Chinese Soap opera and Auckland arrival

Arrival in Auckland

Friday 11th February

Our last meal in China was very good but we shall not bore you with a gastrogram. The soap opera was quite good however and Roz was fascinated by a Chinese Rowner scenario. There were five Chinese at a table opposite, a middle aged man, three young men and a young woman. One of the young men was in alternating tears and fury, his voice rose higher and higher.. Eventually he and his friend left the room. The old man young woman and third young man seemed quite relaxed about it all. Then Mr Emotion and his friend returned. More impassioned talk during which he clasped the young woman’s hand then eventually hugged the old man (?Granddad) who tried to console him, Was it unrequited love or a failed arranged marriage? We shall never know as we could not understand the Chinese but clearly the Chinese have the same emotions as the rest of us. Every bit as good as an episode from Eastenders!

On Wednesday we had a quiet morning before the next long leg of the Odyssey. We flew to Shanghai, then overnight to Sydney and then a third flight to Auckland. It all went very smoothly, we picked up our hire car and found our hotel (no tour guide this time) without problem. This is the Anglophone leg of our journey, we had steak and chips last night and fish and chips tonight, a change from the spice and rice of the last few weeks. This morning we explored Auckland, a pleasant city with a few skyscrapers but also some old colonial undertones, and this afternoon we played bridge at the Auckland Bridge Club where they made us very welcome but we did not distinguish ourselves! Now the jetlag is catching up with us and so to bed.