Saturday 23^rd June, 2012

In the morning we got picked up by Caren and drove to Suzhou, a big city with 4 million inhabitants and partner city of Constance. With a bit of search we found the entry to the railway station and met David, a friend of Caren. Together we visited the „Humble Admisistrator's Garden“. The fact that it is world cultural heritage and one of the four most important gardens in China indicates that this Chinese pleasure garden is not very humble. It was constructed in the Ming Dynasty at about 1509 by a retired imperial official and has a size of 5.2 ha. It is a Chinese garden, this means that it consists of artificial mountains and ponds, but it should look as natural as possible. And everywhere there are pavilions to be able to enjoy the garden. The next point of interest was Tigre Hill, a former kings site which is crowned with a thousand year old, slightly leaning pagoda. Else it is a beautiful park with many pavilions. Spectacular is the collection of bonsais with more than hundred trees. Our last stop was Lake Jinji. Here we is the home of modern Suzhou. A nice, two kilometre long promenade goes along the shore. The view to the city is not so good due to bad weather. One thing remarkably changed since my last visit ten years ago. Then I counted one skyscraper. This was very pleasant in contrast to the forest of skyscrapers in Shanghai. Today Suzhou also has many skyscrapers, but also the number of inhabitants doubled since then. After we drove back to Kunshan and enjoyed a wonderful Chinese dinner. Today Caren's sister arrived from Taiwan and joined us for dinner.

Friday 22^nd June, 2012

This morning we did not have more time to further explore Hong Kong. We went to the escalators to get to the train station. On the airport we had more time than expected as our flight was late. After a very shaky flight we got to Shanghai. To enter we required a visa which we issued in Sydney. Caren and her boys were already awaiting us. As Caren spotted us, she came towards us. In front of her was man which started to talk in German to us. We were so perplex that we did not even answer. As Caren then look at him inquiring, he realized immediately that we did not wave him. Caren lives in Kunshan. This city is about one hour outside of Shanghai. In the car I thought “something is wrong”. I soon realized that in China they are driving right. From Australia I am still used to driving left. We saw people which were hitch-hiking on the motor way, some were also selling food. In the city itself there some motorcycles, but the drivers do not seam to need helmets. Caren book a hotel for us and brought us there. After check-in we went to dinner with her family. She told us that it will be simple. But our menu was much more. There was freshly pressed apple juice, soup, a plate with prawns, salad, meat to choose and pudding with tea. Not really simple food.

Thursday 21^st June, 2012

We got up early in the morning as our body is still used to Australian time. First we went up the stairs do ride down the Mid-Levels Escalators. They are the biggest system of roofed outdoor escalators. These many connected escalators connect the Western District with the Central District. In the morning the escalators go down, in the afternoon the go up. So it is easier for the people to go to work or back home after work. The Mid-Levels Escalators are about 800 m long and pass a height of 135 m. Walking up beside them made us sweat as it was already in the morning hot and humid. With the escalators we went down to the ferry terminal. Here we bought a tourist bus ticket and drove with it through the city. We left at Man Mo Temple and had a look at it. After we did not wait for the bus, but went back to the ferry terminal by walking. Here we took another bus which went to Aberdeen. In the harbour of Aberdeen we made a Sampan boat trip. In Aberdeen harbour there are still about 600 house boats beside all official effort to bring these people onto the shore. On our tour we saw a lot of crab fishing boats as it is forbidden to fish in June and July. The harbour is surrounded by skyscrapers and it may happen that there is a hole in such a house. That way the dragon living on the mountain can look through them. Back at the center we took the ferry to Kowloon on the mainland. Here we walked along the seafront walk and enjoyed the view to Hong Kong. With the same ticket we could also do a sightseeing tour here. After we strolled the Ladys Market and watched the many stands on the street. Our next destination was the Tin Hau Temple. Unfortunately it was already closed. Here should also be the Temple Street Night Market. The street was still mostly empty when we entered a small restaurant to have dinner. After the left again, the market stands were ready and were waiting for customers. In the Night Market all sorts of things can be bought. Directly next to the temple many fortuneteller had their stands. Passing the market we walked back to the ferry terminal. As 8pm was already passed, we only saw the last few beats of the Symphony of Lights. This is according the Guiness book of recommended the worlds biggest regular light and sound show. The lights of 44 skyscrapers of Hong Kong and Kowloon highlight the harbour.

Tuesday 8^th May, 2012

Now it is the time to realize my Christmas present for Konrad. With a small plane we went to a scenic flight. First we flew over Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach which also look gorgeous from above. Passing some small islands we went out to the Great Barrier Reef. We flew over the Hardy Reef where we stayed overnight. But now we could see how big it really is. The highlight was flying over the heart reef, a small coral formation on Hardy Reef, not much bigger than the plane. Back on the mainland we went to the bus stop, but unfortunately the bus was just gone and we would have to wait another 30 minutes. On the same flight was an elder couple which passed by car and asked us if we would like a lift. We accepted with many thanks and thus had a bit more than an hour left in Airlie Beach. After lunch we went by bus to the airport which is 40km outside. With a stopover in Brisbane we flew back to Sydney.

Monday 7^th May, 2012

Today we slept a bit longer as the tour started not so early in the morning. With a boat we went into the Whitsundays. We sailed to the Hill Inlet and walked up to a lookout. Here we had a wonderful view over the bay and Whitehaven Beach. From far the combination of white beach and turquoise sea looks gorgeous. Now we went there and stayed there for two hours. We used the time to swim, to walk, lay on the beach or to enjoy the lunch prepared by the crew. Attracted by the nice smell came more and more big lizards. Some of the animals were surely about 1.5 meters long. They are not dangerous as long as you do not get too close. Back on the boat we went to a bay where we had some time to snorkel. Unfortunately I had bad goggles and thus often water in the eyes. But I had the opportunity to let Konrad listen to the sound of coral eating fishes. As were back to the hotel just before sunset we could enjoy the last rays from the balcony.