The Clark Family's Amazing Adventures

[Lara was four and a half when we started travelling – she’s spent a year on the road. When we get back to the UK next summer, she’ll be six and a half and will have been travelling for almost a third of her life. Will she remember home? How will she adjust back to a settled life? She’s an adaptable and resilient young lady who takes pretty much everything in her stride with the exception of trying too many new foods without a lot of bribery and corruption!

Lara’s travels

We decided it was high time for an interview with Lara so we could see what she thinks and share her views on our family gap year(s) ………]

Lara, has a year of travelling gone quickly or slowly?

SLOW!

Have you had fun?

YEAH!

What do you think are the best things about our travels?

Making friends and going to nursery in the Galapagos – I loved that! I made best friends with Dominic (Dominique) when I was there in that place…

Lara and Dominic

What about the little girls on the Amazon riverboat?

Oh yeah! I definitely made friends with her, and the girls in Boipeba.

Friends made in Brazil

And remember those people I was playing prisoners with? Mummy when I was rolling down those stairs I was worried I was going to roll into the water and that wouldn’t have been funny would it!

Do you mean on the Navimag ferry in Chile?

Yeah and that doctor just looked at me and gave me a plaster. That was so funny, wasn’t it!

So, tell me, how do you make friends with so many people?

I just say hello and I have fun with them! Like this…. ”Hi! Do you wanna play with me?”

fiends…

What other things are you going to remember about our travels?

Some of the Animals – I liked those Guanacos because they had long necks and they’re like camels or giraffes!

Guanacos on Peninsular Valdez, Argentina. Related to the camel!

I liked the penguins especially that one who moved his head when I did! He was amazing!

What about food? What have you been eating and did you find new foods that you like?

Pancakes! I like pancakes now! And I eat meat and fish and rice and chips and sushi! And chicken nuggets!

Any nice puddings?

Chocolate brownie

What’s the best country you’ve been to? Where would you tell other 5 year olds to go?

Everywhere! Definitely go riding on an elephant! I like travelling, seeing all the other things and seeing more stuff. Meeting people who come from England and are coming this way too!

Happy times in Bolivia with fellow travellers the Bremners from England

Tell us what you have missed from home?

My friends of course, from England, all of them. And school.

What did you miss about school?

Everything, doing drawings after the work and making plastic hands. I made two plastic hands in nursery but I’m not in nursery anymore because I’m 5!

What have you learned about while you’ve been travelling?

Practising writing numbers in our first month away – July 2012

Flips and jumps and doing a handstand and flip on the trampoline, riding a bike and better swimming.

I can count up to, errr, 1, 2, 3,………………. 29, 30, 34, 36, 37….

Yeah Spanish – Listen – Hola, Buenos Dias, Uno, Dos, Tres, Cuatro, Cinco, Seis, Siete, Ocho, Nueve, Zoe, what comes after Nueve?

And I learned about different types of people – Ma-wai-is

Where did they live?

I don’t know but we saw them in the Museum!

Do you mean Maoris?

Yes! Them! I learned about the Maoris and I learned the Haka and I know what happened to them. A lot of them died because of what happened when that man cut down the flag and they had a big fight about it.

Practicing the haka outside a traditional house!

What do you think about travelling another year?

Yes, I like that but not another one. Just one more then go home!

But you don’t want to go home tomorrow do you?

I thought we were going back to Auckland tomorrow? When we go back to England, I would like my friends to go and meet us and have a big party!

Happy travels…