Author archive
23 March 2024
Train to Sanya With an early afternoon train soon after check-out, I decided to skip breakfast and have some pastries instead. The idea was to have brunch around 1045 then checkout and get a taxi to the railway station. All went according to plan and we got to Haikou East high-speed rail station around […]
22 March 2024
Morning wander Having decided not to go the volcanic geopark outside of town, we spent the day largely exploring the old town. We started breakfast at a cheap eatery that sold steamed and baked dimsum items. They sold coffee, possibly Vietnamese style, very strong and sweet. Once we had slightly over-eaten, we repeated the walk […]
21 March 2024
Flying to Haikou Today we return to Haikou to begin our stay in Hainan Island. There’s a gap in the airline’s schedule with either somewhat early morning flights or one mid-afternoon. We had chosen an 0840 departure and had to wake at 0500. The Didi driver ordered by the hotel for 0600 was super-friendly. He […]
20 March 2024
Guangzhou Metro Today, we explored the sights of Guangzhou that were further afield, requiring some form of transport. I had set up my WeChat to include Guangzhou metro and to my great surprise, it worked perfectly! I only had to scan the metro sub-app barcode at the turnstile and I was let in (and out). […]
19 March 2024
Yongqingfang area I woke around 0700 and I met the others around 0800 to go around the corner to a “hole in the wall” place to get some dimsum items for breakfast. We ate them in the hotel lobby, accompanied by complimentary coffee. We set off around 0900 to explore the Yongqingfang old area near […]
18 March 2024
Arriving and transit in Haikou We arrived 15 mins ahead of the scheduled time of 0500 into Haikou. Immigration didn’t take too long and we were in the quiet landside area around 0530. I had a note in Google Translate explaining to the immigration officer that I needed the 15 day “All China” visa exemption […]
17 March 2024
Bargain of the century! I had every intention of staying home in Auckland through autumn until my next trip in June. However, while helping friends search for fares, I came across a crazily low fare from Auckland to China. Hainan Airlines had fares to Guangzhou for NZD548 through their hub in Haikou. I was allowed […]
7 February 2024
I woke up not feeling sore but only a bit stiff in the knees after the long hike yesterday. We left National Park at 0945 on the drive back to Auckland, with a lunch stop at Otorohanga. I changed to my own car at Uncle S’s place at Manurewa and got home a little after […]
6 February 2024
Mangatepopo to Soda Springs The Tongariro Crossing hike is a one-way hike, meaning that one doesn’t return to the starting point. For us, it was best to be picked up and returned to the hotel by shuttle and Swee had opted for the 0715 pickup. The bus got us to the starting point at Mangatepopo […]
5 February 2024
The drive from Auckland to Tongariro National Park took us through a township called Temple View. It looked like a new town with three Mormon churches but upon looking it up in Wikipedia, it was established in the 1950s and is still looking immaculate. After a lunch stop in Te Kuiti, we reached Howards Mountain […]