Naihou (nee how) from China

Well we landed last night and all seems well. Airport security wasn't too bad, the pointers book (a book full of pictures of useful things to help translation) we have came in handy as the security guard just pointed to a picture of a latex glove and a picture of a bottom. It was actually less stressful than Australia and New Zealand, they make you unpack your bag to get out your walking boots to check for mud there but in China they just did the usual passport scan.

 

We arranged a pickup with the hostel and two nice young ladies met us with a sign with our names on it, never had that before. We then enjoyed a 30 minute drive on a brand new motor way. So new in fact that some people didn't know which way to drive on it. The girl driving was quite calm when she saw a lorry driving towards her on our carriage way. Around town the driving isn't much better, the green man means you may die, the flashing green man means you probably will die and the red man means it a definite

 

We ate on the plane last night so we didn't go out for food last night but we have just got back from dinner. We had dumplings which we think were fish and pork, but we're not certain. Choosing from the menu seems to be like playing Russian roulette.

 

The best thing is the internet access, its free in the hostel which beats Australia and New Zealand hands down. Our room is nice and clean so alls good.

 

There is non stop building going on for expo 2010 so the whole of Shanghai is a building site and there is a thick layer of haze hence the bleaching in the photo.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year

Hello everyone, Christmas in Sydney has been fun, although the weather has been wet and windy, not the sunny Christmas we were expecting. We both will have to pay excess on our flight to China, due to the large amount of food we have consumed. On the 23rd after we arrived at our excellent flat in Sydney (thank you Kate's cousin Lizzie), we went to the supermarket and stocked up on a 3.8kg turkey and all the trimmings. On Christmas eve I went to the National Maritime Museum to see the Endeavor replica and to take a tour around a 1959 Destroyer and a Diesel electric Submarine. Kate went to the Aquatic centre to see the sharks and some fish. Later we went to Darling Harbour to watch the carol singers and the fireworks.

Christmas day was spent watching films, including Muppet's Christmas Carol, Love Actually, Black Adders Christmas Carol, Elf and Die Hard. Die Hard is a Christmas film and has the best line that I have ever heard Alan Rickman say, "Now I have a machine gun, Ho, Ho Ho".

Australian Christmas TV is the worst on the planet, a mixture of Greek news, mass and sport, the only film we found was Elf, the rest we watched on our laptop.

We both brought each other a selection of stocking presents, Kate got me a cool wooden puzzle in the shape of a 3D snow flake, a pair of pants and a couple of baking powder powered submarines. I got Kate some Vaseline and a bottle of shampoo. After Kate stopped shouting at me we had bucks fizz and croissants.

On boxing day we went sale shopping to the macpac shop, I almost brought a down jacket and Kate brought 2 t-shirts, a pair of long johns, a fleece hoody and a hoody jumper. Draw your own conclusions.

Yesterday we went to the Blue Mountains, if you have been there then send me the pictures as I would like to see what they look like, the weather was so foggy that we could only see about 10m for the most part, the best part was using the bush telephone!

Today we have been getting ready for the next phase, I don't think we can access our blog during our spell in China, although I should be still be able to make updates to it via email. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

Take care, Tim and Kate

My girlfriend and other animals

We had fun at Brisbane's Lone Pine Koala sanctuary, it is home to about 140 Koala's, which are everywhere around the place. For a fee you can hold a Koala and have your picture taken with it. To avoid paying, we reconstructed the moment with a toy Koala in the shop. I think its a bit wrong to cuddle them, their wild animals and should not treated as domestic pets.

I thought it was a bit wrong that they served Koala Burgers in the cafe on site, especially as they were presented in Turtle shell bowls. But still I supposed its more humane than eating McDonald's and using their free WIFI.

Kate had hold of the camera for most of the day, thus the pictures you can see are yet a fraction of the pictures taken, if anyone wants 300 pictures of a sleeping Koala then give me a shout. You could use them for a spot the difference competition.

I also have in my possession video of two kangaroos having sex, its too valuable to place online so send me £10 and I'll burn you a DVD. As a bonus I'll include 100 photos of Kangaroo bollocks which Kate felt the need to take. A box of Kleenex, a Koala burger with cockroach fries and your all set up for a good night.

Tomorrow we head to Byron Bay, a surf town of the Gold Coast, Kate is talking about taking some lessons as the water is a bit warmer than New Zealand where I did my surfing. So I'll be taking some photos hopefully.

We'll try and put another post up before Sydney and Christmas day, not that anyone is reading probably...

On another note, well done to Ron who has made it to the Caribbean in the good ship Zahara, he arrived earlier this week and I don't think he has been sober once since. Good job!

Tim out.

PS Happy 1st birthday to god daughter Rosie on the 23rd! That makes me sound so old!

PPS They didn't really sell Koala burgers so all you animal rights activitists don't burn a fuse.

Fraser Island

Well what can I say about Fraser Island, the first thing that springs to mind is that the roads could do with a bit of a resurface. We spent the 2 days travelling in a four wheel drive bus which pretty much bounced its way across the Island. One thing I'll say for the Australian's is that when they provide food on a trip it doesn't stop coming. On all the trips we have done here we have been really well fed. The diving course consisted off dive / eat / dive / eat / dive / eat /sleep / dive etc.. The Sailing trip was the same and the Fraser Island trip was drive / eat /drive eat... The only problem with that is that eating and bouncing around you end up swallowing the same food you've just eaten.

The highlight of the trip was Mckenzie which is the largest of the fresh water lakes. Because of its slightly higher ph level of 4.5 it is super clear, on white sands and free of any nasty things. Its warm, beautiful and I would rate it as my favourite fresh water lake in the world for water quality and warmth. I'm even going to suggest that Yeadon Sailing Club move there.

There was a cool wreck on the beach which was great and lots of giant insects. The insects in Australia are in some ways better than back home or on the rest of the trip. We've not had to put up with any annoying and persistent wasps like in Canada, no sand flies and mozzies like in New Zealand, They seem to leave you alone. The only problem is that if you do accidentally stand on them or corner them they will kill you out right.

Anyway, Fraser Island is worth a trip if your down this way.

Whitsunday Islands

This set has now been updated with a few more pictures from the trip. We sailed on the tall ship Alexander Stewart. She was built in the 17th Century and has had a interesting life. She was first called Malta and served with the French navy as an armed convey escort on the Baltic run before she was captured by the British during the battle of the Humber in 1786. We then changed her name to Surprise and she spent the next 30 years as a tea runner supplying the British troops during the naval blockade of Berlin. After that she was used as a training vessel until she saw action again in the Boer war (1899 to 1902). She was badly damaged during that campaign and was sent for refit in Turkey but she never made it. The rumour has it that she struck a rock off the Cape of Good Hope during a storm and the crew, believing that she was about to sink, abandoned ship. She didn't sink, but was then found drifting and claimed as salvage by a Russian naval captain called Marco Ramius.

She was then put into service as an anti missile ship during the first world war. It was on her decks that Norway signed its unconditional surrender to the Allies at the end of the Russia Norwegian war of 1932-34. She was presented to Norway as a gift of peace. They used her as a target practice tow ship until the Germans invaded and she was then pressed back into the service. On the night of the 23 July 1942 she along with the Flower Class Corvette Compass Rose, transported the Norwegian Royal family to Britain to escape the German occupation. After that the British once again used her as a War Bond promotion ship, touring the canal network of Kent. After the war she was sold to the Australians for £25, they promised to keep up her long standing tradition and history and in doing so, turned her in to a 24 hour party boat cruising the Whitsunday Islands.

This of course is all bollocks, she was in fact built by a family in the 1960's and 70's to be suitable for sailing to Antarctica, she still retains a lot of her amazingly crafted interior, really beautiful wood work and runs sailing trips around the Whitsundays. She is really stable under sail and we had a wonderful time with a really nice group. Imparticular there was a lovely retired couple from the North East of England who made us laugh out loud with their builders tales from their holiday home in Bulgaria. One story which had me in stitches was when Brian found that in building his new garage, the builders had used bricks from his garden wall, rather than use new bricks.

Wreck Diving

Yesterday we put our PADI training into action with a trip to the SS Yongala, a wreck of a sunken steam ship and one of the top ten dive sites in the world. She sank during a cyclone in 1911, killing 122 people an a race horse called Moonshine (incidentally the only body to be recovered) and she's still in pretty good shape for a wreck that's nearly a century old. We spied turtles, shovel nose sharks (really a type of ray) and huuuuuge Queensland groupers, plus the ships' toilets! It was an incredible experience and humbling at the same time. We're now qualified to 'deep dive' up to 30 meters which is good since most wrecks are fairly deep...apparently there's a fleet of WW2 aircraft at Bikini Atoll that's worth checking out now the radiation levels are almost back to normal...

Scuba diving on the great barrier reef

We've just returned from a three day trip out on the barrier reef gaining our PADI Open Water scuba qualifications, and it's been incredible. These photos are about half of the batch we took during two dives and we went on nine dives in total, so you can imagine how much life there is down there. We've seen sharks, giant clams, lion fish, and my own personal favourite, green turtles. We've been waking up at about 5:30-6:30 over the last few days so we're both pretty knackard, but it's been well worth it. We're off for a well deserved beer and a long sleep!