China Day 3/Great Wall & Rickshaw Ride

After another night sleeping on a rock hard bed, we were up dressed and down for a so so breakfast at 6.30am.

Yet again I chose to wear my grey shoes, yes I am slow to get it at times, anyway our first stop of the day was The Great Wall. I did not even think about attempting to climb it, Tim however, thought about it and walked up around only a couple of hundred metres before deciding it wasn't something he wanted to do.

After our group photo was taken I decided to check out the souvenir shops,there were two different shops with some awesome souvenirs and yes I bought a few things. After I checked out the first shop and was looking around the second shop that I saw Tim he was suddenly standing beside me. After buying some souvenirs we decided to get an ice cream each, it was around 34°c and I had a yoghurt cone which was big and nice, haven't had one of them in years

After the Great Wall we headed for our Rickshaw ride but first there was a walk around by the lake but our tour guide Lisa said she thought it would be too much walking so I waited in a coffee shop. She then arranged for the rickshaw to pick me & Tim up at the corner of the road saving me a long ass walk, after the ride we had a meal in a typical Chinese household, how typical it was I do not know but more about that tomorrow. After the meal she arranged for another rickshaw to pick me up and take me back to the bus.

It was then back to the hotel for the night

China Day 2/Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City

So our first full day in China saw us awake at 6.30am after a so so nights sleep on a rock hard bed, after getting to the room we had to ring reception as there was no power point next to the bed for me to plug in my Cpap machine.

Before getting to the room we had to walk around 200 metres from where the bus dropped us off to the hotel, not far you are thinking, however, when you feet are swollen and extremely sore it feels a bloody lot further.

I was that exhausted that I fell into bed and slept in my clothes, the next morning saw us go to a pearl factory to learn about pearls, we then went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, which involved a lot of walking up and down stairs but thankfully for me they have a wheelchair service that cost us 300yaun or $60 Australian.

I was met at the bus by a lovely woman who didn't speak English who gave me a silly hat and insisted I wear it, she pushed me all over the place at the start I had to get up and walk down some stairs and then up again. However, at the third set of stairs I had trouble standing so she told me to remain sitting and she turned me around and dragged me up the stairs, from then on she wouldn't let me stand and managed to push/pull me up and down stairs and all over the place. Afterwards she dropped me back at the bus but we spent over 2hrs maybe closer to 3hrs there, with me being pushed the whole time.

We then went to a theatre where some of the group did an optional tour which was to see a stage show called The Golden Dynasty Musical, Tim and I didn't bother with it as it was $70 each, we did however, walk up a heap of stairs to go to Pizza Hut where we got a cold drink and I had a slice of cake before walking back to the bus and waited for the rest of the group.

I might add that the temperature was around 36°c so bloody hot, it was 8pm by the time we got back to the hotel.

Home from China

Hello everyone we are home from China and settled back into the normal run of the mill that is life here. Thursday saw us have a sleep in as we chose not to do another market tour so after breakfast we returned to our room and packed, check out was midday so at 11.50 we headed down to the lobby. Tim handed in our keys and we sat and waited till 2.45pm when the tour bus returned to pick us up and take us to the airport.

Our flight left at around 8pm and after I had tea/dinner on the plane I went to sleep and slept till they brought breakfast which was not the nicest but after we landed we headed to Macca's for breakfast.

After breakfast we headed to the train station for the return trip to Newie, Natasha picked us up from the train station.

It was great to get home and have a nice hot bath and sleep in my own bed, I missed my bath and my own bed.

All in all we had a great holiday with some downs and some really downs, no there were no ups just downs and on par but no ups.

China Trip Day 1 = Travel

Well hello here I am writing the first of my holiday posts, today after driving Leo to school we had Natasha drive us to the train station as we arrive we hear an announcement that the train we wanted to catch had been cancelled, this meant we had to catch a later train that was an all stations train and not the semi express we wanted.

We arrived at Central station 20 minutes late and walked the long ass walk from platform 6 to platform 23 to catch the airport train from Central to Sydney International Airport. We then had to walk Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel which is a crossed the road from the airport, after checking in we walked back a crossed the road to have Macca's for tea.

Off to China

Just a quick post today, yesterday was spent packing and such and today will be spent travelling same for tomorrow.

Tim & I are going to China for a holiday, it is a 10 day guided tour cost us $1998 for the two of us that includes air fare, accommodation, tours and some meals, so a pretty good price.

I will not be posting much while away but when I get back there will be heaps of post trip posts.

Leo dragged out a large suit case and asked if we could pack him in it and take him with us..............

When asked what he wanted me to bring him back from China he said Papa safe...................

A Thursday post

Yesterday with one thing or another I didn't get around to doing a post, after taking Leo to school I went to my aqua aerobics then after coming home and getting changed I had to go and get the cheese & bacon rolls for Blain's lunch.

After that Tim and I went out for lunch at the Eastern Tiger which was great, about 45 minutes after we get home I tell Tim it is time to take Blain his lunch, that was at 1.20pm and in a blink it was 2pm and time for me to get ready and head off to the school to get Leo. I also had to get Denni yesterday afternoon for Sandy.

After the afternoon school run I came home and laid down for an hour, I did read and comment on blogs but didn't get around to writing a post.

Should convicted killers be allowed out on a weekend to play footy, some say they should as it is a way to reward good behaviour others say it is just wrong as prison is suppose to be a punishment. One of the killers in question killed someone in a car accident the other was a one punch killer, I am against it, it just doesn't sound right.

They say first born children are closer to their mothers and have more confidence, well I am the first born and I am really close to my mum, but not sure about the more confidence bit.

It is official 100% of the state of New South Wales is in drought, I for those who don't know live in this state, no sure how this will affect me and my family. We don't use a lot of water as both Tim and I only shower every second day and we only run the dishwasher when it is full same for the washing machine, I do full loads and if I do a small load I adjust the water intake, I know some people don't do that, having the water set to high regardless of how full the machine is.

Pink had to cancel some shows here because she was sick and ended up in hospital, some people act like this was a choice but if you are sick enough to be in hospital, you may not be up to singing and dancing to the level she does when she preforms. Yes it would have pissed off people who turned up only to be told the show was cancelled but when someone is sick they are sick.

Well it is about time for me to get Leo into gear to get ready for school as it is nearly time to leave.

Indestructible Creatures/Glass Sponge

Hello everyone today in Newie it is fine and cold unless you are in the sun, Tim is off work for the rest of the week until I think Sunday when he is working because Sunday work is at double time which is why he likes Sunday work.

Anyway here is this weeks indestructible creature, a Glass Sponge and yes the delicate skeletons of creature is pretty breakable but the sponges themselves are thought to live up to 15,000 years. If that is true it would be one of the oldest known creatures on Earth.

The shell of this deep sea sponge and is made of silica a natural form of glass, inside lives a sponge a strange creature made up of a collection of cells that clump together and live as one. It has no brain or mouth, it just lets water flow through its holes and soaks up the feed and oxygen it needs.

Glass sponges are found in Antarctica may grow faster than scientists once thought. Conventional wisdom holds that life in Antarctica moves at a glacial pace. Marine creatures called sponges, which live on the sea floor, have been known to go a decade without any measurable growth in the Antarctic.