Date Wednesday 8th September 2010 City Edinburgh to Aviemore, Scotland Climate low 12c - high 16c - fine all day Today was the start of the road trip, herein referred to as the ‘roadie’. Shaun and Richard walked down to the Waverley train station to pick up the car and then took half an hour to navigate the one-way system the 1km back to the Caledonian hostel to pick up Jen. Arriving back to collect Jennie and the bags was made a lot simpler as we were communicating via the walkie talkie. All loaded up and just after 9.30am we headed North-East for St Andrews and Crail. We wanted to go via Kirkcaldy where Jennie’s relatives on her Mum’s side came from - the “Heggies”. Richard thinks that while we are in Scotland - our “family” ... read more

Date Friday 3rd September 2010 City Beijing to London Language Mandarin and English Currency GBP 1 = NZ$2.19 Climate low 15 c - high 21c - fine and sunny Traveller warning - give yourself enough time to get to the airport during rush hour in a big city! It took us 1½ hours to travel 10 kms to the Airport Express train station in Beijing during rush hour in the morning. Shaun was beginning to get fidgety and we were considering ditching the cab to catch the underground to the express train when we finally got out of first gear and made a break in the traffic. We had allowed a buffer of an hour and we used it all, arriving at the gate only ½ an hour before boarding at 11am. Great flight over the ... read more

Date Saturday 28th August 2010 Cities Daegu - Seoul - Hong Kong - Beijing Language Korean - Cantonese - Mandarin Currency Korean Won - 850 = NZ$1, Canadian dollar in Hong Kong and Chinese Yuan Climate airport and plane temperatures all day! The alarm woke us at 5am! A quick shower and we were out the door to meet our cab to the airport. A day of travel was before us and all went really well. Three flights and two cab rides later we were at the hotel in Beijing. What a huge city! Looking forward to exploring it over the next few days Date Sunday 29th August 2010 City Beijing Language Mandarin Currency Chinese Yuan 4.79Y = NZ$1.00 Climate low 21c - high 32c We’re staying at a hotel with a mouthful of a name: ... read more

City Daegu Language Korean Currency Korean Won - 850 = NZ$1 Climate Low 26c - high 34c Fine and sunny Today we decided to join Kala and Shane with a trip to the beach for the Beach Volleyball competition as part of the Firefighter Games that they had entered. We met bright and early in the lobby at 6.30am in order to catch the supplied transportation. Firstly, a stop at EXCO to collect other competitors and then, a nice leisurely drive across the hills to the beach about an hour and a half away. The event was held at Bukbu Beach in the coastal town of Pohang. Another gorgeous day - sunny and very balmy at about 35 degrees C. There were very few on the bus and we wondered who the competition would be for ... read more

City Daegu Language Korean Currency Korean Won - 850 = NZ$1 Climate Low 26c - high 36c Fine and sunny Sunday - a great day to kick back and do some housekeeping. Washing was top of the list for us, Kala and Shane. After a late breakfast we decided to regroup about 11.30am and venture into the small Korean streets to find a laundromat. Shane and Kala had researched this on the web and had a map marked with the location we needed to find. So off we went - laundry and washing powder stuffed into our soft-sided cooler bag and plenty of water on board for the expected long hot walk to the target location. Well, we walked and looked and looked and walked and asked and followed helpful Korean locals only to discover it ... read more