Sofitel Spa - 15th October 2007

These images are of the massage room at the Royal Spa - Sofitel Resort.

After a hard day on the Hillview Golf Course there is nothing better than a body massage. We had decided that we had a hard enough day to deserve a massage & went in search of the Royal Spa which we found through the bottom of the courtyard. Along the way we found Ron Beechey who had the same thought.

We were each taken into a separate massage room for a 'golfer's massage'. Worth every cent we all agreed at the finish.

The room was so huge I felt a little lost in it. First a shower & a gown with 'special' paper undies. Green tea was served while I waited for the steamer and other preparations to be done. The room has a shower/toilet/wash basin/fullsize bath/ huge kingsize bed/TV/Video/ massage table/ tea table/ preparation table/outside spa.

The massage was wonderful, but the mind boggles a little at what all the other amenities are for. I have been far too protected all my life obviously.

Sofitel bedroom - 15th October 2007

These are images of our room at the Sofitel Resort.

The room was big and very comfortable. A huge bed and bathroom with all the mod cons. The room had a large balcony that overlooked the golf course. Out the front of the room overlooked the courtyard. I could have spend a long time at this resort. It was clean, modern and beautiful.

Sofitel Resort - 15th October 2007

These are images of the Sofitel Resort where we stayed for the evening of the 15th October. Wow! what a place. I could have handled some extra days here. Watch for my report on the bedrooms and the massage rooms.

Images attached:

Breakfast room; courtyards; view from the top of the resort;swimming pool; entry foyer; front entry.

Dongguan Hillview Golf Club - 15th October 2007

Today we left the New City Hotel & travelled straight to Dongguan Hillview Golf Club on the grounds of the Sofitel Resort where we are staying tonight. Our new golf clubs were packed in the bus & we were driven straight to the clubhouse to play our golf.

What a golf club it was. The Clubhouse was like a resort itself. See the last of the images above. That is part of the Clubhouse foyer. We had a little practice at putting on the practice green and Ben gave us a putting lesson before we started.

The ladies room (rooms) was fantastic complete with spa, showers, change rooms, cosmetic room, foot baths, lockers and so on.

We all enjoyed the day with varying results.This was most people's first experience at playing with a caddie.

After the golf we had lunch at the clubhouse and then walked the short distance back to the resort & checked into our rooms.

Those reported in the journal today: John & Richard were the last on the bus & Richard forgot his golf shoes; Kay Frewin putted her ball directly to the direction point shown by her caddie, but not beyond that point to the hole; Bob Clarke reported that he stood aside for Yvonne to hit her ball & then she hit straight at him threatening mortal danger to certain parts of his body; Des hit a ball in Ron's direction, the caddies ducked but Ron tipped one of them head over turkey; Judy had a 2/4 on the 11th; Frank threw his driver twice; Jan had 3/3 on the 11th; Robyn & myself finished with the same golf balls that we started with; Trevor got a bogey on one of the par 4's & was never on the grass once; Peter had two birdies in a row; Ray & Fay lost two balls each; Rod Tromp got a birdie on the 9th & collected seven kisses as he was playing with the three girls & the four caddies; Richard got a birdie on the 2nd hardest hole.


Images attached: The clubhouse & amenities,the non-golfers ready to go shopping, practice putting; out on the course,lunch in the Clubhouse, walking from the clubhouse to the resort.

Judy's Birthday - 14th October 2007

After a hectic day shopping in Shenzen today Ben took us out for a nice dinner & to celebrate Judy's birthday Ben organised a fabulous birthday cake which was a good finish to the day. Judy was really surprised and enjoyed the night.


When we left the restaurant the girls found a gift shop outside which was called "The Joy Gift Shop". It had all kinds of facinating items.
The girls were in hysterics as we discovered items of "joy". (see photo above).


Images: Judy's birthday cake; fish meal presentation; various photos of us at dinner; Doug giving Judy a birthday hug; Judy and the girls inspecting "items" at the "Joy Gift Shop".

Shenzen - Sunday 14th October 2007

Shopping in Shenzen - what a frantic experience! The bus was due to leave the hotel at 10'0clock for the drive to Shenzen Shopping Centre. We were dropped at about 11 o'clock at the Felicity Hotel opposite the centre which was to be our meeting place at 4 pm in the afternoon. We all shopped until we dropped. There is so much to see & learning to barter with the shop owners was a unique experience. I was just getting the hang of it when it was time to leave. We all arrived back with a varied lot of shopping bags all full of what we considered to be essential items.
Then it was time to go back to Dongguan for dinner and Judy's birthday cake.

Images attached. Des at the shopping centre; part of the group having lunch in the shopping centre; some of the girls ready to go shopping.

Those reported in my journal today were; Doug & Robyn who slept in and were late for the bus, receiving a slow hand clap from the rest of the group; Ron Beechey fell over a fence at the Shenzen shopping centre trying to help move the golf clubs; Frank lost Helen at the Felicity Hotel, sent us into the hotel toilets looking for her, only to find her waiting for him on the bus;

Peter Martin - Crocodile Hunter

Peter's crocodile that he hooked while fishing in the Northern Territory with Shane and George & Kyle Brand.

To view the video go to: http://www.youtube.com/jmmtravel