Hi MLT,

Yes I do like the idea of winding down after a coach tour, we were very lucky on our cruise, the whole 7 days were completely calm, in fact you wouldn't know you were on a ship.

Isn't the pollution amazing in Beijing. China did a wonderful job with the Opening Ceremony.

quote:

Originally posted by Kitchen wench:
Hi everyone,
sorry to butt in but the River Cruise sounds absolutely wonderful.
I think this would make a perfect BB tour, doesn't it?
I think I could even talk my husband into taking this one...

K.W. ~ Quite agree, it would be an ideal BB tour. Now who would put their hand up to organise it? From what Caitie has said in the past it is not an easy job.

quote:

K.W. ~ Quite agree, it would be an ideal BB tour. Now who would put their hand up to organise it? From what Caitie has said in the past it is not an easy job.

Did I say that? Actually, in retrospect I think it`s an unnecessary job, really. All I did was gather data to establish the majority`s preference for time frame and destination. After that, it was a matter of liaising with TT. Everyone made their own bookings. There`s really no need for a co-ordinator unless you want to negotiate for discounts and perks. Certain promises were made to us that TT later tried to back out of, so I wouldn`t go down that road again. It`s much easier just to have a casual arrangement among BB friends.

Insight management did the majority of set-up work for their BB tour. I am sure Trafalgar would do the same if they thought people were really interested.

quote:

Originally posted by Caitie:

quote:

K.W. ~ Quite agree, it would be an ideal BB tour. Now who would put their hand up to organise it? From what Caitie has said in the past it is not an easy job.

Did I say that? Actually, in retrospect I think it`s an unnecessary job, really. All I did was gather data to establish the majority`s preference for time frame and destination. After that, it was a matter of liaising with TT. Everyone made their own bookings. There`s really no need for a co-ordinator unless you want to negotiate for discounts and perks. Certain promises were made to us that TT later tried to back out of, so I wouldn`t go down that road again. It`s much easier just to have a casual arrangement among BB friends.

My apologies if I have misquoted you

Perhaps I was remembering you saying, as now, it would be easier to have an informal/casual arrangement. Which intimates it was not as easy to be the co-ordinator.

What I meant was that, if there`s no financial incentive, ie, unless there are TT discounts to be had because you`re a group, there`s really no need for a co-ordinator. Anyone can get the TA and/or airline discounts on their own.
Craig Pavlus told me that TT was going to do "something very special" for our group by way of acknowledging their contributions to the BB. Once we got there, we discovered the something special was a compliumentary optional dinner, but when the time came, they tried to wriggle out of it and I had to fight to make them keep their word. In my opinion, the value of the dinner wasn`t worth the effort.I wouldn`t say it was a lot of work to co-ordinate. There just wasn`t any real benefit to doing it that way.

O.K.

quote:

Isn't the pollution amazing in Beijing. China did a wonderful job with the Opening Ceremony. Smiler

Missie
We actually had beautiful blue sky in Beijing. It had rained 5 days in a row before we arrived, hence blue sky and no pollution. We never saw smog as bad the smog you see on the TV for the Olympics. We were extremely lucky.

We recorded the opening ceremonies and much to our disgust our recorder quit just before the lighting of the torch. We didn't see the last bit. What we did see, we enjoyed.

I have selected and edited about 20 plus river tour photos to post very soon.

Cat's

Thanks Cat's looking forward to seeing them

quote:

We actually had beautiful blue sky in Beijing. It had rained 5 days in a row before we arrived, hence blue sky and no pollution. We never saw smog as bad the smog you see on the TV for the Olympics. We were extremely lucky.

My younger son has gone over to Beijing to see a few events. He is also taking a train journey but can't remember the place where he is going to. So excited before he left Adelaide.

Jenno ~ That is wonderful for your son I hope he has a great time.

Missie and Jenno, how far would it be from you--in flying time or kms?

Brenda

Hi Brenda,

The flight time from Adelaide to Beijing is 10:41 minutes and the distance is 8597 kilometres, just a short hop.

quote:

Originally posted by Missie:
Hi Brenda,

The flight time from Adelaide to Beijing is 10:41 minutes and the distance is 8597 kilometres, just a short hop.

PPL - don't be mislead by Missie's shorthand as regards flying time, will you!

Missie - I hadn't realised that it was only 10 hours to Beijing from Adelaide. Is that direct? Don't worry about looking it up if you don't know offhand. It was an idle question asked from surprise, and I can chase it up.