We are currently enjoying being jammy and cheapskates whilst relaxing in 5* luxury! It is still raining in case you are thinking we are getting everything our own way. Last year when we did our 2 week holiday to Spain we stayed in quite a few Paradores (luxury state run hotels that tend to be in historic buildings such as castles and the like). We became Friends of the Paradores as it meant free parking and more importantly a free glass of wine when we arrived at each Paradore. We also collected Paradore points. Due to various bits of luck such as collecting triple points a lot of the time and being able to cash in our points when you only needed half the number of points, we have managed to get a night in a ... read more

Good news! I feel a bit better today. I am still a bit weak and I don't feel that hungry but apart form that I am fine. I seem to be consuming vast amount of coca cola to keep my strength up. Luckily it is very cheap here. I am trying not to think about what effect all this sugar is having on my poor teeth! The main thing about feeling better was that we could go to see the Terracotta army. We decided to take a taxi. We no doubt got ripped off but it was much easier than trying to understand what bus we needed to take and I still wasn't 100%. Once we arrived and ran the gauntlet of people who wanted to be our tour guide we made it to the complex. ... read more

We are in China! We arrived here on Friday night and the first thing that struck me was how quiet it was. I was expecting in to be really busy. The whole airport was practically deserted. When we cleared customs there were only about 10 people waiting to pick people up. Thankfully one of them was waiting for us. He did not speak any English but with some general arm waving we got loaded into the van and taken to our hotel in Yangshuo (about 1hr away) We have had 2 days in Yangshuo which have been great. The scenery is really beautiful here as there are big karst mountains everywhere. If you happen to have Chinese money to hand there is a picture of here on the 20 yuan note. Yesterday we had a look ... read more

Our time in Australia is over and we are now in Hong Kong. Getting here was rather time consuming as we had to fly to Kuala Lumpur (5 hours flight), wait there for 4 hours before catching a flight to Hong Kong (4 hours). We flew with Air Asia as it was cheap. Bizarrely the first leg had been contracted out to Air Mauritius. This was good as we got free food (no such luxury on Air Asia) although we did get barbecued chicken for breakfast! As you might have guessed from the title we are staying at the YMCA! I don't know know what you are imagining it is like but let me assure you it is very nice. It is really just a 3* hotel. There are some floors in the building that are ... read more

We are now in Margaret River which is unfortunately our last destination before we head back to Perth and on to Hong Kong. It was only a short drive here from Pemberton. We went via Cape Leeuwin which is where the Indian and the Southern Oceans meet. It is also the most south westerly point in Australia. When we got there the first thing that struck us was how busy it was. There were cars parked everywhere and loads of people! This came as a bit of a shock as we were used to always having the place to ourselves. After the obligatory walk to the lighthouse and the photograph taking we headed on to Margaret River. We did stop in Augusta for an absolute must of a photo opportunity! When we got to Margaret River ... read more