Category: 00 Our Trips (All)

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MacWool Tour: Another day of walking in Torres del Paine National Park

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Torres del Paine Park

Up and at ’em very very slowly for another day in the national park. At 8:45 (departure 9 am) there were only 5 of the group ready to board. The rest of the group trickled out a within a few minutes either side of departure time. 


We were off … at the what seems like 20kms per hour. Patricio certainly was looking after the gear on the not so badly corrugated road. I guess given his investment in the coach it was definitely in best interest to do so. Jill Elder decided that she stay behind and sample some the resort services and be the single handed welcome home committee. 


So putting along at 20 and rarely touching the mind blowing speed of practically 30kms for and hour or so saw us in the east side of the park. We scrambled off and readied ourselves for today’s 1.5 hour walk to glacier viewing platform. 


A way we go cross the swing bridge 6 at a time. The wind with some help from the stirrers in group had the bridge really swinging at times. Luckily we had bundled Sharpy on with first group and he was halfway across before he realised what going on.  A little concerned if I could get him to make the return journey over the rushing water in windy conditions a couple hours later.

A brisk walk through forest before emerging onto the river bank of deep fine shifty pebbles for what seemed like never ending walk across the pebble bank in middle of the lake. This proved to be a very difficult waking surface.e. My first glimpse of an iceberg that had broken away from the glacier and was probably very very old.

On reaching the far side the group started up the other side to find the viewing platform. Three of us felt that we could see enough from here and decided starting back would help us to get back at same time as the leaders making the return journey.

Simon and Rosalie took the blue ribbon for first back but Kerrie Macdonald certainly earned a special mention for jogging back to be sure that she wasn’t last back today. It was a sight to behold of Kerrie running across the swing bridge with Frank and Henry jogging behind her – that certainly got it swinging and how they kept their feet under themselves I will never know.

Packed lunch boxes at the picnic tables were welcome before we made to long slow ride home. We were welcomed home by a very fresh and relaxed looking Jill. Another good day that ended with drink outside the bar looking at the mountains of course most conversation was around lambing percentages best times to shear how the wool market was this week etc.

You can take these folk away to a foreign land but their hearts are still well and truly at home. Tomorrow caves and boarding Skorpios lll for next 3 nights.

Now these are spurs

 We most likely be offline for the next four days while cruising the glaciers

MacWool Tour: Torres del Paine National Park

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During the trip various members of the party are going to contribute to this blog today’s post is with thanks to Christine White
Photos with thanks to Christine and Simon Hunt 


Torres del Paine Park

Whilst Ange and Sharpy were having some down time back at the Rio Serrano enjoying the comfy couches and panoramic views, the rest of the crew headed off to the Torres del Paine National Park to explore the magnificent peaks up closer.  



Little did we realise that at an average speed of 20km/hour, the half hour bus trip took an hour and a half with a few scenic lookout stops along the way.  Patricio loved being part of the MacWool Farmers Tour group sporting one of the MacWool caps, but it didn’t speed his driving up.  


Being the hottest day in 5 years, the air conditioning struggled to keep up, as we oohed and ahhed over the sights. In fact I’m sure it was the first time the air conditioning had ever been turned on to ‘cool’. 

Lunch was by a waterfall, with a few game enough to test their cold tolerance by plunging their hand into the ice cold glacial waters. 40 seconds was the record, but most lasted barely 10.





We even managed to squeeze in a viewing of some more sheep as there is an Estancia in the middle of the National Park that we drove through, although they were panting hard in the heat wave conditions of 25 degrees C.


The group finally had their chance to stride out on a hike past another waterfall, a scenic lake and a close up view of the rugged peaks of Torres del Paine.  We struck one of the clearest days of the year, so the views were spectacular.  A few even clambered up to the top of a small peak to yell out a cooeeeeee for all below.


Back on the bus for the looooong sloowww trip back to the Rio Serrano, we stopped by a cafe for a few roadies to cool down.  

Ange and Sharpy were there to greet us on our return, and the evening drinks turned into a fun night of eating and drinking Chilean beers and wines.  





Our guide Ivan
A little room party

Our wine loving host, Ivan, suggested to us that the Chilean way of palate cleansing after your meal was to down a glass of Fernet (pronounced with a rolled ‘r’ as Ferrrrrrrr-nay).  Well, 30 glasses were lined up at the bar courtesy of Chris Martin, and we were all expected to down the mysterious Chilean liqueur.  It tasted like cough syrup.  

A well rested Sharpy

Most couldn’t get to the bar fast enough to wash their mouths out with a cool refreshing Patagonian beer (the preferred Aussie palate cleanser).  The rest gagged.  Only Ivan gleefully downed glass after glass of the pungent brew, praising the wonders of Chilean wines and liqueurs.  












The one common effect was that all were going to be very slow the next morning.

More photos will be added here after we leave cruise.

MacWool Tour: Down to business

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Wool mill and farm visit in Punta Arenas 

I know you are all dying to know if all the luggage has caught up to us. Well after sitting of the tarmac and back in the terminal of Santiago airport for several hours after our plane was turned back with issues. We eventually landed at almost 8:15 pm some 8 hours after our 3 hour flight was due to leave Santiago.  So wearily we headed for baggage claim hoping the rest of the bags (the ones we still had) were there. As we rounded the corner there they were, the long lost bags last seen leaving Sydney 3 days ago, so with much excitement and enthusiastic greetings they were claimed by the
owners (with exception of Chris Martin’s and Charlotte Blake’s, yet to be located, their bags are believed to have run away to join the circus.). 

Still no sign of the bags we loaded in Santiago…but with relief they too started to roll around on carousel number 2. With everyone quite excited especially those looking forward to getting into clean clothes for first time in days we boarded the coach and due to the delay we headed straight the pre arranged dinner with couple people from the wool industry who had been patiently waiting for us. Thank goodness for private room in the very fancy Sofito’s seafood restaurant as we were all looking a bit travel weary and worse for wear.  

As soon as the pisco sours (what is a pisco sour I hear you ask – PISCO SOUR – popular Chilean

cocktail. Ingredients: pisco, lemon juice and sugar, one egg white, sugar – shaken together.) and Calafate Sour (Liquor Calafate Patagonia. fresh lemon juice, ice,1 egg white, powdered sugar) started flowing we forgot our scruffy state and settled in for an very good seafood meal and much laughter about the events for the previous three days.

With all our trouble behind us we are ready to really get started on our tour. 
 The late start to dinner meant another late finish to the day and it was almost midnight when we checked in with the knowledge we needed to be breakfasted and on the bus by 8:30am for a full day ahead.

We have been averaging 15-16 hour days so far…

Off we go to Standard Wools

Despite the 3rd late night in a row everyone was down in plenty of time for departure, a couple of early birds even got to walk around Punta Arenas before breakfast. 


Our first stop was at Standard Wools.  We were made very welcomed and began our tour.  

The first thing we all noticed was that wool is packed in plastic packs and tied with wire or in some cases strapping. We were provided with us lots of information regarding the wool types and shearing programs etc. Most shearing

in the area is done pre-lamb in September with some in December
and January, the wool store is currently full of wool which be processed over the coming year.

The group asked many questions which were all comprehensively answered and the information was interesting and gave a better understanding of wool growing in the

area. The selling of wool is different to our auction system. The mills negotiable with the grower to purchase the wool based on the weight and micron provided by the grower or results of testing in New Zealand (costly) or in house testing at Standard Mills.  The mill reserves the right to

re weigh and retest any wool.  As the clips are often poorly prepared prices are offered as an average price across the whole clip.

This while not sounding ideal seems to work well enough.  The hour and half we spent at standard

wool disappeared quickly and we finished our visit with a group photo taken by our guide Ivan (who will be with us for next 6-7 days and is getting more sleep than in months as a new father to 5 month olds twins)

Visiting Estancia Josefina  

An hour and half down the road we turned into Estancia Josefina owned by Hugo Vera who breeds Dohne’s and is a Dohne stud. 

This farm has a strong relationship with the Macquarie Dohne Stud in Australia.  We were warmly welcomed to the homestead by Hugo Vera (Owner) and Daniel (Manager).  


Hugo gave an interesting presentation on Estancia Josefina with very interesting facts and figures on his estancia and their breeding programs. 


The presentation concluded with the arrival of pisco sours and Calafate Sour which just the beginning of a very extensive lunch which included dainty open sandwiches a wide variety of empanadas lamb meatballs and the regulation ceviche which was so delicious and it was noted that many of us had a second serve. 


All this was washed down with an excellent red wine and champagne.  Little thought was given at the time to the reasonable high flight of steps we had to negotiate to leave the farm house.  All down safely!!!
Lunch concluded with promises of catching up again with Hugo and Daniel when they come to Australia later in the year before everyone gravitated to the woodshed for a look around. 



The shed was filled with more plastic bales of wool from neighbouring farms, three farms use the eight stand Josefina shed for their shearing.  


Before we headed back to the bus a gaucho that had been out working rode up on his horse tied up his dogs before coming over to give a us great opportunity to have a look at his saddle (all made by hand by him during the long winter nights) the horse was a sturdy unshod grey mare. They only shoe horses in winter. The shoes have special steel toes to grip in the ice to stop them slipping.  After a group photo with the gaucho and his mare we were headed back to the bus.  

Some of the men headed over to the AI shed for a look most of us stayed near bus (we did realise at time that where they were headed, we thought they were wandering off for another reason). Goodbye’s were exchanged with promises to show Hugo and Daniel around when they come to Australian later this year.

On the road again!!!

Another gauche at work
Been around since ’29
Back on the bus for our 6 hour drive to Torres Del Paine national park and our home for the next three days in the amazing Hotel Rio Serrano. 



Amazing view from here
Long way from ‘The Marra’ 
The drive was long but uneventful (given events of recent days) and with one comfort and refreshment break at Hotel Posada Rio Rubens and another at Puerto Natales (where we board our cruise in 3 days time)
Breathtaking views from hotel

Boys stocked up on Chilean Pesos and liquid supplies while the bus driver fuelled up for the last 3 hours on dirt road up into the mountains to our resort.

Waking up to this
Really at 11pm going to bed!!!
The buffet dinner that greeted us made the 6 plus hours on the bus worth every minute.  The array of foods was extensive and everyone ate their fill before turning in (although I think there a few that partied on a bit, it after all was there first real opportunity to do so)

Tomorrow is hiking in the national park for most but Sharpy and I are taking a rest day so I can catch up on some work, this blog and sort out some of the technical issues some travellers are having with their devices.
In conclusion Day 4 has turned out to be a great day, it didn’t have much competition in the best day stakes. At least it was filled with all highlights and the lowlights are well behind us now…


More Photos from day 4


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MacWool Tour 2016 – Flying and Santiago

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Getting there…

Surprisingly all travellers are still in good spirits despite so many hiccups in the first few days. All started when we started to arrive at Kingsford Smith to see that our LAN 800 flight had been cancelled between Sydney and Auckland. 
The saga begins… on check in we were advised that LAN airlines had chartered a
plane to get us to Auckland to meet LAN 800. After a delay, being bused to the plane and few other minor frustrations we were on our way. 
Arrival in Auckland saw us climb aboard another bus to the terminal before a 30 minute walk then through security again to find our gate. 

What could be next, a passenger (not one of our group) got lost in the airport so after waiting for what seemed like forever we had to wait a further 20 minutes while the ground crew located and unloaded the luggage of the ‘no show’.

We were off the ground late but on our way now it was to be all plain sailing/flying right. 
Well yes if we are only talking about the 11 hour flight but true to form that was the only break coming our way for Saturday 16th Jan. 
Getting through customs etc was some and super quick but that’s when things all fell apart again. Out of the 26 in the group more than half were left watching expectantly an empty carousel go around and around with not a sign of their luggage. It was still in the land of the long white cloud the along with that of a third of the passengers on the flight.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings…

Don’t worry we said it will come tomorrow so with a quick shopping trip for urgent essentials were started our adventure. Jumping ahead three day still no sign of luggage but have told it was sent ahead of us to Punta Arenas. We won’t believe it until we get to hug our bags.
Back to  our first night deciding to put our troubles behind us we headed out to have some dinner which fantastic a sign things were on the up right. 
Well not quite but anyway we were looking forward to day two which included a visit to a winery for a tour, tasting and lunch hosted by Rabobank. This was a very pleasant day and the food was excellent and the tour tasting equal to any. 
Following lunch we will head back to hotel for a rest well almost, why not take a detour and run to the coast for a look. Great idea we all agreed should have known this was not as simple as planned. 
The run over to the coast was about an hour okay let’s have quick look and head home …at about 5 mile an hour for several hours. Sunday was a Chilean holiday and every Chilean was at the beach and driving back to Santiago with us.

Eventually we arrived back to the airport (it was decided since we were passing that we should shake a tree and see if the missing bags would fall out.) So the men without bags stayed with Michael to chase this up and girls with a couple men headed back to hotel arriving at 10:30pm in time for a very late dinner. 

What day – the bag hunters arrived back at midnight to collapse in bed. Tomorrow will be an easy day quick 3 hour flight then rest and beautiful seafood dinner in Punta Arenas. 

Plain sailing now…

Hmmm well one couple completely overslept (on account of no sleep for two days) and were awaken with the news bus was just about to leave. They were the envy of those with little or no sleep due to jet lag. No big deal we were on the road within a few minutes of planned departure time. 
Now things are back on track smooth check in and security plane departs on time and we are away. 
Wait for it…. 30 minutes into the flight there is an announcement in spanish followed but a collective groan among the spanish speaking passengers. English announcement due to a problem with pressure or navigation we are turning back to Santiago as a precaution. 
Flying back for 30 minutes in a holding pattern for another 25 minutes and here we sit on the tarmac while techs work on the problem.  Hopefully when we pick up from where I am leaving you now all will be back on track (not that things ever been on track yet). 
In 17 years of extensive travel I have never travelled with anyone losing luggage, never had more than a 30 minutes delayed flight or a cancelled flight nor a flight with issues. With the exception of one landing ‘go around’ in a heavy storm once it has been exceptional. 
A lot of firsts for me on this trip the only thing that is running true to form is the true bush spirit and positive attitude of these people. Well done everyone the laughs keep coming although they are sounding a little more hysterical by the day. Michael Blake we would have been sunk without you and your local knowledge and fluent Spanish.  
Watch this space for some exceptional highlights from here on, we have all the lowlights out of the way. 

Highlights: 

Visit to Vino Casa Del Bosque – thank you Rabobank
They way this group has already bonded together and kept their good spirits despite everything that has been thrown their way in first few days.

Lowlights: 

Too many to list (nothing but speed humps to this group)

 More photos…

Six days in Switzerland and 75 years young – Part 1

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After few hours on the train from Zurich with just the one change at Bern we disembarked from our
train at Interlaken Ost (East) not to be confused with Interlaken West.

The stations are at each end of town with a shuttle bus running between them so doesn’t matter which you choose but on the advice of our very friendly guard we choose the east as it was well within walking distance of our hotel, Hotel Du Nord, Interlaken. 
The view from deck outside our room
After a smooth check in and a bit of a rest we decided to set out and explore the very picturesque Interlaken, with hang gliders landing in the park opposite the hotel and snow capped mountains sounding us, it was exactly as I imagined only more spectacular . 


The blue sky and warm weather only added to our very first Swiss experience. after wandering, a sumptuous hot chocolate (I am forever spoiled when it comes to hot chocolate) and taking in the sights close to the hotel we headed for a little Chinese place we had seen earlier in the day for dinner. A dish and a rice and we were done and ready to turn in. 

 Interlarken surrounded by snowcapped mountains and with Hang gliders dropping in with regularity in the park across from our hotel provided us with picture postcard backdrop for the next few days. Below are few photos around Interlaken before the story continues with our day on the mountain.

Our Day on the Mountain              


We organised to head for the Jungfraujoch the next day as the forecast was good an on the advice of the hotel staff should do it while the going is good otherwise the weather could close in later in the 
weak and it wont be worth doing. Jungfraujoch lies at a height of 3,466 meters (11,371 ft) above sea level in the Bernese Alps, on the boundary between the cantons of Bern and Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch.

A complex tunnel connects the railway station to the Top of Europe building and an elevator to the summit of the Sphinx, A scientific observatory, the Sphinx Observatory, is also located here. a peak

Not they highest I have been in the world, that was Independence Pass (Colorado) It is at elevation 12,095 ft (3,687 m) but that is about as high as I want to go.

As promised the next morning dawned with another clear blue skied  day and we keen to set off on our first or a number day trips in Switzerland. Interlaken proved to be a great base for each of our day trips it was nice to be in one place for a a string of nights. Our first train was to the little village of Grindelwald where we wandered for awhile taking in the sights before boarding train two at Lauterbrunnen station, our final train for the trip to the top was a cog wheel train. 





The railway runs almost entirely within the Jungfrau Tunnel, built into the Eiger and Mönch mountains and containing two stations in


the middle of the tunnel, where passengers can disembark to observe the neighbouring mountains through windows built into the mountainside. 






It was great to be able to stop on the way up to check out the views.


Some two hours after leaving Interlaken we found ourselves at the Top of Europe, we decided to have lunch (not too bad food and price-wise for a bistro with a captive crowd) before heading up to the lookout and face the cold (or not as cold as we expected as it turned out).

At the Sphinx are enclosed and open viewing platforms, with views over the Aletsch Glacier and the surrounding peaks.  Also accessed via the tunnels is the Ice Palace, a series of ice caverns beneath the glacier, and the Alpine Sensation, which presents a display on the touristic development of the Alps and the history of the Jungfraujoch Railway.
The view from the platform was mind blowing and I would recommend anyone that has the chance to take the time to go up especially on a clear day as it feels like you are looking over all of Europe. Our stay at the top was interesting including a visit to the ice caves and standing out on the actual mountain.
How or why would anyone contemplate building a rail line up this majestic mountain is beyond me, it must have been such difficult job but they did it never the less.  After few hours wandering around and checking out all that as on offer we boarded the trusty little cogwheel train for the decent back down the mountain.  

Once we got off the cog wheel train back at Lauterbrunnen station which is a railway station in the village and municipality of Lauterbrunnen in the Swiss canton of Bern. The station is on the Berner Oberland Bahn (BOB), whose trains operate services to Interlaken Ost. 



The ice-cave carved in the mountain

We ventured outside to get the feel of bein on the mountain

It is also the valley terminus of the Wengernalpbahn where we changed trains to travel back to Interlaken Ost via Wengen, we decided to take Wengen side back to Interlaken so we could see the other side of the mountain and really get a chance to see some of the amazing waterfalls along this side of the mountain. Lots of end season skiers and snowboarder heading back down which only added to the experience and provided a small insight into what this place would be like in high season. One thing that amazed me was the number of hikers that we dotted all over the mountain taking in the various pre-marked walks. We arrived home and decided on soup for dinner so called into same Chinese place from previous night for quick bite before calling it a day. 




















and this end our second full day in Switzerland.

Who’d thought I would ever find myself in Berlin, Germany

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After a very comfortable night where we both slept reasonably well and woke feeling quite refreshed. With the packing done we checked out of our hotel after deciding we would get something to eat at the station once I had validated our Global Pass train passes.


A short walk to the station, dodging bikes and the pedestrian traffic which all seemed to be going the opposite direction to us. We quickly had our passes validated, travelling first class allowed us to make use of the lounge facilities where we could relax and eat from the complimentary breakfast bar while waiting for our train ( as usual I had us there with oodles of time to spare but I really hate rushing when trying to find our way).

We boarded our direct train to Berlin from platform 10b at 11:01am for our 6 hour trip in very comfortable carriage, no-one else in our section which was great. spend the day napping and watching the great scenery pass us by, can I say it again, this is the way to travel in Europe.

As the day was drawing to a close we arrived in Berlin, we left the train one station too early, a problem easily rectified by catching the next city train from the other side of the same platform, and finally getting off at Berlin’s Station Hauptbahnhof (Central Station).

Within minutes of stepping on german soil we were in cab being whisked to our hotel in Potsdamer Platz district. Our hotel was the very fancy Wyndham Grand Hotel which has built inside an old sandstone factory and was so well done. We checked in and freshened up before heading down to The Post restaurant for our first real meal since leaving home, I had the Rinderfilet (Filet of beef) and mum settled for Zitrus- Maispoulardenbrust (Lemon corn poulard (chicken) breast). This was a memorable meal and the service great but we both hit the wall quickly and it wasnt long before we fell into bed exhausted.

With one full day to make the most of our day in Berlin we up early and walked down to Potsdamer Platz square for a roll and coffee for breakfast all while trying to work out where the main stop was for the red Hop on Hop off bus was.

After wandering around for awhile we eventually located the stop not too far away but not in it’s usual stop due to road works.

We purchased our 24 hour ticket and as it was fairly cool we decided we would do the full circuit first then decide where we would get off for a closer look. With 20 stops around the city such as Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenberg Gate,  Jewish Museum and not to mention a section of the Berlin Wall which was a surreal experience.

After our lap around the city we decided to get off at Checkpoint Charlie and have some lunch before continuing on our way. Lunch was the best tomato soup and a pizza at a little Italian place (Sotto Sopra) within sight of Checkpoint Charlie, amazing to think this was such an important place in history and here we were having our lunch.

After lunch Brandenberg Gate was our chosen stop to explore further this amazing city. Unfortunately
by time the bus got back to this stop there was some sort of demonstration taking place so the bus was forced to re-route in very heavy traffic. Upside was we got to go down some interesting streets that aren’t on the usual route.

We decided to hop off at the famous KaDeWa department store.

About KaDeWa (taken from website)

What apparently started as an adventurous idea by the Berlin merchant Adolf Jandorf in 1905 surpassed all expectations when KaDeWe was opened in March 1907. 


As the leading department store in the country, it presented customers with an array of desirable goods from around the world – from the latest Paris fashion show looks to exotic south sea fruits.

Always a firm step ahead of the competition, KaDeWe today, as well as offering a vast variety of products, is also setting new standards in service. 

KaDeWe caters for a wide range of needs with luxurious beauty rooms and lounges, a wedding and gift service, a hotel and home service, tailor, hairdressers, buggy rental and a bureau de change. In its world-famous gourmet department on the sixth floor, Berlin’s premium department store even plays host to exclusive parties high above the roofs of the city.

The same ritual takes place every day at KaDeWe and sometimes on Sundays too when, shortly before 10 am, the original iron gate dating from 1907 is lowered so that customers can embark on an exciting shopping adventure. Each day up to 180,000 customers from around the world are welcomed in cordially by the KaDeWe before being attended to on more than 60,000 sq m of sales space by some 2,000 employees, for each of which customer needs and first class service take pride of priority.

We would have loved more time to explore this wonderful interesting store, definitely recommended as a must do for anyone visiting Berlin.

A short taxi ride found back in our fantastic hotel and we changed and headed down for a burger and soup from the hotel restaurant. Again early night and pack up for the next stage, Munich here we come.

Hotel: Wyndam Grand Potsdam Platz

Getting Around Taxis: Reasonably priced and easy to hail, carry hotel business cards to show driver for address

Highlight(s): 

  1. Seeing the actual Berlin Wall
  2. Visiting KaDeWa Department store
  3. Soup and Pizza at (Sotto Sopra) near Checkpoint Charlie
What a deal on a super hotel…

Seven days between OS trips (that’s record for me)

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A mere seven days after returning from the MacWool China Tour is time to pack up and take to the air for the long planned Tulip Cruise. This trip was planned as 75th birthday gift to mum who always wanted to see the tulips in Holland in full bloom and what better way than on a river cruise.

Who does an eight night cruise on the other side of the world without incorporating a few other destinations on the itinerary not us so Holland Germany Switzerland and Belgium here we come.

Our trip began at 10:50pm with boarding of our Eithad flight to Amsterdam with 2 hour layover in Abu Dhabi  the first leg was fantastic and I caught up on some sleep and mum was able to watch a couple of movies. The plane was great and the crew looked after us very well. We arrived in Abu Dhabi just after sunrise and it was very pretty flying in with day breaking. Our short layover disappeared quickly and we were soon boarding for our final leg in to Schipole Airport just outside Amsterdam for first night of foreign soil.

It was decided that we would only spend one night is the very beautiful Amsterdam as we would be back for a few days around the cruise.  Our first task was to procure a taxi (€45 and 30 minutes in average traffic) to take us the Tulip Inn (€65 per night approx) where we would stay for the night. This hotel has reasonable rates and is well within walking (and bag dragging) from the Central Railway station where we would begin our 6 hour train journey to Berlin.

On trains we decided this would be the easiest and least restrictive mode of transport for our journey,  I purchased Eurail Global Pass 15 Days for $877 which allowed us to used as much as we like in the 15 day window, some days we were several trains all first class and very comfortable. Only required reservations when travelling at busy times otherwise we just boarded and selected seats that had not been reserved. It only cost a few euros to pre-book seat,  so this was worth it if travelling in peak times or heading on long journey where needed to arrive by a certain time etc, mostly we just boarded and took our chances. Only once were stuck with sitting in buffet car as train fully booked( only hour trip which allowed us to have a beautiful full breakfast)



With our bags tucked away in our modest but comfortable room (Thankfully the lift worked when taking bags up and down) as the spiral staircase proved to be a challenge without a bag the couple times we used it, very narrow and steep, we headed our to check out the station and see where I need to validate our train pass the next day. It only took a 10 minutes to navigate through the masses of walkers and the millions of bikes that seemed to come from all directions and get inside the very beautiful station building. The information booth pointed us in the right direction for the ticket validation window. 

Now that the lay of the land had been established we headed out for short walk around and back to hotel. We purchased our first chips with sauce and mayo all the rage in Amsterdam on Damrak St . 



Yes Sam Forbes your recommendation was right they were crunchy with soft middle and possibly the best chips I have had in awhile, a little too much tomato sauce for my taste but the mayo was yummy, all served in a cardboard cone. After a walk through the red light district, everyone has to do it, we secured a very nice coffee before heading back to our room for a much need sleep. Although we both slept on plane we were grateful for a full nights sleep before our adventure got underway for real. Goodnight Amsterdam.

Our last day and farewell dinner

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After breakfast eight of us decided to take a cab down to Nanjing Rd and check out the shops and visit The Bund. Two cab eight people would we ever see the other four at the meeting place on Najing Rd. 

Surprisingly despite going different ways and being dropped on different corners we found one another again. The morning was spent wandering down towards the Bund from the Peoples Square. 


Shops shops everywhere and the highlight was going in and checking out the The Peace Hotel is a hotel on The Bund in Shanghai, China which overlooks the Huangpu River. The word “bund” means an embankment or an embanked quay which decribes it perfectly. Even if we only slipped in to use the bathroom but I do know when I go back to Shanghai I will be having a night or two here. 


We headed under the Huangpu River river to Pudong which is a district of Shanghai, China, located along the east side of the Huangpu River, across from the historic city center of Shanghai in Puxi in The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel which is one of Shanghai’s top five tourist attractions and it’s also one of its strangest. Bizarre, trippy audio-visual effects play as you travel in an automated car ‘into the core of the Earth’ under the Huangpu river.

Guard on hand to keep
everyone off the grass

Just has to try it!!!! 

 Spending half a day wandering around was great experience and Shanghai is just like New York, I have another favourite city in the world to add to my list of favourite cities. 

I will definitely be back to explore this great country and Shanghai more. Rested up in the afternoon to get our strength back for the MacWool Farewell China dinner. 

While we were out seeing the sights Don, Ian and Kerrie were scouting out a venue for our farewell dinner. Can’t remember the name of the restaurant but it was in the French Quarter and we had a great night with everyone sharing their memorable and not so memorable moments of our time in China.

 

David Zhou – Our guide

 The common thread in every speech was how lucky we were to have what we all considered ‘The Best’ national guide in China. David Zhou from Wendy Wu tours was just fantastic and really contributed to a very successful and amazing trip. 


Nothing was ever too much trouble he had a great sense of humour and quickly picked up on the Aussie fun loving ways. He will always be remembered by all in our tour group.




















The next morning eight of the group were up very early to catch a very fast train to Biejing for an additional couple of days while the six of us heading home from Shanghai had a bit more time for one last buffet breakfast before a bit more free time heading to the train station to catch our train. Sharpy and Frank wanted to visit an old haunted of Peter and Nadia Brice. The just had to go there even if too early for a beer.



The Shanghai Maglev Train is a magnetic levitation train, or maglev line that operates in Shanghai,China. It is the first commercially operated high-speed magnetic levitation line in the world and only the third Maglev line to be operated. 



The train line was designed to connect Shanghai Pudong International Airport and the outskirts of central Pudong where passengers could interchange to the Shanghai Metro to continue their trip to the city centre. The top operational commercial speed of this train is 431 km/h (268 mph), making it the world’s fastest train in regular commercial service since its opening in April 2004. During a non-commercial test run on 12 November 2003, a maglev train achieved a Chinese record speed of 501 km/h (311 mph).

The train ride was sensational and my need for speed ensured this was one of my highlights of the whole trip for me.

After a rather eventful flight home with Ian in pain with a flare up of kidney stones, we arrived home after a fantastic trip with the best group of people you could ever travel with.

The team at MacWool should be congratulated on a great this initiative and providing us all with the opportunity to get out of our comfort zone and experience another culture with the bonus of seeing what happens to our wool when it leaves Australian shores.

The Gang…











Day 13 – One Bus Three Mills Twelve Hours – what a day…

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Up early and on board the bus for a big day or the road visiting a scouring, a top making and a weaving mill. Each of these mills proved very interesting in their own way. The bus ride to the first mill gave those feeling a little weary some extra zzz before we arrived.

Some of the group were suffering from heavy colds and bravely battled on to see the very reason we were all in China, the mills.

The mill owners and all the mill staff were very gracious with their time and gave ample opportunity to get up close to their business. There is no way we would have been allow to see these processes if in Australia, no yellow lines and catwalks to stay on here.

The mills owners seemed genuinely happy to have woolgrowers visiting them and showing interest in their business.

The owner of Australian Harvest mills gave us over an hour of his time in the board room telling us about his business and answering questions form our group.


Australian wool is seen very much as the premium wool in the world but the Chinese still would like to buy our wool cheaper. Plenty of questions were asked and answered on both sides and it was interesting exercise to do this through an interrupter.

The Australian Harvest Mill, which has a strong alliance Australia, provided lunch and the fare was authentically chinese and this was enjoyed but we are all getting over the cuisine. 

After fantastic few hours at Harvest we headed to the final mill of the day which was a spinning and weaving mill. It was interesting to see such mechanisation up close and the volume of product they move through the mill in a single day. 


Up close 

This mill was surrounded by the homes (blocks of units)  of the workers and there were lots of children wandering in and around the mill yard, again no chance of that here. 

It was a very quiet ride home in the bus with most passengers sleeping and those that remained awake were able to witness the skill of our driver in very heavy peak hour traffic.

Henry with finished product – heavy too


A quick meal at Holly’s Place (owner, Benny just back from studying in Sydney since he was six) burgers all around for dinner and everyone turned in all feeling very tired. Free day tomorrow!!!

Couldn’t help himself

Neither could he…one for the pool room –
Photo with the security guard

The group shot
Very excited with ‘the gift’

So ‘How does this work again?…

The end result…..

Day 12 – Our first mill, Kunshan L San carbonising mill

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As this is what we came for, everyone was keen to start checking out the mills. We were lucky enough to have representative from Tech Wool take us to the all the mills.

Wu gave up two full days to ensure we got the most out of our visits the various mills. Everyone in the group really appreciated her being with us to add value to our experiences at each of the mills that she had organised for us to attend.

Our first mill was a carbonising mill about 2hours outside Shanghai, we were welcome by the mill owner who spend time explaining the process and showing us around the mill. He was delighted as this was the first time actual woolgrowers had visited his mill. 

It was amazing to be able to get up close to all the processes, there is no way this could have happened in Australia due to OH& S regulations.

After Don presented the excited mill owner with a hat and boomerang we headed back to town for lunch. The place Wu chose for lunch was amazing and was huge, there were many many private dining rooms all with amazing decor. Wu ordered an array of mostly seafood dishes of which the crab was my favourite.

John and Sharpy reviewing John’s test results
 while standing in a mill in China – Technology

Sharpy talking to Tom Elder about his wool – 

After lunch we headed to a textile exhibition and show, where we spent an hour or so before boarding the bus to be taken to a tailor where many of the group ordered items from suits to jackets and shirts. I was able to pick up a very nice piece of material which I will have made into a jacket at some stage.