Flying into Heathrow at 4.00 pm.
Day 38 – 13th January
Day 37 – Chinese
A little bit more Chinese “stuff”, and then that’s it. Coming back from the wall, you meet the souvenir sellers. Eileen felt a bit more confident about bartering for a brass Buddha having spoken to Ching first, and so negotiated a good deal.
Ching took her guide duties very seriously, and so steered us away from tourist restaurants. Here is where we had a terrific lunch in the middle of an anonymous village surrounded by locals. I had to learn how to use chopsticks as there was no alternative.
And it was extremely good.
Then off to the Summer Palace and gardens. Beautiful, but as cold as it looks.
The one on the right is a building so part of the palace. The others are real.
We enjoyed the next bit. Ching had been telling us about Chinese tourists who come to Beijing from rural communities and have never seen a Westerner before. And on cue, this family spotted Eileen and asked if they could have their photo taken with her. So I did the same to them.
Passing the Olymic Bird Nest Stadium.
And finishing with dinner in the bar.
And that has been our whirlwind tour around Beijing. We packed a huge amount into just two days.
Day 37 – The Great Wall Challenge
What a way to finish our holiday of a lifetime. It was a glorious winter’s day, albeit minus 6 degrees, and here we are at the Great Wall of China.
So what’s the Great Wall Challenge (apart from getting up there, although the cable car does help). Well, regular readers will be well aware of the ongoing selfie issues over the past few weeks, so if you’re going to get something in the background, how about the largest man-made structure on earth? What could possibly go wrong.
First attempt – hopeless!
Second attempt – some improvement.
Final attempt – that’s as good as it’s ever likely to get for me, so have decided I will need to specialise in something else if continuing photography.
Day 36 – Beijing
After our very early start, it was off for a full day of seeing the sights, starting with the Temple of Heaven. Actually starting with the old folks doing their morning exercises …
.. or gambling. Under all of these arches are card games for money, with crowds of onlookers.
But here’s what we the tourists come to see ( the temple, not us!).
Because we only have a short time here, we have a guide called Ching to look after us and show us around. Here she is with Eileen in Tian’anmen Square.
And us in the same place.
It’s all going so well that it is time for a selfie in the Forbidden City. What could possibly go wrong???
This is what I couldn’t quite get into shot – well it is easy to miss …
And another part of the Forbidden City.
Rickshaw ride around one of the Hutongs.
Drum ceremony.
Also a tea ceremony and a Chinese Acrobatic Show meant we packed a phenomenal amount into a single day (and hardly noticed the jet lag).
More tomorrow.
Day 36 – Weird but Wonderful
Firstly, we’ve just found out that you can’t use Google in China, so I can’t post this in the usual way. But if you can see it, then the cunning plan (courtesy of Dom) has worked.
Our bodies are in Auckland, 5 hours behind, this time yesterday we were in Sydney, 3 hours behind, and now we’re in Beijing (with wifi but minus Google) on real time. So time is a bit strange. Fortunately, we both slept pretty well on the plane, which was just as well as we arrived at 4.45 am. It’s rather nice to be allowed off the plane and through security first, even better that your luggage comes off first as well, and then terrific to me met by a nice lady in a posh Mercedes to whisk us off to our hotel. It is easy to get used to luxury.
The photo below is the street where our hotel is. A little bit inauspicious, to put it mildly.
Then we see the entrance. Note the name of the hotel.
It tries to be as authentically Chinese as it can – here’s a small panorama of the room.
And a quick wander round the courtyard.
And you can spot from Eileen’s coat that it’s a bit chilly – quite a bit below freezing. Breakfast and a day of heavy sightseeing to come.
Day 35 – Farewells
But first, a nice pic (taken by me on Jo’s nice camera) on her 21st.
But then it’s sad and dull. We were on an earlier flight than Jo, so last selfie of the three of us …
…and leaving her to her own devices in Auckland. It’s the last time we’ll see her until she returns in the summer.
Not much else to do but practice selfies as we say farewell to NZ – it’s been fantastic.
Cheers! Couldn’t miss that one!
It’s the overnight to Beijing. Leaving Sydney at 9.00 tonight. We have clawed back 2 hours today so are only 11 hours ahead of the UK – tomorrow a further 3.
Day 34 – Very Sad
It’s Friday 9th January, although am actually posting this on Saturday morning, just before we head off the Auckland Airport. It’s 4 weeks to the day since Eileen and I flew into Queenstown from Sydney, and without doubt it has been the best holiday ever.
Before we go, a couple more pictures. NZ finally did its best to remind us of home by providing an hour’s delay due to roadworks on their main highway down to Auckland. Fond memories of the M25 … but at least, as we said, it wasn’t too hot (23), or it would have been unbearable :o)
And on the M25 you don’t find cars like these parked at a roadside cafe ..
…. nor views like this when tucking into a much-needed bacon and egg pie.
So a bit later than we wanted arriving at our final stop, but a great view of Auckland from the balcony.
But the final bonus, which gave us all a lift, was to be invited to Natalie and her parents for a farewell barbecue. Natalie was one of Jo’s Kiwi hosts down in Dunedin (feels like a long time ago since we were there), and Jo and Natalie shared a road trip through NZ a few weeks ago.
Bit of pianoing and singing (not me!).
And then to Beijing (Eileen and me) and a road trip from Sydney to Cairns for 3 weeks (Jo).
Day 33 – The Final Instalment
After the exertions of the tobogganing it’s back to the plane for take- off.
All wired up and ready to go. Change of seating as one of the other passengers was not enjoying the motion in a small plane so we all agreed to put him up front. It didn’t help, poor guy.
A few more shots from the return journey.
This is Russell, just across the bay from our house and where we took the ferry to a couple of days ago.
Terrific! Then a quick change before we go out for Jo’s 21st dinner in the evening.
A cocktail ( of course).
And even a special birthday pudding from our lovely waitress (who comes from Staffordshire!).
Day 33 (part 2 of 3) – extra awesome!
So Daniel takes us to some nearby sand dunes (with surfboards). That’s us at the top (and yes, it was a tough climb).
And off we go …
That really is me!
I have been told that the video clips don’t work on iStuff, but if you can make these work you can see the full experience. Awesome!
Day 33 (part 1 of 3) – Awesome (in more ways than 1)
Awesome number 1 – it’s Jo’s 21st today. We’re very, very proud of her. It was a lazy morning with a chocolate muffin doubling up as a birthday cake and as breakfast. Then off to the airport for a flight up to Cape Reinga. It’s easy to find – just keep going north until NZ stops and that’s where it is.
Jo is 21 and could fly a plane (except she doesn’t really know how), but we relied on Daniel, our pilot, instead.
The scenery just kept coming and coming.
Then we flew over 90 mile beach. Two questions:
1. How long is it? Answer – 64 miles. It’s a long story …
2. Who do you find there? Well, it’s designated as a proper highway that you can drive on, so they really do have our friendly traffic policemen keeping order. I suppose it beats the M6!
Coming in to land, a turkey flies alongside, presumably for fun.
Another beach.
Then Cape Reinga, where the signs are pretty self-explanatory.
The waters weren’t especially turbulent today, just a few little ripples.
Here we are, right at the top of NZ.
Here’s the lighthouse – it’s a long long way to anywhere from here.
And up the hill. Probably doesn’t work that well, but what I’m trying to show is between my arms I can see land – all the rest is sea, so we’ll over 300 degrees.
Then stopped for tea and cake on the beach. I also found my long-lost triplets :o)
It really was tea and cake laid on, including a tablecloth!
Part 2 to follow shortly.