Wednesday, 21 November 2012

AFTERTHOUGHTS


Many people want to know what we think about these issues.


             FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS  21/11/2012
1. WHAT WAS THE BEST PART OF THE TRIP?
ANSWER:
MEETING THE FORTY OR MORE PEOPLE FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO HELPED US ALONG THE WAY.
2. WHAT WAS THE BEST PLACE YOU WENT TO?
ANSWER;
FUSCHL AM SEE IN AUSTRIA.  REMEMBER THE OPENING SCENE FROM “THE SOUND OF MUSIC?”  THAT WAS IN FUSCHL.                                                                          
3. ARE YOU GLAD TO BE BACK?
ANSWER:
DEFINITELY, BUT WE ARE ALSO SAD IT IS OVER.  WE ENJOYED EVERY BIT OF IT.
4. HOW DO YOU GET ON A CONTAINER SHIP?
ANSWER:
EASY.  JUST FIND THE RIGHT TRAVEL AGENT, SUCH AS HAMISH JAMIESON IN NAPIER.  GOOGLE SEARCH WILL PRODUCE SEVERAL OTHERS.  DON’T EXPECT THE SHIPS TO RUN EXACTLY TO SCHEDULE.
5. WHAT WAS THE FOOD LIKE ON THE SHIP?
ANSWER:
GOOD ENOUGH.  WE SAT IN THE OFFICER’S MESS WITH THE CAPTAIN AND HE MAKES SURE IT IS ADEQUATE.
6. DID YOU GET SEASICK?
ANSWER:
YES, BUT ONLY MILDLY AND NOT FOR MORE THAN TWO DAYS AT A TIME.
7. HOW ROUGH WAS IT ON THE SHIPS?
ANSWER:
ALTOGETHER WE PASSED THROUGH FOUR CYCLONES OR TROPICAL STORMS THAT HAD A NAME ATTACHED.  THE MAXIMUM ROLL WAS TWENTY DEGREES TO PORTSIDE.  AROUND THE EQUATOR THE SEA IS NEARLY ALWAYS FLAT.


We need to give a big thank you to all these people:


    PEOPLE WHO HELPED US ALONG THE WAY   21/11/2012
1. Gabbie and Peter Richter.            Gave us advice about Germany and kept an eye  on our house.
2. Margo Oscarssen            Gave us advice about Scandanavia.
3. Pam Bradley            Did half of our preparation for us.
4. Igor from Real Russia             Helped Pam plan our Trans Siberian tour.
5. Lauren from World Expeditions            Arranged our bike and barge tour.
6. Bob Himbury            Turned up at 5.30am to take us to Woy Woy Station.
7. Will and Janelle of Ballarat            Our co-passengers on the “Manet” from Melbourne to Tauranga.
8. Hamish and Arti Jamieson            Gave us a tour of Napier and morning tea. Booked our freighters.
9.Chris Berry and Ian Tavender            Our co-passengers from Napier to Rotterdam.  Inspired us with their plans for a trip even bigger than ours.
10. Pierre             Swiss co-passenger.
11. Rachel            Bed and Breakfast London. Treated us like longtime friends.
12. Pam, Dave and Stan            Coast to Coast walkers in Grosmont. We should have been with them, but we were glad we avoided the weather.
13. John and Chris Moran            Met us unexpectedly at Robin Hood’s Bay, then drove us to Scarborough and bought us fish and chips.
14. Pam, Dave and Stan            We finished their trek with them at Robin Hood’s Bay and celebrated with them in York.
15. Jan, Monika and John            Hosted us magnificently on the Bike-Barge segment.
16. Cathy and John            Arranged our English cash, gave us two weeks accommodation, brought us presents from South America and gave us so much fun on the canal boat.
17. Joan and Jimmy Dory            Perfect hosts.  Best possible tour of Drogheda. 
18. Pam and Ken Bradley            Took us on a tour of Derry and the coast of Northern Ireland, then dropped us off at Dublin.
19. Chris of Roam Wales            Gave us personal attention for two full days and sold us completely on his country.
20. Dave, Helen and Ida            Drove us around. Took us on the best bushwalk of our whole trip. Gave us an amazing home-cooked dinner.
21. Bevan and Vanessa            Introduced us to Fuschl and entertained us with yet another exciting Ironman event.
22. Pam and Ken            Wonderful companions in Paris and La Chaise Dieu.  Thanks to Pam for navigating and Ken for driving.
23. Margaret and Robert            Welcomed us to their 250 yr old house and trusted us in it for two weeks.
24. Susan, Johan, Martin, Felix, Amanda            Gave us a really fun time and a BBQ in Uppsala.
25. Laurel, Olivia, Julia, Pekka            Inspiring us with climate change plans in Helsinki for afternoon tea.
26. Pam and Ken            In each others’ pockets  from Helsinki to Xi’an yet so patient with us.
27. Katia            The only person in St Petersburg who we will remember fondly. Met our needs.
28. Olga            Our guide in Moscow who could travel all day on the Metro and not get lost.
29. Tanya            Shepherded us onto the train to Siberia.
30. Vadim, Natalie            Wonderful guides in Yekaterinburg. Full of fun and surprises.
31. Ivan, Yelena            Brought Irkutsk and Lake Baikal to life for us.
32. “Lucky People” Waitress            The nicest young lady in the whole of Russia.
33. Emma and Arna            Our guide and driver in Mongolia.  Remained cool and in control in every situation.  Emma did everything except tuck us into bed.
34. David            Guided us through Beijing without drama, but the pressure to buy was over the top.
35. Kathy            Kept us safe in Xi’An during the protests and filled our days to the brim.
36. Brian and Helen            Great hosts. Showed us the town of Palmerston North which we had not seen since 1978.
39. Hamish Jamieson            Welcomed us to Napier again.
40. Deb, Dave, Grahame & Elaine,
       Marcia, Robyn, Aidan, Sylvia and the
       many others who sent us encour-
       agement  and read our blog.
41. The biggest help of all:
       Evelyn            Looked after the mail, the house, the visitors and us (by email) when we were in trouble. 
Without all of the above we would have struggled and stressed, spent much
more money and probably have given up and flown home.
THANK YOU ALL.
We still do not believe we deserved so much.


We covered so much territory and saw so many memorable places that we need a summary of where 
we went to keep the big picture in our minds:

WHERE              WHEN         HOW          WHAT                SCORE
SYDNEY                      27/3               CAR/TRAIN/TAXIDOCKS                 5
MELBOURNE               29-30/3            SHIP                HUNGRY JACKS            3
TAURANGA                 5-6/4              SHIP                MT MAUAO                     8
NAPIER                      8-9/4              SHIP                ART DECO              8
COLON                        24-25/4            SHIP                CATHEDRAL               4
SAVANNAH                28-29/4            SHIP                PARTY NIGHT            8
PHILADELPHIA            30/4-1/5            SHIP                DELAWARE RIVER            6
ROTTERDAM             9/5                 SHIP                RIVER BARGES            6
HULL                           10/5               TAXI/FERRY            RUGBY LEAGUE            5
YORK                          10-14/5            TAXI                MINSTER                   10
LONDON                     14-18/5            TRAIN             HAMPTON COURT            7
YORK                          18-25/5            TRAIN             THE CITY WALL            10
WHITBY                      20/5               TRAIN             JAMES COOK              8
GROSMONT                20/5               TRAIN             PAM, DAVE, STAN            7
ROBIN HOODS BAY            21/5               TRAIN/BUS            CLIFF TOP WALK            8
SCARBOROUGH            21/5               CAR                 JOHN, CHRIS             8
BRUSSELS                  25/5               TRAIN             SOUTH STATION            5
AMSTERDAM             25-27/5            BICYCLE            HOLLAND BARGE            6
THOLEN                     29/5               BICYCLE            WINDMILL               7
ANTWERP                 30/5               BARGE            CENTRAL STATION            7
MECHELEN                 31/5               BICYCLE            CATHEDRAL               6
SKIPTON                   1-4/6              TRAIN/BOAT            LOCKS/BRIDGES            9
APPLEBY                   4/6                 TRAIN             HORSE TRADING            7
CARLISLE                    4-5/6              TRAIN/TAXI            BEACON FIRE                        7
HADRIAN’S WALL            5/6                 BUS                 A.D.40 CLOCK                        8
NEWCASTLE             5/6                 BUS                 CROWDS                   5
YORK                          5-6/6              TRAIN             BETTY’S CAFÉ            10
HOLYHEAD                 6/6                 TRAIN             POST OFFICE                        7
DUBLIN                     6-7/6              FERRY/BUS            BREAKFAST               7 
DROGHEDA                 7-9/6              TRAIN             JOAN AND JIMMY            9
DERRY                        9-11/6            TRAIN             MARCHING BANDS            9
DUBLIN                     11-15/6            CAR/TRAIN            MT USHER GARDEN            8
KILLARNEY                 13/6               TRAM/T/BUS            AVOCA HILLS              7
GALWAY                      14/6               TRAM/T/BUS THATCHED ROOVES 7
CARDIFF                      15-20/6            FERRY/TRN            S.W. SEA CLIFFS            8
PENZANCE                 18/6               TRAIN             CORNISH PASTIE            8
MONIFIETH               20-23/6            TRAIN/CAR            DAVE, HELEN, IDA            9
INVERNESS               22/6               BUS/TRAIN            CAIRNGORMS            8
EDINBURGH              23-26/6            BUS/TRAIN            CASTLE                      8
OBAN                          24/6               BUS/TRAIN            SEASIDE VILLAGE            9
FUSCHL AM SEE            27-29/6            BUS/TRAIN            BEVAN, VANESSA            10
KLAGENFURT            29/6-2/7            BUS/TRAIN            IRON MAN AUSTRIA             8
FUSCHL AM SEE            2-6/7              TRAIN/BUS            SCHAFBERGZUG            10
SALZBURG                 3/7                 BUS                 SOUND OF MUSIC            8
MUNICH                     6-11/7            BUS/TR/TAXI RESIDENZ                   9
ULM                            9/7                 TRAIN             THE DANUBE                      9
NEUSCHWANSTEIN            10/7               TRAIN/BUS            CASTLE                      8
CHUR                          11-15/7            TRAIN/TAXI            BERNINA EXPRESS            8
TORINO                     12/7               TRAIN             WATER FOUNTAIN            8
LINDAU                     13/7               TRAIN/BOAT            FERRY TRIP                8
BRIG                            15-18/7            TRAIN             GOLDEN PASS TRAIN9
SPIEZ                          17/7               TRAIN             LAKE THUN              8
VIENNA                      18-23             TRAIN             MOZART CONCERT            9
MELK                          20/7               TRAIN/BOAT            MELK ABBEY                        9
BUDAPEST                 21/7               TRAIN             STATION VESTIBULE6
HEIDELBERG             23-24/7            TRAIN/BOAT            OLD TOWN                         9
PARIS                          24-28/7            TRAINBOAT            SEINE CRUISE            7
LA CHAISE DIEU            28/7-8/8            TRAIN/CAR            THE VILLAGE                      9
COPENHAGEN            9-10/8            BUS/TRAIN            SAND SCULPTURES            9
GOTHENBURG            11/8               TRAIN             PARKS                                    9
OSLO                           12-13/8            BUS/TRAIN            HARBOUR                   8
FLAM                          14-15/8            TRAIN             FJORD                         9
BERGEN                     16/8               FERRY             VILLAGES                    8
STOCKHOLM             17-20/8            TRAIN/BOAT            OPERA                        9
UPPSALA                    19/8               TRAINCAR            SUSANNE & FAMILY            10
HELSINKI                    21-25/8            FERRY/TRAIN LAUREL & FAMILY            10
TAMPERE                   22/8               TRAIN/BOAT            LAKE CRUISE                        9
ST PETERSBURG            26/8               TRAIN            CAR            MALE CHOIR             9
MOSCOW                    27-30/8            TRAIN/CAR            CONCERT                   9
YEKATERINBURG            31/8-3/9            TRAIN/CAR            CEMETERY                 9
IRKUTSK                   4-8/9              TRAIN/BOAT            LAKE BAIKAL                        9
ULAAN BAATOR            9-13/9            TRAIN/CAR            GER STAY               10
BEIJING                      14-16/9            TRAIN/CAR            GREAT WALL              8
XI’AN                          17-18/9            TRAIN/CAR            WARRIORS                 9
INCHEON                   21-24/9            CAR/BOAT/BUS DAY TRIPS              9
SEOUL                                    25-29/9            TRAIN             METRO                        8
CHUNCHEON              28/9               TRAIN             ITX                              6
BUSAN                        30/9-9/10            TRAIN/TAXI            FESTIVAL                    9
AUCKLAND                28-31/10            SHIP/BUS/FERRY EXPLORER BUS             9
PALMERSTON NTH            1-2/11            TRAIN/CAR            BRIAN AND HELEN            8
NAPIER                      3/11               CAR/BUS            ART DECO HOTEL            9
TOKOROA                   4/11               BUS                 WOOD CARVINGS            7
AUCKLAND                5/11               BUS                 WATERFRONT            8
SYDNEY                      9+/11             SHIP                HOME                         10
83 PLACES VISITED
72 DAYS ON 3 CONTAINER SHIPS                          4 NIGHTS ON 3 FERRIES


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