Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

It's been a frantic seven days since I left the (relative) calm shores of the UK, flying out of Heathrow on the way to the .

First stop: Hong Kong

Here, some of the British team were fine-tuning their preparations. Over the next few days, my plan was to film interviews with the squads in HK and Macau.

When we landed, it was encouraging to find my wheelchair was still in one piece and promptly available. Paralympic signs were up, officials were organised (and helpful) - within 45 minutes of touching down I had my accreditation and my luggage, and was arriving at the hotel!

As at the Olympics, Hong Kong is the venue for the equestrian events. As I arrived the Paralympic banners were being hoisted.

I stayed at the same hotel as a number of the GB athletes. It was good to catch up with some of my old table tennis colleagues, including Arnie Chan and . Neil is taking part in his seventh Paralympic Games, and hasn't aged!

But it's also good to see some new faces in the squad, including 20-year-old Tunbridge Wells player Will Bayley.

The wheelchair racers were also in town - one of the fastest had been located in a suburb of the city.

My only real Chinese meal during my stay was at a small place in the square near the hotel - beef, rice, vegetables and Chinese tea cost me a mere 26 Hk dollars (Β£1.50). And having realised that I forgot to pack some toothpaste, I found I could get some next door for the same price!

I didn't see much of HK, apart from Kowloon, where the Star Ferry takes you around the port, but the sight of those amazing skyscrapers and the hustle and bustle of the city is amazing to see.

Within 48 hours it was off to Macau.

This is where most of the GB squad were preparing.

I thought it would be a straightforward ferry crossing, but the taxi driver took me to the wrong port!

All my negotiating skills were needed to get swapped back to the correct ferry - however they were excellent and even gave me a 20 dollar refund.

I was joined by cameraman Steve Pook and reporter Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes, who has been covering the Olympic equestrian events for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 5 Live.

Macau is something completely different, the gambling world of the East - but a dollar wasn't wasted during my stay.

Sunday and Monday were a haze of filming at training venues and at the team hotel.

After a long day in Macau we jumped on the ferry back to HK, wherewe loaded the footage onto Steve's laptop. The next day the first preview would be transmitted on Sport 24.

Tuesday morning was another early start. We went across town to catch up with and the wheelchair racers, who were training in blistering heat and humid conditions.

Dave is in good form ahead of the Games and he can't wait to start competing in the Bird's Nest, where he has already raced in May.

Seven days after leaving London, we're now in Beijing and it's full-on in the International Broadcast Centre. The world's media are starting to descend on what I'm sure will be a compelling 13th Paralympics.