Zlata Huezda Trebon

So the entire point of the trip to the Czech Republic was to visit the town of Cesky Krumlov (aka the Crooked Czech), which is in the south of the country, in what is traditionally Bohemia. The entire town of Cesky is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is wonderfully preserved in all its Gothic and Baroque glory! Cesky is not a large town, only about 15000 residents, but it has become incredibly popular in the last 20 years and sees about a ...

... and get the boat on the water and we were on our way. We did all right I think because of the couple of times we have been white water rafting. We had picked up at least how to steer and stuff, but very basically!

It was actually quite easy and the water was really shallow so I wasn’t too worried about falling in. At least we would only get wet up to our knees!

About half hour in Witek wanted to pull over as nature was calling. It was for me too but I have never ...

... it was time for a bit of propoganda. We viewed old communist propoganda posters. I had my picture taken with an actual hammer and sickle flag.
Now came the part that the kids (or more particularly Nick and Russell) had been looking forward to - the shooting and hand-grenade tossing.
First we had to engage in a bit of military training, which consisted of running an obstacle course while carrying an AK-47. A real AK ...

... not even in the bins. Amazingly we made it down to the capital city that evening, not too late at all. We were disappointed and unnerved to see signs posted warning to not leave valuables unattended. A trip to tesco's (yes unfortunately tesco's seems to be everywhere) nicely finished mine and Lena's nerves off. The stickers in the window saying 'no smoking', 'no dogs', 'no helmets', 'no guns'.....that's right, no guns!!! It spun us right out, never expected that in Europe, especially not in ...

... krumsoff) Now remember everyone, this is a Dempsey trip, so you need to expect the un expected - right? So, after 30 minutes and no shuttle, we start panicking (just a little) and try ringing the number given to us. Fantastic, our phones didn't work in Austria. Like all good travel stories, there was a happy ending and our exclusive shuttle service finally found us and started the much longer drive (not 40minutes after all). Nick and Alice were exhausted ...

... which is far cheaper, I buy some things for lunch and breakfast tomorrow, its a bargain all that I get for just over $4 Aus. I stop and have something to eat and watch the rafters going down the river, there are school kids and older people, it seems that about 1 in4 fall out when they go through the weirs (or shoots as I call them). Its great just relaxing. The sun is shining and its quite ...

... onto flat and otherwise plain surfaces. This ‘mutton dressed as lamb’ approach to exterior design lives on today in those skilled artisans who can craft an exterior wood finish without the need for treating timber or worrying about the ravages of termites. It’s simply ingenious what some people can make things look like with concrete. This creative approach was also currently being used to good effect in other purely functional Czech ...

... In the afternoon my friends Justin and Kelley arrived from Prague and we strolled through the city for a while (hey, they have real bears in the castle!). - At night we had dinner in my favorite restaurant, "Two Mary's". It was so cozy and picturesque! Day 40 - We did some more strolling and had lunch in another very interesting restaurant. It was some kind of cave dug in a basement. Really cool! I had a real pork knee, with all the whistles and bells!

... Anyway, it was another fantastic day in Krumlov, the perfect nightcap to a sensational day of vltava tubin'. I gave Mike a warm farewell, agreed to catch up back in Brunswick St when we both return to the lucky country, and walked the now familiar route back through the cloistered, darkened streets of this fairytale medieval town. It was going to be tough to leave my old China Krumlov....but new and wilder things lay ahead in this crazy journey. Tomorrow....london via Austria.

... steep price, but worth avoiding the a long walk. Cesky Krumov means "Czech bend in the river." The enchanting town is dominated by a castle high in the hills (established in the 11th Century) with a very windy river below. It's one amazing place - cheap and charming with buildings and street scenes to knock your socks off. It is touristy (unlike Bratislava), but you don't mind. Every corner is a new incredible sight. We got to our pension, Mysi Diro on Roosevelta Street about 11:30AM ...