Discovering Dali Old Town – China

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Ross

Scooter Dali old townNight trains that arrive before the day starts are a bit awkward. Where the heck are you supposed to go? We were in the carpark/taxi park area of the Xiaguan Railway Station. It was 5am and still firmly dark. Continue reading →

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Night Train Hard Sleeping – Kunming to Dali

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Ross

Train KunmingSo there we were, rosy and relaxed in the plane from Shanghai to Kunming. Trying to work out how we’d been so lucky to even get there. We knew we owed the God of Travel. After that we always turned up early and never complained about waiting around Continue reading →

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How Not To Catch An Aeroplane – Shanghai-Style

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Ross

Shanghai CafeSome days you don’t know it when you wake up but you are going to be very unlucky or very lucky. Our day leaving Shanghai turned out to be one of those. It started out nice and relaxed. We went for a walk Continue reading →

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Shanghai – Seeing Sights

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Ross

Yuyuan Gardens ShanghaiThe day after our big day in Shanghai was wetter and cooler. We had a second day on our hop-on bus pass and set off to explore some more. We linked up with a bus on the temple/shopping route, and started the day with a temple. Continue reading →

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A Big Day Out in Big Shanghai

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Ross

Pudong Shanghai skyscrapersOur first full day in China didn’t start so well, and then ended a little bizarrely. But mostly it was amazing; an eye-opener – Shanghai is a modern city with lots of surprises. We had a bit of a loose plan to see the Bund and the Pudong high-rise buildings. Continue reading →

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China Reconstructed – Part 1

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Ross

Maglev train ShanghaiOur China adventure started in Shanghai. Largest city in China and one of the largest in the world. Air New Zealand flew us there nicely and we even managed a few hours sleep. And arrived at the very civilised time of 7am. She’s a big airport Continue reading →

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To China and Back …

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Ross

Sorry about the silence. The difficulties and frustrations got the better of me. Posting just got too hard. I think having my web stuff hosted in the US might not have helped. I could sort-of access my blog stuff, but everything was sooo slooowwww. I thought I might be immune Continue reading →

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Today’s Picture From China

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Ross

Old Town LijiangAfter my success yesterday getting to post an actual picture from our travels, I’m going to try to repeat my efforts. Today has been a wet sort of day. The rain set in after we started walking/wandering around the old town area of Lijiang Continue reading →

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A Picture From China

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Ross

Good moorning froom China frm the keyboard with the randoom letter O. Anyway, it’s aboout time I tried to post a picture. Continue reading →

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Impressed by Shanghai

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Ross

So here we are then. Tuckered out in Shanghai. 6.30pm and 28 degrees with humidity of 88 %. Steamy is what it is. We have been here for a couple of days and have had a good go seeing some of the sights. No shopping to distract us; we haven’t got room for stuff and anyway it is fairly expensive in the places we have seen Continue reading →

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Just One More Sleep Then Off to China

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Ross

After Staveley and the sausage rolls, we stayed for a couple of days at Methven. We went for a drive to find Lake Coleridge. For a large lake it proved surprisingly elusive. Sufficiently elusive for us to admit we didn’t really actually find it. We saw it in the distance in glimpses Continue reading →

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Sausage Rolls at Staveley

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Ross

Stavely CafeSteveley is just up the road from Mt Somers. There’s a cute cafe there so when we moved on from the Mt Somers Domain we stopped off on the way past. I was keen to try the sausage rolls which are fairly famous. It’s the least we can do to eat the icons. Continue reading →

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A Stroll Up Mt Sunday aka Edoras

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Ross

Walking to Mt SundayIt snowed at the Mt Somers Domain camping ground the morning after our walk to Sharplin Falls. Not a lot. Not a blizzard. No drifts. Not even inches deep. But it did snow snow flakes. We were quite excited. Continue reading →

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The Little Falls That Could – Mt Somers

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Ross

Sharplin Falls Mt SomersWe headed on north, through Geraldine and on up SH72. This parallels SH1 in a zig-zag sort of way. We stopped at Mt Somers, a small town overlooked by Mt Somers, and parked up at the Domain camp. With the weather predicted to get cold and white, we made the most of the remaining daylight with a walk to Sharplin Falls. Continue reading →

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Obscure Lake Opuha

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Ross

Lake OpuhaFrom Tekapo we crossed Burkes Pass and dropped down to Fairlie – inland in South Canterbury. There we turned right and headed up the valley we’d just come down; on the other side. About 10km up is Lake Opuha. A lake I’d never heard of before. A very nice little lake where we happily rested up beside for a couple of days. Continue reading →

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