Hi All, We are now in Xian, having taken the overnight train Beijing. We were in the "soft sleeper" carriage - which was very comfortable - if not a little cramped. 4 in a room, (bunk beds) but LUCKILY there was a western toilet on our carriage. Beijing far exceeded our expectations. We had an amazing time. Our hotel was very central (very near to the Forbidden City). We made it up to the Great Wall, and walked along, it is really very steep in plac...

Hi all, Well tonight is our last in Australia. We are flying to Hong Kong at 08h55 tomorrow am and then on to Beijing. We will be on a tour for the next 12 days. Our itinery takes us on a quick highlights tour of China. Check out: http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/CKB - which will give you the full itinery of what we plan to see and do. On advice we have just bought a Mandarin phrase book. I have been frightened off by the first page - so there go the dr...

Hi all, We have had such a great time over the last few days. We left Tanya & Ryan on Saturday just after lunch and drove for about 6 hours to Port Macquarrie. Luckily G had phoned ahead to book accommodation, as there was a tri-athlon on Sunday am and all the accommodation places were full. We had a pleasant meal out - B had a VERY unusual pizza with prawns & mashed potato?! G had "Sparkling Wine" and Oysters.... very reasonable!! On Sund...

Hi All, Well it has been a few days since we last updated our blog. We had an amazing two days out on the water from Airlie Beach. On Monday we travelled 95kms off shore to the outer reef (Knuckle Reef to be exact). We went with a very slick company, that had everything you could hope for - catering on the 3 hour boat trip out to the dive spot, all gear supplied, glass bottomed boats etc. For G - it was the first snorkelling experience... it was truly a case ...

Well we have made it Airlie Beach - so far, because of the weather we have not managed more than one swim in the sea. We have been told that the weather will improve on Monday, so holding thumbs we can get out to some of the Whitsunday Islands and the reef in the next few days. We have set up camp just outside town - 15 min walk to be exact. We have just had dinner and will stick around in town for a bit. There are a few sports bars here, one advertising that t...