Maddie has arrived from England, and it seems like our Queensland mates, still in Tianjin, are making great progress (code for no delay), with their plans. Dave’s SMSs have been very upbeat and guess all will be revealed in the fullness of time as Sir Humphrey would say. Looks like Dave will start his dream by driving his car from Naihui. Persistence has paid off it seems. So hopefully Murphy has taken that six month cruise ticket which we ALL chipped in to pay for so he’d get off OUR case.

Good days driving 450 kms to Huang Shan of Yellow Mountain fame. The expressways were  good and then the drive through the mountains, sensational. Massive one kilometre tunnels cut through the mountains, one after the another, makes the Burnley Tunnel look like a pretty lame construction. The infra structure in this country has to be seen (by road of course) to be believed. The landscaped expressways, the multi story housing complexes, the solar energy, the general order about the place is very impressive. Peter and Kerith who were here some twenty five years ago are blown away by the changes they have observed.

Tomorrow we climb the Yellow Mountain, a six thirty start. Apparently a city elder once said of Huangshan and surrounds “there is only one place in this world similar to this Heaven of Peace and that is Switzerland”. Nice symmetry because all going well we will drive through Switzerland. The area is famous for exotic pines, grotesque rocks, clouds, hot springs and snow in winter. The landscape reminds me both of Switzerland and Colorado.

The Dark Lord, whoever he is, has asked for some detail on our daily ritual so here goes. We are getting into the swing of daily driving now. Our accommodation has been four star maybe five complete with room internet access. This could all change as we drive further west as internet access maybe more limited and the blogging might quieten down.  The cars are parked in the hotel car park under the careful watch of hotel security staff. Breakfasts are becoming more exotic with a huge range of food but with limited appeal. Fried rice and dumplings are not very appealing every morning.  Cars are packed and this morning we had to wash them as there had been overnight rain which coated the car with dust. We set off each day with a thermos of tea, our GPS , NAVO’s CB, the iPod and some nibblies. Along the way we pay fairly significant tolls. It is estimated we will spend $600 plus on tolls while driving in China. Queenie tells us that there is 67,000 kms of major highway in China and we will drive on 10,000 kms of it.  Petrol is marginally cheaper than in Australia. The driver Mr Lui always stops for a brief lunch at a petrol station. We give it a miss and have our own eats. Dinner has become pretty predictable with the usual “lazy susan” bearing rice, steamed vegetables and a tasty combinations of meat and chicken. Beer is cheap and very light (2.5%) and for me drinkable as there doesn’t seem to be any wine on offer.

Let’s hope Murphy keeps enjoying his cruise, thousands of kilometres from here  so we can complete the task at hand.