Summary

At the outset six months seemed like a long time but now we are taking the final flight home it does not seem so long. We have some wonderful experiences and seen some magnificent scenery, all well worth the time and effort.

Beds slept in: 65
Miles driven: 14300
Train miles: 1500
Air miles: 34460 (approx)

Arizona

The traffic in Los Angeles is horrendous, what should have been a two and a half hour drive turned out to be four hours, not exactly recommended after a twelve hour flight.
We stopped overnight in Cathedral City and Phoenix on our way to Tucson which in my opinion is probably the best place to stay in Southern Arizona. The landscape of the Seguaro National Park reminds me of the many old cowboy films that I watched as a boy, multi-armed large cacti in desert like scrubland. The mountains surrounding the area were identical in look to the mountains of Oman which led to a nostalgic feeling.
We were recommended to visit Old Tucson Studios where lots of films were made dating back to the fifties and we can remember the High Chaparral series which were also made here and the original set of the homestead still remains.
Tombstone was another place we decided to visit for a couple of hours but ended up staying all day. The day was clear blue sky, windy with a bit of a chill in the air as we strode down the original street where the OK Corral was sited and the street was almost deserted apart from four characters in black. The attached photo shows the Earp brothers, Virgil, Morgan and Wyatt but unfortunately Doc Holliday was talking on his cell phone. The staged gunfight at the OK Corral was very good and all the actors taking part were outstanding in the portrayal of the events, especially Wyatt Earp who had a serious attitude problem.
Talking of attitude the name of Happy Hour has now changed to ‘Attitude adjustment hour’.
Three days were spent in San Diego after an overnight stop in Yuma, it is springtime here and still a bit chilly, that may be a good thing to prepare us for the UK.
One brewpub of note is Karl Strauss where they tap a cask on the 1st Thursday of the month and luckily enough we had dinner there on that night. The beer to be tapped was a double IPA of 9% strength and served in 300ml glasses thank goodness.
We fly home tomorrow with mixed feelings and I know that after being home for a week or so I may start planning the next trip.
We end our trip with exciting news from home that we are to be grandparents again with Ian and Clare expecting their third child.

NZ Revisited

It was good to get back to NZ after the heat of OZ, no humidity and a temp of 24C.
The last time in the Hawkes Bay area we stayed at a Motel and having toured the area previously, decided to stay in Havelock North which is a very nice little village. We rented a cottage just outside the village which was a restored 100 year old building of ‘cosy’ proportions and the bedroom reminded me of the caravan bedrooms we have stayed in at an earlier age. The garden, though, was very large and well stocked so most of the days were spent lounging around with the odd visit to Ocean Beach, Napier and the Montieth’s bar down the road.
After four days we travelled north via Lake Taupo and Rotarua to our favourite accommodation, the cottage at Papamoa, it certainly lived up to our expectations and was even better this time than the last time we stayed. Again days were spent relaxing in the garden or on the beach but we did go on a couple of long walks, a double walk round Mt. Manganui and a single walk round the estuary a total of 19Km in two days.
After a week here WORK is definitely a four letter word.
There’s a chill in the air first thing in the morning and later in the evening so autumn is on its way to this part of the world, a bit of a shock when you’ve been wearing shorts for the last five months and I’m dreading the thought of having to put my jeans, socks and shoes on again.
Time to travel further north again to the Bay of Islands where autumn is delayed by a couple of weeks.
Paihia and Russel are both marvellous towns and at the end of the summer the weather is still balmy. Paihia is quite a bit busier than last time we were here but Russell is still very sleepy.
We went on a four hour snapper fishing trip on the MV Belfast along with four other people from Hungary, unfortunately three of them got sea sick and although the weather was excellent there was quite a big swell running. There was a bit of a competition between myself and Sheila as to who would catch most fish and Sheila was off to a good start with a small Snapper followed by hooking a 1 metre Mako Shark which was very lively indeed, jumping out of the water several times. It was, however, too strong for the line which snapped. I quickly caught up with small Snapper, every one we caught was under the legal size to keep, and the final tally was Sheila three Snapper and a smoothound, plus a hooked Mako Shark, and me seven Snapper and a smoothound. Subsequent fishing from the rocks saw a Kowhai and two mullets caught.
On the way back to Auckland we drove down the West Coast which was a little bit longer but well worth it as the scenery was stunning especially the dunes at Opononi.
We are now back in Auckland and there will be nothing worth putting in the Blog that was not already put in last time we were here, so we are off to the States on Thursday and the final leg of the trip.

Queensland

The last place we visited in New South Wales was Coffs Harbour which was only a stop on the epic journey from Sydney to Port Douglas. After a mixed weather week in Sydney it decided to pour down all the way. There was a surfing competition taking place and the ocean was a bit rough due to the bad weather, I don’t know how they ride waves of that size but it was very interesting to watch.

Next stop was Noosa Heads just North of Brisbane where we rented a superb apartment with views over the river to the ocean. There were lots of parrots, kookaburras and wild turkeys roaming the gardens and although they were quite noisy, were well worth watching. The Noosa area is very nice with small villages dotted around the area and they were all quite upmarket. One night while we were having dinner on the terrace and the ferry went past on the river with a jazz band playing on it, very surreal. The weather is hot and sticky so it takes a bit of time getting used to it.

Onwards to a place called Agnes Water and a little town down the road called 1770 which is named because Captain Cook landed there on the 24th May 1770. Both these villages are very small and can only be described as ½ horse towns. The views overlooking the bay were outstanding and its claim to fame is that it is the only place on the Eastern seaboard of Australia that the sun sets over the water. One redeeming factor was that it had a really good tavern. The whole place was very, very quiet.

Airlie Beach was not exactly as we expected, full of backpackers and the town mostly catered for them. The accommodation was high on the hillside with views over the Whitsunday Islands. Sitting on the balcony late afternoon we were joined by Sulphur Crested Cockatoos and Rainbow Lorikeets who enjoyed several slices of bread straight out of our hands and returned early in the mornings and afternoons for the days we were staying. The car was being kept in a garage under the accommodation and one day as we were about to take it out a chit chat (gecko) appeared on the roof, I thought it had jumped off but as I was driving down the high street it climbed down the windscreen in front of me.

As the distance to our destination was still 9 hours drive away we stayed overnight at a place called Port Hinchinbrook which had a beautiful marina.

The final destination was Port Douglas, after 3000 Km, but it was well worth the trip and is probably the best town we visited during our stay in Australia. It is one of those places that gets into your blood and cannot be explained why. The weather on arrival was rainy but the following days were perfect with low humidity and lots of sunshine. Days were spent on the beach, although always in the shade as the UV levels in this part of the world are very high around 16.
There is a Sunday market in Port Douglas where you could buy all sorts of goods including crocodile feet but we did have a fresh coconut. One site we did visit was Mossman Gorge around 10 Km north of Port Douglas, there were cascading rivers flowing through the gorge which created several pools full of river perch. There was a rainforest walk of around 3 Km and when we had travelled a couple of hundred metres we realised we were getting a free sauna. Half way along the track I was attacked by a ‘Wait-a-while’ vine which has barbed hooks along its length and proceeded to rip the skin on my arm to bits.

This was the only town that we really regretted leaving but the lure of revisiting New Zealand was stronger and we flew back to Auckland on the 4th of March for a three week stay.

Sydney

Sydney airport was very different to Hobart, there were actually air bridges to save walking across the tarmac. We originally planned to catch the train into the city as the hotel was only 50m away from the station but they were carrying out track repairs so we decided to get a taxi instead of the free bus that was laid on.
The hotel room was not ready so we walked across to the Oaks Goldsborough where Kevin and Vi were staying. It was good to see people from the UK after all this time away and they provided a very nice breakfast as we were up at 4:30 AM to catch the plane to Sydney.

Anni and Gareth were holding a combined Stag/Hen party at various venues around Sydney and the first place was to meet all the people at the Ship Inn on Circular Quay.
It was a really hot day and finding a place under shade was at a premium, however it was not long before we moved on to the Watson Bay Hotel which is a 30 minute ferry ride away.
The next place was the Opera Bar just beside the Sydney Opera House and the view of both the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House was just amazing which went a bit to compensating for the expense of a round of drinks.
We didn’t quite manage to make it to the Summit Bar as we were flagging a bit from the heat and the early start that morning.

Sydney is one of those cities that you like instantly, it’s got a buzz about the place like Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok and there are plenty of places to visit by bus, ferry or walking, it is a very ‘walkable’ city.
Our children had given us a Christmas gift of a certificate for one of the top restaurants in the city which was on the 42nd floor of one of the skyscrapers, although it was oddly called ‘Forty One’. The view was amazing as it overlooked the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. The whole dinner was excellent, the best we have eaten for ages and ages.

Ourselves, Vi and Kevin went on a trip to the Blue Mountains but unluckily the weather had taken a turn for the worst and there was not much to see as visibility was down to 100 mtrs or so. We didn’t let it detract from the day and despite this had a thoroughly enjoyable day including Sheila trying to overcome her fear of snakes by holding one, the photo of the look on her face says it all.

With the weather being bad the previous day we were hoping the rain would hold off for Anni and Gareth’s wedding and it turned out to be ideal, not too much sun and a temp. of 22 deg. C. I have carried my suit with me for the last 17 weeks and still didn’t relish the thought of wearing it as I can’t remember the last time I had one on, but after a pressing it didn’t turn out too bad.
The wedding ceremony was held on a lawn in the Royal Botanical Gardens with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the background and you can’t get a better backdrop than that. Anni looked beautiful in her wedding dress and Gareth very smart in his suit along with all the other people who attended the wedding.
An excellent Wedding breakfast was served at yet another stunning venue with the same views over the Harbour and attended by guests from Australia, UK and Canada.

There is a bus that tours all the bays around Sydney, one being Bondi Beach, it was ironic that the commentary on the bus stated that there had been no shark attacks there since 1929 and a couple of hours later a surfer was attacked by a shark.

I can’t believe we only have 18 days left in Australia before we return to New Zealand; it has gone very quickly, far too quickly.

Tasmania

The flight to Hobart from Melbourne is only a short hop in relation to the previous flights we have taken. It was a bit of a shock stepping on to the tarmac to what I would consider a cold temperature, about 20 deg. C. and a strong wind blowing with a few raindrops.

The hotel we are staying at for a couple of nights is very good, all the mini bar and bar drinks are set at shop prices which is totally refreshing considering the usual rip off hotel prices. The food was also cheap and really good, so good in fact that I had lamb chops on consecutive nights, the best chops I have tasted for years.

Tasmania is very much like NZ with mountains and rugged coastlines and all the villages are named after English towns i.e. Southport, St Helens, Exeter and so on.
There is a replica convict village near Port Arthur where you could spend a day but it did not appeal to us so we were happy touring round the Tasman National Park.

On the West Coast there is the village of Strahan which is quite remote. It is a beautiful little place with a quaint harbour and only takes a minute to drive through. Again there were a couple of tours to take but we have already been on a river cruise and train trip. A couple of clicks down the road is a deserted beach which stretches for miles and was excellent for taking a long walk.
There was one drawback to the place and that was ‘Marsh flies’, they were very persistent and twice the size of a housefly so they ruined what I would consider a very nice place.

Another place on the way to the East Coast was Launceston but we only stayed overnight and didn’t get to see the Tamar valley.
The Bay of Fires on the East coast is another National Park and very picturesque with turquoise bays and white sand beaches, you could stay here for weeks.
The week has gone very quickly and there has not been enough time to see everything, as the girl at the visitor’s centre said, you need at least a couple of weeks to see everything. It’s a place we will return to.

South Western Australia

The road from Fremantle runs through lots of coastal towns Mandurah, Bunbury, Busselton and Dunsborough. There is a jetty at Busselton which is the longest in the Southern hemisphere at 1.8 Km and it was a very pleasant walk to the end and back. The water along the way was crystal clear but was devoid of any visible fish so it was a good job that I didn’t take my fishing gear.
All of these towns have very good beaches and facilities with lots of walking trails and picnic areas with free electric BBQs.

We stayed three nights in Bunbury which has a dolphin discovery centre where you can swim with the dolphins but they charge an extortionate fee for doing so.

On to Margaret River where we went on a wine tour again with added extras like the Paul Rigby gallery. He was a famous cartoonist who worked all over the world and spent five years in the UK working for the Sun and News of the World. He was especially known for hiding a boy and a dog in his cartoons and I’m sure you avid Sun readers will remember these. This turned out to be the highlight of the tour, even eclipsing lunch at the Brewery. His wife showed us around his studio and works which is left exactly how it was when he died in 2006. We did buy a poster that is full of OZ sayings about all subjects including a reference to Sheila being an old broiler. There is a rude OZ/Irish expression of ‘Whale Oil beef hooked’ which was ironic as there was an Irish couple on the tour.
The four wineries were very good and one wine which we will be bringing back to the UK was a chilli infused Rose called ‘Lost the Plot’.
The area is surrounded by forest where trees like Jarrah, and Karri grow, one other was a Peppermint Tree and when you crushed the leaves in your hands a mixture of Peppermint and Eucalypt was released, this was useful to keep the flies away if you rubbed it onto the skin.

On the way to Augusta there is a beautiful area called Hamelin Bay with superb deserted beaches and marine life.
Augusta itself is quite small but has lots of places to visit including the Leeuwin Lighthouse on the southernmost point of Western Australia where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet it was quite interesting to tour the grounds and read the history of the place.
Pemberton is a forest town with a large sawmill which processes hard woods for the UK and USA. We took a four hour river cruise down the Donnelly River and when we reached the Ocean we expected the river to flow into it but it stopped at a sandbar which separated river from ocean. It only breaks through every 9 months and the river drops 1.5 mtrs overnight.
We stayed at a forest retreat, very quiet and peaceful, lots of Kangaroos and Kookaburras who were very noisy as the sun went down.

On the way from Pemberton to Albany we called in to William’s Bay and there is a site called Elephant Rocks and you can understand why if you look at the attached photo. There was only one way in and out through large rocks, I managed to make it through but Sheila was caught by a rogue wave which flooded the gap and left her with very wet trousers. The next incident was on the way back to the Car Park when we came across a large snake about 2 mtrs long on the path, I later identified it as a Dugite snake, highly venomous, needless to say Sheila was frozen to the spot terrified. I managed to get a photo and the camera was not on zoom.

Albany lies in the South East of WA and is the place that was first settled and has a long history of Whaling, there are lots of nature walks around the surrounding area and we managed quite a few of them. There was nearly a repeat snake encounter on one of the paths but it turned out to be a King Skink’s tail disappearing into the undergrowth.
Friday we take a plane from Perth to Tasmania.

Fremantle

The flight from Melbourne to Perth took nearly four hours which gives you a pretty good indication of the distances between the east and west of Australia.

We have rented an apartment in Fremantle for a week as we are getting a little tired of packing and driving.

On arrival we needed to eat as it was now 8PM and Perth is two hours in front of Melbourne so we went down into the town centre, there were lots and lots of people dining Al fresco on what is called the Cappuccino Strip but we did eventually find a place.

Fremantle is a very nice town, very bohemian with a lot of 60s hippies still knocking about the place and a free bus service which takes you around town. Where would you get that in UK where everyone can use it?

Just across the bay is an island called Rottnest which has wildlife inhabitants called quokkas, a small kangaroo like animal which the discoverer thought were rats, hence the name Rottnest. We spent a full day there going on various tours both land and sea based.

Going back to my favourite subject, there are lots of micro breweries in the region and we spent a very enjoyable day with Sandra and Dave, who are friends of Alan and Joyce in Melbourne. They took us on a beer tour of the Swan Valley, as opposed to a wine tour, and we visited four micro breweries, Elmars, Druckstein, Mash Brewing and Feral Brewing altogether sampling 19 beers (only small shots). The evening was concluded with a great BBQ at their house, many thanks to them for their hospitality.

A cruise up the Swan River from Fremantle to Perth to pickup the hire car was very pleasant and showed just how many people have boats out here.

I have picked up a foot injury while walking on Rottnest Island, I went over on my ankle but it didn’t start to hurt until 24 hours later and now I can’t put any weight on my right foot. It’s a bit frustrating to say the least and restricts me somewhat from walking around.

There is a brewpub called Little Creatures on the Fremantle waterfront which is probably one of the best pubs I have been in. It is housed in a couple of large modern sheds and has an industrial theme like a lot of modern brewpubs, the music and the wait staff are what I would call diverse and it attracts a lot of the beautiful people. Even Sheila likes it as it is a wonderful place to people watch and the bonus is the beer is of excellent quality.

Today the 16th of January the temp will be 40 deg. C. It’s 10AM and already 35 deg.C.

Bendigo and Ballarat

Bendigo has not got too many places of interest to visit. Its only claim to fame is that it was part of the goldfields where gold was mined in the mid to late 1800s.

The weather is particularly hot at the moment with the temps getting up to 36 deg. C.

Ballarat is some 122 Km away from Bendigo so it didn’t take us long to get there, relatively short trip compared with the last couple of trips. Again it is a town in the Goldfields area and is famous for a small rebellion at a place called the Eureka stockade.

There is a replica of the town, called Sovereign Hill, as it was during the gold rush of the 1850s and we spent a very good day at this place.

Adelaide and Mildura

We left Port Fairy after an evening spent watching the local New Years Eve parade, which included camels, a stagecoach, the inevitable pipe band and even a sheep being sheared on the back of a truck. It was certainly different and memorable.

When we crossed the state border into South Australia the clocks go back one half hour and we didn’t realise, I commented that the clock in the supermarket was half an hour out and we checked into the hotel early thinking it was the correct check-in time.

Adelaide is a beautiful city, wide boulevards, lots of Victorian style buildings and open parkland.
There is everything here, the McLaren wine region to the south and the Borossa valley to the north. Just outside the city is the Adelaide Hills area with lots of small villages and country markets. A twenty minute drive takes you to the Glenelg beach area, lovely white sand and crystal clear water, everything very clean.

One night we had dinner in a local restaurant, the waitress was Chinese so when I ordered lamb rump and she read the order back it came out as ram lump, as Peter Kay says you couldn’t make it up. We are travelling fairly long distances at the moment and it was 400 Km to Mildura where we would be spending a night before travelling a further 400 Km to Bendigo, the scenery is not great with long stretches of desert like country which is not surprising as the temperature today is 34 degrees.

The Murray River runs through Mildura and we took a trip on a paddle steamer down river and back again it was quite interesting really. The river provides irrigation to the vineyards including Ban rock Station, Wolf Blass, Lindemans and Mcguigans which are all in the area around Mildura.

The Great Ocean Road and Port Fairy

The Great Ocean Road runs from Torquay to Warranbool and hugs the coast for most of the time, hence the name. There was huge traffic Jam just before a place called Lorne and we later found out that there was a music festival starting on the 29th December for 3 days, called the Falls festival, Franz Ferdinand topping the bill.
Along the way there are several lookouts where you can take photos like the one attached, as you can see it’s a very rugged coastline.

Port Fairy is a quaint fishing village just 22 clicks down the road from Warranbool and has its own fishing fleet which catches various species from crayfish to sharks, the latter we had as fish and chips and is locally called Flake, it tasted superb.

The weather is a bit blowy and the sea very rough although the sun is still shining, we visited Warranbool and parked facing the sea watching the rollers break on the beach.
There is a wildlife reserve just outside Port Fairy where you can see kangaroos, emus and koala bears, we did manage to see emus and koala bears but the kangaroos were too elusive and only usually come out at dusk to feed. I now know why Aussies are depicted wearing a hat with corks hanging down from the rim, the flies were relentless, Sheila was throwing a wobbly as they wouldn’t leave her alone even after spraying liberally with insect repellent. The ones landing on me just fell to the ground probably intoxicated with ‘Little Creatures IPA’ which I had drunk the previous night. There is a bit of irony in that.

There are Blue whales off the coast in winter and several spots where whale watching platforms have been built which are handy for spotting marine life offshore.

On New Years Eve there is a parade in Port Fairy but the place is a bit packed at the moment and it is difficult to get dinner reservations so I think it will be the pub and a home cooked dinner. However there is a race for the fastest backwards sprinter which is a must see option.

Melbourne

We passed through customs at Melbourne International with no problems after thinking that we would be stopped for carrying a Boots store of medication.

I think we must be unlucky when getting taxi drivers because the one that tried to take us to our hotel in Melbourne did not know where it was. I knew roughly where it was but the final 100 metres proved just too difficult so after suggesting he called his office for the address we found out that it was within 150 metres from where we were parked.
The hotel room was very nice and in an ideal location but unfortunately we had to change hotels the following morning after getting only a couple of hours sleep. The room, although not close to the old dilapidated lift, was very noisy, every time someone used the lift there was loud banging and whirring noises and with people returning to the hotel until 5AM, sleep was not possible. The second hotel was much better.

There is a free tram that follows a city loop and we took that to get our bearings within the city and then visited all the sightseeing spots. The MCG or Melbourne Cricket Ground was just at the side of the Yarra River and was to be the ground for the 2nd test between Australia and South Africa, as I write this entry for the Blog the Australians have just lost that match and the series. No laughing you Poms. The Rod Laver Stadium is next door and is the venue for the Australian Open tennis starting on the 19th January. Everyone is fitness mad here, either running, rowing or cycling even in temperatures which reached 34 degrees with pretty high humidity.

The Docklands area has a small ‘London Eye’ which is modelled on the same and while we were there the restaurants were holding lots of office Xmas parties.
The Eureka Tower is 92 floors high but also has a viewing deck on the 88th. Its unique feature is a platform called the Edge, which has a glass bottom and projects out from the side of the building. We didn’t bother with that because as you can see from the photo it was a long way down and Sheila was already feeling a little giddy.

We spent an excellent Christmas day with Alan and Joyce Hough whose wedding we attended back in 1969. We will be forever grateful to them, their family and friends for their kind hospitality for the five days over the Christmas period and it made a great change to stay with someone we knew.

Christchurch

The trip from Dunedin to Christchurch took over five hours so it was good that the scenery was again outstanding. There is no need for Motorways here but they do have short stretches mostly in the cities. Navigating within the city can be a bit stressful but the roads usually follow a grid pattern so you should cross the street you want eventually. Christchurch is spread across quite a large area but does not have a big population so the traffic is mostly light wherever you drive, there are old restored trams on the streets trundling around but they don’t cause any driving difficulties.

There is a main square called Cathedral Square where there is not surprisingly an oldish Cathedral and this is where all the tourists seem to gather, from Wednesday there was a local market on the square selling all sorts of things.

It was raining the second day we arrived here so we decided to leave the trip up to the volcano rim until the day after and the weather changed back to sunny and warm again. You get to the crater rim via a Gondola and at the top and there are 360 degree views of the surrounding sea, lakes and countryside. After a quick walk round the crater rim we headed back down via the Gondola and by this time the wind had got up a bit and the gondola was swaying quite a bit , Sheila was not amused and especially when I decided to help the swaying along a bit, good job there wasn’t a door on her side.

We took a trip to Scarborough and New Brighton in the same day, both with superb beaches and New Brighton with a pier. There are always a lot of kids out of school taking surfing lessons which is rather different than UK.

A tram tour via the Botanical Gardens took us past a Brewpub, only by coincidence, so we had dinner there that night and the ales sampled were very good. It was pointed out that Sheila must have written the last two Blog entries because there was no mention of Breweries or fishing.

It’s our last night in NZ because tomorrow we fly to Melbourne and are quite excited to change countries. I was really surprised when I took the hire car back and found we had completed over 6000 Km
We have thoroughly enjoyed NZ, all the magnificent scenery and friendly people, if there is one slight disappointment it is the food, we were expecting more Pacific Rim type dining but it is more like home cooking, meat and two veg. This will not stop us returning for three weeks in March for a more relaxing itinerary.

We would like to take the opportunity to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Dunedin

Dunedin was our next port of call and we travelled along the coast road through an area called The Caitlins.
We called in at a couple of places on the way and saw a solitary male fur seal hauled up on some rocks. Tony said it was one of the windiest roads he had driven along, it seemed to go on forever, glad it wasn’t me driving.

Our main reason for coming to Dunedin was to travel on the Taieri Gorge Railway; apparently it’s one of the world’s great train trips.
The train took us on a 77km trip to Middlemarch, crossing magnificent stone and wrought iron viaducts and bridges, through tunnels with the rock just inches from the side of the train, and sheer drops to the rivers below. We crossed the Wingatui Viaduct which is supposed to be the largest wrought iron structure in the southern hemisphere.
The train journey lived up to its claim, once again amazing scenery, so different from what we have already in other parts of both the North and South Island.
Middlemarch was, well think of one horse and town and put them in same sentence and that says it all. We wandered about for two minutes, had a coffee and headed back to the train where it was decidedly warmer. What they expected us to do there for an hour I will never know.
The temperature has dropped; it has been as low as 13 degrees and a bit wet.
A trip to the Otago peninsula was our next destination. It’s where there is a colony of breeding albatross. We got there to find we had just missed one of the guided tours. You are not allowed to go and see them without a guide. The next tour was an hour away so we decided not to bother; it was again a bit chilly. The drive out was worth it though.
The Botanical gardens next, another aviary was beckoning. The birdman of Hyde was in his element with the talking cockatoos, makes a change from me asking who’s a pretty boy.
On to the Otago Museum, (it was warm), very modern and interesting with amazing artefacts.

We leave for Christchurch tomorrow, it’s hard to believe that we have been in New Zealand for nearly seven weeks and it will be our final destination before leaving for Australia on 19th December

Fiordland

The trip from Queenstown to Te Anau was a bit wet to say the least; it seems that whenever we have a distance to travel the weather is always bad. Thank goodness Tony does the driving. We arrived in Te Anau and the lake was shrouded in mist, we couldn’t see a thing which makes a change.
Next day dawned and we had beautiful weather again and we set off for Milford Sound which was a 120km drive.
Once again the scenery was outstandingly stunning; along the way we saw masses of lilac, purple, white wild lupins, just beautiful. It also seems that yellow broom is very abundant here, it borders the roads everywhere.
Once again the roads were very winding, Tony has definitely driven me around the bend many times since we got here
We drove through the Homer Tunnel which is a one lane tunnel through the mountain and came out at The Cleddau Valley, an amazing sight as a very twisting steep road took us down to the Valley.
We had booked a boat trip along the Milford Sound which would take us out to the Tasman Sea and back, a trip lasting about two hours. It was one of the smaller craft which meant we got a closer look at the many waterfalls cascading down along the way, sometimes a bit too close.
There was even a cruise liner anchored in the Sound and it looked tiny against the massive sheer rock face, we got neck ache looking up and still couldn’t see the sky.
We saw fur seals sunning themselves on the appropriately named Seal Rock, and we also saw a small pod of Dolphins. It’s hard to describe the magnifigance of Milford Sound and pictures do not do justice it’s size and splendour.
Once again it was another memorable day.

After another overnight stay in Te Anau we left for Invercargill, for once I drove, the roads were very straight for a change.
We decided to take a walk around Queens Park which is in the centre of the city; it was so peaceful, beautifully laid out, with an aviary and small animal area in the centre.
From there we headed for Bluff where Stirling Point is the New Zealand equivalent of Lands End in UK. Another high point was Bluff Hill, where another 360 degree view of the surrounding area could be seen, which included Stewart Island. Unfortunately it was a bit misty so not as clear a view as we have had in the past.
The weather this far south has been a bit chilly and we have had to resort to wearing some of our warmer items of clothing.

West Coast and Queenstown

We were going to stay two nights in Nelson but it only took a day to see what there was to see, nothing special, so we headed further south to Greymouth.
The weather has turned a bit rainy and it was grey until we reached Greymouth where it brightened up again.

The Montieth’s Brewery is only small and has been swept up by the bigger Diminion Breweries, much the same story as UK, but it has retained much of its tradition and remains my favourite beer to date in NZ. The tour was just the same as previous brewery tours I have taken in the UK and the best bit was to sample the full range of Montieth’s beers which were all excellent, even Sheila liked all except one which was the dark beer.

The drive down the west coast the following day was quite bad, really heavy rain and mist all day, we had to bypass three landslides which partially blocked the road. We passed through Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers but could not see anything; all the helicopter and plane flightseeing trips had been cancelled. We stayed in a one horse town called Haast and that’s all there is to say about it.
Next day was beautiful and we were really pleased that the weather had cleared as the trip to Queenstown through the Haast Pass and the following lakes Wanaka, Hawea and Wakitupa was the best scenery we have ever witnessed. I had to stop at least twenty times on the way and completely filled the camera’s memory card with excellent photos, the best selection is attached and it was very hard to pick which ones to add to the Blog.

We got a great deal on a three night stay in the Millennium Hotel, Queenstown, and we have really enjoyed the extra luxuries that a Hotel of this class can provide. The town is quite busy although I should imagine it is a lot busier in winter when the snow fields are full, it reminds me of a Lake District town but on a grander scale. There are a lot of Alpine style houses with typical stone walls and the lake is the clearest, deepest blue you can imagine all backed by a mountain range called The Remarkables which are 7800 feet tall.

Sheila has been looking forward to taking a ride on the Shotover Jet which speeds through the gorges and canyons of the Shotover River, sometimes in as little as 10 cm of water. I am sure you have seen videos of the ride on TV as it has been on a lot of travel programs, I know that is where Sheila saw it and wanted to experience it herself.
When you ‘check-in’ they give you a spray cape and life jacket so it looks a bit strange all the passengers waiting in these outfits to get on the boat. After the customary photos we boarded and off it went at a tremendous rate of knots, so much that it literally took your breath away. The driver indicates when he is going to perform a 360 degree spin so you can hang on for grim death and the inevitable soaking from freezing cold water. This lasts for half an hour, skimming past narrow gaps and jutting out rocks and going over water barely enough to paddle in. It was an experience not to miss and we both agreed it was well worth trying it, although it did take Sheila some time to unravel her hair.
There is quite a lot to do here and we visited an old style gold mining town called Arrowtown where the old buildings have been expertly restored.
A visit to Queenstown cannot be complete without a trip on Lake Wakapitu on the TSS Earnshaw, the only surviving passenger carrying steamship left, according to the plaque.
It was during the trip that we had our lunch and I decided to wind-up the seagulls which were sitting on one of the lifeboats, so I held up a chip to the window and this crazy seagull was hovering on the other side of the glass trying to snatch it, everybody thought it was very funny.
Queenstown can be classed as one of our favourite towns in NZ, not only for the beautiful setting but the amount of activities to do.
Next we’re off the Te Anau and Milford Sound.

Abel Tasman National Park

The ferry trip from Wellington to Picton is said to be one of the most picturesque in the world and it certainly lived up to its name even though it was a bit cloudy. The majority of the trip sails down fjord like channels with hills on both sides of the boat.
Our accommodation for the next five days is in another cottage in the town of Motueka which is just outside the Abel Tasman National Park.
The town itself is not unlike the rest of the towns I have previously described, restaurants, shops, petrol station and a supermarket.
Just up the road are two beaches, Kaiteriteri and Marahau, from these towns water taxis take tourists to the remote beaches on the Abel Tasman Park track where they hike back or are picked up by the taxi on another beach. There are a lot of Kayakers here who also travel to remote beaches and camp overnight. On the way back from the beaches my in-built beer magnet kicked in as we passed the Riwaka Brewery named the Monkey Puzzle and we just had to call in. The brewer is from the UK and has been in NZ for eight years, most of the equipment he was using was converted dairy hardware. We sampled some Abel’s Ale which was outstanding and a oatmeal stout which was also very good, Sheila tried some test beer brewed with elderflower, cherries and Nelson Sauvage hops, it smelt good but tasted rubbish, but Sheila surprisingly liked it. I took away a 2L riggler?, of the Abel’s Ale and just managed to finish it the same night, no use letting it go off is there.
About 55Km up the coast is the Golden Bay area and you have to cross Marble Mountain to reach it via Takaka Hill, the scenery as you can see on the corresponding photo is magnificent.
The town of Pohara lies a further 4 Km on but the sandy bay is rather dirty with piles of driftwood strewn all over the beach, maybe it’s due to the storms they had in this region 3-4 days ago. It has been hot and sunny the last two days around 25C, it seems the summer weather is following us as we travel south.
We are now sat here exhausted because today we took a boat taxi from Marahau to Tonga Bay and then hiked to Torrent Bay a distance of 14Km of not very flat track, then a boat taxi back to Marahau. It was an early start, for us anyway, out at 8AM then out on the boat for 9, the day started cloudy but that was soon burnt off and it’s back to the mid 20sC. The sea was a bit lumpy and getting to Tonga Bay was like a roller coaster, on the way we stopped at Split Apple Rock, which surprisingly looks like a split apple, and Tonga Island where there’s a colony of seals.
After getting dropped off on Tonga Beach it was off up the track, most of the way was native rainforest but occasionally the track opened up onto one of the isolated bays on the way, these were pristine white sand and no habitation. There were quite a few people doing the same thing in both directions of the track and a lot of what I assume were gap year students with heavy rucksacks camping their way through Abel Tasman, we are obviously doing it the other way round.
This is the longest trek we have made and it took its toll towards the end of the hike and must admit to being relieved when we saw Torrent Bay come in to view, I can’t believe we paid out money for this but considered money well spent.
It has been another excellent day although rather tiring and I am sure we will sleep well tonight especially after some cold alcoholic beverages.
The last day was spent in the Abel Tasman area and we were going to walk a few Km to loosen the muscles from yesterday’s effort, we started to walk to the sandspit on Motueka waterfront when it started to rain so we abandoned this which was not too hard a decision to make.

Wellington

Arrived in Wellington, well just outside really, a place called Petone and after we checked in at the motel we caught the train into Wellington city centre. The waterfront is a great place to visit and my internal magnet for all things brewery, Sheila thinks I plan these things, caused us to stumble on Mac’s Brewpub where we enjoyed an excellent pint of Summer Ale, no toxic waste here.

Napier

We are staying in Napier at the ‘At the rocks’ motel which is absolutely spotless and everything you need is at hand. We were chatting with the owners who bought the place not too long ago and they mentioned that they used to be in service in London, after Sheila’s further interrogation we learnt that they use to live in a top floor flat in Eton Square and used to Butler for the CEO of Hugo Boss and they have also ‘looked after’ Rod Stewart.
He recommended a local fish café where we had some excellent fish, chips and mushy peas, the fish being Blue Cod.
The first full day we walked 4km around the Ahurri Estuary which was just across the road from the motel, lots of wildlife and beautiful views. We then went to Havelock North, a very modern little village. We then drove up to the Te Mata Peak, the photo is only one shot of a 360 degree view which was stunning, and we took our time taking it all in and were reluctant to leave. It was quite hot, 29C, so we visited the East Bay area where there’s a boardwalk around the bay and thankfully a strong breeze, hope you are not too cold in the UK.
The second day and another walk around the Estuary in the morning and then onto ‘Vince’s Wine Tour’. He picked us up at 1PM, a very nice guy and loads of knowledge about wine and the Hawke’s Bay region, after we picked up a Dutch couple and a German guy we tasted wine at 5 of the smaller boutique wineries in the area the last one was also a microbrewery I couldn’t believe my luck.
In the corner of the pub was a takeaway ‘station’ with 2L plastic bottles, labels and tops and taps with long nozzles to fill the bottles. The locals were coming in on a regular basis to ‘fill up’. The beer was very good, better than the ones I’ve had of late.
Third day and another estuary walk and then to two spectacular beaches, Ocean Beach and Wamarau Beach both almost deserted, it was a very windy day but it didn’t stop us spending some time at the East Bay Point again .
Napier town centre is full of art deco buildings and there are a lot of restored vintage cars driving around town. I also managed to find a Barber as my wig was getting a bit curly.

Rotarua and Lake Taupo

Rotarua is a very smelly city. There’s the constant smell of bad eggs or whatever is in the air wherever you go. After calling in to the information site we found several places of interest to visit, one being sited in town called Sulphur Point, a sort of pathway with information plaques along the way telling you the history of the place and what you were seeing. The lake at this point was milky white from all the geo thermal compounds that were flowing into it and there were several mud pools that were bubbling obnoxious gasses into the air, a bit like a lunar landscape really. After stopping and reading one plaque near a mud hole I had the uncontrollable urge to start laughing and the plaque actually stated that the gasses emitted were the same as nitrous oxide or laughing gas, of course Sheila wouldn’t believe me but I swear it’s true.
Later we visited a place called Wai-O-Tapu, described as a Thermal Wonderland, which included lots of smelly places and some that were incredibly picturesque, thanks to Jo for a fresh supply of superlatives.
Look at the picture of one in particular called the artist’s palette.
We carried on to Lake Taupo and on driving over a hill into town were met with a wonderful view of the Lake with two snow capped mountains in the distance.
Today was a very good day indeed. We started with a walk round the harbour where we found a family of black swans eating weed from the bottom of the lake and an old lake steamer that was taking people for a cruise.
We then went to the Huka Falls, the river Waikato exits from the lake and passes very fast through a narrow gorge 15 metres across, the best example I have ever seen.
Down the road is a prawn farm and after some deliberation decided to take the tour and go fishing for prawns afterwards. We fed some smaller prawns by grabbing a handful of pellet food and holding our hands underwater, even at 5-7 cm long we could still feel them nip our hands with their pincers.
We went along a nature trail which ended where there was a geothermal foot spa, a bit like paddling in the sea but a lot hotter and very refreshing.
Fishing for prawns took me back to my childhood where you had a cane pole, like you support plants with, a short line with a small hook on the end onto which you put the bait. I managed to catch 4 of varying sizes but declined to take them to the restaurant where the chef would cook them for free and instead released them back.
It was a long time in the planning but I took my glider flight today and it is impossible to describe, but I’ll try.
We got to the airfield and it seemed deserted but I eventually found the guy that I had e-mailed, there were no gliders in sight but he soon had us wheeling them out of the hangar along with the tow plane. He made a call to get the pilot for the tow plane and all was set as he took me through pre-flight checks and told what would happen. I thought I would be sitting in the back but oh no right at the very front. I still can’t understand why I had no apprehensions at all. The tow plane took us up to 5000ft and released, just rushing air is all I could hear, brilliant. I agreed to some aerobatics but was not fully ready for what was to come, a loop the loop and a couple of slide dives and pull-ups, the G force surprised me somewhat but still exhilarating and no sick on the canopy. The pilot searched for thermals to increase height and said it was an excellent day for gliding as we went from cloud to cloud (these are where the thermals are under). After almost an hour it was over far too soon and I was back on the ground after experiencing what was one of the best times of my life. After chatting for a bit with the club members I was surprise to find out that the guy who took me up was 75.
We would like to have stayed in Lake Taupo for bit longer but alas it’s off to Napier tomorrow and wine country.

Bay of Plenty

The trip from the Coramandel Peninsula to the Bay of Plenty was only about 80Km and we passed through the centre of the Universe as far as Kiwi Fruit is concerned. Miles upon miles of Kiwi Fruit trees.
Arriving in Tauranga we were concerned that it was a bit industrialised but it was only the docks area we were passing through and we soon got to the beach areas around Mount Manganui. This place is amazing, at one end of the beach is Mount Manganui itself, an extinct small volcano about 500 metres high and then a stretch of beach of approx 7 Km which runs up the coastline.
We are staying in a beautiful cottage for a week in the Papamoa hills which is 5Km out of Mt. Manganui, it comes complete with a resident Possum which you can hear during the night prowling around. The Tui is the NZ native bird and is renowned for copying sounds, so it was a bit weird hearing it sing in the garden and then bark like a dog.
There are lots of walks to do around here and we managed to complete a full circuit of the Waikerio Estuary which included mangroves and native bush walks. On the Sunday we went to a local Farmer’s Market, we bought some roasted, salted Macademia nuts and they were delicious, just sorry I didn’t buy up the whole stall.
This was a relaxing week after all our activity so there’s not much to write about only walking and reading books at the cottage.
The weather is excellent at the moment, about 21C and clear skies most of the time, but it still gets a bit chilly at night. We visited some falls just up the road from the cottage called Kaitake where I discovered that I had locked the cottage keys inside and the hosts were not at home. I had to put on my Scouse head and with the help of some fishing line, managed to break in, good job it was secluded.

Coramandel Peninsula

The drive from Hamilton was beautiful. The Coramandel Peninsula has some spectacular scenery, especially on the coast road. We travelled up the east coast after picking up some fruit and veg. at a roadside stall, did you know that you can get golden kiwi fruit which doesn’t taste as acidic as green kiwifruit.


We stopped at a Coramandel Town which is an old gold mining town when there was a gold rush back in the 1870s and again reminded me of the old American pictures of gold rush towns. We stopped later at Whitianga, pronounced Fitianga for some reason, a very nice laid back sort of place where everybody is friendly and that goes for all of NZ we have been to so far.
We carried on to the Motel we were staying at in a place called Tairua, probably the best place we have stopped at up to now. Over the next couple of days we travelled around the area to the various places of interest. One of these was called Hot Water Beach where about two hours either side of high tide you can dig your own spa pool on the beach. There is a volcanic rock formation underground and the water that seeps down is forced back up again by ‘convection?’ so if you dig a hole it gets filled with hot water, hence the name.
Just up the road was Hahei beach a lovely stretch of white sand and if you followed the road round you come to Cathedral Cove car park where the track starts to the named cove. The sign showed that it was a 40 minute walk but what it didn’t tell you is that this is steep up and down and half way there you realise what you face on the way back. The walk was certainly worth it as the cove was stunning, apparently one of the best 10 beaches in the world, the attached photo does not do it justice. We did eventually get back to the car park; Sheila must be getting fitter, only a couple of rest stops.


One day we went up the local extinct volcano called Paku Hill, you can drive near to the top but there is a steep walkway to the summit. There were 360 degree spectacular views so I took a series of photos that I’ll have to stitch together so you can really appreciate it.
I am running out of superlatives to describe NZ any suggestions would be appreciated and I did say superlatives not expletives.

Hamilton

Hamilton was just another city but it is NZ’s largest inland city and about the size of Stockport. The Waikato River flows right through it and there is a river walk that runs down both banks of the river. There are also lots of parks and gardens which we visited as there was not much else to do, we walked around Rotaroa Lake which is right in the centre of the city, around 4Km. We visited Hamilton Gardens which was quite interesting, some strange sights though. Two elderly men sailing remote control boats round a lake complete with customized trolleys which looked like little girl’s prams. As we were leaving there was a group of Chinese people stood in a semi-circle round a tape player, they were stood like statues with arms straight and hands clutching an invisible stick, very bizarre.
The England U17 girls playing in the Fifa World Cup were staying at the same hotel and they managed to reach the semi-finals on a penalty shoot out. I told one of them that at least one England team can win a penalty shoot out.
I have learnt to talk Kiwi, which is very easy, all you have to do is replace every ‘e’ for an ‘i’ for example ten would be pronounced tin. However you do have to be careful as I got my neck sunburnt and you would have to say I’ve got a sunburnt nick or if you were going out on the deck you would be going out on the dick. I am sure there would be lots of others lost in translation. Watch this space.

Bay of Islands

We have managed to get a very nice apartment down a quiet street in Paihia, it has 4 rooms, lounge, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, quite spacious for £28 per night. We are staying here for one week so we can relax a bit more and get some serious fishing done. It’s the snapper and kingfish season and there are plenty about; it’s just finding them now. I have asked the local fish and bait shop owner over in Russell, which is the township across the bay, he has pointed out some good spots to fish from rocks although I am waiting until the wind drops a bit before I get the car ferry over there. They use a method called straylining here which is a double leader with a free moving small ball weight and a size 7/0 or 8/0 hook. The preferred bait to use is a whole pilchard and you just cast the lot into a shallow inlet with fast flowing water. We shall see!!
In Paihia I went into a hardware store to get some crimps for fishing and it was one of those places that sell everything from fish hooks to toilet seats. There were two elderly chaps behind the counter and when I asked for some crimps, one of the guys ran off and came back with a pair of pliers, it took all of my composure not to laugh as the thought of the two Ronnie’s sketch flashed through my mind. After getting the right item I left the store before dissolving into fits of laughter.
Paihia is only a small quaint pretty town and is not at all busy. Plenty of good restaurants and shops selling fresh local food and a couple of nice beaches within walking distance. The first day we went on a hike from the Waitangi Treaty grounds to the Hururu Falls, a total of 10Km, although the bush track was going uphill and downhill all the time. The track went through native forest with huge ferns and crossed a boardwalk through mangroves, all the time we could hear and see lots of the native birds which we could not identify. I had to go into a shop in Paihia to look at the bird books as I’m too tight to buy one or maybe I can’t afford one. The falls at Hururu were not that spectacular but it was worth the hike just for the scenery and birds alone. By the time we got back to the Waitangi grounds, Sheila’s back legs had gone and she needed time to recover (about 24 hours!). We slept well that night.
Monday we went across to Russell, it’s just across the bay and a 10 minute ferry ride. It’s even quieter than Paihia, reminds me of a 1930s American town, just a main street with a couple of restaurants a pub and a gas station, a very relaxing day out.
Tuesday we had a drive over to Kerikeri and also took a scenic drive round a couple of bays just a bit further up north, again the scenery was unbelievable, plenty of good walks both beach and bush.
Wednesday we took the car ferry over to Russell to find the spot for fishing that the tackle shop owner told me about. It’s a lovely day but a bit blowy and the spot we found was sheltered so it was very pleasant. I am using pilchard for bait which makes your hands very smelly but also attracts the fish. The bait is getting snatched off the hook regularly so the fish are about and finally I reeled in a Snapper about 3Kg, Sheila taking photos to the strain of ‘Happy days are here again’. This was followed by a Kawahai of the same weight. It was an excellent day out with more to follow hopefully.
Sheila has managed to stay upright for over three weeks now so the sweepstake is looking a bit sick, she has however suffered lots of sand fly bites and has had to seek medical treatment from the pharmacy. The Police are now looking for red wine coloured flies that appear intoxicated.
The next two days we tried more fishing but the only other thing I caught was a squid. I felt sorry for it because it was making a squeaking sound so I threw it back.
We have enjoyed our stay in the Bay of Islands and would definitely return if only for the fishing. Tomorrow we travel to Hamilton for two nights and then to Tairua on the Coramandel Peninsula for three nights and we have managed to book a very nice cottage near Pampanoa, Bay of Plenty, for 7 nights before heading for Napier.

Auckland

Auckland was rather quiet compared with Shanghai; we virtually slept for 2 days, although on the first night we were woken by the fire alarm broadcasting to evacuate the building. After dressing quickly we went down the stairs to assemble at the front of the hotel. It turned out to be a drill but I checked my watch and it was 11:45 so we must have slept well. We had Fish and Chips for dinner but the fish was Snapper and it was the best Fish and Chips we have had for some time. I also found a Pub called the Bluestone Room that sold Montieth’s real ales, I tried three and they were all excellent, just a bit gassy and too cold, they must take after the American microbrews.
Next day we took the ferry over to Devonport, a small seaside town across the bay from Auckland and after calling in at the Visitor’s Centre they advised us take a walk up to North Head, a two hour round trip but with outstanding views. The place reminded me of Southport 40 years ago. The weather was also very good; spring has finally arrived according to the locals.
We collected our hire car on Wednesday and although it was not a new one it only cost just over £7 per day for 47 days, I was well impressed with the quality for that price.
I was concerned that we wouldn’t get all the luggage in the boot as Sheila had to buy a new suitcase after getting a blowout on the original one and the new one was somewhat LARGER, but it was OK in the end.
We took a trip to Waiheke island which also included a round the island bus tour. The island was beautiful with stunning views all around but it was a bit like Benny Hill keep getting on and off the bus.
Overall Auckland was OK but I think one visit would be enough.
Any of the references I make can be searched for on Google i.e. Montieths.

Shanghai

Shanghai Airport is very modern and the trip from there to the hotel was via the MagLev which is a magnetic levitation train. I knew it was fast but when it reached 430Km/h, which is about 270 Mph, it was just like flying over the ground about 60 ft high. Our hotel was downtown Shanghai near the Shanghai Railway Station so it was a very busy area. Sheila selected a dish from the buffet which turned out to be chicken’s feet; needless to say she didn’t eat any more than the first bite. I actually got a decent pint of beer at the Paulaner Brauhaus but it came with a financial penalty of £7, we later found out that it was ½ price between 4pm and 7 pm. Near the Brauhaus is the Pearl City Tower which is architecturally very good and picturesque when illuminated. A walk down the Bund which is the river walk along the Huang Po river was interrupted every few metres with hawkers trying to sell everything from copy watches to roller skates. There’s not much more to say about Shanghai except it’s just as crowded as Hong Kong. Roll on New Zealand.

Xian

The Chinese Government decided to commandeer our booked train from Beijing to Xian so I had a frantic day trying to book some air tickets; fortunately I found some at not too unreasonable a price. I also had to find a day tour of the Terracotta Warriors which I also booked for the day after arrival. The Hotel was an Ibis that I had booked from the UK but I was a bit apprehensive about the price, as for two nights including breakfast it was £34. As it turned out it was the usual Ibis standard as found in the UK. I had researched the local restaurants and found a famous dumpling one near to the Bell Tower square called the Defachang. We were unable to get a Taxi so we decided to walk but at some point got lost, luckily I flagged a Taxi down who took us directly there. The choice was either shrimp, pork or seafood with a variation which included mushrooms, we ordered Pork and Shrimp which was somehow lost in translation as we eventually got a steamer of 10 pork and shrimp dumplings so we had to order a further 10. I was slightly appeased when the bill arrived for 20 dumplings and 3 beers, altogether £5.20.
The tour next day was ‘different’ as the guide was not the usual boring type but a Chinese guy call Clarence Guo who had written a book on the Qin warriors who were the models for the Terracotta Warriors. The weather was bad and we started out by visiting some Chinese cave dwellers, not my idea of a tour, invading people’s homes but the family seemed Ok about it, must be the financial remuneration.
The next stop on the tour was the highlight of our visit to China, the Terracotta Warriors. Words cannot describe the experience as you gaze into the pits, as they are called, 3 in total, rows upon rows of different types of figures from archers, kneeling and standing, charioteers, infantry, horses and officers all moulded with different features and stances. What we saw was only a fraction that have been uncovered to date, in pit 1 alone there is estimated to be 6000 figures in total. Pits 2 and 3 contained similar figures but were fewer in total.
Another announcement that amused us at the Airport as we were leaving Xian was ‘Passengers for Shanghai are requested to board through gate 6 and please enjoy your fright’

Beijing

We arrived at Beijing West station at around 15:45 and after clearing immigration, which was much easier than we expected, we went outside to find a taxi. There were no signs at all for TAXI, even if it was spelt slightly different you would expect a sign. After searching the concourse, and avoiding millions of people sitting on bedrolls, I decided to leave Sheila with the cases and hunt around. At last I found a Taxi service tucked away partially underground and we managed to load our cases and proceed to show the Driver a printed sheet with a map and directions. He started off down the road but stopped a short distance away and asked for the map again, after peering at it for several minutes he took a pair of glasses out of the glove compartment, the lenses were like milk bottle bottoms and he still had difficulty seeing it. Needless to say we started getting a bit nervous about his ability to see the road to drive but in these circumstances there is nothing you can do about it. The Beijing traffic is horrendous and it took us ¾ of an hour to get 3 Km but eventually after me directing him with the map we reached the Hotel. No thanks to Mr Magoo.
The Hotel was excellent. On the 18/10, after acquiring some city maps, we set off to see the Forbidden City, Behai Park and Tiananmen Square.
I don’t think I have seen so many people in one place at any one time; if you shouted ‘Hey You’ here there would be hundreds of blokes turn round (How you know my name?). It was good that the place was huge and we were surprised at how fast we got the tickets and passed inside. You can spend a whole day inside the Forbidden City and there are some very interesting things to see but after 3 hours we reached the North Gate and decided we had had enough. We walked to Behai Park after negotiating hundreds of hawkers who were trying to sell you anything from rickshaw rides to cobs of corn.
The park itself was quite big and you could hire battery boats to cruise on the lake but we decided to walk round which was really pleasant. Next was Tiananmen Square which we thought was a bit of a disappointment, again there were millions of people all wanting their photo shoots with Chairman Mao. 10 miles later and we got back to the Hotel absolutely exhausted, thank god for Starbucks coffee.
We found a great restaurant just outside the hotel and for loads of food and beer the bill was only £16.
We decided to take a tour to the Great Wall at Mutianyu as this was the nearest that was not touristy and was recently renovated. Before we got there we stopped off at the Ming Tombs area which has a pathway through them called the Sacred Way, which is a total of 7.5Km but we only walked 2Km. On the way to the Great Wall we stopped again at the customary Jade shop and for Lunch. We got to know our fellow tourers who were a mixed bag of Argentinean, Canadian, American, Japanese and Australian, 11 of us altogether and we got on really well. The Great Wall was accessed via a cable car; Sheila as usual was a bit unnerved as she’s not too fond of heights and this being the open ski type lift. The GW itself lived up to all our expectations, snaking it’s way over the surrounding hills and mountains, the scenery spectacular. We managed to traverse 3 towers, but it was deceptive as the connecting battlements had quite steep gradients and steps. I think this was enough as 3 towers was probably going to look the same as 10 towers but this didn’t stop our companions bragging how many towers they had managed.
On the way back down to the Car Park we had the option to go via a toboggan run which was a shute with small carts and a lever brake, as the queue was quite large we opted to return via the cable cars as Sheila thought this was the lesser of two evils.
The next day we visited the Olympic area and this was surreal, seeing it through the TV was not quite as good as ‘live’, it was really a huge area and the Birds Nest superb. Overall we enjoyed Beijing tremendously and wouldn’t hesitate to come back at some point, old and modern, really clean streetwise but also quite polluted at times.
Here are some signs that get ‘lost in translation’ and quite amused us.
Breakfast buffet: Skimming Milk, Rice Crispiest.
Airport: Please make sure you bags have not been packed with other peoples stuff.

Hong Kong and train to Beijing

The flight from Heathrow to Hong Kong was excellent so I would recommend Air New Zealand to anyone. It only took 20 minutes from getting off the aircraft until leaving the Airport on a bus to the hotel so everything here runs very efficiently.
The new airport at Lantau is amazing, very high ceiling with glass everywhere although it is much further away from the city than Kai Tak, the old airport which was virtually in the city. The last time we landed here back in ’92 we could see people hanging their washing out on their balconies as the aircraft came in to land.
I can only describe Hong Kong now as ‘MADNESS’, there must be three time the number of people on the streets as there was on our last visit. Imagine London streets on a busy day and multiply the number of people by three. The MTR needs to be good to handle the volume of people but I could never get used to this. We went on a Star Ferry harbour cruise which gave a bit of relief from the humidity of the city and then on to get the tram to the Peak. The queues were loooong so we gave it a miss as we had been there before. We celebrated my Birthday at a restaurant called Yung Kee which specialised in roast goose and we agreed it was absolutely delicious. Before we ordered they brought a dish of what appeared to be a peeled boiled egg but the white was a brown gelatinous substance and the yolk was black, it was accompanied by slices of pickled ginger.
We had decided to leave this purely on sight alone but were told by an American on the next table that it was a complimentary speciality of the house dish called a thousand year old egg and that they would not take your order until eaten. I would have taken a photo for you to fully appreciate this egg but was too embarrassed as the restaurant was full, I will try to get one off the Net. We decided to bite the bullet and eat it as quick as possible, I was not impressed but the ginger was OK.
The beer here is Toxic Waste so I won’t go any further.
Wednesday we went to the Po Lin Monastery where there is a giant Buddha at the top of 295 steps, Sheila was out of breath just looking up. We did, however, make it to the top after several rest stops and to prove it I have included a photo of Sheila on the way down (in the yellow T-shirt).
I am writing this on the train from Hong Kong to Beijing and we are 20 hours down the line. Trying to sleep on a train is nigh on impossible, the first 4 hours of alcohol induced sleep was OK but after that it was fitful. The scenery is excellent but with the compartment door open everyone just has to look in to see the foreigner working on a Laptop. The train itself is like a 4 star hotel with plush carpets and curtains, you have your own toilet and all bedding there is a boiling water dispenser at the end of the corridor for your Pot Noodle meals. We had a ‘meal’ in the restaurant car last night, chicken and mushroom and beef with black bean and chillies, not bad really and with beer at 50p a can who can complain. Nothing gets better than drinking G+T’s while listening to Pink Floyd and Dire Straits on an overnight train to Beijing. We are now looking forward to the arrival in Beijing West railway station and trying to get a Taxi to the hotel, luckily it is not that far away.

Overview

The trip we have been planning for the past 12 months is now coming up very fast. We have visited a lot of places during both our expat days in Oman and the years after. We always promised that we would leave the visit to New Zealand and Australia until after we retired so we could spend months there rather than weeks and be able to cover more places and for a longer period. Well we both retired in April 2008 and will be leaving Manchester on the 12th of October 2008 for Hong Kong where we shall be spending 3 days. We haven't been to Hong Kong since the handover to China so it will interesting to see if it has changed. We thought we would try a different form of transport and have booked a 24 hours train ride to Beijing on the 16th of October. While we are in China we will visit the Golden Triangle of Beijing, Xian and Shanghai. On the 26th of October we leave China for Auckland and stay in NZ until the 19th of December when we leave for Melbourne. We will stay in the Melbourne area until the 10th of January 2009 to go to Perth and then travel to Tasmania on the 31st of January 2009. On the 7th of February we leave Tasmania to Sydney for Gareth and Annie's wedding on the 11th of February. Later we drive up the East Coast to Cairns. On the 26th March we leave for Los Angeles and spend 9 days in Arizona and California, 4th April back to the UK . We will be posting our thoughts and experiences on this Blog as we go but don't expect a 'Long way down' quality.