Walking the Wall

Di and Emma Nicholas

If we ever manage to make it to Shanhaiguan, Emma will become the first Australian to have walked the length of the wall, at least as far as we know. She will not, however, be the first Australian, or even the first Australian Nicholas, to have climbed to the watchtower above the famous pass at Juyongguan.

That honour has already been claimed.

On March 26, 2007, Di Nicholas summited at the first watchtower a few short steps before her daughter, Emma. It all began in fun (doesn’t it always?), a good-natured mother-daughter challenge on a beautiful spring morning a few days after Di and her friend Helen Fitter arrived in Beijing for a quick visit. But things quickly became competitive, as these things will, and light-hearted laughter turned to grim-faced determination as the two Australian women ascended Juyongguan’s impossibly steep steps, side by side until the last, when Emma could no longer keep pace.

The view from the top

Happily, after a little pout Emma was persuaded to take her defeat in good grace, and by the time we’d reached the bottom and had a few ice creams to cool off, the mother-daughter tie was as strong as ever.

Victory!