Camelot, More Rain, Binging and Lazing!

July 5th A new dawns, a new week begins, a new life is still somewhere over the horizon along with that winning lottery ticket! Today our plan was to go to the fish farm restaurant in the reservoir, we haven’t been there since before my little heart problem. On the way along the main street we spotted this chap which led to me telling Huan about when I used to climb towers!

As is often the way our plans were changed by SWMBO and we turned off at the elephants to head for where the lady in the lake used to live, Camelot.

Within seconds Huan was asking where the ducks were, sometimes she is a woman of little patience. We found them a little further on where we frightened them into the stream where they were severely reprimanded by resident guards!

Chickens were next; Huan was convinced they were coming to see us with the hope of getting fed. Unfortunately we had no food and chickens are not good swimmers!

Camelot is another route that we haven’t walked for a long time. One of the things we love about Wuzhishan is that within minutes we can be in the countryside, even if the city is close by. In this photo, over the hill is the road to Sanya and the road to the aforementioned fish far yet for us there is nary sight or sound of either.

Soon we came to the end of the little path to where they used to be an ornamental lake. Now it is a field used to grow crops.

After the ‘lake’ we would walk around the imitation Wuzhi mountain, that is no longer possible. The route is completely overgrown now.

We made our way past the covered over swimming pool, (it has construction buildings over the top of it, presumably on a temporary basis) and reached the new construction site. The picture looks quite good, the red roofed buildings on the RHS already exist and that would be our way out. The picture tells lies of course, most of the mountains and fields you can see have been bulldozed to make way for what is being built here and what has already been built behind.

From this next vantage point old readers may well remember the ‘lady in the lake’. That is what we used to call this walk before we gave it the Camelot name. She has long gone, destroyed in the name of progress. Maybe she will return if the lake in the photo ever appears.

Before long we were walking down the long driveway from the red roofed buildings back to the main road from Wuzhishan to Sanya. It’s a very pretty driveway which, just like the road to Sanya, does not exist on the construction picture at all.

Luck was with us today, the weather forecast was correct, no rain. Old age was with us also, we both needed afternoon naps again. Today I was reading about children being given things to help them sleep, this was the headline “Doctor urges caution when giving melatonin sleep gummies to children”. It would appear that in the western world this is now a regular occurrence! Here I am at 72 years of age still trying to sleep through the night without anything to help me. Tell me dear readers, am I right, or am I stupid?

July 6^th Someone, i.e. me, slept in this morning until half past nine. Not only was that too late for walkies it was also too late for breakfast! I planned to go after lunch, my plan was cancelled by Huan and Yu. They had to visit a ‘new’ hospital for free mammograms and smear tests and I had to be the chauffeur. Lots of misdirection was given to me in the car as to exactly where we were going. All I can say is that this place was not a hospital four years ago.

Parking the car I spotted a little path snaking through the vegetation and remembered that there used to be villas in this area. A little exploring was called for.

The villas, or “des res” were still there, on the lower road two storey and on the upper road three. I guess two floors would be enough for Huan and I. (One can dream…)

Four years ago we had walked down the mountain to find this place so I thought I would explore a little and see if I could recognise anything. The same route was out!

Another route just took me to someone’s residence.

I did recognise the small village so set off through and out the other side.

Hmm, a little track, I wonder where that goes. A cursory investigation showed that I was not going to be going any further in that direction, at least not today. I had my sandals on and the insects were already biting.

Going back through the smallholding I heard a slight commotion at my side. There was a lizard that went just a little distance away from me. Had I been carrying the Fuji I would have got a decent photo, as it is I had to make do with the paranoid android. Because of ants on the fence I couldn’t get any nearer but at least you can see how long its tail is!

There were a few more dead ends so I had to retrace my steps. On the way, instead of a nice shiny new electric car I found this for you. It almost looks as if it has melted into the road.

These next two photos show where I turned round to go back and collect Huan. There are two for you to compare, the first is a stitched panorama and the second is a wide angle (0.6) setting on the phone. Obviously the first one shows the road into and out of Wuzhishan which the second one doesn’t. However, it also distorts the near distance. Which do you prefer?

So, how were Huan’s tests? Her boobies are fine and if they don’t call her within two to three weeks then the rest of her is fine too. Again I marvel at the difference between the health services in China and the NHS in the UK.

July 7^th “Where to today my glorious leader?” “Let’s go to the fish farm up the fourth road that we didn’t go to on Tuesday.” Now that is a nice walk but the beginning is not as it was, there are no trees to give us shade where they are widening the road. I also like to walk on the dirt!

Before turning up the fourth road we passed by a fish farm that we haven’t passed by in years. It is still there, Huan needed photos of someone buying tiddlers to take to his farm.

And before we continue our walk, here’s a view of the whole fish farm area.

Soon we were passing some des res’s on a small lake, all deserted of course.

‘Pointy mountain’ is visible from many places on this road.

It is quite a long walk up to the fish reservoir as we call it, between seven and eight kilometres, but before long the gate was in sight.

My first job was to create a panorama from the front of the reservoir.

My second job was to stop Huan going to the left and behind those buildings; she had forgotten that we have been that way before. Instead we headed down the right towards the ‘resort’. Despite being in a state of disuse the signposts are OK, well almost. Check the contradiction.

Once in another panorama was required. This place has so much potential but for some reason nobody does anything with it. I wonder if it is because it is rented and not owned outright.

We did have a sit down in one of the pergolas / gazebos / pavilions (I don’t know which one this is). However, no refreshments are available so we didn’t stay long.

Huan then found some animals for me to play with, she is so good to me!

She also found some butterflies. The first was moving rather too fast for us, it had very unusual wings, but we tried. The second, and the third, are the same one. Huan took the photo with the green tint from one side and I took the whiter one from the other side. I couldn’t work out whether this butterfly had popped its clogs or if it was just appearing from its cocoon. There was certainly no movement while we were watching.

Now then, how long is it since you saw an electric car? I would hazard that it’s been far too long so here is yet another one, with yet another picture on the side.

My plans were thwarted by the boss again today; I wanted to get a bus home once we were down the hill, about the eleven kilometre mark. SWMNBN decided that we should walk all the way home. I really must try and be more wilful! By the time we reached home, almost sixteen kilometres, I was not feeling so fit and went straight for a lie down with no lunch. Perhaps I should have had breakfast before we went out this morning!

Dinner sorted me out, I was supposed to cook today but I got Huan to do it instead. I do like air fried spare ribs, and with chips too!

July 8^th Rain stopped play, again! Well, to be honest, rain stopped play after lunch and after dinner. Before lunch it wasn’t the rain but an express delivery from Amazon that stopped play. No, it wasn’t the camera; that still hasn’t been shipped yet, it was only the SD card. That was shipped on the 20^th June and received today, ‘Prime’ delivery eh? As usual there was an over abundance of packing as the photos show. They also show that the ‘packing solution’ comes from Guangzhou despite being ordered from Germany. Mind you, the SD card box does tell me that it is made in China. All this begs the question “Why does delivery take so long?”

July 9^th Today was a beautiful morning, just right for a nice lone walk, to the riverside market! It turned into a fairly long walk because the rotisserie duck and chicken man had no chicken. This meant we had to visit his home base which at least is now open again on all sides, until the next Covid scare that is. Here is the chicken about to be wrapped in greaseproof brown paper.

We walked home via the town square where I took this photo. Many towns and cities in China are prepared for various kinds of disasters and this is one of our local signs. No doubt we have passed it many times but I’ve obviously never looked closely before. Second down is not “Emergency Water Supply” but “Emergency Shelter”. Fifth down is correct. Third down, despite having spelt “supply” correctly twice they have used a non-existent word “wuppjy”. Still, all is well as Huan tells me that the Chinese is fine and I can always follow her!

I purposely chose a route home that would avoid Huan’s favourite bakery, she managed to find another one. I did try to talk her out of it but she insisted as she also insisted that she take a photo of her purchases when we got home.

Sad to say that Huan was disappointed, these cakes are nothing like the one that she usually buys. They were also very dry; I did say I wouldn’t have any at the time. How was the chicken? Well we wondered with it being whole as opposed to the duck which is flat, if there would be anything inside. There was, apart from the one ‘tucked underneath ‘er arm’, an extra head and a foot. I had been hoping for lemon and garlic. It still made a lovely dinner though with a nice big helping of mixed salad on the side, and, like the duck, enough for two days.

The CFO decided an Amazon check was needed; the camera has still not been shipped. There are also Covid restrictions in place which could add one to four weeks to the delivery time. Testing our options we pressed the ‘cancel’ button and got the message “Your order may be about to be shipped, if you cancel now there is a chance that the cancellation may not go through”! We had better wait a bit longer then…

July 10^th Huan was the lazy one this morning, by the time she was up and ready, it was too late for a decent walk. Rain should have stopped play in the afternoon but looking at the skies and the computer, we went for it anyway. There were blue skies to the south when we set off and just a few clouds over the distant mountains to the West.

Then we looked behind us to the East!

In retrospect we should have turned around and gone straight home, especially as we were both sans umbrellas. Within minutes the rain was upon us and we were soaked. I suggested to Huan that we may as well keep going via the main road and the cake bakery; she had already eaten both of yesterday’s cakes. She didn’t take much persuading, I just plodded along.

Sod’s law was in force and the rain eased off more and more as we approached home.

Almost home and the rain decided to attack us one more time. Here I am, standing in the rain with a new plastic bag on the camera and today’s cake.

There was no evening walk; the rain came back yet again. We had ‘pudding’ instead, Huan had ⅙ of the cake and I had ⅟12, both with ice cream. That’s how we get the cake to last four days!

July 11^th Rain stopped walkies but it didn’t stop shopping, aren’t we the lucky ones. We could quite possibly have gone out after lunch or after dinner but both of us were too lazy. I spent the whole day binge watching “Bodyguard”, you can’t beat good old UK television serials.

Of course no walkies also means no photos. Mind you, that could have been problematic today, the Fuji is now showing a red low battery sign even with a new battery in. I wonder how much it would cost to repair? As for the new camera, still no sign from Amazon.

And that is where we will leave you today. Yet again we hope for some nice weather so that we can get out for some longer walks and share the scenery with you. It’s goodbye from me, and it’s goodbye from her (doesn’t really work in writing does it?), we’ll be back soon.