Brigadoon Travel

Mark and Alexa are not exceptionally big travellers, but over half a century their travels have filled their lives with stories to tell when sitting around a camp fire yarning. The stories aren't earth-shattering or full of danger and intrigue but they do include stories like:

• An old lady on a train in France insisting that she give Mark some food and hobbling to the other end of the train, returning with an open beer so he could not refuse, all in memory of the Australian soldiers in World War II.

• A cheap cruise boat booked for the Galapagos Islands blowing up its motor and Mark & Alexa being transferred to an expensive, much more exclusive boat at no cost.

• A cruise company in the Amazon Basin forgot to tell the booking agents that their economy-class riverboat had been pulled out of service for refurbishment, so in the end Mark & Alexa were upgraded to the more exclusive riverboat in their fleet also at no extra cost.

• The only passengers on a large catamaran cruising on Lake Titicaca. Mark had a personal guide as he walked around the Island of the  Sun -  the traditional birthplace of the Incan Sun God. At nearly 4,000 metres above MSL, walking up the steep steeps and hills caused a bit of huffing and puffing, especially since he was recovering from heart failure and cancer at the time.

• A tour company owner forgetting to make Mark & Alexa's booking for a bus tour of Rio de Janeiro and in return giving them an extended personal tour of Rio, paying for lunch and all the tickets to places like Christ the Redeemer that were pay-yourself on the bus tour. They also got access to areas where groups were preparing for the Carnival procession.

• Renting a canal boat in the United Kingdom with an offer that said "Rent a narrow boat for a second week and get it half price." They expected to get the second week at half price, but the whole hire was half price, so the second week was actually free!

• Being on the paddle wheeler "Murray Princess" when it was grounded for nearly two days when it was blown onto the bank by a wind storm. A few years later, they passed that same spot in their own houseboat, only to find the Murray Princess stuck in the middle of the river due to low river levels this time.