Home Sweet Home

Well, I'm home at last and back to the real world. Not sure how long I'll survive but I'm back for the time being anyway!!

Some brilliant Chinese signs

As I'm sure a lot of you will have noticed, when you go abroad and see signs that have been translated into English, sometimes they're not entirely accurate, have been translated just that bit too literally or are just plain odd. We saw some fantastic ones on our travels and here's a selection.
Pete at the wicket office

The Great Wall (and yes, it really was great!)

For me, one of the best parts of the trip was our visit to the Great Wall. We went to a part called Simatai, which is well out of the city (120km from Beijing) and thus also away from the crowds of tourists and souvenir sellers, and it was a brilliant day - blue skies and sunny. Having seen the wall in so many photos and on tv it was incredible to be climbing on it, and definitely something i'll remember for a long time!

Our lunch spot, on top of tower number 7 :-)

Olympic Mascots

In Tiananmen Square they've got a countdown to the Olympics and huge models of the mascots - Beibei (the fish), Yingying (a Tibetan antelope), Huanhuan (the Olympic flame), Nini (the swallow) and finally Jingjing (the panda).

There was some controversy in China earlier this year when the Olympic Committee suggested holding the volleyball in Tiananmen Square - the Chinese didn't like it cos they thought it was wrong for Chairman Mao (whose portrait is hung at one end of the square) to be looking at scantily clad bodies. Brilliant!

Terracotta Warriors

The Warriors were discovered by a farmer in 1974 when he was digging a well. This said farmer now sits in the visitor centre signing books then pushing them dismissively towards you when he's done his job - nice! They were very impressive to see - they've uncovered over 7000 warriors, horses and chariots already and excavations are continuing. Each warrior is said to be individual, having been modelled on the warriors of the time.

Pandas in Chengdu

A highlight on the trip was visiting the panda breeding centre in Chengdu. The centre is designed to help boost the number of giant pandas, which at present is only around 1200 worldwide, and we were lucky enough to be able to see some baby pandas that were only a few months old. Unfortunately we couldn't take photos of them so you'll just have to be happy with the ones I got of the older bears! One of the pandas in this first picture is Jing Jing, a mascot of the upcoming Olympic Games. I could say I knew which one it is, but that would just be lying. ;-)

Three Gorges and the Yangtze River

As some of you might know, the Chinese are in the final stages of building a dam in the Three Gorges which, when finished and fully operational, will be the largest dam in the world and supply between 9% and 11% of China's total electricity.

This unfortunately means that over 1.5 million people have been displaced from towns and villages in the Three Gorges area and moved to Government constructed relocation towns on higher land to enable the flooding of the gorges, and many archaeological sites have been lost.

While we were spending our 3 nights on the Yangtze the water level was actually raised a further 2 metres to around 156m above sea level. Although still very pretty, I can only imagine what the area would have looked like prior to the flooding, which will eventually leave the river 175m above sea level, over 100m higher than it originally was.

The damn Dam, as some people have taken to calling it.

One of the newly built relocation villages. Some are already experiencing problems with the buildings collapsing into the river due to the fact that they're built on what is essentially just an unstable pile of soil.Scenery of the gorges.
'Trackers' - these are the men that pull the boats upstream when the river gets too shallow to use the oars any more.Karaoke and ballroom dancing on board the ship - the Chinese just luuuuurrvvv their karaoke!

Yangshuo

Our first stop on the tour was at a place called Yangshuo, in the southern province of Guangxi. It was a good place to break us in gently, as there was still Western food and toilets but the Chinese way of life was very much present. We had a lovely couple of days taking in the surrounding countryside by way of a bike ride and boat trip, going to see a local show and doing a cookery course, with varying degrees of success!

Some of the 20,000 limestone karsts that line the banks of the Li River.


The finished products of the cookery course!


Moon Hill.Preparing for the bike ride!

Hong Kong

I spent a few days in Hong Kong before the start of my tour through China and took in a few of the sights - the view from The Peak, the sound and light show and a few of the many markets.

Looking down on Hong Kong Island from the top of the Peak cable car line.

Hong Kong's double-decker trams.


Hong Kong Island by day....and by night.

Vientiane and the Boat Festival

Hannah, Laura, Jess and I managed to time our visit to the Laos capital, Vientiane quite well, so that it coincided with the festival they hold to celebrate the end of the monsoon season. As well as the boat races, there were loads of market stalls, fair ground rides and fun to be had!

Poster advertising the boat races.


The boat races themselves. We had no idea which team was which, but it seemed that neither did the rest of the onlookers so it didn't really matter!



The ferris wheel and dodgems were both really popular and involved a bit of friendly jostling with the locals to get on to them!
Street scene.

The Sloooooooooow Boat to Luang Prabang

Having arrived in Huay Xai in northern Laos, we needed some way of getting to Luang Prabang, one of the main towns inland. There were 2 options - the speed boat or the slow boat. My faithful Lonely Planet guide informed me that 'fatalities are not uncommon' on the speed boat, so I quickly came to the conclusion that as uncomfortable and unappealing as the slow boat may be (I've read it described as a coffin, with toilets specifically designed to scare the farang), at least it would get me there in one piece!

I can happily inform you that it's definitely not as bad as some people have made it out to be - not exactly comfy given that you're sitting on wooden benches which are designed for Lao people, thus about 5 inches wide with minimum leg room, but bearable! And having watched several speed boats go by, mostly with just the driver wearing a crash helmet and life jacket and passengers hunched over or holding on, I'm pretty sure I made the right decision!!



Inside the boat

One of several stops at which we took on beers, Pringles, Oreos and sweets - just the essentials really!!

Trekking in Chiang Rai

We went trekking from Chiang Rai, just myself , and Hannah and Laura (2 English girls I met on the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai) and the guide. It was so much fun, though pretty tiring at points, especially as it was monsoon season so the mountains we were climbing up and down were incredibly muddy and slippy, as ably demonstrated by Hannah following a 12ft fall down an area covered in sharp bamboo sticks and other nasties! Fortunately she was absolutely fine - a bit shaken up and muddy but she's lived to tell the tale!
We stayed overnight in a Lahu hill tribe village which was a brilliant experience - everyone in the village was really pleased to have visitors (mostly since they got special 'farang' (tourist) food, I think) and it had such a nice community feeling to it. The house in the photo above was built by one man in a week - pretty impressive, eh?!

A waterfall we trekked up to.

Before we set off we had to put on these attractive 'socks' to protect us from leeches when we were going through the many rivers and also to stop our legs getting too scratched as we walked through the grasses.

Thai Cookery Course

While up in Chiang Mai I went on a cookery course with a couple of girls I met on the train up. Had a brilliant day - went out to a proper local Thai market (complete with live fish, someone making coconut cream/milk and the like!), then went out to an organic farm where we picked the fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices that we went on to cook with. Here's a few photos from the day!

Skydive in Taupo

Well, I finally did it! After having watched Hannah, Kylie, Beth, Grant and Parksy do their skydives in Namibia I knew I wanted to do one too and I got the chance yesterday in Taupo, in the middle of North Island. I jumped from 12,000 feet and got some amazing views over Lake Taupo and the surrounding areas, and now I just want to do it again!! Here's my certificate to prove that i did do it. :-)

Cape Tribulation, Cape Douglas and Auckland

A few pictures from Australia and New Zealand.




The unfortunate fate of many of the 1m tall Cassowary birds in Far North Queensland



The tree that was initially growing here has been 'strangled' by a fig tree that has sprouted as a result of a bird transferring the seeds



Cape Tribulation



The snout and top of the body of a 3.5m long crocodile in the Daintree River


4 Mile Beach in Port Douglas



On the approach to Auckland airport



View over Auckland from Mount Eden

Mission Beach

After having made my way up most of the east coast, I came to a wonderful place named Mission Beach. There are only 3000 residents, a few shops and cafes on the 'main street' and 14km of beach - it was perfect for just relaxing for a few days and getting some quality sunbathing time in!


The Big Banana in Coffs Harbour.

A local practicing his boomering throwing - a few minutes after this photo was taken I got lessons from him but i'm still not exactly what you would call competent!

Sunset on Main Beach in Noosa.

My Brazilian travel companion Fabiola and myself in Lake Mackenzie on Fraser Island.

Mission Beach - just 3000 people and 14km of beach - bliss!

On Mission Beach with Dunk Island in the background.

One of the several displaced palm trees following the cyclone that hit the north-east coast of Australia earlier this year.

Whitsunday Islands and the good ship Broomstick

I just returned yesterday from a 3 day trip around the whitsunday islands and had the most amazing time! Had a brilliant group, good crew and nice weather so couldn't really have asked for much more. :-)
Broomstick, the 76 foot boat we were sailing on.
Sunset over the Whitsundays. Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday Island.
The route we took amongst the islands.

East Coast Oz

At the moment i'm heading up the east coast of Australia with a lovely Brazilian girl I met in Sydney named Fabiola. I'm ultimately going to Port Douglas but stopping at various places along the way. However due to the fact that I've only got 4 weeks in which to complete it i'm only spending a night or 2 in each place but am happy that i'm at least getting to see some of it!

Here's a wee round up of the places i've visited: Newcastle wasn't really anything special - nice enough, but pretty quiet; Port Macquarie was very pretty with some lovely beaches; Coffs Harbour was nice too, and home to the Big Banana - what more can I say, really?!; Byron Bay chose to rain most of the time we were there, as did Surfers Paradise (which depressingly resembles a bar chart when you see it as you approach from across the bay due to the number of high rise buildings right on the beach front); Brisbane was much nicer than I was expecting, so all good; Noosa was very chilled out and had a couple of beautiful beaches; Rainbow Beach was a nice enough one-horse town and i'm now back in Hervey Bay, having just spent 3 days driving around in a 4wd truck on Fraser Island, the world's biggest sand island that is said to contain more sand than the Kalahari Desert!

Phew! The past few weeks have been very busy and involved a fair amount of forward planning and decision-making, neither of which are really my forte as most of you will know, but i've had an absolutely amazing time and met some brilliant people and it's not over yet! Coming next i've got a 3 day sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands which i'll update you on as soon as I get back!

P.S. I've tried 4 times now to add some pictures on to this post but it's just not working... Will have to consult with my technical wizard (aka Martin) and see what the deal is.

Bondi and Bridge Climb!!!!!

Woke up to another glorious day so thought i'd take advantage of it and hop on the train to Bondi beach! I obviously wasn' t the only one with this spark of genius and there were plenty of surfers demonstrating how it should be done! Then in the afternoon I came back to central Sydney in order to climb the Harbour Bridge, and it was INCREDIBLE! One of the best experiences of my life, without a doubt! We had an ever changing view of Sydney - started our climb towards the end of daylight, reached the summit as the sun was setting, then by the time we'd climbed back down, all the lights were coming on downtown. The photo doesn't do it justice at all (it's a photo of a photo) but it's the best i can do!

Out and about in Sydney

Following my sixth (and final) train journey with the lovely Great Southern Railways, i'm finally in Sydney! Had a nice few days wandering around so here's a couple of photos for you to enjoy!

Mulga's Tour to Uluru

My main reason for being up in Alice Springs was to go out to see Uluru, so I decided on a 3 day tour that took me not only there but also to King's Canyon and the Olgas (there'll be pictures of them on here soon too!). Uluru was absolutely amazing to see - you think you know it from having seen it so often on postcards, in books and on television but it's just such a different experience being so close up to it. Here's just a few of the MANY photos I took when we were there!

Adelaide and beyond.

Following my immense train journey here, I was keen to see what Adelaide had to offer and the answer turns out to be...... not much! Only kidding, it's not bad, just quite different to Perth - more industrial and not quite got the same vibe, but here are some photos showing a snippet of what I've found to do in my few days here.

From top to bottom: the Himeji gardens (created to celebrate the link with Adelaide's twin city in southern Japan), the rose garden in the foreground and Bicentennial Conservatory (housing at-risk tropical rainforest plants) of the Botanic Gardens, and a selection of photos of Glenelg, a lovely seaside town to which trams run from central Adelaide.

The Longest Train Journey In The World. Ever.

I'm in Adelaide now having completed (with the aid of some wine and plenty of games of cards!) a 44 hour train journey from Perth to get here! The scenery along the way was pretty impressive but it did remain constant for around a day at a time which took some of the interest out of it! It did give you an idea of the vast size of Australia though, and also gave me my first sighting of a kangaroo!! :-)












During the course of our journey we stopped off at a few places, one of which was Cook, with a mammoth population of 4 (though there were several thousand flies to help make up the numbers!). They used to have enough people to warrant a school, hospital (see the photo below for a plea to save it closing down), and even a jail but numbers have dwindled to the extent that all that remains is a small shop selling postcards and local produce to the gullible tourists on the trains that pass through. :-)

Home Sweet Home

I discovered a shop today that specialises in British foodstuffs (though they did also have TCP, Germolene and Fairy washing liquid) for those feeling a bit homesick! They had good old Thornton's toffee, Irn Bru (sooo tempted to buy some but then I calculated that it was around 1 pound 70p for a 500ml bottle and decided I didn't miss it that much!), Walkers crisps, Hellman's mayonnaise, Marmite, and the list goes on! Get the feeling I might be popping back there sometime over the next few days... :-)

Fremantle

Yesterday I spent the day in Fremantle, 20km south of Perth and Western Australia's biggest port. It's a very pretty city, has such a relaxing atmosphere about it, and also has a reputation for serving Australia's best fish and chips and, having tried them, I have to admit they're pretty darn tasty! A single street entertainer was keeping the crowds entertained in the centre of town outside the Fremantle Markets - not quite the same as the Royal Mile at Festival time but it was still nice to see!
Fremantle port.
Fremantle Town Hall.

King's Park, Perth, WA

I spent pretty much all of my first day in Perth recovering from the 10 hour flight here but on the second day I figured I'd better do something given that it was such a lovely day (around 27 degrees, just to make you guys back home jealous...!) so headed to King's Park and Botanic Gardens, in the southwest of the city. It was so pretty, and even though i'm here at the wrong time of the year for flowers to be in bloom, the park was just so relaxing to wander round, esp with the water gardens and fountain (top). The structure in the lower picture is the DNA Tower (named so for obvious reasons!) which is 15m tall and has 101 steps to the top.
The view of Perth city centre from the park.