Hockings, Hockings everywhere and lots and lots to drink

With lots of flattering exclamations about how lightly we had packed (definite point of pride!) we arrived in Queensland to the warm embrace of my aunty Susan. We had such a lovely time I just might be tempted to use my newly minted Australian citizenship (!) when we get back to the southern hemisphere.

In Brisbane we visited the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art and were treated to an amazing dinner at Honto where we were served the chef’s choice, including wagyu beef tartare and katsu lobster sandwiches, surrounded by amazingly trendeh black stained wood. Then we were off to Kenilworth where Susan and Ian are trying their hand at beef farming on a beautiful property in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

With the Mary River running through the backyard, kookaburras laughing from the enormous Morton Bay fig (someone should write a song about that) and a stunning farm house in which to soak it all in, it really makes the farming life look like the one for me… Not to mention the fiercely talented farm dog to oversee it all.

Then to Sunshine Beach to marvel at the force of the cyclone out to sea (which I hear made Splore a rather damp experience in NZ?) - the whole beach was knee deep in white foam and the surf was pumping.

After a sad goodbye to one of my favourite Hockings, we jumped on a plane to Taiwan. We had a whirlwind day in Taipei (honestly, mainly eating and waiting to be hungry enough to eat again) with a highlight being a very impassioned impromptu lecture by an old local lady about the importance of the Chinese plum blossom and its superiority to the Japanese sakura. Please send me a message if you would like details of this superiority.

Thankfully, another Hocking was on the horizon – we were en route to Hanoi where we met my cousin Jen (a true Hocking despite her last name) and her partner Neil, who are at the tail end of a 12 month trip around the planet. Long story short, we absolutely loved being in northern Vietnam and with Jen and Neil. We sank local beers, local vodka, local pho and local coffee (including egg coffee) in Hanoi, while wandering the streets, visiting the sites, hooning banh mi and playing cards.

Then off to Sapa on an overnight train where we did a three day hike through mountains, waterfalls, rice paddies and bamboo forests, with stops for noodles and pancakes on the way. We were guided by Ze, our fierce lady guide who is part of Sapa Sisters – the first locally owned and operated Sapa guiding company, which employs all female guides from the local Hmong people.

A bit stiff, but victorious, we headed to a two night cruise of the ethereal Halong Bay. Though absolutely crawling with tourists, choked with plastic and seemingly very poorly managed for such a spectacular environment, it really is a jaw dropping landscape. More on poorly managed tourist hot spots soon … we’ve seen a fair few of them already!!

With very heavy hearts we farewelled our travel buddies in Hanoi and took our first international rail trip – an overnight train to Nanning, with (of course) the customs and immigration stop occurring at 1 am. An absolutely inexplicable hour long wait in the deserted immigration queue in front of three officials doing nothing at all, and we were in China!

PS. I am writing this on the high speed train between Guilin and Kunming, going 300 kph almost entirely in tunnels, and I have faultless reception. China!