Our final home exchange and a particularly special way to complete many years of very happy exchanging dwellings as a way of experiencing the world. Although we will continue to travel it will no longer be this way. However we will cherish the wonderful memories - not only of places we called home for weeks on end but of the people we met in doing so.

This time the Swiss family with whom we exchanged homes, provided their holiday chalet in the small village of Ferden in the Loetschental, one of the most beautiful Valais valleys nestling between the Bernese and Valais Alps in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Jungfrau-Aletsch.

"The valley is around 30 km long and is therefore the largest of the valais side valleys north of the Rhone ..... it is known as the Magic Valley for its impressive and natural beauty, unspoilt nature, peaceful calm and a reklaxing atmosphere." Guide

We flew from Melbourne to Zurich and spent one night just outside the city in Mannedorf, on the shore of Lake Zurich, before setting out by train for the village of Ferden.