Not liking summer when I don’t have a car, fuck it’s hot.  The humidity is also a killer, but as Clarkson says “you don’t have to pee much! 

Well it would have been my Mothers birthday today if she was still with us, so Happy Birthday Ma and it gives me a great excuse to have a single Malt

Slainte

Looks like I’ll be dead and buried if I take the minimum payment option, ……….but I’m also thinking of the money I might save………..

On my return to Suzhou I’ve noticed that the cicadas are out in force. There are many streets here that are lined with trees and when you are walking along the sound of the cicadas is deafening just as it is when you hear them in Australia. This was some what unexpected to say the least. But on the plus side it does drown out the traffic noise

I had a lazy morning in my Shanghai hotel which is only a short journey back to the airport where I will get the shuttle bus to Hongqiao Railway Station, from here I can get a train to Suzhou.

I repacked my cases so that I did not have to struggle with too many things. I had done quite a bit of shopping but not all of it was for me. I had brought back some coffee for myself and some fish and calcium tablets for Nai Nai, the grandmother in my home stay family. I had a Bowmore single malt and I had also bought some clothes which were cheaper to buy in Australia than China. They are now mostly made in Bangladesh. I also had a pair of Doc Martens for my Chinese teacher But my cases were heavy, one weighing around 28kg and the other about 13kg but still it’s still an effort to get on and off public transport and there are so many people in China to add to an already awkward situation.

The train from the Hongqiao to Suzhou was full by the look of it and it was becoming so hot as we stood in line waiting for the gate to open. Finally on the train and I take my seat for a short time and let the air conditioning slowly dry the sweat that has been running down my back and front. I’m still wearing my winter heavy jeans which are making it all the worse but I don’t have shorts to put on. The humidity has also been very high but I’m not sure just how hot it is yet.

As the train pulls into Kunnshan Railway Station the outside temperature is displayed on the LED and it says 37.2c, fuck that’s hot. No wonder the sweat has been running everywhere on me making things very unpleasant. But there is a silver lining in all of this because Judy, the wonderful lady of the house has offered to pick me up and bring me home and I am so grateful to her for doing so. It’s a short walk to the pick up/drop off zone and she sends me a message to say that she is only a few minutes away and sure enough I see her burgundy coloured Mercedes in the queue of cars. What a welcome sight indeed.

She has just finished a business meeting and came straight here to get me and she jumps out the car to give me a hand to put my cases in the boot. She looks absolutely stunning standing there with her polka dot summer dress on and pink soled high heels and big smile, yes it’s good to be back and I forget all about the heat for a few seconds.

In the car it’s just wonderful and I embrace the air conditioning with every naked part of my body which is only really my hands and arms. The traffic is worse than usual because it’s Friday and its rush hour, so not a good time to be heading home. But I’m always surprised at how calm and controlled Judy is when she is driving. She never seems to get flustered or annoyed by any other driver and I’m not so sure I would handle the drive home as calmly as she did. She is one of the few drivers that I trust here.

The house is so hot because it has been in locked up all day, plus the fact it’s the top floor so I switch on the air conditioning and take a cold shower, but that’s after I carry my overweight cases up to my room. When I look in the mirror at my disheveled look I notice that my shirt is covered in dark patches due to the amount of sweat oozing out of every pore.

A cold shower and a change of clothes and then it’s out to dinner.

When I got to duty free I had my eye on a bottle of whisky but what to do when they don’t have the one you want? Well I’ll tell you,  you have a tasting. I tried four whiskies before settling on a Bowmore single malt. I like this kind of breakfast 😆

Yesterday I caught up with Anne and Trevor at the Sanctuary Cove Country Club where there is a world class golf course and nearby the marina where a few weeks ago that had the boat show. This is a place for the wealthy but to be honest Arnie’s Restaurant at the country club has great food and is reasonably priced. 

Believe it or not i managed to eat my way through this delicious looking burger. It had everything on it and I savoured every mouthful. I had a bucket list for food for this trip and I’ve been ticking them off one by one because it will be some time before I have this much western food again. 

I’ve known Anne and Trevor for many years. We all met in the Penrith Leagues Club back around 1992 I think. They were both working there before me. I started working in the bottleshop which I enjoyed. They needed some muscle to move the beer and wine and so they employed me. The shop was run by a dodgy Egyptian called Joe, not his real name. 

Jenny got me the job there, she is quite a character. There was Lillian,Maureen,Debbie,Val,Dot and. So there was not a lot of testosterone in this department. There was also the TAB which is the bookies where you can bet on the dogs and horse racing from all over Australia.  So much money was spent here. I’ve seen many folk come in on a Friday straight from work and spend their pay packet. I’ve also paid out a lot of money, there were some guys that could just pick winner after winner and they say that the races were not fixed. It definitely wasn’t just down to luck that’s for sure. 

One of the  biggest races is the Melbourne Cup. I worked quite a few of them and one year we took over $65,000 in bets. 

But more on the club later. Today it was good to catch up with Anne and Trevor and I really can’t believe just how long a history we have together.

Trevor looks after the course here although in the past he looked after the Sawtell Golf Course. Anne likes horses and sometimes gives riding lessons but there are more stories about horse riding I’ll cover later.

As I mentioned before the marina is close by and if you have a spare  $5 million then you can buy this little run about. 

Many people live around the course and marina but it’s not a place I would like to live in but it’s a good place to visit. 

It was a good day. Good food, good location and of course good friends. 

I got on the ferry at St Lucia and travelled all the way to Hamilton and then returned to St Lucia. It took about 3 hours I think and it’s a great way to see Brisbane from a different perspective and to see some of the amazing properties along the way. If only I had a lazy couple of mill lying around and then I could join this riverside community.

The other day I went up to Mooloolaba on  the Sunshine Coast and caught up with my old mate Wayne Smith alias Duffman. I haven’t seen him for many a year and it was good to catch up.

HIm and his family are staying right on the water near the harbour and the boat ramp is just across the road from the house, which is costing $1500 a week to rent I may add. Mind you it would be a great place to live and if you have a lazy couple of million lying around you too can buy into this lifestyle.

Not a bad place to have fish and chips on a lovely sunny day.

It’s a lovely spot to spend a few days kicking back and taking it easy.

On the way back to Ipswich I decided to take the inland route because I would have hit rush hour going down the coast road. The inland route goes via Kilcoy and down by Somerset Dam and you pass the Glasshouse Mountains on the way. It’s a great road and the other night the road was not busy, so me and the old Ford could enjoy every twist and turn as we headed back to the Switch. The old Ford is 19 years old and has 430,653 km on the clock and still is a joy to drive. I trust the car and I know the car that well that I can push it into every bend in the road feeling very confident that I will come out the other side and quite often I will leave a more modern car in my wake.

Now the old car is getting tired and here lies my dilemma, do I keep her registered when I leave Australia again or do I finally lay her to rest because I’m not sure when I will return and to be honest I am not thinking of returning anytime soon. Mind you if I win lotto I might just move up to Mooloolaba.