HOLIDAY THREAD

[cookie1]

A lot of the road today was through old Karri and Jarrah forest. The trees are so beautiful. This was as we went through the Shannon national park.

[mcmich]

Lovely photo Cookie.

[Cuilidh]

Well, here we are, back in Australia after an amazing and very intense two weeks in China.

We spent a day in Hong Kong on the way over where we met up with an old violin maker friend and his family, which was really nice.  I had forgotten how much I enjoyed HKG (apart from the humidity) and we would both have loved to have stayed there for a couple of days, but, as usual, all was rush and hurry so one day was our limit.

The next stop was Shenzhen, just across the HKG border.  When we lived there, Shenzhen was a fairly small city, now it has grown out of all proportion.  We had an interesting time at the hotel we were staying at as none of the staff could speak English, but with a few laughs, smiles and patience (and the help a really good translation app) we got along no bother.

The bullet train from Shenzhen to Beijing was great, although the 11 hour trip was a very long time.  The top speed the train went to was 305 kph and it was so smooth it just didn’t feel like you were travelling at anywhere near that speed.

Beijing was very busy and crowded.  You had to allow at least 1 – 1 ˝ hours to get anywhere, there were cars everywhere and the driving was hair-raising (on a level with Bogota in Colombia, which I thought was pretty bad).  I swear I have got even more grey hairs now than I had before we left Australia!

The weather was fine and clear and Beijing is making a huge effort to clean up.  There were roses, trees and shrubs planted everywhere - it looked very pretty and with no ugly graffiti anywhere! 

We went out on tours every day so saw quite a few of the usual tourist spots and temples but the highlights were the Great Wall – we walked up to tower 5 on the Badaling section.  For me it was very hard work because I am absolutely not fit, but I was very pleased that I made the effort.  Some of the Chinese were running it, they were super fit, the complete opposite to me!

That evening, on the way back to Beijing, we stopped for an outdoor barbecue and all I will say is, what happens at barbecues stays at the barbecue.  It was a fun night – that’s as far as I will go.

The other highlight was Xi’an and the terracotta warriors.  They were totally awesome, in the true sense of that word.  We spent hours wandering around the dig and could have stayed longer.

When we got back to Beijing, we went to visit one of our suppliers with whom we had been trading for about 20 years.  He is a lovely man and made us very welcome.  It was good to see his small workshop and (attempt) to talk to his employees.

Now, it is back to harsh reality and catching up on everything that accumulated whilst we were away!

If I could, I would post some photos, but I have only ever successfully managed to post one single photo so you will all just have to use your imagination!

[judydawn]

You tell holiday stories so well Marina that we don't really need to see photos.  Welcome home, as much as we enjoy our holidays, we generally all love to come home.  It sounded like a great holiday.

[achookwoman]

Marina, thanks for sharing your holiday with us. That is a lot to fit into 2 weeks. Nice to experience these places but also nice to come home.

[Cornish Cream]

What a wonderful experience for you Marina.Thank you for taking the time to share this with us all

[cookie1]

Thank you Marina. I loved reading all about your holiday, and as was said you paint the picture with your words so that we are able to imagine all about it.
Welcome home.

[mab19]

A lovely description of your holiday Cuilidh, it makes me feel like I was there with you.

[K Atie]

Marina , Holiday sounds wonderful . As my DD has just been to China for a month with her schoolmates , it was nice to here places were they all went . On return the one comment they all made was Blue sky we have not seen that for a month , it was raining when they got home , patches of blue sky 🌦. Well done doing the Great Wall of China , DD returned with a jumper to prove she had walked it .

[obbie]

sounds a great holiday Marina.

[cookie1]

This was our morning tea stop today. Not that far from the city. Lovely weather!!!!

[judydawn]

Good to see you still have time for that morning cuppa cookie. 

[Cuilidh]

A cup of tea is an excellent way to start any holiday.  Looking forward to your photos as you journey on through this trip.

[cookie1]

Today we drove about 400km. We are now on the Golden Quest Discovery trail. We started at Coolgardie and headed north. Lots of old gold discovery areas and some ruins. http://goldenquesttrail.com/
We came on to Menzies for a couple of nights. We hope to go out to Lake Ballard tomorrow. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ballard
Apparently we won't be able to walk out onto it to see the statues as they had 26mm of rain here a couple of days ago. It will still be fun.
We had sort of planned a free camp tonight but there was no one else at it so we didn't stop. I don't really want to stay out here by myself as t could be a bit spooky.
The first photo is of a hotel at Kunanalling, that's all that is left of a prosperous town and the second is the cemetery at Siberia, there is nothing left standing there.

[judydawn]

Yikes, I agree cookie.  You're really in the outback there.