The end to an amazing adventure!

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So after visiting 3 continents, 10 countries, taking 16 flights, sleeping in 78 different beds over a period of 177 days 5 members of the GYC walked through arrivals in Manchester airport..

Thoughts of the last 6 months ran frantically through my mind¡K

The 200+ fellow travellers we had met, countless new friends and how each individual had impacted upon our experiences.

The Animals: viewing endangered animals such as pandas, riding elephants, playing with tigers, stroking sharks and chasing dolphins.

The Cities: whether it be our first destination Beijing where we climbed the snow covered ¡¥Great Wall¡¦ receiving fascinated stares from the Chinese citizens at us 5 young westerners. Or 6 months later, our last destination San Francisco where we drove over the Golden Gate bridge in sweltering heat.

The Views we have seen: whether it be overlooking Hong Kong skyline at night, freefalling over Franz Joseph Glacier in New Zealand, sunrise 4095m up Mt. Kinabulu in Malaysia, sunset whilst cruising the Fijian Islands or Beverley Hills in Hollywood.

Scary Moments: Ross being held at gun point, James being attacked by an ex con, our taxi blowing up, watching a man wield a knife in a bank, car crash on Fraser Island, going to hospital in Australia, Ross spending a night lost in the Malaysian jungle.

The Challenges:
-Stranded in Shanghai train station at 3AM in the morning with James lying limp on the floor after fainting, Ross being sick, Rick lost in another train station, no where to stay and no-one who can understand us.
-Dealing with my injured arm: organising hospital and physio appointments, blood tests, scans and a big thank you to the guys who carried my bag for 3 months.
-Climbing Lantau peak, Mount Kinabulu and Joseph Glacier
-Becoming a qualified diver.

Funny moments:
Ross being chased by a boar
Rick slipping into the mud whilst desperately running to get a picture of a moose.
James completing his birthday challenge to eat dog food, warm milk, fish juice, vegemite on weetabix.
Dad hitting a monkey in Malaysia
Nick nearly falling through the ice at the summer palace
Maid in Shanghai being sick¡K ¡§wasn¡¦t my fault ƒº¡¨
Just to name a few, the rest wouldn¡¦t be appropriate for this blog.


Sports; scuba diving, cliff jumping, cave snorkelling, skydiving, glacier hiking, jetboating, Frisbee golf, Ice sledging, tobogganing, wakeboarding, tubing, fishing, surfing, kayaking, volleyball, Fijian dancing, lugeing, rafting, elephant riding, goat herding, horse riding, trekking, helicopter riding.

And the list could go on and on...

We gathered our belongings , picked our bags up for the last time and headed through the arrivals terminal where our family and friends were waiting for us. Wow what an adventure!

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