Bruce (&Karina's) Nuffield Odyssey

Bonjour Paris

2009-09-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

After coming to the end of our trip through the UK we were both excited to get on the train to Paris. We have had a busy few days since arriving but are loving every minute. We arrived late Saturday afternoon so decided to relax & take a walk along the river Seine before wandering through the shops in the Le Marais & having dinner at a typical french restaurant (snails & all). Yesterday was a long day but again we had a great time - we caught the train to Versailles & spent the day looking through the Kings Palace, apartments, gardens (including the fountain show) & then Marie-Antionette's House. After returning to Paris we visited the Eiffel Tower & although most people say its over rated we still enjoyed it & of course the views from the top are fantastic. Today we have been to the Louvre (& yes we saw the Mona Lisa) and then walked from the Louvre along Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe where once again the views over Paris were pretty cool. So far the plan for tonight is to visit Notre Dame & then head back to the Eiffel Tower to see it in all it's night time glory - by this time we should be ready for sleep!

Lakes District, Yorkshire, Cumbria & back to London

2009-09-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

After leaving Edinburgh we thought we'd take a scenic route to Harrogate, Yorkshire, & go via the Lakes District to see Hill Top (the Beatrix Potter farm). Unfortunately the weather was MISERABLE & the area was packed with visitors for the long weekend so after a quick stopover and look through the Beatrix Potter Gallery we continued on our way to Harrogate. We had a great couple of nights in Harrogate staying with Nick & his family and from here we spent Monday looking around York. We both really loved York & had a fantastic day Monday visiting the York Minster, the Shambles & wandering around the streets & the shops. Before leaving Harrogate on Tuesday Nick showed us through his 'egg business' right from the chickens laying to the packaging & marketing which was really fascinating. From here we continued south (stopping in at the Wedgwood museum) to stay with Roger & his family. Again we had a great stay & really enjoyed being able to see the numerous ventures Roger & his boys are operating - gave us plenty to think about!! On the move again we headed back towards the Wales border to visit Aled who was kind enough to give up his time & let us tour his new chicken house (142,000 in a single shed - we didn't even see the other sheds) & processing/packaging facility. This was an incredible setup to see & I can honestly say I don't think we will ever see so many eggs again (packing well over 1 million eggs per day). From here we continued on to stay with Nick for the night before making our way back towards Cambridge for a full day of meetings & then back to London to finish the UK portion of our trip.

Edinburgh

2009-08-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately Bruce was not very well for the Edinburgh leg of our trip & spent all of Saturday in bed. I on the other hand had a great time touring Edinburgh Castle (including the Crown Jewels), wandering around Princes St & climbing to the top of Scotts monument for fantastic views over Edinburgh. Since Bruce wasn't in tow I also managed to fill in my time with a bit of shopping! Thankfully Bruce was feeling a little better come Sunday so before leaving we went for another walk through the gardens beside Edinburgh Castle and then along the Royal Mile down to parliament & the Queen's Edinburgh residence.

Northern Ireland & into Scotland

2009-08-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

The remainder of our time in Dublin was good fun. We had an amazing meal at a french restaurant Tuesday night & then spent Wednesday morning looking around Dublin. We managed to see Oscar Wilde's house & toured Trinity College including The Book of Kells. From Dublin we headed north to briefly stop in at Belfast to see some of the political murals & then onwards towards Ballymena. Thursday we had a fantastic day visiting the Giants Causeway, Carrick-a-rede ropebridge & driving the Glens of Antrim around the north east coast of Ireland. The coastline really was spectacular and in the morning before the rain set in again you could see all the way across to Scotland. Friday saw us catching the ferry from Larne to Cairnryan in Scotland. Thankfully this ferry ride was much quicker & much much smoother than the last. Once we had arrived in Scotland we followed the coastline north into Glasgow to visit George's square & then east to Edinburgh.

Over the sea & into Ireland

2009-08-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

After the worst ferry trip of our lives (no exaggeration - I'll spare you the details) we arrived in Ireland. The weather was typically Irish - cold, wet & windy so we headed to The Lobster Pot, a local pub near the beach specialising in crab & lobster. After lunch & once our stomachs had settled from the ferry we headed south into Waterford to see the crystal manufacturing which has since closed & been shipped off shore so toured the showrooms instead. From Waterford we continued south west to Cork where we stayed with another Nuffield scholar & Bruce met with some of the agricultural guys from one of the banks. In the afternoon we decided to head north-west to Killarney (massive tourist trap full of Americans) and then continued on to drive the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry was quite spectacular with some quaint little villages and amazing views over the west coast of Ireland although the rain didn't stay away for long & soon you were lucky to see even the railing beside you for rain & fog.

Today we have driven from Cork to Dublin stopping in at The Rock of Cashel along the way. The Rock of Cashel was good to see although I may regret to say that we are nearly all castle/cathedralled out! As I type this now I am waiting for Bruce to return from a meeting with the Irish Farm Journal before we take off again to check out the sites of Dublin.

New South Welshmen in Wales

2009-08-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Cardiff, Wales, on Thursday & spent the day looking around Cardiff Castle (not much to see) & Millennium Stadium. The tour of Millennium stadium was good although a little disappointing as they had the turf up & were setting up for the U2 concert Saturday night so was a little hard to picture it in its full rugby glory. Later in the afternoon we headed to Cardiff Bay for a coffee - once again it was nice but not fantastic. I guess it comes down to the fact that despite being a capital city it's still relatively small & you really can't compare it to the likes of Sydney or London.

Friday we headed across to the west coast of Wales, stopping in at Caerphilly Castle and then Tenby along the way. Tenby was pretty although one of the biggest tourist traps we saw in Wales. Set on the hill overlooking the beach & ocean it was so packed with tourists they actually shut off the town centre to traffic during the day to allow the tourists to spill onto the streets. The view was pretty although the wind was freezing (seems it was just us who thought so - the Welsh were walking around in shorts & thongs, and still swimming in the water - for us it was like the middle of winter!).

Friday night we spent with a farmer near Pembroke & had a great look around his farm which included everything from cropping, dairy, potatoes, lamb fattening & a little bit of real estate. They had just started digging potatoes they day we arrived & were about halfway through the wheat harvest (averaging 70bags - really quite depressing). The wheat harvesting didn't quite seem the same as at home - it was so wet the header & chaser bin were leaving 10inch ruts in the ground and there was no dust to be seen. Before leaving Saturday we also managed to touring their local potato processing/packing plant which was great to see.

Saturday night we headed a little further north to stay with another scholar & really enjoyed our time looking around his sheep and national trust property. The views here were just spectacular - lush green hills dotted with sheep - its amazing what 80inches of rainfall a year can do!

Oxford to Exeter via Stonehenge & Onwards to Bath

2009-08-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

Kirsty please note the inclusion of this photo!

After leaving the Oxford area we headed south west towards Exeter stopping in at Stonehenge along the way. Stonehenge was packed with tourists & great to see although the day itself was fairly cold and miserable. From Stonehenge we went back into Salisbury to see the Salisbury Cathedral, noted as having the tallest spiral in England, & its pillars have even buckled under the weight giving it a permanent lean. From Salisbury we continued on to Exeter and had lots of fun staying with Michael Dart (Nuffield scholar) & checking out his 'farm shop'. The shop was absolutely incredible & gave us both a lot of food for thought - I even helped out the business side of things by doing a little shopping myself!

After Exeter we headed north to Bridgewater for more meetings organised by Ian Tremain (Nuffield scholar) & continued on to near Weston to stay with another scholar & his family, Alistair House.
From Weston we drove via Blagdon on to Bath - the drive itself was quite pretty if not a little hairy at times through the tiny narrow country laneways. We were both excited to arrive in Bath although our excitement soon faded once we queued for an hour and 20 minutes for a car park (who would ever go travelling in peak tourist season??!!). Once finally parked, we spent the afternoon wandering the streets & touring the original Roman Baths & Pump Room as well as checking out the old Georgian houses along Royal Crescent & The Circus.

Our last night before heading to Wales we had a great time with Simon Ball (Nuffield scholar) & his family, touring the family & checking out their farm shop.

Cambridge, Oxford & surrounds

2009-08-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

After leaving London on Friday we headed towards Cambridge for Bruce to have more meetings. We spent a little bit of time wandering the streets of Cambridge although given it is summer holidays a lot of the colleges were closed to tourists and the famous Kings College Chapel was closed for renovations. Despite not being able to get inside a lot of the buildings, Cambridge is still an amazing place to visit with very quaint narrow streets & an enormous amount of history & architecture.

We spent the next few nights staying with David (Nuffield Scholar) & his wife Katie whilst we had a busy few days touring the country side meeting with past scholars, farmers, businessmen & president of the NFU (National Farmers Union).

After leaving Cambridgeshire we headed to Oxford & again spent some time wandering around the city taking in the sights and endless old buildings (including the Corpus Chrisi College where parts of the Harry Potter movies have been set).

London at long last

2009-08-14T03:41:00.000-07:00

After a fantastic time travelling through the US we arrived in London on Monday after another crappy flight with United (don't get me started again!). Once we arrived we were straight to The Farmers Club to check in & then off again for Bruce to meet with Macquarie. That night we managed to catch up with Steph for dinner in Notting Hill which was great to be able to see her again.

Tuesday we began our onslaught of the tourist sites: in two days we visited Downing St, changing of the Horse Guards, Buckingham Palace changing of the guards, Buckingham Palace summer opening of the state rooms, Trafalgar square, National Gallery, Banquet house (where Charles I was killed), Churchill Museum & Cabinet war rooms, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament (including house of commons & house of lords), Big Ben, Brick Lane (known for its Indian restaurants), St Paul's Cathedral (climbed all 580 or so steps to the top & back down again), Globe Theatre, Tower Bridge, London Tower, London Eye, & Lords cricket ground. We also managed to fit in some time for shopping at Harrods & along Portobello Rd before heading to the West End Thursday night to see Jersey Boys which was fantastic.

The weather in London was fairly typical during our stay - we had everything from hot and sunny to freezing cold winds & miserable rain!! Despite hardly stopping to take a breath while we were there, we both had a great time in London & have definitely added it to the list of places to see again.

Washington DC

2009-08-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Washington DC late Tuesday & had a great time staying with Hutch & Gemma. Wednesday was taken up with meetings with USDA and National Cattlemans Association but the rest of our stay we spent checking out the sites. We had a big day Thursday - we hired bikes from Thompson Boat Centre and road along the river to the National Mall. We then spent the day visiting the Washington Monument (tallest building in Washington at 555ft), the Postal Museum, Capitol Building (ask Bruce about his brush with the US police), the Lincoln Memorial, the National Library, and the Natural History Museum which houses the original American flag. Thursday night we also managed to catch up with another of Bruce's friends from school. Friday was a little less hectic - we hired bikes again and rode to Arlington Cemetery (American War Memorial) where we saw the Kennedy's grave, Arlington house, and tomb of the unknown soldier.

We had a great end to the US leg of our trip with our time spent with Gemma & Hutch. Saturday they took us for a drive over the Bay Bridge & we then spent some time looking around Annapolis - a cute little area set on the river/bay. Our very last day in the states was a stinker -(close to, if not more than 40degrees) although we had a great time watching the Nationals beat the Arizona Diamond Backs, luckily our seats were in the shade.

The corn fields of Iowa

2009-08-03T16:08:00.000-07:00

On our travels from Sioux Falls we were lucky enough to visit & tour the Louis Dreyfus Ethanol Plant at Grand Junction. This plant has been open only a few months & we were treated to a personal tour of their facility which was fascinating.

The past four days we have been in the areas surrounding Waterloo, Iowa meeting with farmers who are passionate about their industry. We enjoyed our day Friday with Clay Mitchell (a real technology buff) and then with Ben Riensche touring parts of his farm. Ben & his family welcomed us into their home for dinner and it was really nice to have a home cooked meal and spend some time with a family again.

Saturday we took a break from farming and drove to Hazelton to see the Amish villages, and then onto Amana which was an original German colony which now is designed for the tourists with lots of gift shops, cheese & wine tasting, a brewery and restaurants.

Sunday we had another fantastic day enjoying another meal with Ben & his family before visiting another farm operation at Hudson. Alan & his wife Sarah, along with his business partner Ted & wife Lynda hosted us for drinks around the camp fire & dinner with all food (excluding meat) coming fresh from Sarah's amazing vegetable garden - something to strive for at home!

Just a small detour!!!!

2009-07-30T16:45:00.000-07:00

Some may think we're crazy (and for a brief moment we would agree with you) but after finishing off with some meetings earlier than expected we found we had a couple of spare days so decided to take a 1000 mile (1600km) detour to the opposite side of South Dakota to Mt Rushmore National Memorial. On the way we stooped off in Wall, to visit Wall Drug (it had been advertised about every half mile for the last 50 miles so we figured it was a must see) - it was a tourist trap but still a must see as a pharmacist. Wall Drug covered the block (& really was the only thing in town) and had everything from a small dispensary, kids toys, clothing (including cowboy boots & belt buckles), cafe, ice creamery, souvenirs, photo shop, jewelry, newsagency & believe it or not it had its own chapel!! I find it really hard explaining to the people we meet that I'm a pharmacist but I don't stand behind a glass screen & pass pills through a slot. It really makes you appreciate the situation we have in Australia with pharmacist ownership.

Bruce & I both enjoyed our time at Keystone visiting the Mt Rushmore National Memorial although we both agreed that it was by no means as spectacular as Yosemite National Park or the Grand Canyon (maybe it has something to do with the man made thing I'm not sure). Heading back east from Mt Rushmore we drove the Iron Mountain Rd which winds around through a series of tunnels, each tunnel framing the memorial, which was quite pretty. We also drove the Wildlife loop through Custer State Park and managed to see burros (similar to a mule or donkey), wild turkeys, bison buffalo & plenty of deer. Our last detour for this trip was through the Badlands State Park - a very unique landscape for South Dakota - almost like a mini grand canyon with sand stone instead of the red rock & then opening out into wide open grass plains.

Our last stop on our big detour across the state was in Mitchell to see the International Corn Palace. Again this was a bit of a tourist trap but interesting none the less. Essentially a big building with murals made from cobs of corn (murals being redesigned and replaced each year).

Finally we arrived in Sioux Falls Wednesday night.

Rising City, Nebraska

2009-07-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

We made our home with Bart & Lynne Ruth in Nebraska for a very relaxing few days over the weekend. Between dinners and brunch and drinking margarita's in the pool we did manage to put some time into looking at Bart's farming operation & also had a look around a local 6000 head dairy. We really enjoyed our dinner Sunday night with Lynne, Bart & Bart's parents and owe them a big thank you for making us feel so welcome in their home.

(I should make one comment as this has confused some people we have spoken to at home who have been trying to track our travels: many places in the USA are named '........ City', this by no means reflects the size of the town & many of these 'cities' as they are called have a population from 500-1500 people).

After leaving Rising City we drove back to Lincoln for Bruce to meet with Ken Cassmen, a climate change expert at the University of Nebraska & travelled onto Valentine, South Dakota.

Kansas City

2009-07-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

After leaving West Lafayette, we headed back to Indianapolis & flew to Kansas City, Missouri. We were both pleasantly surprised by Kansas City & really enjoyed our time there. For what is essentially a big country town it had a great shopping area, bars, restaurants & art museum. During our few nights we sampled local BBQ, Chicago's famous deep dish pizza & had a fun night at Jardine's, a local jazz bar & restaurant. Bruce had a couple of meetings with Louis Dreyfus at the Kansas City Board of Trade which were extremely useful and I managed to boost the local retail economy (my favourites were a US kitchen/cooking supplies store which offered to freight things home for us & also found a great little designer bag boutique which will make to order & can design & buy online).

42nd Annual Top Farmer Crop Workshop, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

2009-07-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

From St Louis we travelled on to Indianapolis then West Lafayette for Bruce to attend the Top Farmer Crop Workshop & meet with some of the universities economists. So far we have met an amazing group of farmers and industry representatives (one of whom had been to Parkes this year - can you believe it!) and everyone has been extremely welcoming & interested in the Nuffield Scholarship program and how the Australian grain farmer operates. Bruce spoke last night to the conference about the Nuffield Scholarship program, our business & farming operation, technologies being used by Australian farmers, and the importance of being able to store moisture in our dry environment.

St Louis: Home of Budweiser & the Cardinals!!!

2009-07-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

After our busy week we decided to head to St Louis for the weekend and catch up with Dave Cussons, another Australian Nuffield Scholar also travelling through the midwest. While Bruce spent some time working I walked down to the Mississippi River & Gateway Arch. Friday night we had dinner at Charlie Gitto's, a local Italian restaurant, famous for the St Louis speciality, toasted ravioli (ravioli crumbed & then deep fried - was quite delicious!).Saturday was lots of fun - we spent the afternoon looking through the Budweiser Brewery (Anheuser-Busch Brewery) & then managed to see the Cardinals play Arizona. Seeing the Cardinals was heaps of fun - so much more atmosphere than our sports at home & the fans just live their sport. Hopefully we'll try and catch some more games before our trip is over.

Bloomington, Delavan & Carlinville

2009-07-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

From Chicago we headed south towards Bloomington where Bruce spent the morning meeting with Terry & the guys from Advance Trading. After lunch with Bryan & Taylor (Advanced Trading) we headed out to Delavan to visit a local co-op and their grain handling system.

On Friday we left Bloomington and stopped in at Illinois Family Farms at Carlinville on our way to St Louis. We had a great time with Rick and his wife, Amy, who showed us through their grain handling/storage system as well as some of their ideas on business management and marketing decisions. Rick (Illinois Family Farms) is currently farming 24,000 acres of corn and aim to reach 450,000 by 2040 so this is by no means a small operation!! His grain storage system alone would be a similar size if not larger than the Parkes Graincorp site.

Chicago

2009-07-16T09:12:00.001-07:00

Once again Bruce had a very productive time in Chicago. Our visit to the board of trade with Ben was fascinating with us both managing to make it down on the floor (unfortunately we don't have any photos as cameras are not allowed). Our last afternoon in Chicago we visited Millennium Park & the Chicago Institute of Art which has a great collection of impressionist works as well as the famous 'American Gothic'.

Global Risk Management & Cargill, Minneapolis

2009-07-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

Minneapolis was a quick stopover but very productive in terms of Bruce's research. We had a great stay & visit with Robert Gast and his company Global Risk Management. Would be fantastic if we could get him out to Australia to go through some of his courses.

Our visit to the Cargill head office was also great - the buildings in themselves were a site to see. Once again Bruce managed to pick up some great information for his research - the number of alternate selling options/contracts that Cargill in the US offer is mind boggling. Will be interesting to talk with Cargill Australia to see if any of these products will be offered at home now that the single desk has been removed.

The Calgary Stampede

2009-07-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

The Calgary Stampede is said to be the largest outdoor show in the world & it didn't disappoint. Think Sydney Easter Show times ten (at least), cowboy boots, belt buckles & big hats. We are very grateful to Steve for organising fantastic tickets & were lucky enough to see the semi-finals of the Chuck Wagon races - quite unique & lots of fun!

Alberta, Canada

2009-07-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic time staying with Steve, Vanessa & Ava in Three Hills, Alberta. Steve is an agronomist in Alberta operating his own business Beyond Agronomy and had a fantastic knowledge of both the Canadian & local area farming operations. We had several interesting visits with Steve's clients, particularly Spencer & Stirling Hilton, who weren't too unlike ourselves & were running a great cropping operation. Steve also arranged for a flight over the Three Hills area which was fascinating to see the true quality of the crops - you definitely can't hide anything from the sky! Farmers in Alberta are in 'drought' though for them this means still producing crops up to 4-5tonne/ha for wheat & 1-2 tonnes/acre for canola.

Seattle

2009-07-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

We had limited time in Seattle although we really enjoyed the time we spent here. Driving out of Seattle is a beautiful sight with the forests & snow capped mountains then lots of recreational parks & lakes (reminds me of the typical 'summer holiday at the lake' that you see in the movies). Whilst in Seattle we wandered down to Pike St to visit the markets as well as visiting the original Starbucks Store - quite different to the Starbucks we all know today. Also spent some time looking at the local supermarkets & pharmacies. I know everyone says it but pharmacies in the US are just incredible to see - almost like a Big W or Kmart with a tiny little dispensary in the corner - sell everything from confectionery, stationary, frozen foods & cigarettes! The waterfront at Seattle wasn't much to see but we did enjoy a lazy afternoon at a funky little wine & pizza bar we found down a dark lane way off Pike St. Unfortunately didn't run into Patrick Dempsey on our travels!!!

Washington State

2009-07-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

From San Francisco we flew to Seattle & then headed approx 4.5hrs south east to Dayton to check out some of the wheat crops. Dayton is quite a pretty area & interesting farmland in that the majority of land cropped is on steep hillsides proving quite a challenge for technologies such as GPS & tramlines (not commonly used) as well as being hard wearing on machinery. While at Dayton we also visited a farmer who has set up his own bio diesel plant which was quite fascinating.

4th July in San Francisco

2009-07-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

From Yosemite we continued driving to San Francisco for 4th July. Coming into the city on the afternoon of the 3rd we met gridlock - 8 lanes (all going our direction) absolutely choc-a-bloc!!! Once we made it through the traffic we arrived at The Sir Francis Drake Hotel - one of the most iconic hotels in San Francisco - our room alone was a sight to be seen & full of San Fran funky style!! Our first night in San Fran we met up with Lloyd & Kathy for some cocktails before heading off to a small Italian restaurant for dinner.

SATURDAY 4TH JULY we were up early to catch our tour to Alcatraz. We had been told by some locals that it was over rated but we really enjoyed the tour arriving back at the wharf just in time for a clam chowder sour dough bun for lunch. After lunch we made our way to the Golden Gate Bridge & walked to the other side of the bay & back. That night we caught a cable car from Union square back to Fisherman's wharf for some more cocktails before watching the fireworks & having dinner at The Franciscan (said to be one of the best seafood restaurants on the wharf). Bruce laughs each time I say I loved San Francisco - there were people everywhere & a bit chaotic with 4th July but it still had a really nice chilled out feel to it.
p.s. - the weather (&wind) was freezing!

Fresno & Yosemite

2009-07-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

From Vegas we flew to Fresno where we picked up a car and drove to Huron for Bruce to visit a tomato & almond farm and processing facility. We then headed north for a night in Yosemite National Park. Yosemite was beautiful & full of tourists for the 4th July holiday weekend. There had been some lightning strikes (&fires) some days before we arrived so unfortunately some of the main views from the lookout points weren't as clear as when Bruce had last visited in March & we would have liked some more time to look around. We did stay the night in Yosemite in a gorgeous old style American hotel which you can see in the photo.

Hello Vegas!

2009-06-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

After a long and ordinary flight from Beijing our first stop over in the USA was Las Vegas. The weather again was HOT & although we enjoyed seeing the bright lights of the strip I don't know that we'll bother with a return trip. The Grand Canyon however was spectacular (as you would expect) although views were a little interrupted due to smoke from controlled burns. After thunder storms at the cannon in the afternoon our flight back to Boulder city was very rough and we were pretty happy to get our feet back on the ground.

A late b'day present

2009-06-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

Bruce was promised a song for his b'day from Tears, our guide & friend on tour. She has an amazing voice & sang for us a couple of times during our nuffield tour.

Beijing

2009-06-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

Our time in Beijing saw us doing a little less 'agriculture' and a little more tourist activities. On our first afternoon we went to see Tiananmen sq & the Forbidden City - I'd have to say I was a little disappointed with both - while the buildings & architecture are great the overwhelming amount of slab concrete & lack of gardens or greenery I feel took away from it all a little. Our afternoon spent at the forbidden city was also hard work as the temps were in the high 30's (some even say 40's) & this compounded with the rebound off the concrete made it very hot indeed. We did spend a little time on farm studies during our stay & were treated to a tour of the Louis Dreyfus soy bean processing plant. Bruce spent some time with Adam & Guy from Louis Dreyfus talking over his study which gave me good opportunity to hit the Silk St markets. I'd have to say though from the 10 or so who went to the markets the men far out did us girls in the shopping stakes!! Our last day in Beijing with our group was spent at the Simatai section of the great wall. The simatai section is approx 2.5hrs from Beijing & is said to be one of the steepest & most well preserved sections of the great well (as well as being one of the lesser visited sites & hence had fewer tourist numbers). Once again the weather was extremely hot & making it to the top of the wall was hard work - we started with a cable car, then a small train/tram, then climbed the remaining section in a series of steep stairs. Tears & I made it along to the 10th tower whilst Bruce & most of the boys made it as far as they could up past the 12th. Our last night was celebrated at a fantastic peking duck restaurant & it was here that we said our good byes to the group. Whilst most group members went home, we continued our stay in Beijing thanks to the hospitality of Tina's brother & family and managed to take in some extra sites such as the summer palace (loved it!) and pearl markets.

Xian

2009-06-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

After leaving the areas surrounding Taishan we flew to Xian with our tour group. Our hotel in Xian had a fantastic locations situated in the main square between the old drum and the old bell towers (pity the hotel itself wasn't so great - couldn't even unlock the door, then the toilet didn't flush, the list goes on....). That night we had some free time so wandered through the markets before making our way to the Big Goose Pagoda to watch the night light show (fountains lit up & choreographed to music). We also visited the Terracotta Warriors - a truly amazing piece of history that is still hard to comprehend the enormity of it all. Whilst in Xian we spent quite a bit of time visiting the surrounding agricultural areas with some of our visits including a New Zealand kiwi fruit company(Global horticulture), ostrich breeding, beef cloning facility, an ice wine vineyard, cherry orchards, dairy, and MLA. Bruce also got to celebrate his 31st birthday whilst in Xian & partake in the Chinese tradition of eating a long life noodle (a long thin continuous noodle believed to bring a long & fruitful life).

Chinese Broadacre Grain Harvesting

2009-06-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

On the way to one of the farms, the local farmers were harvesting rice using their big, new self propelled headers and then bagging the proceeds to be transported off farm. The farmland is divided into Mu's with a Mu being 1/15 of a hectare. Given a farming family in the country might consist of dad, mum and two kids, they are farming 3.2Mu (0.8 Mu per person) or about 0.2ha. Average yields (we heard) were 4.7t/ha though this is all irrigated and most statistics in China have to be treated with suspicion.

The other photo shows the Chinese grain "drying" methods. The roads in China are excellent, with many 3 and 4 lane dual expressways, 2 lane dual expressways are almost run of the mill. Anyway, after the rice is harvested and bagged, you will drive along and see grain spread out taking up one lane of the road where it will either be drying (the Chinese use rakes or brooms to spread it around) or even threshed (just let the trucks and buses drive over it to break the husk off). Very ingenious, if only I could adapt this method to the Newell Highway!!

Taishan

2009-06-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Taishan and we started being introduced to Chinese banquets and cuisine at the local markets. Quite an interesting experience. Everything is fresh and pretty much killed on site, including geese just behind the stall (killed, plucked, gutted and then cut up for your convenience). We also saw a bag of snakes but unfortunately we didn't have time to visit the snake markets.

Hong Kong

2009-06-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Our blog was blocked in China by the Chinese Communist Party for the obvious reasons of subversion so we haven't been able to post. We will post some retrospective photos up to the Grand Canyon (Today) over the next couple of days.

Arrived in Hong Kong - plenty of neon lights and big buildings and people everywhere. Went up to the Peak (pictured) and Karina also was introduced to the joys of chopsticks. After a couple of days shopping, we met up with the group and had an interesting meeting with CLSA, a brokerage company. They had some interesting comments on Australia, the US Dollar, China and New Zealand (for the benefit of our NZ Nuffield Scholar, Alec Jack, NZ has now been renamed the train wreck isles). On Thursday we embarked on our trip to China.

Five more sleeps

2009-06-08T00:18:00.000-07:00

Only five more sleeps until our quick flight to Sydney in preparation for the big trip. This time next week we should hopefully be mid-air on our way to Hong Kong. The last few weeks have flown by & no doubt these past few days will also as we hectically prepare for our time away. We are now up to approximately 55mm of rain in recent days and all the crops are looking healthy - hopefully that means Bruce's stress levels will be a little less knowing that things at home will be ticking away nicely while we are gone.

Less than a fortnight of work until I'm on holidays!

2009-05-29T22:39:00.000-07:00

Bruce may not agree with the above title, but unlike me he will be working whilst we're away - I on the other hand plan on doing very little (Bruce says I may be in for a big shock). Sowing/planting is almost over with the boys here hoping to finish up in literally a few hours. It will be nice to have it all out of the way although some rain would be even nicer - fingers crossed this week. Final plans are still coming together & the next fortnight will be fairly hectic for us as we try to get organised for 13 weeks away and say our goodbyes to family & friends.

3 weeks to go....

2009-05-24T23:35:00.001-07:00

Three weeks to go and we are busy trying to get final details organised. Bruce is still busy spraying/planting but hopefully should be finished by the end of this week, then all we need is some rain..... For those of you who may be interested Partners in Grain have just added an article on Bruce to their website. Go to www.partnersingrain.org.au and click on news (right hand side).

On the count down - 4 weeks to go

2009-05-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

We have exactly four weeks to go until we depart on the first leg of our trip to Hong Kong. Bruce has been busy making final arrangements for the big trip and I have done very little so far in helping out. Finally our flights are booked so it finally seems real and the count down is now on!! All we have left to do now is finish planting (only 1200ha to go), tidy up loose ends here and prepare for 13 weeks travelling the world - can you tell I'm getting excited?