, 2013, 10:03 am	Dear mum, tomorrow we'll go on holiday to the North Sea! We'll be back next Saturday. See you, yours Spotty and DottyWot
mcdaniels Posted Oct 2, 2013, 10:13 am	Hi mum, today our North Sea-trip has begun! In the early morning we took our places in the car and Most of the time we drove on motorways but together with HelmutBluepant, Charlotte, *Nick*, Sargent Froggo, UrselHH and Mefito it wasn't boring at all. After a few hours we crossed Hamburg and drove through a long tunnel underneath river Elbe. A further hour later we crossed the Kiel Canal. The typical landscape we could see outside the car showed us that we were already at our's destination. And so it was. A few minutes later we reached a nice sofa in our holiday home in Friedrichskoog  All the best yours Spotty and DottyWot
mcdaniels Posted Oct 2, 2013, 10:21 am	Dear mum, What we did first on our first day: we borrowed a TV-suitable bike for reaching all sights and places in Friedrichskoog. Today we drove to the 'Trischendamm', a dam that streches 2 km into the North Sea. On our way to the dam we saw a sign that  confirmed us to prefer driving by bike and not by car...driving by car seems to be very dangerous in this region  On the Trischendamm we walked up to the end and stood so to speak in the middle of the North Sea. The dam is built up of many many stones. It was a windy day so we had to pay attention not to fly away... Back at the dyke we took a rest in a nice wicker beach. On our way back home we bought some jam standing at the roadside. There were no seller but only a box to put in the money. See you yours Dotty and SpottyWot
mcdaniels Posted Oct 2, 2013, 10:26 am	Dear mum, in the morning we unfolded the magic towels of Charlotte and HelmutBluepant. We had to put the little packets into water and waited some seconds...and then two very nice towels came to light  We all hoped that the sun will shine the next time so that we could use them all together...
mcdaniels Posted Oct 2, 2013, 10:31 am	In the afternoon we wanted to visit Friedrichskoog's little lighthouse. A narrow dam leads to the lighthouse. On our way we saw a nice red fishing cutter, the typical ship in this region. After half the distance we took a rest. Cause it was high tide the dam was overflowed at it's end so we unfortunately couldn't reach the lighthouse and had to turn back. Perhaps we'll try again at low tide. Back at the dyke we found a big stone with an inscription: at this place runs the 54th northern latitude. Yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 2, 2013, 11:11 am	Today morning we visited the old windmill in which hostmum and hostdad married a few years ago. A very nice place...
mcdaniels Posted Oct 2, 2013, 8:29 pm	In the afternoon we took a long walk on the dyke and met a lot of sheep.
mcdaniels Posted Oct 2, 2013, 9:01 pm	Dear mum, today morning it was raining so *Nick* read a book to us. In the afternoon the weather was much better so we drove to Meldorf, a little nice town near Friedrichskoog. First we visited the great cathedral built up in the 13th century. And then hostmum showed us the market square with her favourite café, of course we went in...very good Somebody had an old anchor in his garden and of course we wanted to sit on it... See you, yours Dotty and Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 3, 2013, 10:27 am	Dear mum, cause it was raining again we had time to sit in a nice café and to explore the interior furnishings after eating and drinking. There were very interesting things in plushie-size, so we played seafarer and lighthouse attendent...fantastic! And we had time to write a postcard to you  Yours Dotty and SpottyWot
mcdaniels Posted Oct 3, 2013, 5:29 pm	Today the weather was very good, so in the morning we walked on the Trischendamm at low tide for picking shells. After picking some we took arest on the big stones. On our way back we had a great sight of the mud flats. Back at the dyke we met 'Fritze', a very big mud flats worm and then we played on a nice boat and took another rest on deck. In the afternoon we went into another nice café...hostparents love cafés as you can see...
mcdaniels Posted Oct 4, 2013, 12:44 pm	Dear mum, today morning we tried to reach the little lighthouse again, this time at low tide. But first Charlotte wanted to visit her sister-in-law who lives here at the dyke. Charlotte's brother unfortunately is in prison (and she doesn't want to tell us why) as HelmutBluepant told a few weeks ago, you remember? And so she went alone into the rabbit burrow (Charlotte's brother had married a rabbit as you can see) and we had to wait outside while she was talking with her siste-in-law. After a while she came back, hugged HelmutBluepant but she didn't want to say anything about her visit. If you ask us it seems to be a not so pleasant part of her family... So we started to the lighthouse and reached it. Before going back we took a long rest sitting there and talking about life... See you yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 4, 2013, 1:17 pm	In the afternoon we visited the nice little fishing harbour.
mcdaniels Posted Oct 4, 2013, 6:07 pm	In the evening we had to say goodbye to the North Sea...and the North Sea said goodbye presenting us a great sunset...
mcdaniels Posted Oct 4, 2013, 7:37 pm	Dear mum, back home we immediately had to say goodbye to Mefito who'll start to make a pilgrimage in Spain tomorrow together with hostgrandma. Be careful and see you soon, dear friend!
mcdaniels Posted Oct 7, 2013, 9:09 pm	Dear Mummy, in the morning we started to Strunki in Remscheid. *Nick* will stay there with HelmutBluepant and Charlotte. We were welcomed very warmly by Gozer, Elmar, Hase and Laika and of course by Strunki. And we weren't the only guests: olgamaus came as well with her TV-guests, it was fantastic!!! So I got to know KoalaMimi, Rocky Raccoon, OleOrangescarf, Kirin, Tsukumo, nosyblue and Lamikins It was fantastic!!! Hase came with presents for each of us, yummy chocolate, a candle, a lolly and a scarf  After eating the yummy meal Strunki and her guests had cooked for us we went into a garden and built up the greatest ToyVoyager-polonaise you've ever seen  Before we started the world's best party we visited the nice garden. And then the party began... Hours later mum had to drive home again so we had to say goodbye to Nick, Helmut, Charlotte and all the others. Hope to see you again! Then we jumped into the bag again together with OleOrangescarf who acoompanied us to Paderborn  Back home we sat together talking and drinking some more Killepitsch... It was a great day yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 13, 2013, 8:34 am	Hi mum, after writing a nice postcard to you that shows our great TV-meeting in Remscheid we drove to Paderborn city in the evening for watching the international soccer game Germany:Ireland together with grandhostdad. Cause we're guests in Germany we all yelled for the German team (if the Australian team had played of course we had yelled for Australia  ) Germany won 3:0 as you can see  Yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 15, 2013, 11:41 am	Dear mum, today we had a sunny day so we went on a autumn-cycling tour. We met some late bees and saw the harvested maize fields. The trees look very nice now, some leafs get brown, some get yellow, some get red or orange... We found some big yellow mushrooms...or toadstools? Nobody knew and nobody wanted to try out  And look the red rose hips! On the sign you can see the route we drove. After a while we reached our destination, a 300-year-old half-timbered house in the middle of a forest in which a friend of hostmum lives. See you yours Dotty and Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 17, 2013, 9:28 pm	Mefito is back from his pilgrimage in Spain  We all hugged him and than we sat together round an indoor campfire and listened to his adventures...
mcdaniels Posted Oct 22, 2013, 10:22 pm	Dear mum, today we made a trip to Reelkirchen, not the paradise  , but a very nice little village that belongs to the Egge mountains. We visited the old church and a very old lime tree. There were very many half-timbered houses, some more than 300 years old. On the way back we saw the colourful forest...great! Yours Dotty and Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 27, 2013, 3:06 pm	Dear mum, today we went to an autumn-fair in Paderborn city. First we had a look from the top of the multi-storey we had parked. And then we went to the fairground. We admired the ghost train, an old merry-go round, stands with lots of sweets  and the Ferris wheel. Hostmum asked us whether we wanted to drive with the Ferris wheel...without question we wanted  It was great!!! Yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Oct 29, 2013, 4:26 pm	Time to say goodbye again... Today UrselHH set off to Strunki. So yesterday evening we had a farewell party sitting round an indoor campfire and talking about our common adventures... Have a good journey, little mouse, and give our regards to Strunki, HelmutBluepant, *Nick* and Charlotte  Yours Spotty and DottyWot
mcdaniels Posted Nov 1, 2013, 5:20 pm	Dear mum, today it's been a grey and rainy day so we did the best we could do: having a relaxing bath. First each of us chose his favourite bubble bath and then the relaxation began...wonderful... Hours later  we continued relaxing with yummy chocolate in front of the television. Very nice grey and rainy November day  1000 hugs yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Nov 3, 2013, 6:22 pm	Dear mum, today afternoon we went for a walk round Altenbeken, the village next to Neuenbeken, hostmum's homevillage. There we walked through a forest to a statue of saint Mary where hostmum lighted a candle for all her late relatives and friends as many people do on All Saints' Day (the day before yesterday). On our way to the statue we saw some signs but no sign to saint Mary but we could see her from a long way away. It was a very peaceful place as you can see. On the way back we met a strange guy in the middle of the forest. We took another rest on a bench when suddenly we were knocked over by a gust of wind  In Altenbeken we visited an old steam engine that is standing there in memory of the past. Altenbeken has been and still is a railway junction. Bye for today Dotty and Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Nov 6, 2013, 4:50 pm	Dear mummy, today Josie has arrived, a very cute little dog lady. She showed us her postcard from Dortmund and gave us some yummy sweets  Than we sat together round another indoor campfire talking about our TV-experiences... love you yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Nov 9, 2013, 8:35 pm	Dear mum, today morning hostmum had to drive to the vet with two canaries of her place of work. While they were on their way we explored the birdcage. Okay, it was not so bad to sit on a swing but we were all happy to be free ToyVoyagers who explore the world instead of sitting in a cage... Then we drove to a shop full of musical instruments. Great! We were allowed to test all the instruments  I liked the big gong very much but Dotty was most enthusiastic about the pink guitar... Yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Nov 13, 2013, 5:48 pm	Dear mum, today Mefito came back from his weekend trip. He was in a tree house together with hostparent's friends. He introduced his new friend Charmin to us and we introduced Josie to him and then he showed us the pictures of his adventure. See you yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Nov 15, 2013, 8:07 pm	Dear mummy, today we droved to Paderborn city by bus for visiting another part of river Pader. We visited a place where women did the washing up to the fifties of the last century. While sitting there suddenly a goose caught us  "This is not allowed, we're tourists!", I shouted and so the goose dropped us, apologized to us and allowed us to sit on her back...puuuhh! Many many hugs, yours Dotty and Spotty
mcdaniels Posted Nov 16, 2013, 4:23 pm	Autumn impressions...
mcdaniels Posted Nov 18, 2013, 3:11 pm	Dear mum, today in the early morning something strange has happened: we were still sleeping when suddenly we were woken up by a loud voice: "Where is the birthday boy?" Sitting up we saw a big goblin sitting on a purple horse and having a burning crown is his hands First we thought we had taken leave of our senses but our friends  could see the goblin as well. "Where is the birthday boy?" he repeated. "It's me!" Mefito said. The goblin wanted him to step forward, presented the crown him, congratulated him and disappeared. Wow! We all couldn't believe it but we could see the crown so it was true. We told Mefito to put on the crown, then we sang a birthday song for him, hugged him and gave him yummy gummi bears as a present  We sat around the crown discussing the event until hostmum and hostdad came for congratulating Mefito. Then we started to Paderborn city by bus for having a vegan birthday breakfast in a nice café  On the way back we visited the cathedral again and a miniature of the city. That's it for now, in the evening we'll drive to a restaurant for having a farewell dinner cause today it isn't only Mefito's birthday but also our last day in Paderborn. Tomorrow we'll start to Essex and hostmum says we shall have a great goodbye  Love you yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Nov 19, 2013, 12:06 pm	Dear mum, in the evening we drove to the city again for having a nice birthday-and-farewell-dinner in an Indian restaurant  Back home our party began...and ended in the early morning... very great party  Yours Spotty and Dotty
mcdaniels Posted Nov 19, 2013, 12:34 pm	Time to say goodbye Today noon we packed our things into small envelopes, then we were hugged by Sargent Froggo, Josie, OleOrangescarf and Mefito and crawled into a big envelope. Goodbye great friends and goodbye hostmum! Perhaps we'll see again anytime anywhere... Love you all yours Dotty and Spotty New hostmum, we're coming!!!
sneakysnail Posted Nov 26, 2013, 7:04 pm	Hello mum!!!! We arrived today at sneakysnail's house! She is to be our new host mum. We sat quietly in our package and we could hear voices and footsteps. Someone was walking on our package! It turned out to be DottyCroc, host mum's TV. He opened our package very carefully and helped us out. He did not know we were coming, host mum wanted to keep it a surprise! He introduced himself and gave us a big hug each and then he helped us unpack. Some nice goodies for everyone to share! Two postcards for hostmum too. We showed him the things we've collected on our journey and told him all about our adventures whilst we ate some of the treats we brought with us. You don't know how hard it was to resist eating those on the journey to England! After a long journey with not much sleep, we were very tired so hostmum found us a comfy bed with a spotty and dotty pillow and we settled down to sleep with DottyCroc. Bye for now Dotty and Spotty!
sneakysnail Posted Nov 27, 2013, 4:11 pm	Hi there. Today we settled in to life at Sneakysnail's house. DottyCroc showed us around a bit and then he took us to see Nibbles, hostmums rabbit. We looked in Nibbles' cage but he wasn't there which was odd. Patiently we waited in the cage. He still didn't turn up so DottyCroc asked hostmum where he was. it turns out he was running around the room! We moved somewhere else to wait for him and he soon came along. He didn't stay for long, only long enough to tickle us with his big whiskers, before running off down the room again. He was nice and soft and we liked him a lot. Later this afternoon, we played catch with DottyCroc. The ball was tiny and hard to catch. At one point it landed on Spotty's head and we all laughed lots. We thought it would be nice to have a group photo of our first full day together so DottyCroc climbed on our heads to pose! We think it's going to be fun here. Spotty and Dotty Wot
sneakysnail Posted Nov 28, 2013, 4:42 pm	Hello mum. This morning when hostmum came to wake us up for breakfast she was a bit grumpy. We may have caused that... See, we had a midnight party that may have continued to be an early morning party. I think we got a bit crazy and loud and hyper from the sweets. We played music from her music device and she said she could hear it from upstairs though when we asked her what songs we'd played, she couldn't name any. Our bed was a mess from bouncing and dancing and she took a photo of us while we were still asleep. Once we had woken up, we tidied our bed up and apologised. She must've forgiven us because we had a nice surprise this afternoon... Hostmum went out and came back with a little package for us all to open. We all carefully ripped open the paper and inside was a small bear in a green jumper. He leapt out of the package and knocked Spotty over! His name is Shamrock and he's from Ireland. He told us about his whole life and how he had come to be at a Christmas Fair. Hostmum said he could stay with us for the night and then he would go with her other toys that are waiting to be Toy voyagers. So four of us hopped into bed and we promised hostmum no midnight parties. It is getting quite crowded in our bed! Yours, Spotty and Dotty. PS. Hostmum says next week we get to go on a dots and spots trail!
sneakysnail Posted Nov 30, 2013, 2:20 pm	Hi. Another TV arrived yesterday! Her name is NiliHH and she is a very small and very cute hippo! She arrived and DottyCroc opened up the parcel. She hopped out and introduced herself and everyone gave her a welcome hug. We talked for a while and ate the sweets she had brought with her, they were really yummy! She tried Spotty's flip flops on and she looked great in them but she couldn't walk because they were too heavy for her tiny feet! She seems like good company, a welcome addition to our little group! Hostmum says she has something fun planned for tomorrow and we are all very excited here. I don't think we'll sleep tonight with the anticipation! Yours Dotty and Spotty.
sneakysnail Posted Dec 2, 2013, 4:19 pm	Hi mum. Today hostmum said she had a special job for us all to do. Looking around the room we spied a Christmas tree. Our special job was to decorate it! We started with baubles and then added lots of other decorations, including an angel and an owl. Next hostmum brought out candy canes and lace snowflakes. She had made the lace snowflakes herself! The tree looked really pretty and the decorations all sparkled in the lights. We took a photo of our work. It looks great don't you think? Yours Dotty and Spotty
sneakysnail Posted Dec 3, 2013, 8:20 pm	Hello mum. Today was more Christmas fun. First we all worked together to make a paper chain for the wall. It was great fun but hostmum had to watch the glue so we didn't all get covered in it. The paper chain looks very nice on the wall, it's a shame we can't sit on it for a photo, but I think we'd break it, and we wouldn't want that after all our hard work! Next we had to set up a Nativity Scene which hostmum said we might have fun playing in. We all built the stable and got the characters out of the box. Then we moved all the characters into the stable and arranged them nicely. Once we were done, we took all the people out again and made up alternative stories to the real one. It was loads of fun and we were laughing so much! Christmas is fabulous! Spotty and Dotty Wot
sneakysnail Posted Dec 4, 2013, 7:21 pm	Hi mum, Today hostmum took us on a dots and spots trail around the house! It was so much fun and we'd all been looking forward to it. First we searched down stairs and found a cushion with spots on and some curtains with dots on! There was also a big spotty giraffe which we all climbed on! Then we went upstairs and hostmum said there were some things with hearts on up there for NiliHH to find too. We found a slipper boot with white dots on in hostmums bed room. In the bathroom there was a shower cap with spots and dots on it and we tried it on. We think it suited us quite nicely. The trail was fun and interesting to see all the things hostmum has with dots on them. The dots and spots trail was a nice way to spend Dottycrocs last day at home. He is off on his adventures tomorrow! Hostmum says there will be lots more things to do with spots and dots soon. Spotty and Dotty Wot
sneakysnail Posted Dec 5, 2013, 5:30 pm	Hello mum. Today Dottycroc left for Germany. He was very nervous for his first journey, so we talked to him and made him feel happier. Then he said his goodbyes to us all and hopped into the envelope. It's sad he has to leave so soon after we arrived, but he'll have an amazing time. Once he was comfortable in his envelope we looked in on him to make sure he was ok still. He was and hostmum sealed the enveloped and took him to the post office. We look forward to reading about his adventures and, who knows, maybe we will meet him again somewhere in the world! Bye for now, Spotty and Dotty.
sneakysnail Posted Dec 8, 2013, 6:40 pm	Hi mum, Today hostmum took us and NiliHH on a forest walk. We sat on a few logs and trees and things. The autumn leaves were good fun to roll around in. There was ivy to climb and swing from and sticks to have stick fights with. It was really good fun. We found a hug fallen tree and played hide and seek on it. There were some really pretty patterns on the tree too. We played lots of rounds of that before we got a bit hungry. There were lots of small apples around on the floor so we picked some up and had a picnic on a smaller log. Once we were all filled up with apples, we carried on looking around and found a big puddle. The forest was cold but it was really refreshing to go outside and get some fresh air. Spotty and Dotty
sneakysnail Posted Dec 11, 2013, 6:31 pm	Hi there mum, Today we helped hostmum wrap some of her presents for Christmas. We measured and cut the paper to the right size for each gift and we stuck the paper down with sticky tape. Some of the tape got stuck to our hands instead of the paper but hostmum carefully pulled it off. Once the gifts were wrapped, we needed to find some labels so everyone would know who the gift was for on Christmas Day. When the pretty labels were stuck on nicely, hostmum asked us to go under the Christmas tree and arrange the gifts because she can't easily fit under the tree! There were some presents under the tree for hostmum too, but don't tell her! Yours Spotty and Dotty Wot
sneakysnail Posted Dec 14, 2013, 5:41 pm	Hi mum, Today hostmum showed us her pet snails Gwendoline and Jasper. They are Giant African Land Snails and they are much bigger than everyday snails. We peeped into the tank to see if they were awake or asleep. Jasper was asleep but Gwendoline was awake so hostmum got her out for us to see. Spotty loved her and he was very interested in learning all about these Giant African Land Snails. Dotty was not sure she liked the snail because it looked very slimy and dirty. We both had a good look at Gwendoline and hostmum told us all about her. Yours The Wotwots
sneakysnail Posted Dec 18, 2013, 7:46 pm	Hello Mum. Today we made a Christmas cracker. We had to tie one end of the cracker base up with pretty red ribbon and then, just as we were about to do the other end, hostmum took it away from us! She went out of the room with it and came back a few minutes later. Then we set about tying the other end up with some more ribbon. Once it was all done, hostmum said we could pull it. NiliHH stood back and the pair of us pulled with all our strength at the cracker. As we pulled it suddenly went POP and scared us all! We fell over backwards with the shock and NiliHH jumped backwards. Inside the cracker was a big hat, a joke and some sweeties. NiliHH read the joke aloud and we all rolled about giggling. We tried the hat on but it didn't fit, it looked much better on hostmum! We ate the sweets and cleared up the mess. Later on in the afternoon, we were walking past the big Christmas tree when we noticed three new, small gifts under it. Upon closer inspection, we saw they were for us! We are not allowed to open them until Christmas morning though. It's not a long wait, only a week! Yours Spotty and Dotty.
sneakysnail Posted Dec 21, 2013, 7:07 pm	Hello Mum, We built a little den today in Sneakysnail's house. Hostmum moved some chairs for us and we found a blanket and threw it on top. Then we adjusted it so it was perfect all the way around. We sat inside with NiliHH who had helped us build it too. Inside, we played a card game for a while before we got hungry. Hostmum brought us some pretty biscuits and we munched on those. Hostmum would not let us have a campfire in our den because she said it might catch something on fire. We don't want to be burnt, but a mini campfire candle might have been nice. Anyway, after that we did some drawings of a boat and a fairy. Soon we fell asleep inside our cosy den and hostmum scooped us up and put us into our bed. As we slept peacefully, she cleared away the den! That wasn't fair. When we complained she said that we could build another den again soon and that half of the fun of dens was building them! That is true we suppose. Bye for now, The WotWots
sneakysnail Posted Dec 24, 2013, 4:59 pm	Hi Mum! It is Christmas Eve today, which means it is Christmas tomorrow! Tonight Santa will bring gifts to all the toys in the world who have been good this year. We hope we have been good enough to get a present... This afternoon we had to prepare for his visit by putting stockings up for him to fill. Hostmum got out three little stockings with pretty patterns on and gave us one each. NiliHH got the sparkly one because hostmum didn't want us to argue over it. We went over and hung our stockings up by the fire. Then we needed to find a snack for Santa and all his reindeer. We got out a mince pie for him and a carrot for the reindeer. Hostmum says he gets very hungry on his journey! The only problem with Santa coming is that we have to go to sleep for him to come! We're not sure we'll be able to sleep we are so excited! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas, mum. Love Dotty and Spotty Wot.
sneakysnail Posted Dec 27, 2013, 1:30 pm	Hi mum. IT'S CHRISTMAS!!! The first thing we did today was check our stockings by the fire to see if Santa had brought us anything. He had! In each of our stockings was a candy cane. We ate those and then asked hostmum if we could open the presents we had seen under the tree. She got them out for us and we opened them very fast. Inside was a dress to wear on special occasions and a scarf and mittens for when it gets cold. We tried on our little gifts and thanked hostmum for our gifts. Soon it was time for Christmas dinner and we helped hostmum to prepare the Christmas pudding. After it was on the plate, she set it on fire!! Apparently it's traditional to do that. It was a great Christmas time and we were very tired by the time we went to bed! Spotty and Dotty.
sneakysnail Posted Dec 30, 2013, 8:01 pm	Hi mum. Hostmum wanted to take us all out today, but she couldn't because the weather is too bad. It is cold and rainy and windy and she didn't want us to get wet. She promises we'll go out soon though, rain or no rain. We stayed inside today and played a game of hide-and-seek. Hostmums new TV Mrs Fleece was the first to count and seek. We hid but she found us two before she got NiliHH. So then it was time for Spotty to hunt everyone. It didn't take long to find everybody. Next NiliHH was the seeker. We hid in hostmums ukulele case and behind the curtain. Since she found Dotty first, it was her turn to count and seek. Mrs Fleece hid amongst other toys and she blended in quite well! Hostmum said we could hide anywhere in the house and we ended up in the washing machine! Once we'd all had a turn to count, we settled down for a rest. Hostmum brought us a sweet each as a prize. They were tasty. Bye for now The WotWots.
sneakysnail Posted Jan 1, 2014, 2:55 pm	HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Last night we stayed up until midnight to see the new year arrive. We had to wait patiently for the time to tick by and it seemed to take forever! As midnight struck, hostmum popped a party popper which made a loud BANG and scared us! Inside was some paper streamer stuff which we played with and covered each other in!  When we finally got to bed we slept for a while but got up very early considering the late night. We're not sure NiliHH or Mrs Fleece were impressed, they wanted to sleep longer! Yours Spotty and Dotty
sneakysnail Posted Jan 5, 2014, 2:40 pm	Hi mum! We went for a short walk near hostmums house today. Hostmum isn't very well at the moment so we only went for a little walk to get some fresh air. We came across an old water pump at the edge of a road. It doesn't work anymore and has been painted bright white. Across the road from there we met Sir Winston Churchill. He was the British prime-minster in the second world war and some time after that. This statue commemorates him. Soon, as we were walking along, we came across a fallen tree. It has fallen in the storms we've been having here. The weather is really quite bad in the UK right now. We hope to go out for another walk soon. Hope you are well. The Wotwots.
sneakysnail Posted Jan 6, 2014, 6:59 pm	Hi mum! Today it is our birthday!!! We have another update dedicated to that later on, for now we had to say goodbye to Mrs Fleece. This morning she set off on her first journey as a TV and we helped her into her envelope. It was sad she had to leave on our birthday but she wished us well before she left. The (very excited) Wotwots.
sneakysnail Posted Jan 8, 2014, 7:29 pm	Hi mum! Yesterday was our birthday and we had a big party at Sneakysnail's house. The party didn't end until 2am this morning!!! First we started with a calm game of cards. It was a good start to the evening. Then we got changed into our party outfits and opened our present from hostmum and NiliHH. Inside the shiny bag was a pot of bubble mixture and some sweeties. Hostmum told us not to eat the sweets all in one go but we did, sharing them with NiliHH of course! We then put some music on and began dancing. NiliHH sneaked off and returned with one of those party popper things! She popped it and covered us in paper streamers! It made her laugh so much but we got her back! After playing with the paper for a while, hostmum suggested we get the bubbles open and she blew some for us! The music was very lively and we went crazy trying to pop all of the bubbles before they landed! It was hard but great fun.  Once it got quite late hostmum went to bed but we partied on! We used up all of the bubbles, exhausted the music collection and made a bit of a mess! By 2 in the morning we were all partied out and we fell asleep right there on the sofa. The party was amazing and our birthday was great! Bye for now The WotWots
sneakysnail Posted Jan 13, 2014, 7:14 pm	Hello mum. Today it was very cold but also sunny. We went for a walk. Soon we came across some benches with information about local people who lived around here in the past. There was one about Sylvia Pankhurst who was a campaigner for votes for women a long time ago. She used to live just a little way from her we think. Another had writing about William Morris who was a famous painter and interior designer. He used to make beautiful wallpaper designs and sell them to people for their homes. We are unsure if you'll be able to read the information in the photos, it might have come out blurred or too small! There was another bench too, this one went all the way around a tree, how nice! Near the benches, there was a pattern on the floor next to some information about Woodford. Its old name seems very complicated. We had to lay on the ground to read that though. There are also three big tall metal artworks which are quite pretty. At night hostmum says that they have green and blue lights on them, that must be pretty. Just there, there is also a very big motorway with lots of lanes and many cars driving on it. It is called the M11 and if you want to, you can go right down to it. But we stayed on the bridge! It was a fun walk, we hope to take another soon. Dotty and Spotty
sneakysnail Posted Jan 19, 2014, 11:45 am	Hi mum! It was a frosty morning today and we took a walk. Soon we came to a church hall with an interesting sign on it. There were some more signs on the other sides but unfortunately the gates were locked and we couldn't get in to read them. We continued to walk around there and we found a war memorial right by the church. In the grounds of the church was a funny tree which we liked a lot. Its leaves were really thick and spiky. Hostmum said it was a Monkey Puzzle Tree but that seems like a very strange name! We came across a pub along the road and it had a rather nice sign outside it. These pub signs are apparently very British and they have them outside most traditional pubs. All sorts of different pictures can be found on them, some people like to spot them when they're out and about! That's all for today, more soon! The WotWots
sneakysnail Posted Jan 22, 2014, 4:31 pm	Hello Mum! A mysterious package arrived today and hostmum let us open it with NiliHH. As we tore open the envelope and peeped in, a bear hopped out with a bar of chocolate for hostmum! It is Little T.B.! He introduced himself and we all gave him a big hug. He has just been to Austria. Hostmum wasn't expecting him to arrive just yet and she said it was a lovely surprise to come home to! We talked for a while and hostmum gave each of us a small piece of her chocolate but she kept most of it for herself! How mean! Suppose it was her gift from Little T.B. though. Bye for now, The WotWots.
sneakysnail Posted Jan 27, 2014, 9:49 pm	Hi mum! The weather was, again, not very good today and so we stayed inside and played a fun game called Pay Day. You have to go around the board and buy businesses and then sell them. The aim is to make as much money as you can within the time limit. Some squares on the board are nasty and some are nice. On occasion, you may have to pay out for a new pet but another time, it would be your birthday and money is given to you by all other players. Someone had to be banker of the game and Spotty was selected. As the game progressed and everyone bought lots of companies, competition began to rise. A roll of the right number was crucial! We picked out our favourite business cards to show you before we packed them away and counted up the money. The winners were as follows: 1st: Little T.B. 2nd: Spotty 3rd: Dotty 4th: NiliHH Little T.B. won! We came second and third and congratulated him. As we packed away the game, NiliHH had a fun competition to have a go at. We had to balance the game tokens on our heads for as long as possible. It was hard and only one of us got the hang of it...    NiliHH won that game. It was funny watching everyone trying so hard but giggling made the challenge harder! Hostmum is having trouble with her internet and is unable to update as often as she would like. We have tried our best to fix it but pulling wires may not have helped that much! It's okay, she wasn't angry. Bye for now, Spotty and Dotty
sneakysnail Posted Feb 4, 2014, 7:03 pm	Hi mum, Another boring day stuck inside because of the weather. Hostmum says something fun will happen soon and that it is indoors so the weather cannot stop us! She just needs her pal to co-operate with her. We found a book to read all together and it was very interesting. The book was all about animals and there were some beautiful illustrations inside. We looked to see if we were in there but sadly, we were not! Fish and birds are interesting too though! There were so many species in the book, it kept us occupied for hours! Sorry this update was short, another one will come in a couple of days, hostmum promises. Bye for now, The WotWots
sneakysnail Posted Feb 6, 2014, 7:20 pm	Hi mum! Hostmum set us all a challenge today. The challenge was to find he cat, Merlin, somewhere in the house. Before we started looking, we made her promise that he was definitely inside and that she wasn't cheating. After she made her promise, we began searching, first heading for Merlins toy mouse. He wasn't there. That is kind of a good thing though or else the challenge would have been over too fast. The next place we looked was his mat in the kitchen, sometimes he plays 'magic carpet' on it, but sadly not today. Though, in the kitchen hotmum was making lunch and she gave us some! We then moved on to a big cushion on the sofa. He was not there but a crucial clue was. A piece of his fur!! Everyone was pleased we had found a clue and we ran across to the warm radiator. As we looked there, the warmth made us sleepy so we all took a refreshing nap on the drying towel. After that, NiliHH and Little T.B. went to ask Nibbles the rabbit for clues. He was not all that helpful but he made us all laugh and we soon were off searching again. This time we looked on hostmums bed but Merlin was nowhere to be seen! There was just a tiny piece of his fur. His night time chair and blanket were the next places we checked. It was covered in evidence that he had recently been there but he himself was not there! Just as we were about to give up, we saw him! Sleeping on the sofa amongst some cushions. WE FOUND HIM!! we all cheered and went to meet this master of hide and seek. Turns out, he had blended in with the chair so well, we hadn't seen him. He was friendly for a while, but then he must've gotten bored because he rolled over and covered his face. The trail was fun and so was talking to Merlin. By the time we finished, it was dinner time, it took us nearly all day! Bye for now, Dotty and Spotty Wot
sneakysnail Posted Feb 10, 2014, 6:42 pm	Hi mum. A new toy has arrived today at Sneakysnail's house! It is Nathalie the duckling and she has just come from Germany. We were looking at the box hostmum had just brought in for us and she popped out and shouted hello! It was quite a surprise. We welcomed her and showed her around and she showed us what she had brought. There was a puzzle which she received for Christmas. We were all being inquisitive and wanted to see the puzzle completed so she got it out and we all built it. The picture is of two ducks, a big one and a little one. It did not take us long, there were five of us working hard at it! Once it was done, we talked for a while and Nathalie took a nap. Yours, Spotty and Dotty
sneakysnail Posted Feb 12, 2014, 2:56 pm	Hi Mum. We went 10 pin bowling today! As we walked in, we saw a funny pattern on the floor. It was bowling themed and we liked it very much. Next hostmum had to put on some silly shoes. We all laughed at her because they made her look like a clown! Luckily the shoes didn't come in our size so we were allowed to bowl without them. There were lots of patterns on the bowling balls and hostmum picked a few of the appropriate size. When we tried to push the ball down the alley, we couldn't it was way too heavy! Spotty ended up getting stuck in the finger holes! Once bowling was over we went to the little arcade around the corner. There was a machine where you could win toys!! We tried our best to win a friend but it was just too hard! We had fun trying though! Bye for Now The WotWots
sneakysnail Posted Feb 15, 2014, 9:06 am	Hi Mum. We welcomed a new toy to sneakysnail's house today! It was Gigi Giraffe! We all piled on top of her as she climbed out of her package and gave her a big welcome hug! Everyone was giggling ad it was so funny to see us all rolling on the floor! Gigi then unpacked her envelope and got out some tasty sweets. She gave us each one and we ate them whilst telling tales of our adventures. Gigi seems good fun, hopefully we will all become great pals! Bye For Now, Spotty and Dotty.
sneakysnail Posted Feb 20, 2014, 11:23 am	Hi mum, Today was very exciting! We went to London to do a treasure trail. It was a pretend murder mystery and you had to look for clues as you were walking around the streets. First we had to walk to the station and hop on a train. Sadly the train was too busy for photographs, there was barely a seat for hostmum! Then we had to get off the train and jump onto another one. A few stations later and we were there! We started the trail and found this nice water feature right next to the station. Next we came across a big bridge with some fancy colours on it. The bridge framed a nice view of London, that big pointy building is The Shard which wasn't built very long ago. We soon came to a funny piece of art like a wheel and then a chimney art installation. Further along the road we saw a big tube with water whirling around inside it like a hurricane or a whirlpool. It was fascinating to watch it changing shape all the time. Once we dragged ourselves away from the whirlpool tube and walked a little further down the road we saw the O2 in the distance. It is an odd looking building and they host exhibitions, music events etc there. There was a big red shiny flower on the next road and it was fun to slide along it! Another interesting art feature was sitting in the Thames. It is a giant metal knot designed by someone called Wendy Taylor. She makes lots of public art apparently. Then we got another train and then ANOTHER train and ended up at the Tower of London. It was too late to go in but we looked at it from the outside. Next we hurried over to Tower bridge to complete a life mission for NiliHH. Then hostmum put us back in her bag and headed home. We remember some train sounds and that's about it! We'd fallen asleep in the bag! At hostmums house, she moved us onto a chair and let us sleep. Today was great but very tiring. Zzzzzzz... The WotWots
sneakysnail Posted Feb 21, 2014, 4:29 pm	Hello mum. NiliHH and Mrs Fleece left us today and it was quite sad. We huddled in a circle and said our goodbyes to them both before they hopped into their envelopes and got comfy. Once they were gone, everyone was quiet for a while. It is always sad when friends have to leave for new adventures. Soon enough, it livened up a bit and everyone was chatting as usual.  Yours, Dotty and Spotty
sneakysnail Posted Feb 24, 2014, 5:10 pm	Hi mum. This afternoon we left Sneakysnail's house and are now on our journey! We packed away all of our things, (wow we have a lot of luggage), and said goodbye to everyone. Hostmum says it will be a short journey, not very far. Then she took our package down to the post office and sent us off! See you soon new host! Dotty Wot and Spotty Wot
Battery_Star Posted Feb 27, 2014, 8:21 pm	Hi mum! It was dark inside our envelope! But the travel wasn't too long, and atleast we had each other's company. Before we knew it there was tapping on the envelope and we could see light! We we're welcomed by our new host, Niki, and her visiting you voyagers little Squirt, ThomasHH and Batyr. We were so glad to be out of our envelope and with our new friends. We think we're going to have a nice time here.. Bye for now! Spotty and Dotty
Battery_Star Posted Mar 2, 2014, 5:51 pm	Hi! We went to Puddletown woods today in the next town over. The name was very fitting since it was raining and there was puddles everywhere! We couldn't go off the track as it was too muddy, but there was plenty of things on the track to take pictures on. Here We are on a log. Niki put a tissue down for us to sit on so We Didn't get too wet. There were lots of cut down trees that had been turned into fences. Here we are in a tree! There's been lots of stormy weather here lately, so here we are on one of the fallen trees. We headed back after that as the rain got harder. We went home and watched a movie in front of the fire with hot chocolate! Lots of love, The WotWots
Battery_Star Posted Mar 8, 2014, 9:27 pm	Hi mum! It was a lovely day today, so sunny and warm! We all bundled into the car and drove an hour or so up the coast to Lulworth cove! Lulworth is a village on the Jurassic Coast which stretches along the majority of Southern England. In the area there are a few heritage sites such as the cove (a large bay which you can see behind us) and durdle door. Here we are with durdle door. Niki told us that durdle door is made when soft rock is eroded and the hard rock stays there. She also said there was another arch like this but the top had collapsed in and now it was just two stacks of rock. Bye for now! The WotWots
Battery_Star Posted Mar 23, 2014, 12:49 pm	Hi mum! It's such a lovely day today, so we went out in the garden for a while. After lunch Niki is planning on taking us and the other TVs to the lighthouse, we can't wait! We set out a picnic blanket and enjoyed the sun. But suddenly, a dog appears! This is one of Niki's dogs, Sooty.. he's very friendly. We don't get to see the dogs very often as the last time they tried to steal us when Niki wasn't looking. Here we are sunbathing The spring flowers have just started coming through, so here we are sat with some Daffodils and Tulips. Aren't they pretty? Stay tuned for another update after our outing! The WotWots
Battery_Star Posted Mar 23, 2014, 5:43 pm	Road trip! After a long car ride, we ended up at Portland Bill. Can you see the people flying their kites behind us? It was very windy, despite the lovely weather. We struggled to walk to the end of the cliffs but we soon came to the lighthouse. Isn't it big? Sadly it doesn't open until the summer so we couldnt go inside and walk around. We then walked further along the cliffs to Pulpit Rock. There are small ledges on the side of the rock so you can climb to the top, but it's not really safe to do so. In the summer there are always people jumping off the top into the water below. We then went to the garden centre and bought lots of seeds to plant in the garden. Niki has the day off on Wednesday so she promised we can plant the seeds then. Bye for now, The WotWots
Battery_Star Posted Mar 28, 2014, 10:05 pm	Hi! Niki had her day off today and it was such a beautiful day! Niki didn't have a whole lot planned so we helped her out in the garden while she planted seeds for the summer! Here we are putting mud in the pot to plant a sunflower! We planted loads of seeds today, including morning glory, pansys, pumpkins, cucumbers and so many more! She's going to have a beautiful garden once they've all grown. Here we all are with all the pots of seeds we planted. Niki has a lot of penpals around the world and also participates in 'Postcrossing' so we helped her write her cards, then had a lovely walk down to the post office to mail them! Bye for now! The WotWots
Battery_Star Posted Apr 5, 2014, 10:23 pm	Hi mum! Sorry for the really late update! Niki was busy revising for exams and us TVs couldn't work the computer. Anyway, on mothers day Niki volunteered to cook her mother lunch. We helped her make shallow fried chicken and a tomato pasta dish ( which everyone enjoyed) Her brother came to lunch too, which was nice. Niki and her mother enjoyed having the entire family around again. Bye for now! The WotWots
Battery_Star Posted Apr 7, 2014, 10:25 pm	Hi Mum, It was raining all day today, so me and the other toys were watching they day go by from our place on the windowsill. As we were looking around we spotted life in our plant pots! During a brief stop in the rain Niki took us down into the garden to we could see the plants we potted already starting to grow! Bye for now! The WotWots
Battery_Star Posted Apr 8, 2014, 8:30 pm	Hey mum! Us Tvs had a surprise in the mail today. It came in the form of a very squishy package which yelped when we poked it. We opened the package and out came Matcha! He was very grateful that we freed him, and he shared his cookies with us. It was also a sad day as we had to say goodbye to our dear friend Batyr. He's on his way to The Netherlands! How exciting! We gave him lots of hugs before we packed him into his cosy envelope. Bye for now, The WotWots
fleursmum Posted May 15, 2014, 5:32 am	Hello World!! We are back home - our stay in the UK was cut short as our host was very busy with exams, so we are very happy to be back home safe and sound. we said hello to Cyril, and found there are new sheep living here now!! We have some catching up to do here at home!! Spotty and Dotty Wot xxooxx
fleursmum Posted May 15, 2014, 7:03 am	Hello! We are off to have a chat about our travels to the other visiting TV's. The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted May 22, 2014, 7:30 am	Hello! Today we went along to a bloggers meet up at the Rose Mill Quilt Shop in Ballan. Happily yours Spotty and Dotty xxooxx
fleursmum Posted May 22, 2014, 7:31 am	Hello, Today we had to say goodbye to GustavHH as he is off on his travels to Canada. Safe travels GustavHH Bye for now Spotty and Dotty.
fleursmum Posted Jan 19, 2015, 10:07 pm	Hello world! June found us visiting family up in the Dandenongs this is a furry family member...Hector the goat lots of goldfish in here and huge trees Bye for now The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Jan 19, 2015, 10:13 pm	Hello! Today we have visited a garden in a sink hole...very cool for the hot summer weather to come and sit in here...this garden was first established in the early 1900's. Happily yours The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Jan 19, 2015, 10:14 pm	Hello, This morning we had a walk around the Blue Lake here. Bye for now The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jan 19, 2015, 10:24 pm	We stopped to have a look at this beautiful coastal town The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Feb 2, 2015, 2:47 am	Hello!! We are very honoured to be the Toy voyagers for the week!!  We have been to the beach for the weekend today was overcast and not very nice Tupai wasn't bothered he went in for a swim anyway Happy days The WotWots xxooxx
fleursmum Posted Feb 2, 2015, 2:49 am	Hello!!  We spent some time at the beach today with Chalon and Buddy Happily yours The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Feb 2, 2015, 2:54 am	Today we are driving to St Leonards and on the way stopped to have a wander through the Geelong Botanic Gardens we found two interesting bollards...they show the man who started the gardens and a lady of the time who was looking for plants and flowers for her flower press.. Ohh! Can you see the spider in the flower??? we found some strange creatures!! and interesting plants. Bye for now The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Feb 16, 2015, 7:24 am	This weekend we have been on a sewing weekend to Echuca...it was very hot so mostly we were inside keeping cool....36 deg C is very hot for us!! hot and dry out there.... by the Campaspe River Phew....hot and dry here too...back to the car for us!! The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Feb 16, 2015, 7:28 am	Today we have been to St Leonard's and back...we took a load of boxes Sue saw this couch and thought someone had dumped their old couch here but when we had a closer look we found it was carved form limestone!! there even was a footstool! we found a bollard at Lime Burners Bay here is where the boats go out to go fishing and people fish off the break water Once the car was unloaded we headed down the beach...it is a beautiful day! The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Feb 17, 2015, 6:53 am	Today a new traveller arrived at our house....it is Hansi Hu  we  have lots to talk about....many travelling stories will be told tonight!!  Bye for now Dotty and Spotty Wot.
fleursmum Posted Feb 22, 2015, 4:50 am	We have some more arrivals at our house...it is Bernie and her new husband Wavy Gravy...on the way home their new twins arrived!!!  Now they are a family of four!! We made them very welcome and are looking forward to playing with the twins once they have recovered from their travels. Happily yours The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Apr 14, 2015, 7:45 am	Hello!! Finally we are back......our Mum has been very slack...just because she moved house didn't mean we couldn't be updated and taken places!! Anyway we did get to have a little look at the city we will show you where we went... right near the train station we found this amazing dragon!! We hadn't seen a dragon before! This one was left from the Chinese New Year celebrations.. here we are on a bridge over the Yarra River...it is known as the upside down river as it is brown!! we liked the bees on this big building on South Bank now we are by St Pauls cathedral More soon The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Apr 14, 2015, 7:48 am	We have some serious questions to ask our Mum about her photo taking skills...I mean have a look at this!!!! anyone would think Dotty was falling of the edge of the earth!!!  Lucky we got her to try again...this one is a little better....we are looking towards Point Lonsdale..... Bye for now The WoyWots.
fleursmum Posted Apr 14, 2015, 7:50 am	Today is it sunny and very pleasant to be outside.....we are taking the dog for a walk Happily yours Spotty and Dotty Wot.
fleursmum Posted Apr 14, 2015, 7:55 am	Well after a few quiet weeks here we are off on a road trip.... we stopped at Lake Bolac at the info centre and found some interesting things out the back near the playground we are a long way from anywhere here!! we saw some emu shapes in the path, and a kangaroo off we go again...back in the car See you soon Spotty and Dotty Wot.
fleursmum Posted May 26, 2015, 11:45 pm	Hello! This morning we are in Mount Gambier and at the sunken limestone garden this garden was made back in the 1800's and there used to be water at the bottom, it was a lovely cool place to go to on a hot summer day. we found some interesting rocks at the information centre and had a stop at the Blue Lake. Happy travels The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted May 26, 2015, 11:49 pm	Hello, We are staying at Kingston for the next few days and when we went out the door to the car this morning, this is what we saw over the back fence!! Even some little babies!!! We think they are lamas.  happy travelling The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Jun 7, 2015, 3:28 am	Hello, Today we have travelled down the coast to Robe On the way home we sat and watched the sunset!! Happy travels The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jun 7, 2015, 3:46 am	Hello, Today we are having a look around here in Kingston here is the old light house, moved in from the coast, now it is a tourist attraction now we are all down at the beach... we built a sand castle for the little ones! a bit up the coast we went to a place called The Granites...this area is all limestone so it is unusual to see granite here here we are back in Kingston with the Big Lobster!!  he is atourist attraction around here too!! Happy travels The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jun 7, 2015, 3:54 am	Hello!! On the way home we stopped to have a look at this Limestone Cave at Tantanoola.....there was only one cave but it was interesting. we were looking for beasties but didn't see any... Happy travelling The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jun 7, 2015, 4:10 am	Hello, We found some very interesting fungi when we were out walking today. Happy travels The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jun 7, 2015, 4:18 am	Hello, Today we went in to the city we went for a quick look in China town we saw lots of interesting graffiti and then we went to Federation Square to look at the poppy display. Two ladies here in Melbourne wanted people to craft 5000 poppies for an ANZAC Day display...well they were very surprised as they ended up with over 250,000 poppies!!! When we looked up we saw.... BATS!!!!! hundreds of them flying about!!  That made the day more interesting for us!!! Heading home on the train now. Happy travels The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jun 7, 2015, 4:29 am	Lovely day for a walk! Happy travels Spotty and Dotty Wot.
fleursmum Posted Jun 7, 2015, 4:38 am	Hello, Is a lovely day for a walk along the beach The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jun 7, 2015, 4:42 am	Hello, Back to winter again today, but we enjoyed our walk on the beach we found a shell tree!!  Tupai is going on ahead today Happy days Spotty and Dotty
fleursmum Posted Jun 7, 2015, 5:32 am	A new TV has come to join us today...Kalea!! We made her welcome. Spotty and Dotty.
fleursmum Posted Jun 26, 2015, 8:35 am	Hello!! Back down the beach today. The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jun 26, 2015, 8:41 am	Hello, Today a new traveller arrived It is Scoop....he has come to Australia to see his good friend Kevin Kiwi...but sadly Kevin has gone off to China! We will look after him though! The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jun 26, 2015, 8:43 am	Today Sue has been to a sewing day here...we had a look at the jetty before heading home this is the jetty where the mussel boats land..in the summer you can but mussels from the boats here.... Happily The WotWots
fleursmum Posted Jun 27, 2015, 1:11 am	Hello!! Today we have been on a big walk....through Edwards Point Reserve here we go.. through the bush at the back of the beach.... out to the salt marsh and over the boardwalk...we are looking for creatures here....but we don't want to see any snakes thank you!! maybe some birds??? out onto the beach.... hanging around waiting for the others to catch up!!! Lol!! it was a long walk so we had a rest on the way back... and another one!!  Happily yours The WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Jun 27, 2015, 1:14 am	Back down the beach today walking the dog Happily yours Spotty and Dotty Wot.
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 7:09 am	Hello!! Today we brought Hansi here so he could see a world famous surfing beach We are off to the surf beach now. From the WotWots.
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 7:14 am	We found some interesting creatures here Lots of surfers here.... Off up the coast we go. Spotty and Dotty Wot.
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 7:21 am	Now we have travelled up the coast to Barwon Heads, this is known as the ship wreck coast as many sailing ships went aground here back in the 1800's on their way to Melbourne. lots of ocean out here Off we go again, Spotty and Dotty Wot.
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 7:23 am	Ah ha!!! We have found a pirate!! oooo..off we go again Bye for now.
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 7:25 am	Last stop for today here we are below the light house and next to the light house...the gap between land you can see in the photo is where all the big ships go when they come to and leave Melbourne. And finally some lunch!! Yum!! Bye for now Spotty and Dotty Wot.
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 7:28 am	Hello....we are here to see a friend of Sue's and we have climbed to the top of the 360 tower...great views!! this is where the ferry goes to get to the other side of the bay and this is where the boats go when they leave Port Phillip. happily yours Spotty and Dotty.
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 7:30 am	We have been walking the dog today, it is a lovely day Spotty and Dotty.
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 7:34 am	Today we said goodbye to Hansi Hu, he is off to continue his adventures in America.... We all wished him a safe trip. Spotty and Dotty.
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 7:56 am	Hello!! We are on the way to Adelaide and have stopped here over night we had a walk around the boat harbour Happy times Dotty and Spotty
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 8:02 am	Hello!! the next morning we went to have a look at the old goal we think we could escape from these cells!! Off on the road now Bye from Spotty and Dotty.
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 8:16 am	We have stopped her to get some lunch and found some strange things along the street a larger than life gorilla!!!  Spotty and Dotty
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 8:27 am	Hello! We are travelling back to Victoria and are passing through the town of Padthaway in the Coonawarra  wine growing region first farms and gum trees oops someone forgot to take a photo of us with the grape vines!!  Spotty and Dotty
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 8:32 am	Off to the beach for a walk this morning Spotty and Dotty Wot.
fleursmum Posted Jul 22, 2015, 8:39 am	Hello!! Today we have been over to Point Lonsdale....someone has been geocaching and we have been used as cover, while she stealthily looks around!!  It is very cold and windy today...not a good outside day!  The WotWots.
Jasper Posted Aug 6, 2015, 4:16 pm	Hi mom, we arrived safely. You hear more from us soon. See you The WotWots
Jasper Posted Aug 10, 2015, 1:47 pm	Hello family, After a warm welcome we looked around a bit. Host brother's Balcony Garden fascinated us. Kisses to all The WotWots P.S. Jasper says thank you for the beautiful gifts.
Jasper Posted Aug 14, 2015, 10:45 am	Hi mom, Today we met Runa. One of Jasper's cats. The fur of this lady is very silky and cuddly. Kisses to all at home The WotWots
Jasper Posted Aug 14, 2015, 12:29 pm	Hi, today we helped Jasper bake a cake. The cake is not for us, she wants take it to work. We helped anyway. These are the ingredients - oops, we forgot the sugar. While Rachel and Nili put the paper in the form, we separated 4 eggs. Oh, we had a lot to do. Snacking dough was allowed. Then the cake had to bake an hour. Now snacking was no more allowed - but the cake smelled so good. This notices nobody, right? Sorry  See you The WotWots
Jasper Posted Aug 16, 2015, 11:23 am	Hi mom, to enjoy some cooler air, we visited the Säntis today. After a 30 minute drive we arrived at the Schwägalp. Schwägalp peak (el. 1,360 m or 4,462 ft) on the north face of Säntis, is the starting point of the aerial tramway to the top of Säntis. We boarded. At 2,502.9 metres above sea level, Säntis is the highest mountain in the Alpstein massif of northeastern Switzerland. It is also the culminating point of the whole Appenzell Alps, between Lake Walenstadt and Lake Constance. Shared by three cantons, the mountain is a highly visible landmark thanks to its exposed northerly position within the Alpstein massif. What a friendly welcome. "Grüezi" means Hello in Swiss dialect. The panorama from the summit is spectacular. Six countries can be seen if the weather allows: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France, and Italy. The exposed position of Säntis results in weather conditions normally observed in the high Alps. For example in April 1999, just beneath the summit on the northern snowfield of the mountain, a snow height of 816 cm (321 in) was recorded. The daily mean temperature is −1.9 °C (28.6 °F) Today it was 19 degrees warm and there were definitely no 8 meters of snow. The International Meteorological Congress of Rome in 1879 declared it as a necessity to build weather stations on adequate and accessible summits. Therefore, the Swiss built a weather station on Säntis. The position of the northern ridge proved to be ideal for such an endeavour. The weather station was commissioned in autumn of 1882. During a refreshment break Jasper told us about a crime that has happened up here. The so-called Säntismurder happened in the winter of 1922. It refers to a crime in which the weather station keeper and his wife were murdered. The murder was only discovered because of missing weather reports on 21 February. As a result of the missing reports, a search party was sent to Säntis, where they discovered the bodies. The prime suspect was shoemaker Gregor Anton Kreuzpointer, who committed suicide three weeks after the murder. The truth about this double murder hence remains unclear to this day. Horrifying  We moved on. Time for lunch. We had fried sausage and hash browns. A typical Swiss specialty. Located at the peak of the Säntis is a 123.55 meter high transmission tower, which was commissioned in November 1997. The original tower stemming from the year 1955 had to be renovated several times due to the rough weather conditions before finally being replaced. We walked from observation deck to observation deck and enjoyed everything to the fullest. Then Jasper discovered something funny. A smiley. She explained the reason: On the Schwägalp on Sunday a "Schwingfest" (Swiss wrestling festival) take place. Schwingen (from German schwingen "to swing"), also known as Swiss wrestling, is a style of folk wrestling native to Switzerland, more specifically the pre-alpine parts of German-speaking Switzerland. Wrestlers wear Schwingerhosen ("wrestling breeches") with belts that are used for taking holds. Throws and trips are common because the first person to pin his/her opponent's shoulders to the ground wins the bout. The match takes place in a ring, a circular area with a diameter of 12 meters that is covered with sawdust. And this piles of sawdust look from up here like a smiley face. While we waited for the next cable car to the valley, we discovered a showcase with fossilized marine animals. These fossils were found here on Säntis and at Schwägalp. Millions of years ago here was a sea - incredible. Back at Schwägalp we also found evidence of a primordial ocean here. These are fish bones. Unicellular organisms. Aha, here they build the wrestling arena. A piece of cake made the day perfect. That's it for today - see you soon. The WotWots
Jasper Posted Aug 28, 2015, 5:37 pm	Hello there, our Sunday walk took us to the river Thur, just five minutes from Jasper's home away. On our way we saw old apple and pear trees. We saw a big bee house - and kept respectful distance. Here you can see where we live at the moment. This is the great bridge of the ring road. And that's the Thur. Thur is a 131-kilometer-long (81 mi) River in north-eastern Switzerland. Its source is near the mountain Säntis in the south-east of the canton of St. Gallen. It flows into the river Rhine on the border with Germany, south of Schaffhausen. Because of the persistent heat, it has very little water. On one of the gravel bars we discovered a little piece of art - a heart of stone. Then we came to a small forest and had a blast. Red rocks in Lichtensteig. End of the path on this shore. Won't know what has happened here. We found beautiful flowers and suddenly we stuck in strange stalks. Wild Blackberries. No place so beautiful that you could still make it "more beautiful." So little water, normally we would stand here in the middle of the river. Despite all -  beautiful here. Elder Hmm? Rosehips We like this silvery tree. Along the Thur towards the waterfall. Oh fruits, looked delicious. Jasper told us: just look, do not touch. (It was a private garden) Then we took an adventurous path through the woods. Narrow, steep, through rocks. Suddenly we saw it - the small waterfall. Today it was even smaller than usual. But that also had something good. We were able to climb behind the fall. An interesting prospect. We walked along the shore, discovered more "rock art", sat in trees and won us new ground by man-sized plants. That was our way home. What a beautiful day Kisses The WotWots
Jasper Posted Sep 12, 2015, 12:16 pm	Hi mom flowery greetings from our balcony garden. The WotWots
Jasper Posted Sep 12, 2015, 12:24 pm	This morning we saw a hot air balloon landing on a nearby meadow. The WotWots
Jasper Posted Sep 12, 2015, 12:41 pm	Hi family, Jasper's car has broken down. Now she has to take the train to work. Pff, wait even longer until she gets home. For safety's sake, we are looking for a new car. These are our favorites. All the best Spotty & Dotty
Jasper Posted Sep 12, 2015, 12:49 pm	Hello mom, good news! The car is repaired and Jasper has bought new hiking boots. Now we can get started again. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather cooperates. Kisses Spotty & Dotty Wot
Jasper Posted Sep 22, 2015, 5:08 pm	Hi Family today Jasper had to buy food. She hates shopping. But the weather was so nice, so we joined the shopping with a walk. We parked the car in front of the shopping center and walked off. Here was a large factory a few years ago. After the demolition new apartments and shops are built. That's one of the many bridges over the river Thur. We walked along the shore and saw the Post bridge. In the background you can see the tower of the Catholic Church. That's the high school. Many old villas are on the shore. Next Bridge - a pedestrian bridge. This is the train station. The building is quite old, but the station square was redesigned two years ago. The WotWots have fun. Next Bridge. That's the cinema, and this is the profession - and training center. Back at the shopping center, we had a dispute over the purchase. Sweets or healthy stuff. As punishment, we had to wait in the car. [/img] With Jasper's shopping we were in agreement. At home we threw ourselves on the candys. Despite some difficulties, they tasted very good. Bye for now The WotWots
Jasper Posted Sep 29, 2015, 8:41 pm	Hi mom this morning we had to get up very early. A special trip was on the agenda. We visited the Jungfraujoch. The Jungfraujoch is a col between the Jungfrau and the Mönch. It lies at a height of 3,466 meters (11,371 ft) above sea level in the Bernese Alps, on the boundary between the cantons of Bern and Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. It is a glacier pass, on the upper snows of the Aletsch Glacier, and part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area. At 7.35 we boarded the train in Interlaken to Grindelwald. We felt displaced in earlier times - so uncomfortable were the seats. In Grindelwald we changed the train to Kleine Scheidegg. The weather didn't look very good - high fog. Jasper calmed us: it will be beautiful. And really, after a short time, we broke through the fog and had a breathtaking view. Then an announcement came: Eiger North Face to the left. Not all of us were fast enough to see the infamous rock face. Jasper told us we all could admire them. Next Stop: Kleine Scheidegg. Jasper, her son and some edgy TV's climb out of the train, run to the next platform, posing for a picture with the Eiger north face and get on the next train. The Jungfrau railway is a metre gauge rack railway which runs 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from Kleine Scheidegg to the highest railway station in Europe at Jungfraujoch (3,454 m), between the Bernese Oberland and Valais in Switzerland. For a few minutes we were silent and enjoyed the views of Lauterbrunnen valley and the Eiger Glacier. How big must have been this glacier, when one considers the abraded rock. Then the train disappeared into a tunnel. The railway runs almost entirely within the Jungfrau Tunnel, built into the Eiger and Mönch mountains and containing two stations in the middle of the tunnel, where passengers can disembark to observe the neighbouring mountains through windows built into the mountainside. After a few minutes into the dark, the announcement came: 5 min. stay into the Eigerwand Station. Only separated by a window, the rock of the Eiger North Wall was close enough to touch. And the view !! Next stop was Eismeer. Here we marveled at the glacial ice and the deep crevices. And then we reached our destination: The Jungfraujoch railway station, at an elevation of 3,454 meters (11,332 ft) is the highest in Europe. It lies east of the saddle, below the Sphinx summit, and is connected to the Top of Europe building, which includes several panoramic restaurants and a post office. Several tunnels lead outside, where secured hiking trails on the crevassed glacier can be followed, in particular to the Mönchsjoch Hut. After more than 2 hours on the train we just wanted to get out. So we took the elevator to the observation platform, which lies 117 meters above the station. With 6.3 m per second, we raced against the fresh air. On the platform we enjoyed a spectacular panorama. The Aletsch Glacier The Aletsch Glacier is the largest glacier in the Alps. It has a length of about 23 km (14 mi) and covers more than 120 square kilometres (46 sq mi) in the eastern Bernese Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais. The Aletsch Glacier is composed of three smaller glaciers converging at Concordia, where its thickness was measured by the ETH to be near 1 km (3,300 ft). It then continues towards the Rhone valley before giving birth to the Massa River. The whole area, including other glaciers is part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001. Der Mönch (4107m - 13474ft) The Mönch ("monk") forms together with the Eiger and the Jungfrau a highly recognisable group of mountains visible from far away. The Sphinx observatory The Jungfrau (Virgin) Then we took the elevator down and walked on the glacier. We wanted to play in the snow, but Jasper only allowed to walk on the marked area. All around there are deep crevasses where we disappear forever. Then we looked at the plaque for the miners. 30 men lost their lives during construction. In ice palace it was mostly too dark to take pictures. But an interesting discovery we have made anyway. After a last panoramic view of the imposing mountains we had to head home. It was such a great day. Kisses The WotWots
Jasper Posted Oct 12, 2015, 4:03 pm	Hi mom, Rocky has made his way to Miami, Florida. The lucky one. While we are freezing here, he flies in the sun. Bon Voyage dear friend and let hear from you soon. Hugs for all at home The WotWots
Jasper Posted Oct 28, 2015, 11:44 am	Hi mom, A few days ago told us Nili from her fun with the little red cheese. We also wanted to have fun. So procured Nili cheese - enough for all. Everyone took what he wanted and had fun with it. Later we ate the cheese - yummy. See you soon The WotWots
Jasper Posted Oct 28, 2015, 5:26 pm	Hi mom, since weeks we are trapped under a gray blanket of high fog. From morning to evening - always gray. Sun's from 1000 m. So we go to the mountains. Taking the chair lift we head to Wolzenalp at 1130 m above sea level. On the high plateau Rietbach a beautiful upland moor with springy soft peat soil waiting for us. Of course, no flowers and herbs grow more now, but the autumn-colored trees and the mild sunrays put us into euphoria. Jasper has a lot to do to keep us on the prescribed routes. In summer there is a barefoot trail through the marsh. We imagined, what we would look like after such a barefoot fun. Out of sheer laughter we were toppled by a hair in the brown broth. Up here, the air was so clear we could even see the Säntis. Some friendly cows looked at us interested. Then the sun slowly disappeared behind the mountains, and we headed for home. What a wonderful day. The WotWots
Jasper Posted Oct 29, 2015, 4:53 pm	Allegra (so welcomes you in the Engadine) we started on Tuesday morning for a trip to Graubünden. By train we went to Thusis. (Thusis and the Rhaetian Railway are UNESCO World Heritage Site) There we were up in a yellow Postbus which brought us to the Rhine Gorge "Viamala". Viamala or Via Mala (Which in Romansh literally means "bad path") is an ancient and notorious section of a path along the Hinterrhein River between Zillis-Reischen and Thusis in the Canton of Grisons. This narrow gorge was the most serious obstacle on the approach to two mountain passes: the Splügen and the San Bernardino. Even the ancient Romans used this way. 28,000 years needed the Rhine to dig so deeply into the rocks. The traces of water can be seen everywhere. 321 steps took us to the gorge and we marveled at the power of water. This white foundling does not come from this region and nobody knows when and how he got here. (from the bottom only a few pictures without TV's. It was too dark and the one-handed flash images are blurred.) High water level Here the Viamala seen from the Wildener bridge. Then we started to go on the "Via Spluga" a cultural and historical hiking trail back to Thusis. After an hour of back and forth, we came to a real challenge for Jasper. We - or better Jasper had to cross the Rhine Gorge. The Traversina web is actually a hanging staircase. 57 m long it hangs about 50 meters above the abyss. 176 stages to overcome a height difference of 22m. 10 minutes to change your mind, then Jasper took heart and started walking. With trembling knees but proud to have managed it we made a short break. As the legs obeyed again, we hiked on. Shortly before Thusis we saw the castle Raetien. This trail is really adventurous. Then we saw Thusis. At the station we were waiting along with a "nice lady" for our train home. That was an adventure! Dotty & Spotty Wot
Jasper Posted Nov 1, 2015, 2:27 pm	Hi mom, we were on Lake Thun and visited Jasper's daughter. On Friday, we enjoyed the sun during a walk to Oberhofen. In the distance we saw the fresh snow Bernese Alps with the famous Three - Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. Then the first look at Schloss Oberhofen. Along the way, we were looking forward to autumnal trees. Oberhofen Castle - unfortunately they had annual holidays. Too bad, but quickly our attention was drawn to a film crew. The Swiss Television filmed a documentary on the Swiss dialect singer Polo Hofer, who lives in Oberhofen. We walked on and enjoyed the afternoon and the beautiful view. Then we discovered a monument to Sir Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill stayed from 23 August to 20 September 1946 in Switzerland. His vision of a new, united Europe attracted attention worldwide. Unfortunately it was too cold to swim - the water of Lake Thun is so clear and clean. We marveled at the vineyard in its autumnal splendor and as the sun slowly sank behind the mountains, we headed for home. Tomorrow we will make a trip to ... Jasper says anything, it should be a surprise. Dotty & Spotty
Jasper Posted Nov 2, 2015, 8:26 pm	Grüezi, Hello and Bonjour, in our last destination many languages are spoken. In addition to 7,000 cows and a few locals here is the jetset home. We were in Gstaad, a small but beautiful village in the Bernese Oberland. "Last Paradise in a Crazy World". So Hollywood and Broadway star Julie Andrews describes her holiday home Gstaad. Even though his international flair Gstaad has remained alpine genuine. The atmosphere is quiet and discreet. And exactly that appreciate its famous guests from royal families, film, art, sport and business. Sir Roger Moore once said, "They are less interested in me than for my car." Richard Burton and Liz Taylor spent their holidays here. Likewise, Gunter Sachs, Bernie Ecclestone, the Thai royal family and many more celebrities. The little calf at the village well was made by Elizabeth Taylor's daughter. Many beautiful houses can be seen here. They must be all built in chalet style. We could not resist and had to try this wooden bathtub. In the distance we saw a castle-like building - there we needed to go. With horse-drawn carriage up the hill. That would have been nice. We were allowed to test it out, and had to walk afterwards. Jasper said, "Movement is expedient for you" So we started walking and could shortly afterwards admire the 5 * luxury hotel Gstaad Palace. Amazed, we listened to Jasper when she called us some figures about this hotel. 104 rooms, 26 suites, 2 Tower suites in the hotel towers. 1 Penthouse suite with its own sauna and roof terrace. 5 restaurants, tennis courts and a swimming pool. And - before you ask: too expensive for us. Okay, we did not ask - but maybe ...? Jasper thanked God that the hotel is closed until the beginning of winter season. We still enjoyed some views and made our way towards the village. An image with a Capricorn and brief glimpses to a Ice Hockey Match and already had passed our time in Gstaad. But don't forget: Liz Taylor was here, Roger Moore was here aaand The WotWots were here !! See you
Jasper Posted Dec 6, 2015, 10:22 am	Hi mom, Today we say goodbye to Jasper. not by our host, but by "Jasper the moose" He travels to Wuppertal. Bye, bye friend. Have a good trip and many exciting adventures. The WotWots
Jasper Posted Dec 6, 2015, 10:38 am	Hello there, another foggy day. Dotty & Spotty Wot
Jasper Posted Dec 6, 2015, 11:49 am	Hi mom, today brought Jasper much greenery. It was time to make an Advent wreath. The branches smelled good but it stung. Bravely we went to work. We cut the branches and wrapped them with wire to the straw wreath. The decorating was Jasper's thing. Does the wreath not look beautiful. We are all looking forward on the 1st Sunday of Advent. Many kisses The WotWots
Jasper Posted Dec 6, 2015, 12:04 pm	Hi What a surprise this morning. The first snow. The WotWots
Jasper Posted Dec 6, 2015, 12:43 pm	Hi mom, today is baking day. We need Christmas cookies. Jasper has already prepared the different doughs. So it goes fast - she thinks. Well then, set to work. We are rolling and forming and cutting out. Then we put the cookies on sheets and Jasper pushes them into the oven. It smells wonderful. With a little icing sugar and jam, they are even better. Delicious Bye for now Dotty & Spotty
Jasper Posted Dec 6, 2015, 12:50 pm	Finally, the Christmas season begins. Hugs and kisses The WotWots
Jasper Posted Jan 4, 2016, 1:34 pm	Hi mom, Last weekend we stayed at Jasper's daughter. On the way home we made a small stopover in Bern and visited on the Parliament square an event called "Every penny counts" Radio SRF 3 sends each year for a week their program from a glass box and collects donations for a good cause. This year was the motto "Together for young people in need" Around the clock you can watch the presenters when they welcome VIPs from sports, business and more. For a small donation can you wish songs or send greetings. This year more than 4,000,000 Swiss francs have come together. Later, we strolled through the old streets and over the Bernese Christmas market. That's one of the many fountains of the city of Bern. It is called "Kindlifresserbrunnen" (Child Eater Fountain) and dates from the year 1545. With a creepy feeling in the stomach, we drove home. The WotWots
Jasper Posted Jan 4, 2016, 2:19 pm	Merry Christmas This year we had a quiet Christmas. Grandfather gave us some worries. (a surgical intervention) He is now on the mend. Tomorrow we will travel for a few days to Jasper's daughter. Bye for now The WotWots
Jasper Posted Jan 5, 2016, 5:15 am	Hi Mom, Holiday on Lake Thun. Today we made a trip to the Niederhorn, a mountain vis-a-vis of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. We started in Thun and boarded the paddle steamer "Blüemlisalp" The Blüemlisalp was built in 1905 in Zurich and was the showpiece of the Lake Thun fleet. The ship is 60.45 meters long and has a width at 13.15 meters. 800 people can be accommodated on it. 1971 Blüemlisalp should be scrapped. 20 years it lay unused at anchor, waiting for its last trip. The association "Vaporama" enabled, a 2-year renovation and since 1993 the Blüemlisalp is again the favorite of tourists and locals. So, enough of numbers and data, see for yourself how nice it was. The ride in the morning had something magical. We were fascinated by the landscape and also the interior of the vessel amazed us. In Beatenbucht we left the steamer. Before we boarded the funicular, we could admire the ship in all its beauty. The funicular took us to Beatenberg. The view during the ride was terrific. Then we moved into a gondola and arrived after a short ride, the mountain station of the Niederhorn at 1950 meters above sea level. The view was spectacular, even if only pitiful remnants of snow were to be seen. Instead sleigh rides the scooter is used and instead of skiers enjoy themselves the paragliders. Snow or no snow, no one could spoil our mood and we enjoyed the day to the fullest. Here we are waiting for the ship to go home. We had a wonderful day. We wished we could experience everything with you. Dotty & Spotty
Jasper Posted Mar 3, 2016, 2:20 pm	Hello everyone home, the last hours of the old year we spent loud and funny. After a delicious dinner, we played, sang and partied until the early morning hours. We wish all a Happy New Year. The WotWots
Jasper Posted Mar 3, 2016, 3:12 pm	Hi mom, Today we celebrate our birthday. Jasper surprised us with a chocolate cake with frosting in blue and pink. We will have a happy day. We miss you The WotWots
Jasper Posted May 2, 2016, 2:50 pm	Hi mom, it was so boring today, so we snooped around a bit, and found these things - laboratory glassware !! Let us explore and invent. This flask was clearly too big for us. We quickly searched matching sizes. Then we started our tests series. All we found in Jaspers cupboards was poured together, heated, distilled and how it all means. It seethed and sometimes smelled terrible. The result - you will not believe it - gold. Unfortunately we have forgotten in the heat of the moment to write down the recipe. Sorry mom, can't send you a fortune back home. The WotWots
Jasper Posted May 2, 2016, 4:24 pm	Hi mom, finally nice weather again. We did not hesitate long and were on our way to Sigriswil, a small town in the Bernese Oberland. After train - and bus ride we walked to a known destination called "grave mill". Here you can fish for trout and gold panning. There is a zoo, and barbecues. Unfortunately was still closed. But we saw an alpaca breeding. After a good lunch at the Hotel Bären, we visited the Sigriswiler panoramic bridge. It is 340 m long and 182 m high and one of the longest and highest pedestrian bridge in Europe. The views of Lake Thun and the Bernese Alps is breathtaking. And the view into the canyon makes Jasper trembling knees. After a last look at the bridge and the parish church together with vicarage we were on our way home. After a long time without the sun we enjoyed this day especially. XXX The WotWots

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