Dearest friends,
As you can see, we have a new website. We had promised it for Christmas but it came online on January 11th. You will never believe how many hours we put on transferring data... and we are still not finished... We need to put the photos on the newsletters and a whole lot of photos in the PHOTOS section. Once more we ask for your patience!
On the other hand, Jean's arrival in Vancouver on January 30th was right on schedule. And what a party that was!
At the Vancouver airport, the "International Arrivals" hall was filled with people waiting for the travelers coming from New Zealand and a lot of these people were waiting for Jean.
People volunteering to organize the Wwwalk in Canada had gathered a bunch of young people with banners and signs and the Carnival Band was playing lively music to cheer the ambiance.
The media were there also and cameramen and reporters showed great patience in waiting for Jean for more than an hour while he was going through quarantine because he had declared a necklace he wore and that he had made out of teeth and claws of skeletons of kangaroos found on his way while he was going through the Australian desert.
After interviews with the reporters, a little dance with a small girl who was with the band and a lot of cheering from his fans, Jean and I left the airport with Laurie and Martin Hanlon, dear generous friends who hosted us both in their home in North Vancouver.
Most of the time we had the house to ourselves as Laurie and Martin went to work and their children went to school. But that did not mean that we could rest or sleep or even take leisurely walks because we were constantly busy with request from the media and from Jean's fans.
After a week in North Vancouver, we moved to a hotel downtown to be closer to everything and we carried our work from there. The news of Jean's return was posted on Chinese media and the website received more than 6 000 visits from Chinese friends in 2 days.
We are very sorry that we could not reply to the hundreds of emails, subscriptions to the newsletter through the website or comments posted on it, but we thank you all for such a generous show of love and appreciation.
One more piece of news before we relate Jean's journey through New Zealand: we just created the WWWALK FOUNDATION. Jean is determined to use this non-profit organization to help children all over the world. The WWWALK FOUNDATION cannot yet issue receipts for charitable donation, but Jean will look after that when he arrives home in October.
The WWWALK in New Zealand has been an incredible experience for Jean and this from the very beginning.
As scheduled, on October 11 there is the official launching with Barnardos NZ determined to have a great time with it.
New Zealanders are happy and fun loving people. They love their country and would like it to be known all over the world. Of course they have every rights to wish so because it is a country blessed with breathtaking landscapes, a very pleasant climate and a very modern way of life.
The organizers of the wwwalk in NZ want to make sure that Jean will have a pleasant stroll and are doing their utmost to accomplish this wish. The local medias along his route use whatever means to have his story well known to all and people welcome him in their home and are happy to have him taste their local cuisine and hear his story in return.
Barnardos staff is closely monitoring his progress and sets him up for talks in schools, or Clubs (Rotary, Lions etc.) along his route. After kilometers of majestic mountains, green valleys where numerous sheep are grazing and beautiful sea landscapes, Jean arrives in Christchurch on November 3. Further on the road, he walks by Colza fields. With the seeds, they make fuel for vehicles.
On November 20, in Picton, Jean says goodbye to South Island and prepares to board the ferry to North Island and the Capital City of New Zealand, Wellington where he is warmly welcomed in the home of dear friends, Rosemary and Bayly Tanner.
In Wellington as well, the Canadian High Commission welcomes him to a luncheon and he is happy to meet fellow Canadians. The Shoe Clinic offers him new shoes, the 49th pair.
His NZ angels, Dezma and Adrian as well as Barnardos' staffs are really looking after him. In the complete journey through the country, Jean has slept in his tent no more than 5 or 6 nights. Local MPs are happy to walk with him and they sometimes are witnesses to unfortunate accident, comforting the people involved.
And the wwwalk goes on! He is in the home of his Auckland angels, Dezma and Adrian, for Christmas and through Skype, I am a party of their Christmas breakfast! So far and yet so close! After Christmas Jean started to walk again and wanted to continue through New Year, but his angels did not see it that way... they did not want him to be alone on New Year Day. So they drove some 50 km to get him and brought him back to their home for the New Year celebrations.
From then on, Jean was treading on very light feet as he was coming home to Canada in only one month! January 20th ... a few more km to go before the end of North Island... but his heart is already very far in a Northern country named Canada.
On January 21, escorted by a Police car, a group of some 25 people accompanies Jean to the end of the North Island where they celebrate with a case of "bubbly" graciously supplied by "New World Store".
Nine days rest, a bit of sightseeing and then, back to New Lynn to Dezma and Adrian's home. On January 30th, these wonderful angels take Jean to the airport for his return to his home country and it is with a lump in his throat that Jean says goodbye to the most devoted and selfless people I have never seen!
Till next time...
Luce