Believe it or not, storm chasing has become something of a hobby. So when the weather is bad, throw away that jigsaw, that book, that piece of embroidery or the TV guide, get your waterproofs on, grab a map and jump into your car! Oh, and don’t forget your camera or camcorder and mobile (cell) phone! The real storm “techies” fit thermometers, barometers, hygrometers and even anemometers in their cars.

Why do this? It’s a lot of fun – generated heart churning adrenaline levels and can involve you in some of the most beautiful sky scenes. According to the UK storm chasers club, people who actively chase tend to have “a sound meteorological knowledge of the atmosphere and storms including their behaviour and dynamics. It is this knowledge that keeps them safe: storm chasing can be dangerous if undertaken by inexperienced individuals both for themselves and others. In the UK the danger is even greater due to our busy and congested road networks. When you encounter a local storm these already bad road conditions will rapidly deteriorate with copious amounts of standing rain water, flash flooding and sometimes even a hail covering.

So how do you do it? Again, according to the British club, the trick is to attempt to forecast where thunderstorms may develop and then head to a favourable area. There are hundreds and hundreds of people including storm chasers who attempt their own forecasts using internet data. There are lots of websites with information including Westwind.ch they make surface pressure charts and upper air charts freely available. You can also get various lightning detection products (often called sferics products) and you can now get free hourly radar images on the BBC Weather pages. If you wish there is also data available on line but at cost. For example there is a better radar picture now offered by Avbrief but there is a fee. “The majority of us are TORRO members which means images we capture and information we gather is gratefully received and put to good use,” says a storm chaser from Holland.

There are storm chasing groups in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, all over the United States and Australia. The Dutch Storm Chase Team formed last year when the guys got together for a one-off chase that ended up so much fun they decided to make a regular thing of it. “We started that afternoon,” says Bernard Hulshof, a meteorologist with Holland Weather Services, “and drove to the west near Schiphol Airport where we saw numerous showers, beautiful showers, large rainbows and deep blue skies. It was heaven for us and later on we followed the storm to the province of Flevoland, in the centre of The Netherlands. By then it had become dark, the sun was setting and the storm was producing lightning. It was all very exciting and very successful for us.”

In the US, there is a region known as Tornado Alley that stretches from Texas northward to the Dakotas. More tornados occur there than anywhere else on earth, so this is naturally something of a mecca for storm chasers. “I can't think of any other place on earth which would be more exciting for storms than Tornado Alley,” says Harald of the Netherlands’ club. “The situation in America is perfect for storm development, it's unique in the world. You can get any type of storm if you have time for it. But of course,” he adds, without even a hint of irony, “it all depends on the weather.”

The Beetle found a couple of companies that specialise in storm chasing “tours” – if this interests you, you might want to check out Silver Lining Tours, owned by David Gold, a meteorologist and self proclaimed outstanding storm chaser. He says he will take customers to watch incredible super cells, awesome tornadoes, huge hail and wild lightning.

Texas-based Tempest Tours are taking bookings now for Storm Chasing Expeditions in the 2003 spring season. The company, headed by three veteran storm chasers (with more than 50 years of storm chasing experience), will lead six tours into Tornado Alley in search of nature's most spectacular weather. The tours take place in May and June, the peak of tornado activity in the United States. Tours will depart from Oklahoma City and in minivans. Veteran storm chasers typically drive 100-400 miles a day to reach their targets.

Stormchasing.com say“if you're looking for adventure, you'll love this thrilling storm chasing holiday in America. We offer “10-Day” and “5-Day” tours where you'll travel across a number of states. One of our vans is the most highly equipped chase van in Tornado Alley — unlike any other storm chasing van on the road.” They go on to say that they are the only storm chasing company that has “real-time” weather information 100% of the time, delivered by satellite technology to our storm chasing van. You will get to ride in that van and be part of the action as we chase down severe storms and tornados in America's Tornado Alley!!

It was 8.30am and I was waiting for Rosanna White in the early morning sunshine, sheltered in the shade of a palm tree in front of the Independence Monument. Rosanna is the volunteer co-ordinator for the Sunrise Children's Village, a Phnom Penh orphanage with a high profile, due in no small part to the extraordinary efforts of its founder and patron, Geraldine Cox. Described by some as 'larger than life', Geraldine was on one of her regular trips abroad seeking out funds to keep the orphanage afloat and the day to day administration was in the capable hands of Rosanna. I'd been in e-mail contact with both of them for a few months before my trip and they'd kindly invited me to visit the orphanage, temporarily located in Takhmau, some fifteen kilometres south of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

Geraldine's high profile – she's written a book, there's an award-winning documentary about her life and a feature film in the offing – and her tireless work go towards providing a home for around fifty disadvantaged Cambodian children between the ages of 3 and 18. Most are orphans, all have sad tales to tell, but the orphanage provides them with love, food and shelter as well as regular schooling and extra English, computer, sewing, music and dance classes, designed to give them the chance of a brighter future. It’s a worthy cause that many Australians support with individual and corporate sponsorship. However, as Rosanna explained on our drive out to Takhmau, a great deal of extra funding, as much as $600,000, is needed to fulfil the Sunrise dream envisioned when Prime Minister Hun Sen donated ten hectares of rent-free land to the orphanage. It's certainly an ambitious project and the publicity created by the support of some very famous Hollywood names is currently giving it real momentum, while Geraldine's powers of persuasion continue to play their part in making the dream come true.

A toot of the horn and the gates of a nondescript villa opened up as Sopheun, the orphanage’s housemother, welcomed us. Rosanna received an update on the latest batch of cuts and bruises, tantrums and colds (and the theft of a bicycle) since her last visit a couple of days earlier before giving me a guided tour of the tidy, but cramped house and grounds. On the ground floor were the girls’ dormitories (the boys sleep upstairs), with hammocks and mattresses taking up most of the space and a few of the girls busily drawing pictures with coloured crayons. Outside, the more boisterous boys were playing games of tag and marbles and I joined in a game of football with Chanry and Sin Long, two eight year olds, who were obviously best of friends and who hammed it up for my camera. I also showed my skills, or lack of them, with another group who were playing 'tot sey' (foot shuttlecock).

Nearby was the well-stocked computer room, where Phalla, the computer teacher, was fixing a PC on his day off with the help of a couple of the older teenagers. He showed me how the recent rains had flooded the room and damaged the wooden computer stands and was very keen to hear about my website devoted to my travels in Cambodia. Outside, I met Sok An, the head cook, who was preparing vegetables for the children's lunch with some of the older girls under an awning in the concrete yard, when Sary and her wheelchair (she's the only disabled child in the orphanage) whizzed past and came to a halt at the water tap, where she began washing some clothes. Rosanna explained that Sary, a polio sufferer, is now learning to walk with the aid of callipers and a brace and is fiercely independent, but an absolute sweetie.

Upstairs, we visited the volunteers’ room, which also houses the medicine cabinet and is where Geraldine, the patron, sleeps when she's in town. Next door, the dance and music practice was already in full swing. The children are working hard in preparation for a once in a lifetime visit to Australia for an arts festival, and rehearsals form a key part of each day for those lucky enough to be going. The orphanage is home to about fifty children and over half of them will be making the trip to Adelaide in March. Today was a Sunday, so no school meant extra practice sessions for the dancers and musicians. In a cramped room, I grabbed a seat to watch the dance teacher, Monitha, guiding a group of the youngest girls – six to eight year olds – through their traditional Khmer dance routine. They were delightful and were followed by the youngest boys who danced and banged their coconut shells in harmony as Srey Mao, the youngest of the girls with a smile and a nature guaranteed to melt any heart, sat on my knee to watch her friends perform.

At the back of the room, some of the children were playing traditional Khmer instruments to accompany the dances and were being tutored by 70-something year old Mr Chea and his daughter Thierry, both outstanding musicians in their own right. Next on the dance floor were the teenage girls and particularly 17 year old Srey Mich, the orphanage's leading dancer who glided across the floor with grace and poise in abundance. Following them, as the tempo increased, were a mixed group of four boys and four girls who moved in well-rehearsed unison and who rounded off a thoroughly enjoyable hour watching the children perform. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I forgot to take any photos until near the end. I was mightily impressed. This wasn't a performance staged for visiting guests but a daily practice session, yet the timing and elegance of all the dancers, whatever their age, was a joy to watch. They'd worn their normal clothes for the practice, so I'm sure they'll look even more professional when they wear their hand-sewn costumes for the real thing.

I had another quick kick-about in the courtyard with Chanry and Sin Long as Rosanna did her final rounds of the villa with most of the children giving her a goodbye hug. Then it was back in the 4WD and out into the busy back streets of Takhmau and our return to Phnom Penh. My visit to the orphanage had been a brief but thoroughly enjoyable one. The children I met were happy, the level of laughter and their playful nature made that abundantly clear, but their temporary premises are simply too small. It’s a stopgap until the Sunrise Children's Village and the dreams of Geraldine, Rosanna and the children themselves become a reality. I sincerely hope that's sooner rather than later.

To visit the Sunrise Children's Village website, click here.

For more information on Andy’s travels, visit his website which has lots of travelogue stories with pictures: http://www.btinternet.com/~andy.brouwer/index.htm

Writing this sat at my university desk I can’t help frequently glancing up at the picture painted in Mikindani and the various photos of my gap year experience.

Having gone over the whole experience with true friend back home, I can’t say that I was overly enthused about the prospect of having to talk through the whole ‘year out’ thing to several strangers in fake bids to find new friendships. But even after thinking over what the visits to Mikindani have done for me, it wasn’t until I chatted about everyone else’s gap years that I realised just how valuable they were. Past volunteers will have all contemplated the commercial organisations and weighed up what volunteers are gaining but I’d like everyone to think about these again.

When I talked to people about my gap year, it was hard to sum up just how much I went through with George and Emily. The work we partook covered everything from teaching in the primary schools, running a tree nursery and planting program, teaching sports to the locals, improving vocational training in the hotel, and researching and writing for a guide book. Our cultural experiences were, for me, highlights of the stay; the learning of a new language, staying with a host family, going through Ramadan, Christmas abroad. The learning of a Swahili is something, which is pushed at Trade Aid, and rightly so, it is after all a key in developing our work and provides a great deal more scope in possibilities for volunteer input. But the thing that stuck out the most was purely being a little part of the village. In such a scale a project as this, your input is very direct and results or improvements are clear and achievable. At the end of the six month stay I could regard many locals as friends, not just people who had provided me with an experience. With huge mountains, natural wonders of the world, and exotic islands ahead, it was hell having to say goodbye to these people I had spent so much of every day with for some time. Not one person here at university has seemed to show as much sorrow as our group did when leaving and they all are impressed at how personal my experience seemed. It has sparked a true interest in Africa and the situation in developing countries, I would now definitely consider it as an option when working in healthcare once my physiotherapy degree allows me to.

Others tales tended to take two main routes. First were the ‘round the world’ people. An air ticket bought several thousand miles and covered a path generally following China, Australia, New Zealand, Los Angeles, and home again. All very well for getting lots of stamps in your passport but I often question how much these people got to know a place. In addition to getting off the plane, completing a quick tourist tour, and maybe eating a local dish, I heard little else of what they gained. Any past volunteer will know exactly how much of an opportunity is granted to get involved and mix with Mikindani’s people. The second lot arranged experiences through commercial companies, set up to provide students with trips and work in developing countries. Much of their work and goals were similar to those I aimed towards with Trade Aid and the satisfaction of doing something active to help others out was obvious in most. The contrast seemed to be in the socialising once the working day had finished. Those in bigger groups told of many nights together and parties in foreign beauty spots, fun but not on the same level as sitting on Bomani street joking and chatting to the locals during the evening hours, and not going down to Doa’s bar on a moonlight night with the Boma staff.

Of course although my opinion on things has been favoured towards what I found, having only experienced a year with Trade Aid, I realise also that every single person has had a ‘time of their life’ and each and every one is much the wiser because of it. Since returning home to study I have kept very much in touch with the charity and look forwards to revisiting in December to carry on with some work and maintain my interest.

For more information about Trade Aid, volunteers and their work, please visit their website www.mikindani.com or e-mail Sherie on tradeaid@netcomuk.co.uk

Meeting news from our branches around the world.

When going to places like South Africa, Singapore, etc. you might want to consider getting multi-entry visas if a visa is required. Although they usually cost a little extra, it is worth the hassle of having to queue up, complete the paperwork, provide photos etc.

From South Africa I went to Zimbabwe by bus to Bulawayo and then by train to Victoria Falls, walked over bridge to Zambia and then took train back through Botswana and then to South Africa. Also one might want to make a side trip to Namibia. (I met a South African soldier in South Africa that delighted to tell me he had been stationed in Nam. I thought he meant Vietnam and then he smiled and said Namibia.) From Singapore using it as headquarters, I made side trips to Bali and back, India and back, Malaysia and Thailand and back.

While you might be able to get new visas getting a multiple entry might save you some time. From Johannesburg I also took a bus trip to the township where they then allowed gambling and had a small Las Vegas. The township and I cant think of its name began with b long name and they had distinctive stamps for sale. A small diversion if you have the time. Happy Travelling Mac.

If you would like to contact Mac, a 78 year old retired military, and extremely well travelled, he is happy to answer any questions even if his information may be out of date. Mac can be e-mail him on: macsan400@yahoo.com