Author: Butty

Monday morning found us visiting another bead shop. Paul was delighted!!! This one was huge and left me a bit bewildered, but Dennis got what he wanted. After that we had a tour around the rest of ‘The Shaws’ houses in Queensland. We went into Petrie Old Town. A site of Old Queensland buildings that have been moved to a site to show you an example of an Old Town. On the site was the Church that Matthew and Christine were married in. Very cute, simple wooden structure. Just as we were leaving I spotted a koala in a gum tree. Another of our hit list. He was very cute. An Australian Indian completed the day….. Yummy

Petrie Old Town, the church where Matthew and Christine were married

Koala up a gum tree

Sunday started with Matthew arriving on his motor bike and Christine and Ryan (in a post party haze) arriving with morning tea! Apparently common in Oz, ‘pull-a-parts’, melon, bananas and cheese and biscuits with tea or coffee. Madison and Emma were all here, so pleasant morning was had. Emma brought out her patchwork that Ann had made for her. It’s truly beautiful, a Noshi knot, the way an abalone is tied, traditional Japanese quilt. Madison also had her quilt here, under going repairs! A traditional patchwork, with hearts on made out of her old dresses. Very pretty.

Matthew and his Suzuki 600

Emma’s Noshi quilt

Maddies quilt

After morning tea Emma, Madison, Paul and I set off on a 9km walk to Woody Point. Out in the midday sun, but actually a lovely breeze along the sea! Maddies and Emma managed a very credible 6km, and we’re picked up by Ann, their saviour, whilst ‘the oldies’ walked on for another 3km. We were picked up from a bar in Woody Point some time later. A lovely walk and great to keep up the standards Marg.

Rainbow beach, between Brighton and Woody Point

Dennis is a bit of a wiz at jewellery making, so we walked to the local bead shop and selected things for poor Dennis to complete!! It was great fun and now I have a selection of handmade jewellery in our suitcases. It was a great little shop, with a really good selection of beads. After that a few hours of making followed the shopping! Paul didn’t get involved, he played with his iPad all day, without being hassled by me! After a creative few hours we went to Redcliffe and had a walk around the spit. Saw our first close up pelican. We only have koala, kangaroo, and possum left!!

Irene and I went into Brisbane for the day again and I had to get up very very early so we could journey into the city with Irene’s niece Emma in her car, leaving at the unearthly hour of 8.30am. Made it OK
We went to a food and wine fair at the Brisbane Convention Centre, a very smart and quite new venue. A lot of food and wine tasting was available some of which we did partake.
Again we were on the “South Bank” which has all been fairly recently regenerated with lots of cafe’s and restaurants. Very swish. Had a lunch of grilled squid and salad.

After our light lunch we walked over the river to the Botanical Gardens, a very pleasant spot in the middle of the high rise city.
The Aussies seem to like giving everyone instructions !

All these were at the start of the footbridge over the river on just two signboards

And I thought ” Aussie Rules” was a peculiar Australian game !!

An oasis

Lazy day not doing a lot. Nearby shopping centre trip where Er bought a silver thingy to attach to her necklace. Very nice. Took a walk to the seafront and walked along the prom.
We shopped for tonight’s dinner and Irene made Bobotie for everyone all washed down with some Yellowtail Shiraz.

Ann & Dennis took us to O’Reilly’s on a range of mountains of the caldera of an extinct volcano. Stopped for morning coffee in a little town called Canungra, a logging town of old (100years) wooden buildings, now a haven for bikers who ride up there to enjoy the winding up hill ride and views. After we wound up hill to the plateau where the O’Reilly family have built a hotel, mountain garden, cafe, tree canopy walk etc. we had lunch, then took to the tree canopy walk. This was amazing really high on suspended walkways. Even a high tree climb to the top of one of the enormous tree. Paul and Dennis did it ( the climb), I held the bags at the bottom! Enjoyed the mountain botanical garden. Fed the birds, with them all over us.

Canungra

Parrot feeding

Canopy walkway

On the way back to Brisbane we took in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. Beautiful beaches for as far as you can see and high rise accommodation. Great to see it. Walked along the beach and watched the evening surfers

Sun going down on Surfers Paradise Beach

Went to Doug’s seafood takeaway/ restaurant ( not licensed Ugh) on the seafront for Barramundi for me and grilled octopus for er

Day in Brisbane. Took the train using a Go Card, (Australian oyster card). Walked through the CBD to the river. Over the river the South Bank. Arts and Culture abound on the south bank. We walked along by ‘the beach’, enjoying the sun, and outdoor living feel of the city. We lunched in a seafood restaurant with Alan Davis (of QI fame) on the next table. Took the city catamaran down the Brisbane River to Brett’s Wharf and back, taking in the city. Home with the rush hour.

The beach Brisbane

CBD from the catamaran

Family day out to the Glasshouse mountains, misty day, so views were spoiled. We picniced in the company of several brush turkeys and wearing extra layers of clothing to keep warm, so much for subtropical Queensland!! After lunch we walked in a rain forest, saw wallabies and pulled a leach off Madison’s leg!! The trees were enormous, stranglers, tulip trees etc. Coffee at Poets corner and afternoon tea at Mathews finished the day.

Rain forest fungi

A day at the Shaw home having a lunchtime BBQ with all of Irene’s relies. All but one of the family ( Irene’s nephew Andrew lives in Melbourne) arrived for a super lunch well prepared on the BBQ by Dennis, Irene’s Brother in Law.

Chef, nice hat!

The Family

Me and Er, Dennis and Emma( Irene’s niece) walked into Sandgate and met Anne for a coffee. They did some shopping, we bought some wine, they drove home and we walked back.
Nice to have a few lazy days after hectic China and also to catch up on blog that I am sure everyone is missing. Watched United just beat Everton.

Feeding the ducks and turtles

First real day in Oz. Anne and Dennis gave us a trip around their local area and town of Sandgate. They are about a fifteen minute walk to the sea and in an area north of Brisbane. After lunch back at the house Me and Er set out for a walk to the sea to stretch the legs and get a feel for where we are.

The Promenade at Sandgate

Sandgate Centre

A very typical Queensland house. All wood construction with timber cladding and a tin corrugated roof.

Arrived Sydney 20 minutes early and transferred to another terminal for our domestic flight to Brisbane. Bizarre bus trip around the inner airport on the runway aprons past hangars with jumbo jets being worked on etc. All very strange but were assured that this is normal. Not very secure I wouldn’t think and pretty awful for an International Airport.
Had a couple of hours wait for our one and a hour flight to Brisbane and we eventually arrive on time at 13.30 local time which is only two hours ahead of China time. No real jet lag but about 15 hours since we left Shanghai.
Anne, Dennis and Emma met us at the airport and after huggies and kisses and a a trip to the loo we were off to their home.
Weather a little cloudy but about 25 deg’s.

Starbucks again this morning to collect mail and update.
Walked to the Yuyuan gardens and along the way stumbled across a huge material shop and on further inspection realised it is one of those stores that make you suits and jackets etc in double speed time. Measure today and pick up in a couple of days.
Passed by even more “specialist shops” on our walk. Crazy place !!

The local scooter repair shop

Old Shanghai Teahouse area

More food stalls in Old Shanghai district

After our walkies around old Shanghai we went back to our hotel to pick up Bags and
head off to the airport for our 7.45 pm flight to Sydney
We were advised by friend Martin to take the high speed “Meglev”train to the airport we we duly did. Good advice as this train is something special. It reaches a top speed of 431km/hr and takes just 7 minutes to complete the 30 km journey.

The Meglev arriving

A bit rocky but you can just make out the max speed.
Not a ride to be missed.

Couple of hours hanging about at the airport before we boarded our Qantas flight for a 10 hour hop to Sydney.
Bye bye China. We loved it

Today is our only full day in Shanghai, so we have our work cut out to see all we wanted to see.
We set off before breakfast to the ‘Cool Docks’ an area of old dock buildings that have been turned into trendy bar and restaurant areas. Yes, pretty cool! Breakfast in the hotel before we are off on a cruise with the locals on The Huangpu River, here they call it a ferry!!! 40p each way, we know how to live! It took us up the river towards the buildings of the financial district. After looking at our great view from our room, we were surprised how the sky line changed as we went up the river. More buildings came into view and they changed shape as we went. We walked up the Bund to the Golden Gate, had our photos taken with young people who come up to us giggling and ask if they can have they’re photos taken with us…. Foreign freaks I think! Then under the river on ‘the Shanghai rip off’ and under river trip in a French ski gondola for 2 mins, costing £6, yes, Paul was caught out!,

Part of the Cool Docks

The blue thing is a Shanghai Expo Mascot

Two of the tallest buildings. Guess which one in known as the Bottle Opener.
Right next to this one they are building an even taller one.

The buildings of the Financial District.

A very swish shopping mall with beautiful finishings

Arrived on time in Shanghai and immediately came to the conclusion that this city is a lot more “sane” than both Beijing and Xi’an. Sign posts outside the railway station with directions to the taxi ranks which is just not the case in the other two cities where there is an absolute scrum to get a taxi which you have to hail on the side of the road. Most were occupied but if they stopped and you showed them where you want to go ( has to be written in Chinese or they have not got a clue which is fair enough) and it is not that far they waved their hands and drove off. Not enough dosh . Taxi prices in Shanghai are two and a half times that of Beijing and Xi’an but still very cheap and well worth it to get to your hotel.
Great hotel here in Shanghai (called the Riverview) and I can see why because we have the most stunning view of the “Bund”
It has been peeing down with rain since we arrived ( by far the worst day so far but it is warm) so have not gone far. Seems easy to get around with good subway system as was Beijing. Although another huge city it does not appear to be be as crowded and manic as previous cities.
Ate in hotel for a change as we could not face going out again in the rain. Very good authentic Chinese. We think hotel is Chinese owned. Their is a list in the room of costs that will be charged if any damage is done to beds , tables, chairs, carpets etc. there is also a charge for all consumables even the bathroom toiletries. Bizarre . Having said that the hotel is off first class quality so no complaints.
One problem is that although the hotel has internet it has to be hard wired because there is no wifi. Jolly old iPad has to be fired up with wifi only. Apple get you act into gear. Perhaps I should say , Paul, get yourself a MacBook ! Next trip!!
Found a Starbucks this afternoon to collect mail but that was a bit of a bind, it would not let me send normal mail, did manage through Yahoo web mail, but didn’t bother to fully update blog. It would not let me search via Google either!
Me and Er might not be updating for a few days. May be able to manage text but not photos.
Don’t worry you lot we will be back to bore the pants off you with more info.
Please excuse if we go on a bit but the whole point of this blog apart from letting you all know what we are doing, it is also a daily diary for us. It is easy to forget.

Underground shopping (no shops?) parking, transport hub etc. with absolutely nobody there. Again built for the future

Stunning views from our hotel bedroom windows looking down the “Bund”

What a nighttime view