Vonny and Liz discover the way into Nan Shan Park to climb the not so high mountain (<400m)with plenty of steps and lots of stopping points!
Suddenly, not so sure of our directions and with the aid of a map, we asked a policeman who dutifully pointed us in the right direction. Exactly as we had been told at School by locals but at the time we were geographically disadvantaged having no idea of the site or layout of the streets.
The portal was clearly not a Harry Potter type portal where you touch an object and turn up somewhere else ( we had to walk ourselves!)
Then we saw the steps, in fact we saw the steps for the next hour I suspect as we both mumbled or stumbled through the puffing how unfit we were. (Given we have both trekked in the Andes, at altitude this was a great test). Not that too many of the locals fared better, except for the really athletic ones running it! No difference to Mt Lofty (Adelaide) in that respect. It is a steep ascent but the view is significant, even through the morning haze.
At the NanShan GPS reference station ( so I dutifully referenced my GPS which finally recognised the HouHai Bay coastline as different to the Adelaide Beaches)
Feeling adventurous, we took the alternative track down (we hoped it was going down all the way ) this was more scenic and less busy than the custom portal.We know it was only 350+ mtrs but it was our Everest for the day, certainly not a personal best for either of us but a start on the list of things we must do while we are here! It will be a good guide to any small progress on fitness and as its only a 2RMB bus ride from school, there are not too many excuses for a return visit.
Shekou from Nan Shan /3 Turtle mountain there was a sign to turtle mountain but as we are none the wiser we took our own name from a statue of 3 turtles (which we failed to photograph-next time)
Lunch in Shekou, Liz found a friendly cat (but she resisted the urge to take it home).By the way, the strangest things happen. I was recently sitting on the balcony, looking out at the rare clearish sea view when a white plastic whale floated past the balcony and headed for the clouds. A peek over the balcony revealed a slightly distraught toddler presumably previous owner of said plastic whale balloon. I had the camera in my hand but wasn't quick enough to catch it to show you!
Tomorrow we have a full day of training and then a birthday party for the school. EF SZ3 Kids turns 1 year old and we are having a party on ice at the Coastal City Ice Rink. And yes, I can hear you giggling, we are going to attempt to skate. I figure if I can ice climb* surely after 25 years I can still skate!? Hopefully there will be photos to post here soon, dignified or otherwise...
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