I left my digs in the north of Brisbane and drove to the airport around 6.30 am. The roads were quiet and I just put the cruise control on and sat back and enjoyed the scenery. Before returning the car I had to fill it up with fuel. I repacked a few things into my case and then threw out all my snotty hanky’s and detritus from the car before returning to Hertz rental. I was a bit apprehensive about this because you never know if they will try to stitch you up for a scratch or something you missed whilst picking up the car. But I could not have been more wrong. I parked the car, took out my bags and the young guy checked the car quite quickly and then said thanks very much and I hope you enjoyed the hire. It was a painless and efficient and then I was on my way to the terminal with my 36kg of luggage. And then you know what happened next, I got the pleasure of chatting to the lovely soor faced Rachel.

The flight was long and was as comfortable as you would expect. Mind you I think the seats are way too hard because my gluttonous maximus was not very happy and I had to constantly shift to get comfy. I did go to duty-free before boarding to try to find a nice whisky to buy but I did not see anything that took me fancy, however I did try quite a few half’s at the whisky bar for free. This was part of the plan to have a few drinks here followed by a few glasses of red and then I would fall asleep but I think it was not as effective as I had planned.

After landing I got through immigration quickly, mind you for a few minutes the border guard looked at me, looked at the passport and then finally asked where I had flown from. This seems all part of a drama that they must play when they get bored or they just want to play with someone’s head. This is something that I would do to just for fun.

I got a taxi to my hotel, staying near the airport was a good choice because by now I was knackered. I’m glad I didn’t have to lug my suitcases back to Suzhou. 45RMB to my hotel. I contacted my friend Lydia on my arrival and she was telling me that she had organised a car to take her and her Mother tp the airport in the morning and I happened to say that I wish I could do that to. Well she organised a car for me and so after a good nights sleep I was picked up at my hotel and dropped off in Suzhou for 90RMB. It’s a two-hour journey from Pudong to Suzhou, the taxi hd been only 10 mins. What a relief to have a car bring me home. The alternative would have been to go back to the airport to pick up the transfer bus to the train station and then get a train to Suzhou, however train tickets are few and far between. Once again the gods have looked after me, or should I say my friends have looked after me.

Climbing the 4 flights of stairs to my apartment with a case in each hand was quite a struggle but I was glad to be back. Mind you Sissi has her mother staying here at the moment and I think there is a bit of tension in the air between the pair. You don’t have to understand Chinese to get the drift of the conversation. I think Sissi’s free spirit attitude to life is not conducive to the way her mother thinks.