Young Trev's Blog

And a special page for Cradle Mountain National Park

youngtrevsblog — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 01:01:10 +0000

Just great views on a perfect day……………………….

Dove Lake - Cradle Mountain

Awesome scenery - Cradle Mountain National Park

Marion's Lookout - Cradle Mountain walk

Alien looking palm - Cradle Mountain

View from Dove Lake

Tannin colours the water in Dove Lake

Alien local? Eats, roots and leaves - waves goodbye from Cradle Mountain

That’s all for this trip

Cheers

YoungTrev

Pictures from Tassie

youngtrevsblog — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:50:39 +0000

Due to some IT problems (where are the IT crowd when you need them?), I was unable to include pics taken on some parts of my trip, so here is a photo montage of the second half of my journey, with some comments.

Sunset from the Spirit of Tasmania

The Lord works in mysterious ways - saving sinners from other things with a beer perhaps?

I Phones rule OK?

That bloody I Phone again................

A truly great meal at Cyrano's french restaurant in Bicheno

On the road again...........between Scamander and Bicheno

Bijou beach hut for rent - Scamander Beach

Picture postcard view of Wineglass Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula

Only 200 metres to the other side but this trip in a tinnie saved us about 60Km on the road. Well worth $20 each!

Bleak view at Swansea Beach - cold too!

Weather improving at Orford

An example of how efficient at destroying the environment man can be when he really tries hard - disused mine near Queenstown

Juke box in Queenstown cafe

Joystick control at 55 Kph - on the mighty Macquarie Harbour/Gordon River cruise

Through Hell's Gate at 50 Kph - imagine trying this small opening in a sailing vessel in a gale...........

The mighty Gordon River

Springtime in the rainforest - whightywood trees in flower

Nelson Falls near Queenstown

Huon Pine log - 865 years old

Cradle Mountain National Park

Cheers

Young Trev

Strahan and Cradle Montain

youngtrevsblog — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 02:33:55 +0000

I am so glad Paul and I did not decide to cycle the west coast of Tasmania – so steep and narrow and always punctuated by logging trucks. It would have been very hard on the bike and it was difficult enough just driving.

Strahan was wet and windy on arrival Wednesday evening but the promise of a better day on Thursday convinced me to invest in a catamaran trip in the Macquarie Harbor and Gordon river – a good investment!

If you only come to Tasmania for a day – go to Strahan and do this trip – it was great! It all started with a trip through Hells Gate, a narrow entrance to the sea from the enormous Macquarie Harbour. In the wonderful craft on which we were travelling – about 200 of us – it was no problem to give the engines a little burst of turbo-diesel power to get trough the roaring torrent of tide and fresh water making its way out to sea, but just how they managed in the days of sail, I cannot imagine. I think the answer is that they had many wrecks trying to navigate this fearsome entrance. To help keep this ever shifting seaway clear, the pioneers built a seawall to direct the torrent of fresh water from the Gordon River through a narrow gap, effectively scouring a deep passage. Once agin, I am in awe of just how 200 men managed to build the wall by hand in about 5 years – an amazing feat.

We also visited Sarah Island, one of the most savage prison colonies in Tasmania. it was here that the commandant, Captain Cuthbertson, who had fought with distinction as a cavalry officer at Waterloo for Wellington, modified the cat of nine tails by adding a further three strands to each tail – the first and only cat of 36 tails. During a three year period, the 200 men on the island received 10,000 lashes from their sadistic commander. Eventually, Cuthbertson drowned when his row-boat capsized on its way to a moored vessel – the story goes that he clung to the upturned boat waving for help whilst the convicts looked on, waving back!

The pristine beauty of the Gordon River held us all in its spell with the dark tannin stained waters flowing silently past. This was certainly worth protesting for in the 70′s and thanks to Bob Hawke and the ALP, we still have this incredible, pristine beauty to visit.

On interesting side effect of the environmental care process which is now so front and centre in this region is the Huon Pine industry. Since about 1985, logging has been banned in the Gordon, however, what is still allowed is the recovery of timber that floats down the Gordon into Macquarie Harbour. So. according to the local saw miller, there is at least 60 years worth of this marvellous timber stored in and around Strahan, waiting to be milled and sold off at exorbitant prices. This is all the result of natural regeneration when the old tress (some over 1000 years old!) which have fallen naturally and then been washed downstream by the flooding rains.

The next day I drove through Queenstown to Cradle Mountain. In Queenstown and Zeehan you can see what man can destroy when he really puts his mind to it. Around Queenstown the hills were laid bare as the rich tin and zinc ore were removed. Gradually, some King Billy Pine is regenerating but it’s still an awful sight – hills simply stripped of everything.

I decided to have a little walk around the Cradle Mountain National Park on Saturday. The Ranger told me that it rains 275 days a year and of the remaining 90, about 60 are overcast so this day was special as it was bright and clear although the wind clearly emanated from the nearest land mass, Antarctica. I eventually walked about 20 Km in the company of various fellow travellers and finished the day with sore knees and aching muscles – but well worth the pain. It is a truly incredible place to visit and quite well organised, although the sight of two young ladies from Singapore I think, half way around the Dove Lake track in hot pants and high heels was a surprise. I reckon their feet would be really sore for few days.

And so it was almost over, this little excursion to Van Deman’s land. I finished of the next day with a leisurely drive to Burnie and Devonport, stopping of at microbreweries (naturally!) and cheese factories on the way – and of course Tasmazia where I failed to become lost in the maize.

A great trip and possibly, like child-birth, the pain of those bloody hills is fading and you never know e might even do another 7 day cycle tour next year………

Cheers

PS. Pictures will have to wait ’till I get home – sorry. I have tried to up-load a few times but no success using other’s Net connections – maybe Bigpond is best after all???

Swansea to Orford and then the final leg to Port Arthur

youngtrevsblog — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:10:33 +0000

The weather turned Antarctic in Swansea – well at least it sounded like that! Our motel was right on the beach and the weather really had changed with a howling wind coming off the sea straight at the sliding door of the bedroom – a bit like that magic scene in Scott of the Antarctic where Captain Oats says ” I think I’ll just step outside for a moment” in an effort to save his comrades.

Bleak view over Swansea Bay

No dramatics like that from Paul though only the question “where are we going to eat?” This carbohydrate loading will have to stop soon!

We found two great food items in Swansea. firstly, a genuine Cornish Pastie which I mentioned before and a pub with really good fresh fish – well I suppose we should be able to expect tha here.

An early breakfast and then a steady 60 Km to Orford, close to the little fishing port of Triabunna where we stopped for a coffee.On the way we came across a group of five NZ cyclists who were traveling the same route, but without panniers. the had organised a bus to follow them and were making for Eaglehawk Neck, about 30 Km short of Port Arthur. We were most impressed until we discovered that they were planning to ride part of the way in the bus!

On the road to Orord 2

When we arrived in Orford at the Blue Waters Motel (a striking dazzling blue colour of course) Paul’s partner Di had arrived in my car, so clean underpants tonight and no panniers tomorrow – hurrah!

The boys on Rhebien's Beach near Orford

Cliff-top beach view - Orfod

We had a drive around the local beaches which are quite stunning and utterly deserted, and it was whilst on this small side trip that we began to question Paul’s Iphone and the Google pics that suggested our route was bitumen all the way. How lucky we were! We checked with the locals only to discover that our planned route was not only gravel for most of the way, but a bridge was don and we would have had to carry the bikes across a creek. Luckily we had the option to ride with Di, on her way to the Salamanca Markets in Hobart on Saturday morning as far as Sorrell, and then mount our velocipedes and finish the last 70 Km in style.This was a good decision, but the last leg was very tough with lots of long uphill sections and the wind in our faces all the way.

Di and Paul at Orford

Funnily though, it didn’t seem that bad until , in site of the hotel, we saw this enormous hill which seemed to go on forever – just as I started to turn the air blue we realised we had reached the pub we were staying at – so, at last, it was over.

By this tine, it was quite cold and the Tassie weather had taken a turn for the bitter – but it didn’t seem to matter – we had done it – nearly 600 Km in eight days of cycling despite a few setbacks and personal doubt – we were there – now for a beer.

We stayed at the Fox and Hounds, which seemed just like a hundred

Roses all the way - spring in Tassie

Still more roses in Port Arthur

English pubs that I have graced over the years. Nice solid chairs, plaster and lathe internal walls and a bar with low timbered ceilings and a good range of local beers. Sadly, this pub was a reconstruction being built only about thirty years ago, just to cater for the growing tourist trade. Now it seems to cater for that weekend away with somebody you shouldn’t be with – or at least that’s how it appeared. The rooms were very nice but I have to say dinner was the worst meal I have had in a long time and the service was non-existent – a shame after our travels.

The next day dawned with pouring rain, which has continued pretty well until now – 10:10 PM on Monday 15 November, so we were lucky with the weather after all, as we never got really soaked.

A rest day tomorrow to do washing and ironing and prepare myself for Strahan and Cradle Mountain. Hope the weather is good and that I can send another blog with some nice pics of the Gordon River and the mighty “Cradle”. It rains 275 days a year up there apparently so I hope the Good Weather Fairies are with me – lets wait and see.

Cheers

Youngtrev

Bicheno to Coles Bay and on to Swansea

youngtrevsblog — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 02:45:08 +0000

Two easy days which was good news for your scribe as he was taken suddenly with the bubonic plague – or at least that’s how Paulie construed it as he quarantined himself from the very air and water that I breathed and consumed. Probably a good thing really because I would not want him to feel as rotten as I have for the last two days! Anyway – can’ let that spoil the holiday so we involved ourselves with some great vacationing, firstly in Bicheno where we located a lovely French restaurant – thanks Jacqui – which is run by a lovely French lady who cooks everything from scratch after the order is placed. We had a super meal and although the service was a bit slow (remember everything cooked from scratch!) it was worth the wait. I had Garlic Sea Pippis, followed by Scallops on a bed of rice and, la piece de resistance, Crepe Suzette – delicious! The restaurant is called Cyrano’ and definitely worth a visit.

Bicheno is a lovely spot and I will file photos eventually but i can’t do that at the moment as I am doing this at the online centre in Swansea. The Bicehno beaches are great and there are lots of little bays and coves and to me – the fishing looks great, however, I think in the season it would be rather crowded.

The run down to Coles Bay from Bicheno was almost flat – or maybe we are getting used to the hills in Uplandia. The accommodation at Coles Bay was a cabin on the Big 4 caravan site with not many visitors – again I think in the season it would be hectic. Paul, who has a few problems walking although he can cycle OK, decided to give the hike up to the Wineglass Bay Lookout a miss, but, cold and all, silly me decided to go. I have to say the walk, or rather the climb, was well worth it for the beautiful view of the bay. Of course there were many on the track as this part of the Frecynet Peninsula is probably the easiest to access. There is an option to extend the lookout climb from 11/2 hours to 31/2 hours by scrambling down to the beach at Wineglass Bay, but I gratefully declined and stumbled back downhill to a nice cold beer – a well-earned reward.

Another great meal of Tasmanian sea food at the local pub saw out a great day with the promised rain holding off until just before we left the pub for our cabin.

Thursday morning dawned cold and grey but fortunately no rain. We had arranged a trip in a tinnie across Dolphin Point which , if it worked out, would save us backtracking about 39 Km and a climb up the dreaded Cherrytree Hill – actually nowhere near as difficult as the climb on the St Helens road but we are bot a bit hill shy now! Fortunately, the local gent, Kirk, who looked every inch an old sea dog turned up on time and relieved us of $20 each and transported us the 200 metres or so across to the other side of the small isthmus that separates Coles bay from Dolphin Sands and the short road to Swansea. It’s a good job we didn’t have to swim it because as we had to paddle out to the boat, we realised just how cold the water is – freezing!

An hour later, we are safely in Swansea with the weather looking even grayer but still no rain. A trip around to discover the local wonders including the only working Black Wattle Bark Mill in Australia (used to be used for tanning leather) and a marvellous bakery with wonderful Cornish Pasties!

Off to Orford tomorrow, a little longer ride than the last few days but we are gradually coming to the end of our adventure – and I am beginning to feel a bit better.

Easy days – St. Helens to Scamader and then to Bicheno

youngtrevsblog — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 04:44:46 +0000

Aches and pains, groans and moans, snorts and bellows – all where in evidence as we mounted up for the ride to Scamander – only 20 Km but you would think that we were going across the Antarctic! For a start, it’s a bit like getting the 8th Army off to Alamein – we are both tired and possibly more than a little disorganised so when we start we stop, and when we stop we start, untill all the bits of electronics and body joints and water bottles and snack bars (don’t forget the carbohydrates!) are all in order and functioning properly, then and only then can we go. Then we need a pee stop!

Eventually we struggle our way to Scamander - a beautiful tiny seaside resort with a couple of hotels and that’s about all. Nice room, and a good pub with draught Guinness (YES!) but not much choice in dining but the food was Ok if a little pricey for what it was. The decor was interesting! It reminded me of the sort of three star hotels in Malaysia and Singapore that struggle to cater to tourists from the UK and Australia – a sort of weird hotchpotch of colours and furniture that don’t quite match but all good solid stuff! the food was a bit like that too – I think they had removed the chilli so that it suited the tastes of the coach tour of oldies (Yes I know!) who were our co- visitors to the Scamader Beachside Reort!

Then off to Bicheno - a nice flat seasidey ride of 58 Km to this lovely picturesque seaside town where we are staying for one night. the run down was really nice and although the muscles still hurt it’s getting better gradually. The hotel looks OK – run by a guy with a lovely Dorset accent who has only been her three years – why here I wonder?

And……………I hav obviously found an Internet Cafe so I can update my blog, although sadly no photos yet – they will have to wait until I get to Hobart and stay with Georgina and Matt for a couple of days.

On the subject of panniers: We are currently cycling around Bicheno without our burdonous luggage – it’s a bit like flying really. unfortunately we have to put them back on the bike tomorrow when we travel further down the coast road to Coles Bay and the picturesque Freccinet peninsular.

See you on the road!

Through the Mountains to St. Helens

youngtrevsblog — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 04:23:35 +0000

This is written after Paul and I have partially recovered from the exhausting trip from Launceston to Scottsdale, and then from Scottsdale to St. Helens on the Tassie East Coast. I knew that there would be a few hills but nothing on the scale that we had to climb. The first 80 Km to Scottsdale left us pretty well buggered but satisfied with our efforts. Some of the hills had to be climbed in two stages but we managed them OK. I think that the real problem is not the hill so much as the bloody 10Kg of panier load that we are both lugging around with us.

That aside, the weather and the ride have been good. The scenery fantastic and that great benefit of climbing hills, the mighty schuss down the other side with speeds up to 60 KPH for several kilometres. Really good fun.

Scottsdale is a little old town on a plateau, probably once a mining and timber centre and now almost solely tourist. Good for 70′s architecture and good food and drink, provided you are not expecting cordon bleu.

The second half of the journey, from Scottsdale to St. Helens is shown on the signposts and maps as being 100 Km. I reckon if the pulled it out flat it would be more like 150 Km due to the many hills. We have stopped calling it Tasmania by the way, that region is now known as Uplandia!

The road is very narrow and winds up and down through tree ferns and old growth forest – really quite beautiful. Imagine our surprise when after one steep climb we flattened out a bit and were confronted by a runner carrying a torch and running for International Harmony Day – a bizarre place to find such an activity like that underway!

Eventually, after about four hours up and down we came to a small ex- mining town called Weldborough where we had lunch. Because we are working so hard we are allowed to carbohydrate load so Paul had shepherd’s pie and chips and I had two pint shandies and pumpkin soup with bread – delicious! Then off for the second half of the up and down journey. The last bit was not so bad, but all these things are relative as we had only to climb up 200 metres before we had the great descent down to almost sea level. Eventually, we arrived in St. Helens at about 5:30 PM, altogether eight hours on the road.

Dinner and a few beers was definitely in order as we continued to carbohydrate load with a Fisherman’s Basket for two - local fish and really nice, then early to bed to prepare for a short day tomorrow.

The landlord, a grizzled local who professed to being considerably older than your scribe and still gainfully employed as a cray fisherman, had a good laugh at the “Old Farts in Lycra”, except that the intials of his desriptor where slightly different – OCIL – you never know what you’re gonna get until you open the box I guess!

See you on the road tomorrow

Tassie on yer bike!

youngtrevsblog — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 01:06:45 +0000

Today Paul and I board the Spirit of Tasmania for the first, and probably the least energetic part of our bike tour of the Tasmanian East Coast. We are hoping for good weather of course, and we are a bit excited and certainly full of trepidation for those bloody big hills, but we are really looking forward to the trip.

I will try to send posts as we go providing we are not incapacitated or in a no signal area. Paul has all the electronic gizmos so we should be cool!
Watch this space

Cheers

Paul & Trev

Last post – from Singapore

youngtrevsblog — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 23:22:17 +0000

Well here I am almost at the end of my trip, here in Singapore. An uneventful but tedious trip from KL due to delayed flights and general stuff-ups got me here a bit late. But what’s this – maybe I stuffed up this time. As we pulled into the hotel which I had sorted from the Internet, what was that I saw on the front of the building – YWCA – yep, I finally booked myself into a really cheap hotel, but with complications. Firstly, to my surprise it had a mini-bar, but of course only soft drinks, but I hadn’t banked on the practice of religious music that seemed to emanate from one of the floors, and of course, not just the Gideon Bible, but a free publication about the World Cup entitled “The Final Goal”, from the publishers of that old favourite “Our Daily Bread”. Yes you’ve guessed it; at this late stage they are trying to convert me through sport!

Trev's staying at the "Y" - AKA the Fort Canning Lodge Hotel

Anyway, the hotel is OK if a little basic but as I don’t plan to be here except to sleep it will do. I don’t suppose I shall be having any parties in my room anyway!

Singapore seems to have become busier, and counter-intuitively, more organised than ever. The MRT rail system has grown to include Changi Airport and another line is currently being constructed too. Typically though, to encourage you not to throw your used ticket away, they charge you a refundable dollar for it each time you buy a ticket. Locals obviously have a sort of charge-card just like a mobile phone card, but these are not available at the machine, so visitors finish up with a few cards, particularly if they don’t read English and get their deposit back. Also, a $1000 fine for eating or drinking on the train – no wonder I saw a T-shirt that said on the front “Singapore is a fine city”, and on the back it said “Fine for littering, fine for eating on MRT, fine for chewing gum etc, etc, etc. and, for heavens sake, don’t ride your bike…….

That's more than I paid for my bike!

On a more serious note, a 28 year old Swiss man who was working in Singapore was sentenced on Friday to three months in prison with three strokes of the Rotan for painting graffiti on the sides of a railway carriage. By the way, the Rotan is a 2 metre long cane about 2 cm thick which is applied by a trained prison officer to the offenders back, above the buttocks. I don’t agree with graffiti but whipping seems a bit harsh, but it’s worth noting that there is no graffiti in Singapore!

Yesterday I took myself off to the Jurong Bird Park which is one of the best anywhere. A discounted ticket is available if you do the Zoo as well so that’s my plan for Monday, if it doesn’t rain.

The Bird Park was fantastic, but it was a very warm day so a little tiring. I didn’t expect to see these fellows in an aviary on the equator though! Happy Feet eat our heart out!

I didn't expect to see these guys here.....

Here are a few pics from the many that I took yesterday.

This little fellah is call the "Glorious Starling"

Australian birds are well represented

Flamingos with their noses in the air.....

You looking at me Punk?

You think I look funny,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Punk is alive and well............

The other mission that I have been on these last two days has been checking out the microbrew pubs in Singapore. This was for a quantitative statistical analysis of the taste and texture of the various beers produced locally (yeah, right!), a serious research project for my Masters in home brewing which I plan to do when I get back. So far, my initial assessment is “Not Bad” – that’s as quantitative as I can get after watching the Wallabies beat Ireland with a crowd of Aussies in one of these establishments. Back to square one for the research I think. Perhaps I’ll need this place to recover??

without further comment.....

I have been able to have a walk round some of the sights in between checking out the microbreweries. Singapore really seems to have that little something extra when it comes to buildings and street decorations. Here are a few examples:

So that's how you spell it! A pub for Aussie rockers perhaps.

Don't know what it's called, but this new hotel complex is very imposing

Neat way to cover up a hole in the ground!

Do you remember that flying saucer from the "Men in Black" movie......?

Dawn from my hotel (YWCA)- a reasonable prospect at the civilised hour of 7 AM - all year round

And finally – the symbol of Singapore, the Merlion a mythical creature, half lion, half fish, which sits on the Singapore River and spits into the water for all to see (no fine on this occasion!).

The Singapore Merlion

My visit to the Singapore Zoo resulted in many photographs of course, and I had planned to include them in this post. However, when I looked at them again, I felt some of the sadness that I experienced at the Zoo. These wonderful creatures should be in the wild, but our so-called civilisation has damaged their natural environment, probably beyond repair. So now, they are caged and held for public display – all very well as a means to saving them from extinction, but a sad, sad comment on what homo sapiens have done to planet Earth.

So, as a tribute to the wild animals and birds at the zoo and the bird-park, I have decided not to include my photo essay in this, my final post to Youngtrevsblog. I hope you understand and I hope you enjoyed sharing my journey.

Cheers

Youngtrev

Back in Malaysia after 16 years away

youngtrevsblog — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:47:41 +0000

Well the title of this blog’s not quite true because I did a couple of one night stopovers since I returned to Australia in 1994 after working here for a few years, but I have obviously missed a lot of changes!

The city of Kuala Lumpur (KL) seems bigger and busier than before if that’s possible. My local friends reckon that the population has increased at least 50% since the mid 90′s although the official figures don’t reflect anything like that. It seems to me to be even more Malay than it used to be. I think that it’s probably all to do with migration to the capital from the rural regions as much as anything, also the Malays always had larger families so I suppose the balance has changed too with a lot more young people than we are used to back home.

From my hotel widow on the 15th floor - getting more like Hong Kong every day

Ugly but effective! Inner city monorail provides low cost transport round the CBD

The look of KL has also changed dramatically with lots of the old city knocked down to make way for even more high rise towers, including what was at one time the tallest building in the world, now surpassed dramatically by the Dubai Tower. Still its pretty impressive, but when I tried to go up to the “bridge” which joins the two towers up high, I learned that I would have to be there at about 7 AM as they limit the daily numbers to 1640 (don’t ask me why – probably a public servant’s idea of an appropriate amount. I wonder what the folks at the Empire Straits building in New York would think of that). Anyway, it’s pretty dramatic from the ground, day or night so I had to do with that.

Dramatic Twin Towers through threatening storm clouds

Shaky hand-held view of Twin Towers at night - don't think its the same BBC by the way!

KL is also a shoppers paradise nowadays. There are several new and very flash up-market shopping complexes featuring it seems, all the well known world brands like Gucci, Cartier and Rolex etc. In the old days, there would have been only a few such shops aimed at the expatriates and top end locals, but now it appears that when its summer in the Arabian Gulf, Malaysia gets lots of Arab visitors who, of course, have lots of cash to spend. In fact, Malaysia seems to me to be much more strongly Muslim than before, or maybe I am noticing the burka and flowing robes more than I used to. It’s still a lovely place to eat out at the hawker stalls and everybody is still just s friendly as they ever were, although, as in most Asian cities, you have to be a bit careful..

Vertigo inducing view of KCCI new retail centre - just like an ants nest really.

Shopping is great and really good value but you have to haggle to get the price down. I don’t think many European visitors stay the course as long as I do and I am no expert, so they probably pay a bit more, but at 4.8 Ringlet to a GB pound most things are really cheap. And, there are even Debenhams, Marks and Spencer and yes, even a Harrods here to make our Pommie cousins feel at home – and for us For us Aussies, the Outback Steak Bar with a wonderful menu including a Typhoon of Pancakes (???) and “Alice Springs Chicken (does she now?) ….I think some things just get lost in translation!

I was able to meet up with a group of my old workmates for a meal and a reminisce. The food was, as usual here, fantastic with fresh fish, chilli crabs and lovely crisp vegetables. A surprise which I was very pleased to see, was that when offered Shark Fin Soup, the whole table without any prompting from me, declined because of their awareness of the environmental carnage that this industry creates in the shark and dolphin population. Well done chaps!

We had a good old chinwag remembering our past exploits, exaggerating the triumphs and minimising our disasters There is a suggestion that such an assembly becomes an annual event held alternatively in Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia so that we can all have an excuse to travel and play golf in another country. We will see…..

Corporate veterans after a good meal and a few beers

Malaysia is still such a lovely contradiction. Some things, like the new shopping centres are done really well but others, like the fairly new airport, which I think is quite badly laid out and labelled, and the Tourism Centre where they could provide a free city map but it was written in Mandarin (Mr Rudd where are you when I need you? – Oh sorry, didn’t realise you were busy with an internal rebellion!), sort of take the edge off a bit. The people are great though, very friendly and helpful although there seems to be less complete comprehension of my English than there used to be too. Maybe a couple of weeks in England have made me less understandable….could it be the Guinness perhaps??

And as for the bloody pavements…….talk about break a leg!

Next post from the capital of clean – Singapore