THE END IS NIGH...

SUNDAY 24 SEPTEMBER - SHANGHAI TO ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA!!!

I managed to sleep a little, watch a bit of Q on demand and blow my nose a thousand times. I felt sorry for the people around me as there's nothing worse then sitting next to someone who's sick on the plane (well other then actually being sick).

The plane arrived fairly much on time in Sydney at 8am. I had around 2 hours to get my bags, go through customs, catch the bus to the domestic terminal and board my flight to Adelaide. Normally this would be enough time but my bags came out near last and the customs line was huge. I did a bit of a sneaky and eased my way midway into the customs line.

I had to declare my vast amounts of chocolate and moon cakes. Lucky for me there was no egg in the moon cakes and I and all my goodies (except the candied corn cob) were allowed through.

Then it was a mad dash to the baggage counter, onto the bus, sprinting through the domestic terminal and onto the pretty much fully boarded plane. But I was on my flight and heading back to Adelaide and not having to wait in any more lines.

Just after 12 noon I landed in Adelaide....grabbed all my luggage and headed to the taxi stand where I was asked 'is it only you' due to my mountain of luggage. Yes it was just me, my souvenirs, over 2500 photos (lucky for me mostly digital) and absolutely fantastic memories....but I am pleased to be back in Adelaide....well until the next trip anyway!!!

There is so much more to see out there that it wont be long until I head back out into the world of unknown, adventures, awesome sites and more fantastic photo opportunities!

SATURDAY 23 SEPTEMBER - HANGZHOU TO SHANGHAI

I awoke and unfortunately still felt rather ill. My head was stuffy and I just wanted to stay in bed and rest. Luckily for me I had gotten nearly all the way to the end of my trip before coming down with any lurgy.

Having packed the bulk of my stuff the day before the packing task was not too daunting. However the number of bags I had was - ie. one big suitacase, one little suitcase, one small back pack, one brief case and one handbag!

I had one last chance to look around the apartment building and take more happy snaps. I went up to the top floor and saw the penthouse they were building complete with inground pool, good views and intricate wood panels.





With my family I headed to the 'fish place' for a farewell lunch. It had tables beside large wall aquariums. Dad ordered the rice which comes as a 3 course meal and very nice (not so for the warm beer), Mum and Deb stuck to coffees with biscuits (and picking at others food) and I had the fruit platter in hope of getting some much needed vitamins and a boost. The fruit must have come fresh straight from the markets as everyone had finished their meals by the time I got mine.

The car that was taking me to Shanghai arrived at 1pm and I said my final goodbyes. It was a little overwhelming considering I was leaving my immediate family again and also the fact my round the world trip was about to come to end. But I've had such a great time so there were many fantastic memories.

Just outside Hangzhou, which took over an hour, I had to change cars for some reason. Lucky I can understand hand signals! Then an hour and a half later I was at the airport. All my luggage and I made it into the terminal and I was hoping it would make it onto the plane without a fuss.

One suitcase was fine....but the next suitcase sent the scales over the limit and I had to move it to the next scales. Only 18kg over the lady cried. Lucky for me I had a round the world ticket with Qantas, through the US, which meant I could have two bags and up to 32kg each. So I was well and truely under the 64kg limit. No excess baggage for me...YAY

I spent the next couple of hours reading, having my last rice meal and enjoying hearing all the Australian accents. Considering I'd spent the last 3 weeks in non-english speaking countries it was a treat to hear the Aussie twang again.


FRIDAY 22 SEPTEMBER - HANGZHOU (LAST MINUTE SHOPPING)

On waking I knew it was my last full day in Hangzhou so wanted to savour every minute. I had plans of shopping, looking around, taking photos, unfortunately packing and one last foot massage.

Mum, Deb, K a& I headed to History Street for last minute shopping of goodies I had not yet bought. The experience was similar to the last the previous week where the Chinese people just follow the pram and watch the 'western baby with blonde hair and blue eyes.' I was quite sick of it now as the people do not seem to understand what polite, personal space or tact means. But I suppose I am in their country so have to respect them.

Deb decided to get a 'Kialah' sign made and the way it was done by strokes and swirls of paint was quite amazing. The crowd flocking to catch K was too.



I had to look out for a Christmas present I wanted so haggled with a store owner for some bamboo prints for me and also Mum. I managed to get the price down considerably and was happy with my last haggling effort. By the time the pictures were wrapped another crowd had formed around K but at least this time there was a little boy for her to play with.



The walk home was fun with four pictures weighing what felt like a bag of cement. But we got home without mishap. At this time I started to feel a little under the weather and spent the afternoon relaxing.

By the evening I felt worse and so much so I decided against a foot massage (so I must be sick)!

The evening was quiet with more resting and the inevitable packing!

THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER - HANGZHOU (BIKE RIDE)

Hooray hooray for a very interesting day! It was time to go for the oh so dreaded bike ride on the Chinese roads with the Chinese mad motorists, scattered scooters and plenty of pedestrians.

Mum, Deb with K and I (on Dad's bike) all headed off on the wonderful invention of electric bikes. I had never seen them in Australia before but I beleive they are slowly starting to be introduced - being marketed as an alternative cheap way to get around. The bikes were great....you can pedal all, pedal some or pedal none. The top speed on the straight would be well above 30km/h and of course even more on the downhill sections as I and the poor pedestrians I nearly hit discovered! Lucky for my horn and shrieking voice! ;)

We headed to West Lake and wanted to ride around it (which we had done by way of tourist cart last week). There werent as many people as there had been on Sunday strolling around the Lake which was nice.



I stopped frequently for photos which turned into smoking breaks for Mum and Deb. It was a pleasant ride until we got to near the Shangra Li where we had lunch on Sunday. This was a section where we had to go off the paths and on the road with the cars and buses and scooters. It was bareable until......BANG! No I didnt get hit by a bus or run into a pedestrian (this time) - my seat had collapsed mid pedal. It was a jolt but nothing serious except the fact I now had to ride with my knees near my ears! It went from enjoyable to feeling like I was on the pee wee herman show!





After being told off by several police for riding where we shouldnt be (ie. we should be on the roads with the maniacs and not on the nice serene paths) we had a coffee break (or frappe) at Starbucks. Wandering by our table were the same family who had spent an hour staring at Deb and I on the train from Shanghai. Yes it is a small world!

In the evening, after Dad got home from working hard, we all headed to the Night Markets on foot. It was a world of tables with everything from pictures to jewellery to teapots to DVDs AND it was a world where haggling was a must.

The first item I picked up was a stretchy cord key ring I wanted for my USB stick - in Australia it would probably cost $1 or $2. The first price I was quoted (by calculator) was 45 RMB or about AU$9. I laughed out rather loud and kept walking. After the lady followed me down the market aisle I got it for AU$1. The rest of the night was fairly similar.

The rule of thumb - at least halve the initial asking price and depending on how much you want it maybe up it a little, or if not then just walk away, and they come running! There was no thing I was refused due to my lowered price. This probably meant I was still paying too much. But as long as I thought of it as good value in terms of Aussie dollars I was happy to pay for it.