I was fortunate enough to visit the Kontiki Museum in Oslo last summer, and well remember as a boy reading Thor Heyerdahl's account of his exciting adventure in The Kon Tiki Expedition. He had been convinced after a year of research that the aboriginal islanders were of mixed origin and that the first settlers had come from Pre-Inca Peru. Following thorough research, Heyerdahl decided to build a balsa raft based on the many drawings and records left by early voyagers. The logs were cut in the jungle of Ecuador and then floated down to the coast to be lashed together into a raft in Callao Harbour, Peru.

So it was with considerable interest that I set off on my simulated expedition across the Pacific Ocean on Kon-Tiki. At the beginning of the program the user, preferably a group of three to four, is given a random code number which is used in the saving of details of the journey at the end of each 15 minute session at the computer.

The route taken is affected by the variation of wind strength and direction, the power and direction of the ocean currents and the use of the steering oar. Each day's progress depends upon the user's decisions on the direction to sail the craft after assessing the likely effect of wind and ocean currents. Detailed information, which keeps the group abreast of what is happening, is displayed on the screen in an easily readable format - good use of coloured text - and is updated after every turn, ie number of days at sea, total distance and distance travelled that day, position (latitude and longitude), wind direction and any sightings of birds and/or sea creatures.

There is a random possibility of storms occurring - when they do, quotes from the book are displayed on the screen, which add interesting points for the log - and there are a number of unusual occurrences, based on actual incidents from the Expedition. Children record their progress on a map grid provided with the background material.

Heyerdahl made a successful landing in 101 days. Those using this simulation may or may not have the same success, in fact, there are a number of possible outcomes. They might drift up to Central America or past all the islands - Kon-Tiki's wireless is used to signal an SOS if the raft continues north of the Equator or the journey lasts 140 days and the expedition ends; land on the Galapagos Islands or on Easter Island; or land on one of nearly 70 Polynesian Islands.

The program notes are produced in a very pleasing italic hand, and include some interesting drawings and information on the creatures which might be encountered - unfortunate that none of these could be shown using the computer's graphic facilities - plans of the Kon-Tiki and maps showing currents. With the exception of the map grid intended for use by the children to record their journey, the reproduction of which could have been improved, this material set a very good example to the children for the production of the log book for their expedition.

As someone who knows nothing about sailing, I would have welcomed further information of the effects of winds and currents on the raft's movements - otherwise the selection of steering direction could be on a "hit or miss" basis. Nowadays, I understand that sailors use bearings rather than points of the compass, so this would have been a useful option. But, as with the point about graphics, I expect memory size has got a lot to answer for.

I mentioned earlier my visit to the Kon-Tiki Museum. A set of their slides and a copy of the museum handbook would be a very useful addition to the pack, or at least some information of what's available needs to be added to the handbook.

Opportunities for using research and reference skills, log and journal writing, model making and creative art work are a few of the many possibilities offered by this very pleasing program, which will fit into many topics with older juniors.