Around the world with Gary & Tracy

Dear all

We have been back two weeks now and a very hectic time we have had, sorting house and photos, seeing friends and family.

Glad to be back - yes. Missing our adventures - yes! However, one of the things we learnt while we were away was just how special our beautiful country is and how we take it for granted or dismiss its beauty and diversity. Take a look at this sunset - stunning isn't it. I took this photo from our house three nights ago. We must keep remembering to look and see and appreciate the riches we have right on our doorstep.

Tracy and Gary xxxxxxx

This trainers have travelled with us and we have walked thousands of miles across some of the greatest wonders in them!

Hi all
Well it seems dear old blighty is still a fond memory. We are still in Singapore as our flight last night was cancelled. The upside of this inconvienience was being put up at the Sheraton (5 star) hotel near orchard Road, shopping mecca. We just had to have breakfast, lunch and dinner too (an eatathon). hard work I must say. Lots of great bathroom freebies. So, we are back at the airport for take 2. We are re-scheduled to fly singapore to frankfurt then Frankfurt to Manchester. Hopefully we will arive home sometime on Sunday afternoon, a year to the day when we left.

More anon..................

Lots of love
Tracy & Gary xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi all

We are using a computer in the hotel and cannot upload any new photos so this is the best we can do! It's our last day, we fly to Heathrow tomorrow night then get a connecting flight to Manchester to arrive at 8.30am on Saturday morning. I am sure we will be feeling fresh and perky after an overnight flight and 7 hour time difference!

We are making the most of our last day and just about to go to Singapore zoo for the day.

We had a lovely time in Bali and particularly enjoyed our last port of call there, a place called Amed. Just lovely, so quiet and relaxed with just the sound of the sea and snorkelling activity to keep us occupied. Highly recommended.

So, our travels are nearly over, we cannot believe a year has come and gone but Las Vegas - where it all started - does seem a long, long time ago. We have been very lucky both in meeting lots of good people and having a minimum amount of uchh factor, just the occasional coackroach and bed bug!

Its been the trip of a lifetime but has convinced us that its possible to fulfill your dreams, now and in the future.

We are so looking forward to seeing everyone and for our next adventures at home to start as we embark on whatever we will do next.

We are feeeling very excited about coming home - it feels a little like Christmas Eve!!!

We will be uploading some more photos onto the blog when we get back, until then, keep safe everyone and thank you so much for all your comments and messages over the last year. We count ourselves very fortunate indeed to have such great family and friends.

Lots of love to all of you and see you soon.

Tracy & Gary xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

See you all in a few days!

Lots of love to you all.

Tracy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi all

Many times whilst we have been travelling, we have been reminded of how unexpected and near tragedy is to us. We left Peru days before an earthquake and Lake Tahoe in the states hours before a huge forest fire. In China, we were only a few hours distance from Chengdu and nearly went there to see the giant pandas.

Our thoughts are with all the people who are suffering in the Sichuan Province of China at this time. Having been to China we know how little machinery is available for construction work so it must be incredibly difficult and labour intensive to search through the devastation. A terrible time for China.

Tracy & Gary

Hello all

Well, at last, we have been able to upload some photos and do a blog! Great stuff. We are currently in Ubud, the artistic and cultural centre of Bali.

We are staying in a wonderful place called Kakiang bungalows www.kakiang.com where for 20 pounds a night you get your breakfast delivered to you so you can enjoy it on your private balcony, afternoon tea and cake again in your room if you like, and your sheets and towels and room cleaned every day. Wonderful. Oh yes, you can also have a great evening meal delivered to your room for 6 pounds between you... and they bring a mosquito plug in every evening for you as well. Highly recommended. Its a very beautiful and simple place, lovely to look at with a very nice pool. Not everywhere in Bali is as good or at such a good price, you really have to shop around here a lot or you could be spending a serious amount of money. Added tax etc on drinks, food and accommodation ranges from nil to 31%!! So, it can make a big, big difference to your bill.

We are fine, we had a couple of days of stomach upset when we first arrived from something we ate in a restaurant. Tracy had a high temperature and was in bed for a day and a half. We have been extraordinarily lucky as it's the first time we have been ill with food related stuff during our time away. When you consider all the places we have eaten over the last year, we haven't done badly.

We are fine now and ready for a bike ride tomorrow to see some stone cave carvings nearby. We went to the art gallery today and monkey forest sanctuary. Its very, very humid here - more so than on the coast - so everything takes a while to do!

We are hoping to see a Balinese shadow puppet show (Wayang Kulit) on Tuesday and Tracy is going to have a traditional balinese massage, body scrub and flower bath (Gary is sticking with massage only!).

So, as you can see, we are making the most of our few days left because we will be back at home in 2 weeks.

We hope you are all well and looking forward so much to seeing everyone soon.

Lots and lots of love

Tracy & Gary xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi all

Well, here we are in Bali, our last stop (apart from a couple of days in Singapore) before returning home. We have had an eventful few days - there is another blog on the other site from China with some more photos. I have managed to upload one photo from Bali on this site but cannot blog it for some reason. The connection here is painfully slow so we are not sure how many photos we wil be able to upload.

We are fine, we had an eventful time in Hong Kong on the way here - we were only stopping one night and the place we booked The Yes Inn turned out to be a building site - literally uninhabitable. What a nightmare. We managed to get a room instead at the Ibis for a staggering 60 pounds a night. Accommodation in Hong Kong is phenomenally expensive.

Arrived in Bali and had a two and a hlf hour queue in the airport to get a visa stamped. Not great. Then off to our accommodation the Patra Bali in South Kuta. its a lovely place but slightly reminds us of the Prisoner, its vast with lots of staff whizzing around in electric buggys. We are here for a week then going to Sanur. Haven't done much yet, sat by the pool yesterday which was lovely. Working up to some culture!

A big thanks to Tracy's brother Glennie for sorting our accommodation in Amed. What a star.

Will write again soon.

Lots of love to all

Tracy & Garyxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

HI all

Well, the foibles of communication here rumble on as now I cannot access the other blog and can access this one! How frustrating. Anyway We have managed to upload a few photos which is good news. Our journey so far: Shangahi, Hangzhou then a plane to Xian then an overnight sleeper to Pingyao which will be followed (hopefully) by a bus to Beijing. I say hopefully because its virtually impossible to get transport information here and everyone tells you something different.

What can we say about our impressions of China - on the downside lots of pollution, dust, dirt, thieving spitting and smoking. On the plus side, great beauty in unexpected places, helpfulness, young people who really want to chat with you and exchange views. Lovely buildings and sights.

The sheer number of people here can be overwhelming - 1.4 billion people live in China, something like 13 million in Shanghai and Xian. There are 44,000 people in Pingyao and no bank! Old and new are cheek by jowl, extreme poverty next to Prada shops in Xian. Its a country of contradictions.

We have stayed in tradition old guesthouses which has been very pleasant, they are always an oasis of calm and peace in any city.

I guess we are getting a little travel fatigued and are looking forward to having a rest in Bali. We haven't decided where we are going there yet so if anyone has any recommendations for locations/accommodation, please let know.

Anyway, thats all for now. Thinking of you all and hope you are well. We are thinking of Nick who is having yet another operation and is still in hospital (4 mths now).

Take care all.

Lots of love

Tracy & Gary xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi all

We have just returned from our last Aussie adventure - 3 days at Uluru and Kings Canyon. Getting up at 5am each morning , watching spectacular sunrises and sunsets, doing some great walks. We walked around the whole of Uluru 9.5km which was a fantastic experience as there were very few people who did the walk. Uluru itself is truly magnificent, no words to describe its compexity and texture, its many facets and colours. Its worth coming here just to see this ancient rock. We are really glad we did this trip last as its certainly been a great climax to our time in Australia.

We fly to Melbourne tomorrow and then onto Shanghai the day afterwards for the start of our China adventures. Only 2 months left!!

Hope you are all well and happy, we will be looking forward to seeing you all in 8 weeks. Look out for our first blog from China.

Lots of love
Tracy & Garyxxxxxxxx