March 8, 2010

Kangaroo Island

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The only way across the river in town is by ferry.

Port Campbell is about half way from Melbourne to Kangaroo Island. The Great Ocean Drive changed from twisting hilly roads hugging the coast to a flat straight away through remote salt flats and ponds along a sand dune shoreline. Gas stations at remote intersections had signs “last fuel for x amount of miles”. In four hours we reached a resort town of Robe, where all the tourists had gone home. There we changed our next stay from Adelaide to Normansville because of the distance to the Kangaroo Island ferry was 2 and half hours compared to 20 minutes for Normansville. Luckily we did for our stay was on a golf course condo where at sundown a pack of kangaroos grazed and hopped their way up the course to the condo. Golfers stopped and watched, residents came out and watched and Ann chased after them with her BlackBerry snapping pictures. All was good in Normansville for we made the ferry the next morning and ferried to KI to the port town of Penneshaw. A short distance outside Penneshaw was our B & B “Lindsay”. It had everything we needed with a clean ocean feel design that overlooked the Indian Ocean. It felt like the right place to relax after 12 hours a day of Australian Open tennis spectatoring and Great Ocean Drive touring. We had one rainy day and that is exactly what we did, catching up on the trip maintenance using the complimentary Internet connection.

The Island is big. A 2 hour drive will get you across the island and outside the eastern towns of Penneshaw and Kingscote. It is pristine. It has become like a Noak ark for Australian endangered species. Both of the only egg laying mammals reside on the island; the platypus and the echidna.

A big bull seal letting us know its his beach.

The Australian seal has made a home on one of its bays and the gray kangaroo that is extinct on the mainland is thriving on KI. There are private sanctuaries where many animals are kept and a national preserve where land and animals are under national protection. The highlight of the stay was visiting the Australian Park service at seal bay where the Australian seal has made its home. The park service provides a guided tour of the beach the seals bask on. The seals have it made and humans get to enjoy their presence. Its a beautiful beach, ripe for a resort, but the seals are king and it’s a beautiful sight and sound. Its really remarkable that its possible to walk amongst them.

A quirky place called Paul’s place is in a remote corner of the island and it provides a close encounter with some of Australians renown animals. It is quirky because Paul does not always open his gate to his oceanside ranch, which is reached only by driving over tens of miles over washboard dirt roads. People keep trying for days if they find a closed gate because Paul himself is entertaining, knowledgeable and his animal presentation is unique as well as him. You can not help to like the Koala bear handed to you that hugs tightly onto you or the Kangaroos that follow you around looking up at you as Paul shows you around his place.   After Paul gave his thank you for visiting speech we were chatting with two women about Australia, when one asked how we liked the Australian Open for I was wearing a sun visor from the event.  We started talking about particular matches  and certain parts of matches, when we realized these women not only saw a lot of tennis but knew a lot about tennis.  We asked about how they saw so many matches.  They said they went to every day of the Open because one of the women was the widow of ex champion John Bromwich and the other was his daughter.  He and his partner won the doubles championship, 1938,39,no championships 1941 to 1945 because of the war, then in 46,47,48,and 49. He also won the singles championship in 1939 and in 1946. He went to war and was shot in the ha

Class is in session for the pelican man.

Probably the most unique show on the island is what is billed as the pelican man in Kingcote. Down by the local docks a man shows up at 5:00 everyday with a tub of fish. About 50 Australian pelicans start flying in around 4:00 and flock up and wait for the pelican man. Around 4:30 about 50 tourists drive in and flock up on the huge bouldered shoreline and wait with the pelicans. Pelican man shows promptly at 5 with his tub of fish and stands on the lowest shoreline boulder with the pelicans and tourists in his front in a tiered boulder fashion. He gives a 15 minute informative dissertation on the pelican that sends the pelicans quivering and the tourist into snapshooting. Finally he throws heaps of fish into the audience of pelicans and a fish gobbling frenzy ensues for a seconds. He throws more fish more frenzied gobbling. Its a real scene of pelicans and tourists all together on the boulders.

Did I mention the fine beaches of KI all of which are all deserted? We took a week driving across Australia to Sydney and got prepared for moving on to South Africa. Please check out the pictures of wonderful beachtowns of wonderful Australia captioned in the pictures.

 

February 18, 2010

GOD – too much pretty!

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Federation Square at sunset

It was a good relaxing morning after watching the Federer/Murray final the night before.  We had the whole day to get ready for the trip out on the Great Ocean Drive. We slowly woke asking each other why Murray couldn’t bring his Nadal game against Federer? Why was he slowly working his way into giving Federer problems, we surmised that Federer had a lot to do with it. Perhaps if Murray could have converted a set point in the third set, it could have been a turning point for him. Ten days of the Australian Open tennis and it was time to switch gears to ocean life. We started listing things to get. We checked our reservations for our car to make sure it was an automatic, for shifting a manual with the left hand and clutching with the left foot would not be an easy task. Everything was in order except we were to pick up the car in one hour. We checked our schedule and last night was our last night in Melbourne, checkout was in half an hour. With a flurry of calls ,packing, dressing, taxis, and executing the Aussie right hooks in our rental through the CBD of Melbourne to meet our new checkout time, we were in one hour cruising on the Great Ocean Drive.

First view of the Indian Ocean

After about one and one half hours of driving we got our first ocean view. The beach was deserted, wild and smelled great. Australia has the cleanest air, even in Melbourne. With two more hours of driving along wild beaches we came to the town of 400, Apollo Bay, our stay for 3 nights for 3 days of beach. Our fourth day was a short two hour drive to Port Campbell to see the twelve apostles. A short diversion off the GOD provided our first Koala sighting, but no kangaroos yet. We got into our room late, checked out the town of 800 and spent the rest of the evening using the Best Westerns Motor Inns complementary wifi. Free wifi has been spotty in Australia, as has been fast connections and charging for time as use time and not as subscription time..

12 Apostles

The next two days exploring the coastline around Port Campbell left us saying over and over “Isn’t this pretty”. It was downright spectacular! We went to the twelve apostles four times, we could not get enough. It looked different with each day’s different lighting. We spent eight hours at the Loch and Gorge walking the different pathways set up by the National Park service.  Each pathway would lead to one spectator limestone ocean cliff view after another. We put Port Campbell as the high of the GOD trip and headed on to Kangaroo Island. Seventeen days in Australia and not one kangaroo sighting.

Got to be kangaroos on Kangaroo Island

 

February 13, 2010

Melbourne – The Australian Open tennis grand slam

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Downtown Melbourne skyline

After being in Tokyo, Beijing and Bangkok, when arriving in Melbourne we seriously wondered where everyone was. No scooters or bikes to be see anywhere and as matter of fact there where not many cars. We crossed the 6 lanes of roadway outside the train station and for the first time in 3 months we could cross the road other than at the intersection and we did not have to weave through traffic, because there was none. On the sidewalk no bikes, no scooters, no people. Our hotel was across the road from the train station, where in the other cities the train station was full of hustle and bustle and confusion, not here. After checking in we took the recommended means of transportation , the tram to Melbourne Park to pick up our Australian Open tennis tickets, the tram was free and just down the road from our hotel. We waited

A tram outside the central train station

about 15 minutes for the tram, got on, sat down, and in 15 minutes we were at the tennis center. We found the ticket pick up window at the main entrance and walked up to the no line window and showed my credit card and they gave me my tickets. We arrived in Melbourne less than an hour before that and we were standing at the main entrance of the Australian Open Tennis center with tickets for the next four days and a hotel room. Try that in New York City! This is pretty much how Melbourne is, 3 million people with no worries, mate. We looked around the tennis grounds, bought some AO souvenirs and trammed it back to the city center called the CBD. We got off at Federation Square and sat and watched Roger Federer’s second round match against

Jumbo TV at Flinders Square

Victor Hanescu on the outside Jumbotron with a few hundred other fans. .. a venue set up just for out door Australian Open tennis viewing. After realizing Hanescu had no chance to win, we wandered around the CBD, until sundown, it was 9:30. Hurray it was summer again. The sun set at 5 in Beijing. Summer in January. No more snow! It was dark at 10:00 and we decided to get back to our hotel to get ready for the next 4 days of the Australian Open.

Our first match was Jankovic/Bondarenko in Hisense Arena. Jankovic did not look ready for her match and Bondalerno did. Too many

Janovic worried

unforced errors by Jankovic ended her run.

Next up was Henin versus the hard serving, hard hitting Kleybanova. It

Bondarenko not worried

looked like Kleybanova’s power was too much for the return to tennis of Henin, but unforced errors crept into Kleybanova’s game to give Henin the 2nd and 3rd set in a scare. If Kleybanova would not go for broke on

Henin's backhand looks as good as ever

every shot she could go a few more rounds in the Slams. She has one of the biggest serves in women’s tennis.

One peculiar aspect of the AO is that all the seats in the arenas cost the

Kleybanova banging away

same. There are no box seats and no corporate seats. The person sitting in the last row paid the same as the person in the front row.

Murray played Serra next, and the match went the way of the Murray fans chorus of “ Que serra, serra, what will be will be, you can not beat Murray, que serra, serra.” Serra rallied well with Murray but Murray won all the big points, with big hits at the right time, but Murray did not look like the Murray that played Nadal.

We left Hisensa and went over to Margaret Court to see the end of the Monfils and Isner match. The rallies were so much shorter than the 3 matches we watched, with Isner controlling the points with big serves, 20 plus aces, big net play 35 out 50, and 70 plus outright winners, and Isner also controlled the match, winning the last two sets in thrilling tie breakers.

Azarenka power forehand

The next day we settled into our second row seats under drizzly skies and after some chanting by the crowd to close the roof, the roof was closed and the Azarenko/Garbin match started. Azarenko is a plenty talented young girl with big shots off both sides. I think next year at the AO will be her break out tournament, this girl has the game to win a slam. She powered her way through Garbin, winning the first 9 games. It could have been over in 45 minutes but the crowd gave Garbin a boost after she won her first game.

Serena Williams stepped up next to demolish Navarro. In 15 minutes it

Serena wins seating down

was 5-0 and Williams had made no errors. Williams served the sixth game and it lasted 25 minutes, with Williams finally beating back 6 break points to get a 6-0 first set. The next set was sloppy but William’s play was enough for the 6-3 win.

We watched Serena’s next match with Azarenko on TV. Azarenko had the match in her hands with one set up and 2 breaks in the second set, but Serena’s resolve to get those 2 breaks back was all that Azarenko could handle. Shots that were inches inside the lines were now inches outside the lines, and Azarenko could not recover, giving Serena the match. A little more mental metal, and Azarenko is a slam winner.

Djokovic goes forward in the tournament

Next Djokovic destroyed Istomin in little less than 100 minutes . Istomin could rally with Djokovic but Djokovic has much more in his game than rally ball, and he showed it with blistering winners when needed. When on the defensive he could come up with a offensive shot, and his drop shot kept Istomin off balance, it was way too much for the less talented Istomin. It was not much of a warmup for Djokovic.

The last scheculed match of the day was with a 5′5”, fiesty Chinese women

Jheng speeds past Bondarenko

Zheng and Bondarenko, who already knocked out the former no. 1 Jankovic. The match was close but it was the speed of Zheng and her hard hitting ground strokes that squeaked her by Bondarenko. If Zheng develops a decent serve she can go further. A 85 mph first serve will not get her far, especially with the Williams sisters in the game. This win put her into the quarters her furthest advance in a Slam.

Del Potro reaches for every ball

The three matches for the day ended early, so a bonus match was moved to the Hisense Arena, Del Potro the fourth seed verus Clilic the fourteenth. Talk in Melbourne was this was del Potro’s tournament. These guys are tall and lanky and are speedy, which is unusual for their height. The first 2 sets were grueling shot exchanges with each getting a set. The first set went long with del Potro finishing strong with an ace and a 7-5 win, he looked like he was ready to dominate. Clilic took advantage of some del Potro errors and some

Celic running forehand

sluggishness toward the end of the second and Clilic barely won the second set. Del Potro called the trainer after the split of sets and looked out of sorts beginning the third. The set started even and with the Argentian and Croatian flags flying in the stands and foreign chants for both players during and after play started to get to del Potro. The crowd was real boisterous for both players. Del Potro called the umpire on several occasions to quiet the crowd and even made attempts himself to sections of the crowd to quiet down. The 3rd set went an hour and an half with Clilic dominating at the end with drop shots and hard pounding forehands. It looked like the end for del Potro. Then del Potro hung around in the forth set matching Clilic shot for shot and in the 11th game his forehand really found its range again and he broke Clilic at love and served out the fourth. You could tell both players had 5 set matches already and del Potro looked the more tired. Both started pounding the ball for early winners. It was a slug-fest for the fifth set. Del Potros forehand tired first and several strayed wide to break his serve. It was a 4 hour 30 minute win for Clilic. Clilic would go on to beat Roddick in another 5 setter, that I think emptied his tank and was unable to muster much against Murray in the semi, only winning the first set then slowly succumbing to Murray’s ball retrieving game.

One great score board item that the AO has that I have not seen in any other tournament is that when a player makes an unforced error, winner, or a ace the scoreboard immediately indicates how many each player has for the match under their names.

Tsonga was all energy

Probably the best match we saw was the Almagro/ Tsonga match.

A tough loss for Almagro

Tsonga took the first 2 sets in 1 hour. It looked like a easy win in the third but Almagro hung around long enough and kept firing hard pounding, beautiful one handed back hands up the line and cross court while Tsonga’s forehand started to go all over out of the court. Almagro sneaked into a fourth set and looked pumped up to make this a real match. It was close in the fourth as both players were hitting the felt off the ball. It was unbelievable how hard they were hitting. You can not see it on TV. Finally one of Almagros bristering backhands whet long for a Tsonga break and he could serve it out. Tsonga gave the break back and they headed for a tie breaker. The tiebreaker evened at 5-5 with Tsonga serving with neither player having’ an advantage. Unfortunately Tsonga’s second serve was called long and he had no challenges left. Almagro could not convert the set point but could later when Tsonga volleyed into the net for the set. Amalgro was really pumped up and so was the crowd. Tsonga never played a 5 setter and Almagro had a winning percentage. The fifth set was unbelievable tennis with either player tiring or letting up and still pounding the ball and covering every corner of the court. The crowd was loud and there was gutsy play making by both players. At 7-8 Almagro hit a rare and great drop shot that Tsonga miraculously ran down and hit a winner back that charged him up, jumping all over the court in excitement, that must have pumped him up for an ensuing 3 more winners to take the match after 3 ½ hours. It was some of the best hard hitting tennis you could ever hope for.

We watched the Federer/Davydanko match on TV. You have to give Davydanko credit for going for pure winners when the match was on the line against him. Several times he was not giving in but Federer proved he can get through anyone’s intensity.

The final was all Federer again. Murray did not bring his game he had against Nadal and you can not go in against Federer without your best.

I could go on and on about the AO, but time is limited. I wonder if Murray realizes how good a game he had against Nadal? Can he play that game again?  Will Nadal be the Nadal of a year ago, or are his knees going to shorten his greatness. If so how many more slams will Federer get then?  Who can stop him in the next couple years if Nadal is done.

If more of my expert opinion is needed ask in the comments section and I will answer daily. The AO was great, Flinders Square was great, and Melbourne was great. Now its time to move on to Kangaroo Island. One note about the weather one day it was 102 degrees then a wind picked up and in an hour it was 72.

 

February 2, 2010

QI recharge at Kata Beach

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We pretty much stayed here for 10 days to thaw out from our 5 weeks in the early China winter

It was hard to believe that 10 days of doing nothing more than sitting under an umbrella on a hot sandy beach can go by so fast, but it did. We hope our QI is charged for 30 more years. This Kata beach reminded us, at first, of Key West Florida because its always so warm, there is little need for windows, doors or walls on the sidewalk establishments. That’s the only resemblance because the beaches are much larger and its hotter. Since its so hot, most beaches in Phuket are lined with umbrellas. I do not think it is possible to stay in the sun too long with without seeking shade.

Phuket and Krabi seem to be winter getaways for Europeans, whose appearance stands out among the oriental look of the Thailand people. An obvious observation is the attraction of the European men to the young Thailand women. It is not uncommon to see European men accompanied by a Thai women around town or at the beach.

The towns are similar to the towns found in the Caribbean, they are in different states of rebuilding and poverty. The areas for the tourist are in prime shape. Motor scooters are the main means of transportation mixed in with some unfamiliar types; Tuk-Tuks, sawngthaews, motosais and the water transportation of the long tail boats.

There were some winding roads in those hills ahead

After 10 days at Kata Beach we rented a car and drove on the left side of the road with the steering on the left over to AoNang in the Province of Krabi. Once off the main highway, you are on your own as far as directional signs go. In the middle of the 5 hour drive was a horse shoe curved, jungle covered, mountain road that lasted about 1 hour before we came upon a work crew cutting back the highway overgrowth. The AoNang beaches are not umbrella beaches for there are trees to provide shade. The beaches in Phuket and Krabi are great beaches but I think that the USA has a greater variety of winter getaways than the Europeans. One big Thai advantage is the food and lodging are about one third the cost of USA getaways. A lot of long tail boats operate from the beach offering excursions to the limestone cliff island beaches offshore. We found the beaches in AoNang completely fantastic and unique. At low tide you can walk out to some limestone cliff islands near shore. AoNang is more laid back than Kata beach and especially Patong beach. We stopped over for one night at Patong and it is a beach city with all the amenities that big city beaches have. The beach was way overcrowded. AoNang hardly has any bars, so there is no nightlife, making it a completely different atmosphere.

Even Ronald is thankful!

After 2 weeks of beaching in 90 degree heat we felt loosened up and and completely prepared to tackle the overnight flight to Sydney and the overnight train to Melbourne to attend the Australian Open. We flew back to Bangkok for 2 days of urban life to get ready for the city pace. We stayed at the same hotel that when we first arrived in Thailand and were surprised that we were greeted with an upgrade to their best suite. One thing about the Thai people that we came away with is that the clasping of the hands together and a bowing of the head is genuine.

 

January 10, 2010

Thailand by the tail

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George waiting for lunch to arrive

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) calls the energy force that produces body heat Qi.  TCM believes body warmth  is real important for when it is gone  you are cold dead. It was 90 something degrees when we arrived in Bangkok. The heat gave us a shot of vigor and our Qi a rest, we were ready to go. We arrived in Thailand on the New Year Holiday week and many Europeans and Australians were here for the  holiday. We visited the Floating Market in Damnernsadiak. It is a town of canals and not many roads. A lot of everyday commerce occurs in the canals.  We took a ride in a longboat then  in a paddle boat around the canals.  It was congested.  A couple with us from LA in the paddle boat jokingly said he has not seen this much gridlock since being on the LA freeway. We walked around the canals a bit and watched the food preparation on some of the floating restaurants and got hungry for a Cobra show.  Our guide found one.  Apparently there are

(more…)

 

January 6, 2010

China Wrapup

Posted by George and Ann under Beijing, China, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Shanghai, Terra Cotta warrior, Xian | Tags: , , , |
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Pandas enjoying some good bamboo at the Beijing Zoo

We are in Hong Kong ending the 2009 year, in the same hotel where we started the 5 week China journey.  We knew then that the next 5 weeks would be the toughest part of our trip because it was going to be the coldest.  It was cold.  We were lucky we did not have to buy snow boots only cold weather clothing.  At the Great Wall the wind was 20 mph and the temperature in the high 30’s.  Strangely on the wall for 3 hours we did not notice it because it was one of those moments where we said “Can you believe we are in China”.  Beijing left the impression of a really huge, wide city and it was our first encounter with the preservation of ancient thousand year old buildings along side the newer construction.  The city we were told is getting wider with the newer (more…)

 

December 29, 2009

Shanghai….ed

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Down by the Bund

Shanghai is a new city compared to other Chinese cities.  It is only 200 plus years old.  So there is not much of Chinese history here but it can be thought as a barometer of how far China has come in the last decade.  I have been told that China has progressed in the last 6 years what it took the west 16 years.  I can not vouch for that but I can say Shanghai is moving fast getting ready for its really big show in 2010, the World Expo.  Shanghai thinks of itself as China’s premier city, not Beijing.  So expect the World Expo to be somewhat more spectator than the 2008 Beijing  Olympics.

We comfortably settled into Shanghai ready to experience some modern Chinese urban living in our (more…)

 

December 24, 2009

On to the Warriors

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Side street entrance off of city center Xian China

From Nanjing we flew to Xian, pulled our luggage through the airport, stopped at a information booth, they made a call, someone came, pulled our bags to a taxi, in 45 minutes we were in front of our apartment 1 block from what is called the city center.  We thought, this is too easy, this must be an extraordinary place.  The next morning we found out what city center meant. There was a large, ancient, worshiping bell tower surrounded by a 4 lane rotary with 3 car lanes and one bike lane coming in and 3 car lanes and bike lanes going out in the north,  south, east  and west directions.  There was a mixture of old ancient buildings mixed with newer buildings of traditional Chinese architecture. You can’t imagine this mixture because the city has (more…)

 

December 15, 2009

Special Day(s) indeed!

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Doudou,Hongxuan and Yufeng around the breakfast table

When we were small kids we use to think we could dig a hole to China.  I don’t know how at that young age we would know about a country named China except through a plea from our parents to get children to eat all their dinner “Eat all your dinner because there are people starving in China”.  I hope we were trying to bring food in those days  because today they do not need any.

I find myself today in a living room apartment on the campus of the University of Science and Technology in Nanjing, China.  It belongs to a retired professor of mechanics at the university who is the father of Li Hongxuan’s husband, Tang Yufeng.  We have  finished a breakfast of egg and rice dumplings and some different (more…)

 

December 9, 2009

Chinese Train Anxiety

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We have been able to escape no more snow, but not no more cold. The weather in Beijing has turned to the colder, with the temperature around 38 degrees on our departure day.

When we got off the Hong Kong to Beijing train we decided to buy our train tickets for our Beijing to Nanjing trip that was 8 days away. We knew the route did not provide 2 berth sleepers as we had on our present trip but 4 berth sleepers were available and rumor was sometimes you could get a 4 berth for a married couple. We went up to the English speaking ticket window to attempt our first purchase in Mainland China for the 4 berth for a married couple. Speaking through a glass window in a hectic surroundings the conversation can only be explained and as English with Chinese. Going nowhere with that purchase we decided before the purchase got more confusing it was best to settle for a couple of reserved soft seat tickets before we got stuck with first come first served hard seat tickets. During the walk around looking for a taxi we jokingly talked about what was that all about, when we realized that we only paid 70 US$ for 2 reserved tickets for 8 hours on a fast new train. We looked at the tickets and (more…)

 

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