I promise this is the last you will hear of the Mt Blanc trek! I am very grateful for the wonderful support I received, for my personal challenge, and for the Muscular Dystrophy cause - we raised in excess of $190,858 which is an amazing result.  It has been my painful pleasure to do this on behalf of those who never will.  That said, I was very scared as I set off on the trip, and I was right to be.  It was way worse than I could ever have imagined, and I really don't know how I managed to haul myself around for the 11 days.

Mt Blanc

Friday 01 July,

Saturday June 25^th, 2011

We drove from Geneva to Chamonix this morning, and checked into our home for tonight in the nearby village of Les Houches (an ancient expression for "watering place for cows" - sounds a bit Aboriginal doesn't it!).  We are absolutely dwarfed by surrounding mountains of which just one is Mt Blanc - of which we had wonderful full frontal views, on the drive in.

16 June - 22 June 2011

Having participated in the annual Travel Mart in Shanghai, it's time to switch to an altogether different work mode, as I welcome a group of eager shoppers, for our inaugural Shanghai Shopping Spree,   I truly thought my black belt/Olympic gold medal status in shopping was secure however, if there is a standard "north" of those benchmarks, then it emerged on this trip - and it wasn't me!!!

22-24 March 2011

Two of our clients, Patricia & Bruce Abbott, have just returned from Bali and wanted to share their experience.

Anantara Resort Seminyak and view from the restaurant at Karma Kandara, Uluwatu

It has been so long since I cruised with Cunard, I had forgotten about what it is which makes this most famous of all cruise lines, and its three fabulous ships, so iconic.

Birds Nest Beijing

When you arrive by cruise ship into Tianjin - which is actually not Tianjin, but the port city (they are all cities here!) of Tanggu - itself an hour from Tianjin.   So to back up a bit, we arrive at Tanggu, which is an hour from Tianjin, which is the name of the port (and inland I might add!), which is in turn 3 ½ hours from Beijing.  No wonder the Americans are confused.    Regardless, it is very definitely not Beijing, and not eve

Miyajima sunset

To view more photographs of this tour, please navigate to the Snaparazzi section of the Wings Away website

Our train arrives in light rain, which rapidly becomes a torrential downpour.  So our visit to the Atomic Bomb Memorial Park and Museum becomes a sodden affair.    Our guide with the orange pom pom isn't going to let the rain deter her.  From under the bus comes a supply of (brand new with

Here we stay at the utterly lovely Hotel Okura - "the" hotel in town and beautifully situated in the middle of the action.      The people watching in the lobby is worthy of an entire afternoon and since it is a Saturday there is a lot of "wedding action".  Lots of anxious and very serious fathers of the bride - probably because they have just spent the cost of an apartment on their daughter's wedding!   Once again we are whisked to our rooms immediately with no registration required.  Here the staff run to you if they see you looking vaguely as

We dodge the weather - the rain of yesterday threatens, but save for a spit here and there, stays away.  A slightly later start, so we can wait outside the Mitsukoshi department store in Ginza to see the "performance" at opening time.  But, things have changed - no longer a hatted and gloved platoon of shop "radies" lined up to greet honourable shoppers, just two young ladies who I must say bowed beautifully, and did a wonderful job of the welcome, but there were only two.   Then, yet another train trip to Nippori Station which is the commencement point for our walking t

After years of careful first hand observation (and exchange rates ranging from 49 to 100 yen to the dollar), I have concluded there are two Tokyos - expense account Tokyo which is the domain of business travellers hosting $200 dinners in high end hotel restaurants, and clubs, and my tourist Tokyo where I can eat and drink myself silly - western or local style for less than $A30 a day.

That Japan in general, and Tokyo in particular, are expensive is the mother of all myths.

On this trip we take our breakfast outside the hotel in one of the myriad bakery cafes nearby.  Ap

Imagine arriving at an airport check-in area to find waist high glossy white counters with vases of fresh flowers and music playing from speakers behind the computers!    Low scales that you don't have to lift your cases on - with digital read out in kgs and pounds.  Cheerful and really nice check-in staff.  Then you get to the gate lounge - more low white counters, and more flowers.  Then 2 hours before your flight goes, a nice young man comes out and scatters brightly coloured bean bags around the gate lounge, all this and we haven't left Fort Lauderdale yet.

Last time I wrote we were about to dock in Passau - the first of our German ports of call.

Beautifully situated at the confluence of three rivers, it was yet another very pretty town and we enjoyed our afternoon there very much.     Although, Barry did manage to break his reading/sunglasses so we spent much time in an optometry place in a vain effort to get them fixed.  Ended up buying a pair of magnifiers at the 1 Euro shop and those are doing the job.   A beautiful sunny day, like all the others. 

I am over the bloody rubbish around here.  I cannot believe how much I generate, and I always seems to have overflowing bins, and of course nothing in which to decant the overflow.  The high point of my day is when I hear the rustle outside which is the garbage captors, and so I rush out and have them take my stuff.    For a simple, clean living girl, I sure make a mess.

So, last night I came back from Trevor's room and went to bed early - I was very tired, and all at once there is a bash, bash, bash on my door, and out I go to find two suited ones brandishi

The phone does not stop, and the door is forever being banged on.  I am now officially hooked up to Skype so we have been talking to each other room to room via that method - just showing off really, but it has been fun.

We have finally organised our flights home - Wed evening on Qantas, and the conference organisers are paying.  They have been absolutely marvellous.

It started badly in that I woke again at 5.30am, I wish it hadn't been so early, it really lengthens the day.  Into the bargain I am functioning on Melbourne time, so it's always way earlier than I feel it should be.

I started very early trying to get fresh towels, linen for my bed (I know we don't change our sheets every day at home however we don't live in/on our beds for 24 hours a day either!), and some means with which to clean my bathroom, and a vacuum cleaner to do something about the disgusting floor in my room (it had never been cleaned I swear).

It took me til

Well let's just say that I am presently karmically (is this a word?) challenged.   Having mouthed off loudly and often about the beat up which is swine flu, Allah (or Confucius perhaps) has got me because here I sit in solitary confinement having been quarantined in Shanghai.

Sunday's flight from Melbourne was a shocker - flight oversold (courtesy cancelled service the day before), so instead of a nice row of seats to myself, feet up, and lap top whirring, I was crammed into 56C (58 rows in all) with not enough room to open a magazine, much less the laptop (which as it hap