RP roams free

The train we caught to Kanasawa on Tuesday 11 June was a Shinkansen super express train. The way the embarkation took place was an exercise in military precision and execution. Organisational perfection! I liked Kanasawa right away. It has an impressive train station and excellent information booth. Be sure to visit it and get your info regarding how to get around the town. Kanasawa has two rivers which traverse it and are almost parallel to each other. It also has a crisscrossing series of water channels and moats which we often happened upon during our two and a half days stay there. There is so much to see in Kanazawa: Nagamachi (a former samurai district), the lovely streets of Higashi-chaya-gai (where you can visit some former Geisha houses), Teramachi (dozens of temples), Kanasawa Castle Park and ... read more

This was our second visit to Shanghai and once again, we made the trip for the Port Adelaide football game which took place on Sunday 2 June at Jiangwan Stadium against St Kilda. The result, a 70 point victory, was most satisfying to the Power fans who had made the trip. Our seats were just to the right of the northern end and we were shaded for about the last three quarters which was great because the weather that day was very warm and sunny. We are becoming more at ease in this humongous city and this time around we were adventurous in our subway travels and taxi catching. The subway is very easy to negotiate once you get the hang of it and taxis are inexpensive. Fun fact: about ten million people catch the subway ... read more

Day 2 Taking the Peak Tram to the highest Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island was amazing. Travelling up and down the very steep slope had me a bit worried I have to confess. A swim at Repulse Bay that afternoon in soupy warm water was pleasant but I usually prefer my sea dips a bit colder than that. BBQ goose at Yung Kee restaurant (Wellington Street) was divine! Day 3 Hong Kong Park was a delight. In the middle of skyscrapers we saw manicured gardens and cooling fountains, a conservatory with some of the most gorgeous orchids I have ever seen (also cacti), man made waterfalls, an aviary - it was all marvellous and I enjoyed it much more than the market stalls we visited later along Tung Choi Street (although the Yuen Po Street ... read more

The holidays we have, Mark and I, are not holidays in the sense of having a rest. They are usually more like a gruelling marathon. There is nothing restful about travelling on a plane (three 7am flights in our time away so far). There is nothing restful about being on an organised tour - we have been averaging four different activities every day since we arrived 10 days ago. Therefore, on our first morning onboard our Yangtze River cruise on the Victoria Sophia, we decided to miss the onshore tour and instead loll around our capacious suite and later, explore the ship. I spent a good hour reading “H is for Hawk” which I found in a little library in the “Yangtze Club” bar. I decided to ignore the other book which had caught my attention, ... read more

Shanghai with its 24 or so million inhabitants is a seamless melding of East and West and so I felt a sense of familiarity about the city when we first arrived. The three days we spent there were as busy as all the previous days had been. On Friday night we managed to catch up with our daughters and their friend who had arrived two days before us. We had dinner in the French Concession and opted for Wagyu steaks from Australia. That night it began to rain and the temperature dropped. The rain was to continue the next day at Adelaide Arena for the game. It was a little disappointing that the match on Saturday was played in the wet, but it did feel very much like going to the footy on a Saturday afternoon ... read more