After our quick visit to China we had to call in and see Geoff and Erika from Kuwait also They work at Hong Kong International school and it is set in a stunning part of town. They live on campus but the views are amazing and Geoff's science room has about the best view we have ever seen
They looked after us and took us out to celebrate Halloween. Hong Kong makes Manila look like a hick town. Everyone was dressed up and the party continued well after we left to sleep. We surprised Ross and Cherie (happy birthday Chezza) as we had not seen them since Kuwait. Greta to catch up it was like we had never left. Very cool that when we left Kuwait so many of our friends got great jobs in interesting places. It's even better to be able to catch up wherever we visit around the globe. Would love to return the favour one day.

We are finally back home for a few short weeks. Great to get out the city and breathe the fresh air. Santa visited the neighbouhood but apparantley JB said it was a bit hot under the suit. Rob and Deb's little daughter Meg said she was very happy as the real Santa was there this year, as it is usually Pete from next door. A few beers on the deck at Flash and Jane's to ready ourselves for the madness when the tourists invade our quiet place by the sea. Little Eddie is getting more chatty by the day but he has a bug at the moment that means he is not himself. It's good as it's not too hot so we hope he will get better soon

As we missed the Olympics we decided to head over to Beijing and check it out. We stayed with out mates from Kuwait Mark and Sue Edwards who are now working at The Western Academy of Beijing. A great school and coincidentally JB's mate Phil from Istanbul back in 1991 is the VP of middle school and his wife Amanda is the ES VP. Sam Edwards is famous from Kuwait and he is a legend in China. much to Mark's disgust he did not teach Eddie to swear but the boys looked after the little man. Jack lent Eddie his drum kit and the little man took to it like he was Animal out the Muppet show. Sue and Mark organised Mr Wang to drive us around the city and we squeezed in lots of sightseeing. Bloody cold on some days and Eddie was the star in many Chinese photo albums as they just had to have their photo with the cute white boy. The great wall was magnificent and we had a bluebird day for a change. Thanks to the Edwards organisation for showing us around such an amazing place. Eddie was even used as a distraction in the markets to take the pressure of his mum and dad to buy stuff

We stayed with Sommer in her parents place and were looked after really well by the whole family. Our intentions was to spend some time at the lake house (which every Canadian seems to own) but we ran out time. It was a welcome change from hotel rooms to sit out the back and watch Eddie feel grass on his feet. Sommer took us around the sights of Toronto, we didn't get up the tower as it was too long a wait. Cool city very similar to Melbourne in size and feel.

Wow what a beautiful place, this would have been before tourists got there! We can't believe what has happened to such majestic scenery. After seeing the Grand Canyon, Sedona, New Mexico and Washington State we were used to spectacular views. The falls are stunning but the hotels, crappy giftshops, freakshows and assorted groups of tourists getting the Maid of the Mist treatment really really ruin what could be a stunning spectactle. Maybe go there in the middle of winter to escape the crowds. Not a place we will go back to in a hurry.

We made our way over to Haggersville Canada to see where the famous Fred Biggar comes from and was surprised to see it is a nice little place, all the better now Fred has left.Sandy was staying there and we had a nice cup of tea(beer) out the back of Fred's mum's place We then took off to catch up with a few people we used to work with at The American School of Kuwait. Dave and Andrea were the lucky ones and left Kuwait early and they have a great pad there out in the farmland, but close to Niagara Falls. We were lucky to have a barbie with Deina and Steve also. Amazing how everyone looked so well and the kids all got on famously. Who knows when we will catch up again as Canada is so bloody far away from Australia. That afternoon Sommer took us to the wonderful Niagara Falls

As part of the Carver travel experience we set off from the good ol US of A to Canada ay. The high speed ferry was the craft of choice and due to a large swell the crossing was a little rough for a few people. Tara was less than impressed with JB insisting that he should eat a fresh prawn roll. He went outside and was calmly standing at the bow with the wind and spray in his face when the ticket collector(who thought she was in the first class cabin of an airline) informed JB that the captain had his eye on him. Apparently I may have been a threat to national security out the back of the boat and somehow my prawn roll could have caused damage to the engine. Even when he came back in the woman stared him down until we were safely in Canada. We know why Victoria is such a popular venue. A beautiful little town, although full of tourists but a place that we would love to spend more time in