Beijing - Day 3

With another day free we arranged a trip to the Great Wall and gathered on the hotel steps to wait for the taxis.

We took a cable car up to the top of the wall.

The slide we would come back down.

It was another hot day with the haze making the hill disappear.

Propeller conquer the Great Wall!

I had assumed that the wall would be flat and just like following a road over a series of hills. Some sections are flat but most of it is covered in steps. The steps aren't nice and even, some sections are thigh achingly steep and others are shallow with an odd deeper step ready to catch you out.

Taking a breather.

Negotiating a steep section.

Personal space!

No where escapes graffiti it seems.

A nice level set of steps!

After a hot day out in the countryside we went to Molly Malones bar in one of the swanky hotels.

The plan had been to have 1 drink but once we smelt the food we quickly decided to have a taste of home for tea. Chicken sandwich and chips anyone? 

Wellington - Botanical Gardens

We got the cable car up from Lambton Quay up to the Botanical Gardens.

The view of the harbour.

We followed the Bush walk to start with and then on through the rest of the gardens. It was a beautiful day for a gentle stroll.

Our final stop was the Rose Garden were we were sad that the tea room had closed and there would be no ice cream. We walked back through the Gardens and made the return journey on the cable car.

In the evening we met up with the techy boys and went to Pravda for dinner. Lots of adventurous choices were made with a couple of people trying buffalo steaks and fish we'd never heard of. It was all delicious and beautifully presented.

I couldn't resist a pudding!